Page 85 of See You at the Sunset

Epilogue

“You sure you wanna do this?” Henry asked.

He didn’t want to pressure Jia. But it had been a long time coming. Months, actually. It never seemed to bother her, except that it remained a loose end she wanted to tie up.

“Yeah, let’s get it over with. I don’t know why I didn’t deal with it sooner,” Jia said.

Henry grabbed her hand, and they walked together into the airport.

When Jia had first come to stay with her grandmother in Palm Springs, the airline had lost her luggage. It had arrived shortly after, but she just never wanted to go and pick it up.

Henry was secretly happy she hadn’t. Because there was something about the way Jia described herself and her life when they’d both lived in New York that kind of broke his heart. She’d struggled financially, and she’d struggled finding herself. A woman without an identity. Her clothes became a way topretend she had it all together, despite not being able to afford that life.

Coming to the desert, she’d shed all of that. She’d found herself. She didn’t need to play dress-up anymore. Henry always found Jia sexy and adorable and put-together in her own way. He loved her bright colors and vibrant patterns. But he loved her freedom and confidence even more. She didn’t need to hide, so she didn’t.

“There are some really great pieces in there that I think would sell quickly in the vintage shop. It would be nice to make some extra money to put toward the graduation gifts,” Jia said.

Sunset Hills was having its first graduation class for the eight residents who had gone through and passed their inaugural CPR/First Aid course. It was an exciting time.

“Hi there. I’m here to pick up my luggage,” Jia said to the older man working the customer service desk. “For Jia Chung? It’s a big yellow suitcase.”

“Well, goddamn. You actually showed. I woulda won the entire pool if you’d have come just two days later. Horace,” he yelled at someone in the office behind him, “looks like you’re taking home the pot, you lucky motherfucker.”

“What is happening?” Jia leaned in and whispered to Henry.

“Looks like there might have been a betting pool on when you would come to get your bag.”

“Huh. Wonder how much Horace won,” she said.

Henry kissed Jia on the top of her head. He, like Horace, knew what it felt like to be lucky.

“Jia, babe, we gotta go. We’re gonna be late,” Henry called from the front door of his condo downtown. He hadn’t been surewhere he wanted to end up, exactly. But he liked this particular block, with his favorite coffee shop and a really good workout gym. And it was walking distance, two blocks, from his office where he read up on cases and had already been studying diligently for the California Bar Exam.

Plus, it was less than five minutes to Sunset Hills, and that was an easy-enough drive to visit the people he loved the most.

“Coming. I can’t find my shoes,” Jia called out from the bedroom.

“Which ones?” Jia only had three pairs: sneakers, sandals, and flip-flops. Two were sitting right there at the doorway. “Your sneakers and flip-flops are here.”

“Wait,” she said and popped her head out, “did I wear my flip-flops here? I think I did. So my sandals must be at my place. Ooops.” She smiled and came out to meet him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I’d lose my own head if it wasn’t attached to my body. I swear, when I downsized moving out here, I feel like it got harder to keep track of stuff.”

Henry gave her a quick kiss and pushed her out the door. They had exactly seven minutes to get there, which, if they caught every red light along the way, would make them late.

“Did you finish?” she asked as she strapped into his car.

“Yup, last night.”

“Why didn’t you wake me up, then?” She pouted. “You promised.”

“But you were completely out, snoring and everything,” he said.

“I don’t snore,” she said.

“If you say so,” he teased.

“You were supposed to try that thing once you were done,” she whined.

“I’ll try it when we get home later.”