Epilogue
Rafe Hawthorne loved a good party. For the last week, everything at Hawthorne House had felt like a party.
After a few weeks of lessons about the practices of modern Paganism from Bax, the entire family had come together to put on a Beltane celebration that everyone would remember for a long time to come. There’d been great music, amazing food, and an actual maypole. Who would have thought that racing around a maypole, laughing and joking with his family as they tried to get it right, could be so much fun?
They’d also had a ritual that Rafe found surprisingly poignant and meaningful. If that was the way his family now celebrated the divine in nature and in themselves, then he was all for it. The Hawthorne family was officially the most outlandish and colorful family in Kent. Not that they hadn’t been before.
A few remnants of their Beltane celebrations were still visible on the grounds when the metalwork and blacksmithing convention people had arrived on the scene to set up.
“Was there some sort of filming here?” the head of the convention asked as Rafe took her on a tour of the grounds so she could determine where the different sculptures that were entered in the competition could be placed.
Rafe laughed. “Yeah, sure, that’s what was going on here.”
In fact, Hawthorne House’s gardens had been used for a spot of filming in April, and since he wasn’t sure what his family thought of letting the whole world know how witchy they’d become, he didn’t feel the need to add further explanation.
Not that his family would care what people thought of them.
“We made a bonfire after dark and everything,” he caught Nally bragging to a particularly hot blacksmith apprentice on the first day of the convention while giving the man goo-goo eyes.
“Did you all get naked and dance around it?” the burly young guy asked, looking at Nally like he was one of the ice cream cones being served from a cart a few yards away from them that he wanted to lick.
Nally laughed. “Not this time,” he said. “It was a family thing.”
“Some other time, then,” the young guy flirted back.
“Anytime,” Nally said with a blushing grin.
Rafe chuckled and moved on. He remembered being that young. He was only nine years older than Nally, and truth be told, he liked a little fun in the sack now and then. He liked it a lot.
It had been too long since he’d sought out a cuddle-buddy for the night. Setting up his hot shop again after being away from Hawthorne House for so long had taken most of his time and attention during the winter. Blowing enough glass to have on hand as examples of the techniques he would be teaching as soon as his next class started up had sucked a lot of time as well.
He was still wrapped up in his need to find a unique and creative take on the centuries-old craft. He wanted to build a reputation for excellence in the glassblowing world, but that wasn’t going to happen if all he produced was gift shop level goblets and globes.
Now that everything was ready, he had a lot more time to sample what his home county and beyond had to offer. Judging by the quality of men roaming around Hawthorne House’s grounds for the convention, he wouldn’t have to look far.
A small cheer from one side, where a crowd was gathered around the modest stage that had been set up at the end of what was usually the Renaissance Faire village drew his attention. Hands in his trouser pockets, he ambled over to see what was going on.
“And finally, first place in the six-to-ten-foot sculpture category goes to….”
The man who stood on the podium giving out prizes paused for a long, reality competition show length pause. Rafe noticed Nick and Bax standing expectantly off to one side of the stage, Jordan in Bax’s arms and Macy in Nick’s. The two of them made such a ridiculously sweet couple that it gave Rafe a toothache.
They were happy, though. They’d been incredibly happy since everything between them had been sorted six weeks before. Even though Nick’s mum continued to be a thorn in all their sides as she continued her campaign to take Nick and Raina’s kids at the same time as she refused to babysit anymore.
Fortunately for Bax and Nick, the entire family was invested in raising Raina’s kids now. Even him, though he still refused to change nappies.
“And the winner is…Nick Turner for his stunning unicorn sculpture!” the man on the podium declared at last.
Everyone cheered. Nick looked shocked. Bax jumped up and down, then threw his free arm around Nick to hug him. Jordan got in on the action, and within seconds they were one big, domestic hug.
Rafe laughed and shook his head. Cousin Baxter certainly had gotten his happy ending. And good for him. The whole family was so proud of the way he’d stepped up to defend Nick and bring him over to the Hawthorne family dark side.
He chuckled at his metaphor and continued on, looking for someone who might want a little company of the horizontal kind. If worse came to worst, he could always head into London to any number of the clubs owned by The Brotherhood.
That was an appealing thought, and he was just about to turn around and head back to the house when his phone buzzed. He took it from his back pocket, then frowned as an American number flashed on the screen.
Usually he didn’t take calls from unknown numbers, but the plus one had him curious, so he answered with a confused, “Hello?”
“Hello, Rafe?” a familiar, American voice asked in return.
“Yes.” Rafe frowned and stepped off the path into the shade of a spreading tree. “Who is this?”
There was a long pause before the voice said, “It’s Jake Mathers.”
Anger, jealousy, and yes, a spike of arousal jolted through Rafe, making him frown and tense up. Jake Mathers was the bastard who had undercut him at every step of his time in residency at the Corning Museum of Glass last fall. He was a fellow glass-blower and had had the nerve to upstage him.
“Jake,” he said, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes, as if Jake was standing in front of him. “To what do I owe the pleasure of a long-distance call in the middle of a May afternoon?”
Jake blew out a breath that said he knew just how happy Rafe was to hear from him.
Then he shocked the sunshine out of Rafe by saying, “I need your help. Would you marry me?”
I hope you’ve enjoyed Nick and Bax’s story! And I hope you’ve enjoyed this little dive into Paganism. It seems only fitting that the Hawthorne family all converted to such an expressive and ancient religion.
What’s up next for Rafe Hawthorne? Why would his American frienemy call him out of the blue and propose marriage? Will having Jake spend time at Hawthorne House improve Rafe’s creativity and help him to find a unique twist to his glassblowing craft or will Jake be more trouble than he’s worth? Find out next in Blown !