Epilogue
JONATHAN SURVEYED THE mess that had once been the waiting area of his shop. There was nothing left of the things that had been there, just ashes and dampness. The window had been blown out, and even though the back rooms were mostly intact, he and his friends couldn’t go back to work. It would take a while before the shop could be fixed, but thankfully, Kent had insisted on paying for the damages and the reconstruction. Between him and the insurance money, Jonathan, Daniela, Ethan, and Christy would be fine. They’d be able to survive for the next few months without having to worry about earning an income.
That was a problem for tomorrow’s Jonathan, though. Today’s Jonathan was going to focus on cleaning up and trying hard not to think about Sal and what he’d done. Kent had offered some of his clan members to help with the cleanup, but Jonathan had refused. He was taking the man’s money because he felt Kent owed it to him, but he didn’t want to see anyone who belonged to that clan ever again if he could avoid it. They had nothing to do with what Sal had done, but they’d watched as Sal hurt Jonathan, and Jonathan could never forgive them for that.
“I still think you should let me do most of the cleaning,”
West groused as he poked at something with his boot.
“I’m not going to let you clean the shop on your own after it burned down.”
“Why not? I’m used to this kind of thing.”
Jonathan arched a brow. “Are you? Because to me, it sounds like you’re used to extinguishing fires, not fixing what the fires broke.”
“I can find a way around it. I just don’t think you should be working yet, especially not on something like this.”
Because of the memories. West didn’t have to say it, but they’d talked about it. West had been worried when Jonathan had insisted he wanted to come to the shop and start cleaning, but Jonathan had reassured him he’d be okay. What had happened here was a thing of the past. Sal was otherwise occupied with the justice system, and he’d leave Jonathan alone for the foreseeable future. What more could Jonathan want?
“I’ll be fine,”
he said as he wrapped an arm around West’s waist. “But I promise that if I start freaking out or feeling weird, I’ll let you know. I’m going to have to face all of this eventually, though.”
And it was better to do it now that there was no one around. Jonathan didn’t want to wait until the shop was ready to reopen. He wanted to start living his life right away, and that included cleaning up after the fire.
West leaned down to kiss Jonathan. Jonathan kissed him back until someone whistled, startling them apart. Jonathan’s ankle twisted on something, but West was there, keeping him on his feet and glaring at Austin, who’d apparently been the one to whistle.
“What are you doing here?”
West asked.
“We thought you guys could use some help,”
Austin said as he pointed behind himself with his thumb.
Jonathan recognized Lisa, Jeremy, and even Taylor, their captain. They were coming toward them, and all of them were wearing work clothes and gloves. The reason they were here was obvious, but Jonathan hadn’t expected it.
He looked at West. “Did you know about this?”
“No. I mentioned that we were going to clean up today, but none of them said anything about helping us,”
West said, glaring a little.
He wasn’t angry, though, and his lips split on a smile seconds later. If he hadn’t expected his family to be here, this had to be a pleasant surprise for him.
“You didn’t think we were going to make you do this on your own, did you?”
Jeremy asked as he and the other two reached Austin.
They didn’t have to come in through the door. There wasn’t a door anymore. They climbed over what remained of it, and Jeremy placed himself at the center of the room with his hands on his hips. He glanced around, and while Jonathan had no idea what he was doing, it didn’t matter.
These people were helping him because they considered him family. He was with West, who was as close to them as a brother, and that was enough.
It made Jonathan want to cry. He had his friends—Christy, Daniela, Ethan, and Caleb. He knew what friendship was. He knew what being close enough to be a family was. He just hadn’t expected this from people he barely knew, but maybe he should have. West had been willing to help him from day one, even before they got together. It made sense that his friends did the same.
Lisa clapped her hands. “All right. Where do we start?”
Jonathan didn’t know how to answer that question, so he didn’t try. Instead, he leaned against West and watched Lisa and Jeremy bicker over which part of the shop needed to be cleaned up first. Taylor took charge, assigning them each a corner.
It was a start. This was where Jonathan’s new life truly began. It was like nothing he could have expected, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.