Epilogue
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“I can’t believe I let you talk me into karaoke night again.” I crossed my arms, watching Monty set up the equipment.
“It’s because I brought home another shiny award for Dark Moon Rising. And it’ll be fine this time. Promise. We have our list of banned singers, and there’s a firm two-song limit.”
I gave him the side eye. The last karaoke night had devolved into an epic disaster involving three fistfights and someone trying to perform an entire Broadway musical. But Monty had earned his victory lap with that gold medal from Brewgaloo, North Carolina’s biggest craft beer festival. We were offering samples to everyone in celebration.
The bar was packed tonight, mostly with locals getting their fun in before the tourists descended for Memorial Day weekend. This was how I liked it best. These were my people. The ones who’d supported me and Pop through his recovery, who’d come out to help search when Peyton had disappeared, and who’d raised a toast in our honor when Ford and I had gone public with our relationship. I was feeling a little squishy in the heart region and so incredibly grateful for how things had turned out.
School would be out next week, and Peyton couldn’t wait. She currently sat with the Gray Beards in their corner booth, surveying the crowd and listening to their usual cutting up. Pop’s color was good, and his rehab had been progressing faster than the doctors had anticipated. They had no idea how stubborn Ed Cartwright could be. My Pop was gonna be around for a good long while. Thank God.
My gaze swung toward the door, and my heart lifted as I spotted Ford. I started to raise my hand in a wave and stopped as I saw who’d come in behind him.
Rios paused just in the entryway, his dark eyes scanning the room, cataloging the occupants and every tactical detail of the place. At least until his sisters saw him.
“Rios!” Caroline’s joyful shriek cut through the babble of voices. She scrambled up from the table where the McNamara clan was holding court, trailed by Gabi.
I grinned as I watched the pair of them converge on him, trapping him in excited hugs. I couldn’t actually hear them from this distance, but I suspected they were both peppering him with questions in rapid-fire Spanish. It took a while for him to run the gauntlet of hugs and greetings from family and friends. But eventually he made it to me.
I came out from behind the bar and pulled him in for my own hug. “Good to see you.”
“Great to see you, too.” He pulled back, dividing a look between me and Ford. “Glad you two got your heads out of your asses.”
Ford cheerfully flipped him a middle finger.
I shook my head in amusement. “We’ve heard that often enough, we’re considering putting it on a t-shirt and selling it at the bar.”
“It would be a best seller.”
At this point, I wondered if everybody had known how we’d felt about each other. It hardly mattered. We were together now, and we were happy. That was the only thing that was important.
“You want to try the new beer? Dark Moon Rising just won a gold at Brewgaloo.”
He glanced around, clearly taking in the sample glasses we usually used for taster flights. “Sure, I’ll have a sample.”
“Don’t be silly. As a welcome home, you get an entire glass on me.”
Rios laughed, and the sound was a little rusty. It didn’t quite make it all the way to his eyes. I wondered what he’d been up to, and what had precipitated this surprise visit home.
Back behind the bar, I took my time building Rios’s pint, letting the head develop properly. Behind me, voices drifted over from a nearby table.
“Did you hear about Madden Reilly?”
The name caught my attention. I hadn’t heard it in years.
“Miles and Gwen Busby’s cousin? The one who moved out to Washington?”
“California. She was some big deal prosecutor out there. Emphasis on was.”
“What happened?”
“Lost her job.”
“Over what?”
“Helped convict an innocent man. New evidence came to light, and the conviction was overturned. Guess the guy had connections ’cause next thing she knew she was out.”
“Ouch.”
I risked a glance at Rios. His expression hadn’t changed, but his shoulders had gone rigid. The irony wasn’t lost on me. Madden had been one of the loudest voices condemning him after Gwen disappeared. She’d never forgiven him for being the last person to see her cousin alive.
My hands tightened on the glass. After everything that had come out about what really happened to Gwen, I wondered if Madden felt any remorse for how she’d treated Rios. For helping drive him off the island. Somehow I doubted it. Some people couldn’t admit they were wrong, even in the face of overwhelming evidence.
I topped off his beer and slid it across the bar. “Karma?”
He sipped at the beer and jerked one shoulder. “Maybe now she’ll learn to think before she acts.” Lifting his glass in a toast, he headed over to join his family.
I watched Rios settle in beside his niece and Gabi, noting the way he kept his back to the wall, maintaining clear sight lines to all exits. Ford’s gaze tracked him too, his expression thoughtful.
