Epilogue Two
Aaron and I are empty nesters now. It’s hard to be in the quiet all the time, but I’m grateful for the time we have together. I’m now over four different therapy clinics within the East Texas region and Aaron is now the director of athletics at the university twenty miles from us. He never thought Christopher Groveton would call him, but he did five years ago, and that’s where he’s been ever since.
While he hated to leave the high school, it was time. He won fifteen state championships and saw three of his students go on to be professional players. We still host our annual homecoming parties for all of his past students to come be with us during homecoming week. It’s helped the family bed and breakfast to bloom to the point Kaylee has had to open two more locations.
Lennox is now married with two children of his own. It’s crazy to say that I’m a grandma, but I love it when he comes home with his precious family. Emberley is a doctor like me and works fifteen minutes from home. I begged her to stay home, but her girlfriend said she would take care of her. Which she has done so very well.
Brayley is my wild child. He is the exact opposite of his twin sister. An artist with no chance of settling down, I’m surprised he moved to Arlington to start his own art studio. Aaron swears that it’s because of a girl, but I’m not so sure. He’s never dated, and he certainly hasn’t ever shown interest in being in a relationship.
“Sugar Plum, what are you doing?”
I look up from the photo book in my lap to see the man I’ve loved my entire life. “Just looking at the baby pictures.”
He chuckles and sits down next to me, putting his arm across the back of the couch. “Are you feeling lonely again?”
“No. I wanted to look at the pictures because there’s this one spot you and I used to go to, but I can’t remember the name of it.”
“You aren’t old enough to be forgetting things, Julie.” His hand rubs along the back of my head and I lean into him.
“I know, A-bear. But it was when we were kids.”
Aaron perks up and looks at me. “And what were you wanting to do at this place?”
A blush, even after all this time, creeps along my cheeks. “It’s the only place we haven’t done it.”
His hand grips my hair, and he forces my neck back and my face toward him. “You want to get naughty in the river bottom, Sugar Plum?”
“Yes,” I whisper right before he kisses me.
“Such a naughty little whore for me, aren’t you?” He doesn’t need me to answer because I show him by climbing into his lap and pushing my mouth tongue into his mouth.
We’ve had a lifetime of fun, memories, and love. I can’t wait for the next twenty-five years to come and go with the man that’s my entire world.