Epilogue
Damien Davenport was having a hard time wrapping his head around his kid sister and Jay Malone becoming an item. Sure, he could see they were crazy for each other. First Erin had turned into some kind of sisterzilla , jumping up at the breakfast table and telling him to sit his butt down. Demanding that her whole family stay out of her business.
It was a side of Erin he’d never seen before and, he had to admit to himself once he got over the shock, she had a point. He was kind of proud of her. He’d been so accustomed to thinking of Erin as their vulnerable kid sister who needed protecting that he’d never noticed she’d become a grown woman making her own choices. It was pretty clear his brothers had felt the same way.
But to find out she cared for Jay Malone , the hotshot agent who had spent the last fifteen years boasting about which top model he was currently dating, had made his blood boil. He and his brothers had planned to teach Jay a lesson one way or another. But then Jay had gone and shocked them all.
Jay Malone had written a romantic comedy.
Jay Malone, who famously never even put his actors in romances, had gone and written one. Co-written, it turned out, with their sister.
And the shocks just kept landing. The minute Jay had left his brother’s house, Arch had started reading the screenplay aloud. Obviously, all of them had figured it would be terrible, something they could have a good laugh at, but after a couple of pages, Arch had stopped reading the lines in a bad falsetto and started reading it with feeling. The way a professional would do a table read.
Even with only one voice doing all the parts, Damien found himself swept up in the story. At first, he’d thought it was because Arch was that good of an actor, but then he realized Jay and Erin were actually that good as screenwriters.
At the end of the first act, Arch put down the phone and looked at all of them grouped around him in an astonished circle. “He meant it. It is a love letter to Erin.”
“And one from her to Jay,” Nick had said, stunned. Silence had fallen as the brothers took in this new fact that reshaped their world. Those two most unlikely people were in love. Then Nick added, “I guess we have to be okay with it.”
Arch read on, not aloud anymore, but skimming ahead, chuckling a few times, shaking his head. Finally, he glanced up. “And damn, it’s good. I think the lead could be perfect for Smith.”
Damien had been so shocked he couldn’t believe his ears. “You seriously think this movie could be made?”
“Oh, yeah. And it could be big.”
Nick pondered the question. “You want Smith to play Jay ?”
Arch shook his head. “It’s not Jay, it’s every guy who’s ever fallen hard for a girl he thought was just a friend. It’s a classic storyline, but they’ve made it feel completely fresh. It’s one of the best scripts I’ve read in a long time.”
While his brothers adjusted to the idea of Erin and Jay, it took Damien some time to process things. He’d always felt extra protective of his youngest sister, but what did he know about love?
He still wasn’t convinced later that evening, when he walked to Arch and Tessa’s for the screening of their Scottish wedding video.
His entire family was gathered together and the smell of freshly popped popcorn filled the air. Crystal Lopez came forward, glanced behind her when he walked in, and laughed, holding up her watch. “See? He’s here just in time. Like he always is.” She was wearing a white summer dress and her black hair hung loose around her shoulders.
He hadn’t been certain whether Crystal would show up tonight or simply send the recording along, but he was happy to see her here. He was always happy to see Crystal. She was one of his oldest friends, and probably the reason he’d made it in the music business.
“It’s true,” Jay said. “Crystal said you’d be here.”
“Fashionably late,” Arch grumbled.
He lifted his own watch, which changed to 7:00. “Hey, I’m right on time.” He was never early, never late. He couldn’t stand waiting around, but also never wanted to keep others waiting, so he’d developed an uncanny ability to arrive exactly when he was meant to. Crystal knew that, even if his own family didn’t.
Crystal brought out red-and-white striped popcorn tubs and began to fill them with the fresh popcorn. It was a nice touch, Damien thought. She was good at her job as a wedding planner, as well as a good friend to his family. She and Erin had gone to school together and, based on the way Jay and Erin were cozied up, Crystal would be planning another wedding before too long.
Arch was already talking to Jay like they were best friends again, even though Jay had an arm slung around Erin’s shoulders. Seeing it made Damien uncomfortable. Everyone was treating Jay as though he was already part of the family. Even Buster and Buzzy had welcomed his dog Nelson into their pack, and the three of them were sitting like three statues watching Crystal, obviously hoping for popcorn.
Crystal wove around the Davenports, handing out the boxes of popcorn, and then they all gathered in front of the enormous flat-screen TV to watch the wedding.
Damien took a seat as far from Jay as he could get, and then squished up next to Mila to make room for Crystal beside him on the couch. It was a squeeze, and he was aware of Crystal’s bare thigh pressing against his. Beneath the smell of popcorn, he caught her scent, spicy and elusive.
Considering the Scottish wedding had been for show after Tessa and Arch had their real wedding at the family home in Carmel, Damien was impressed at how good it was. They’d had so much fun. Howie appeared on screen in his kilt and Finn said, “Dad, until that wedding, I never knew you had such great legs.” And they all laughed.
Tessa looked gorgeous in her cloud of white veil, and Arch so proud that it made Damien smile.
“They are so good together,” Crystal whispered, as though it were a secret.
“My beautiful bride,” Arch said, lifting Tessa’s hand to kiss her knuckles.
In comparison to the beaming Davenports, Tessa’s family all looked snooty, although the niece was very cute in her flowery dress and hairband.
The wedding video had been cut by a professional Crystal had recommended, so they just watched the highlights: the bagpipers, the speeches, a quick shot of the meal. And then there were scenes of the dancing.
Waltzing across the screen were Smith and Valentina Sullivan, Valentina visibly pregnant and glowing with it, and there was Jay close dancing with Erin. The camera caught them looking at each other, a look of intimacy passing between them that was anything but subtle.
And suddenly, Damien saw what he’d been missing all along. His sister was all grown up and when she danced with Jay, there was obvious chemistry. “How did we not see that coming?”
“Your mother did,” Howie announced, looking smug. “Cost me twenty bucks, too.”
Damien had to smile. He loved how his mom and dad placed little bets here and there. His mom always won. No surprise.
He and Crystal were sharing a tub of popcorn that sat on her lap and as he reached into it, his attention back on the screen, she reached in too and their hands touched.
“You did a good job on the wedding,” he told her quietly. “Both of them.”
“I always do,” she told him, laughter in her eyes.
He grabbed a piece of popcorn and tossed it at her. But she opened her mouth and caught it, crunching down.
Next to his family, Crystal was his oldest friend. He hoped she wouldn’t go off and marry some random guy anytime soon, because he couldn’t imagine what his life would be like without her.
* * *
Thank you so much for reading CALIFORNIA SUNSETS!