“Is he okay?”
“Something’s stuck in his craw. If he’s here long enough, Sawyer and I will get it out of him.”
The screech of feedback made me wince as Monty tapped the mic. He bounded onto our makeshift stage, beaming at the crowd. “Welcome, welcome to karaoke night at the OBX Brewhouse! Now, we’ve got some ground rules. Two-song limit per person. And if you’re on the banned list—you know who you are—don’t even think about it.”
I relaxed slightly. Maybe this wouldn’t be the disaster I feared.
“To kick things off, we’ve got a special treat. Please welcome Ford Donoghue and Bree Cartwright!”
My head snapped up. “Excuse me, what? I don’t karaoke.”
Ford turned that devastating smile on me—the one that had talked me into everything from sneaking onto fishing boats to midnight swims since we were kids. He held out his hand. “Come on.”
The crowd started chanting my name. Pop and the Gray Beards were the loudest, though Peyton and Mimi’s voices rang clear above the rest. I hadn’t even seen her and Mama Flo arrive.
I shot Ford a look that promised retribution. “Fine.”
The bar erupted in cheers as I came out from behind the counter.
Ford’s hand closed around mine and he tugged me up onto the stage.
“What are we even singing?” I demanded.
He handed over a microphone with a grin. “A classic.”
The opening notes of “I Got You Babe” filled the bar, and I shot Ford a look. “Really? This is your idea of a classic?”
He just grinned and launched into Sonny’s part. I couldn’t help laughing at his exaggerated gestures and dramatic facial expressions. What the hell? In for a penny.
I channeled my inner Cher, complete with hair flips and hip swaying. The crowd ate it up, particularly when Ford and I played up the cheese factor, facing each other and gesturing dramatically. Pop was practically falling out of his booth laughing.
Peyton had her phone up, no doubt recording the whole mortifying spectacle for posterity. I’d have to get her to send it to me later. Not that I’d ever admit that out loud.
We finished with a flourish, and I took an exaggerated bow, ready to escape back behind the bar. But Ford’s hand tightened on mine when I tried to step away.
I turned back. “What are you…”
The words died in my throat as he dropped to one knee.
“What?” My voice came out as a squeak.
The entire bar went dead silent.
Ford grinned up at me, still on one knee. “Bree Cartwright, I’ve loved you most of my life. First as my best friend, then as the woman who stole my heart, and now as this amazing bonus mom to my kid. You’re the missing piece I didn’t even know I was looking for until I lost you. I was an idiot to ever let you go, and I don’t want to waste another minute. Will you marry me?”
My heart threatened to burst right out of my chest, hammering so hard I could barely hear anything else over the rush of blood in my ears. My vision blurred as tears welled up. I blinked hard, desperate not to cry in front of half the island. Ford still knelt before me, his green eyes filled with so much love it made my chest ache.
This was Ford. My Ford. The boy who’d held my hand through every thunderstorm. Who’d snuck me candy bars when I was stuck in detention. Who’d taught me to swim and climb trees and throw a punch. The man who’d come back into my life and proved that sometimes dreams really did come true.
My throat closed up. I couldn’t speak past the knot of emotion.
The silence stretched. Someone in the crowd—probably Duck—called out, “Say something, girl!”
I managed a watery laugh. “I will marry you on one condition.”
His eyes sparkled. “What’s that?”
“You never, ever get me up here again.”
The bar erupted in laughter. Ford’s grin widened. “Deal.” He slipped a ring on my finger—where had he been hiding that?—and surged to his feet.
His mouth claimed mine in a kiss that had the whole place whooping and hollering. When we broke apart, I spotted Peyton giving us an enthusiastic thumbs up from her spot with the Gray Beards. Pop wiped suspiciously wet eyes with his napkin.
“I love you.”
God, I’d never get tired of hearing that. “I love you too.”
“You’re stuck with me now.”
I tipped my head back to look at him. “Promise?”
The entire bar raised their glasses in a toast as Ford wrapped his arms around me, both of us grinning like idiots. Which, I supposed, we were. The happiest kind of idiots, who’d finally found their way back to exactly where we were supposed to be.
Together.
Oh my gosh, they really do need to print t-shirts with the date they finally got their heads out of their asses! But I had so much fun writing this book, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Be on the lookout for Night Moves , Corbin and Lindsay’s novella that runs alongside this book. And, of course, don’t forget the enemies to lovers story of Rios and Madden coming next year! That’s gonna be explosive…