Bone Diggers (Paperback out now!)

Bone Diggers - Epilogue

One Year Later

"That is the worst shirt I've ever seen you wear."

"Isn't it?" Owen said proudly as he looked down at it. Over his chest was a loading wheel with the words, 'Pretending to care, please wait.'

"It's not even true," Andreah added.

She was still looking at the shirt when he looked back up. He didn't know what to say to that, or why it took her until after they got their coffee to say anything. "You are distracting me from my studies, ma fille." He looked back at his phone to the French learning app.

Andreah combined a laugh and roll of her eyes that rivaled Owen's as she went back to her book. She managed to read a chapter before he was the one distracting her.

"Vous me plaisez," said the not-quite-real voice from his phone's speaker. He took a sip of his coffee topped with whipped cream and studied the words for a second before glancing up to Andreah and repeating it a bit less fluidly.

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"'I have a crush on you' according to this."

"Ooo, a crush, huh?" Andreah chuckled.

"I think it literally translates as 'you please me,' but I could be wrong." Owen waved his free hand in a fluttering 'whatever' before clicking next on the phone.

"What other very flattering flirts are you learning to use on me?" she teased, but wanted to hear more than she'd outwardly admit to.

The phone spoke again and Owen typed in a translation, but only smiled as he continued on. It wasn't that he didn't want to play along, just that most were fairly low-level flirts. Do you want to go out, do you come here often, and can I buy you a drink were already covered.

"On va chez vous ou chez moi?" Owen said, as their drinks were getting low. Despite hearing his phone say it and hearing Owen repeat it a little slower, she still had no idea what was just said. "Are we going to your place or mine?" he repeated.

"How forward," Andreah said in mock shock.

Owen grinned. "No, I'm serious, what are we doing after this?"

"Oh, my place is closer. We can head there. But first, I told Drew I'd pick him up something before we left."

"Alright." He glanced at the line, which objectively wasn't long, he just didn't want to stand in it twice in one day. "I'll wait outside."

It was one of those rare days where the weather was nice for the season and made people wish every day was like it. "Hey, I know you," Owen said to a bright pink-haired girl on the street. "Zoey, right?"

"Hey." Her surprise turned into a bright professional smile, with an underlying joy she simply brought to her always-on job. "Do you have a second for me to interview you, for old time's sake?"

"Um," Owen glanced back towards the cafe. "Okay, but quickly please."

Andreah stepped out with a bag, and the blogger who once interviewed them both looked even more taken aback at her luck. Owen wondered if her first question was about Andreah, but Zoey recovered with the perfectionism he learned to expect.

"It's nice to see you both again. How are you two?"

"Well," Andreah said, leaving Owen curious if she was messing around, or just didn't want to talk.

Owen grinned as he bit his straw. He glanced back over to Zoey, and lifted his head to answer her properly. "We are good. Don't know if that makes the best story for you, but I'm quite comfortable where we are now."

Andreah smiled, and felt no need to explain further.

"Should I be listening for wedding bells soon?" Zoey asked.

"Oh geez," Owen said, making a face that the blogger wished she captured before he laughed at the idea. "It's a bit early for marriage, I might wait for Lance to show me some more pointers first."

"Speaking of Lance, you once said Andreah was your Amilia. Does that mean you have a Lance?"

"Lance is my Lance." Owen said with ease, knowing he could play it up for news or just do his own thing now. "So, I guess that's a yes." Owen winked in a way that made the blogger blush.

"One more, please."

Owen glanced over to Andreah, who shrugged. "Ah, okay last one," he said.

"You're out of contract with fnVR now, but can you tell us what you see in store for Daniel and Amilia?"

"Hmm." Owen took another drink, enjoying the sweetness. "I imagine three kids. Two boys, and the youngest is girl who ends up marrying Lance's only son. And the first time Lance holds his grandchild, he smirks over to Daniel and says, 'Look what we made.' Something like that."

"And, your plans? Do you want something similar?"

"Someone is cheating with the bonus question. But nah, nothing so traditional planned. The future is mine, so we'll see."