Epilogue
JACK
I sit down on one of the ornate concrete benches the Elladine Fire Department donated in Teddy’s memory and stare at the ground, a light dusting of fresh snow covering it. I wonder if he knew how much he was loved. So many of our department brothers, across all three of our stations, donated to fund the beautiful benches because Ted had touched their lives.
“Hey, Teddy… sorry it’s taken me so long to come, buddy. I think a part of me was still trying to pretend you were just away, not gone, and I knew coming here would make it feel more real. I can’t believe it’s been almost three months without you. I miss you so damn much. You’ve been my best friend since we met all those years ago.” Feeling my eyes stinging, I pause for a minute to compose myself and clear my throat.
“So, today’s the big day. Annie and Bean are moving in with Grace and me. It’s kind of shitty weather for moving, but there’s no way I can wait until spring. That woman, she grounds me, and I don’t want to waste one minute apart from her that I don’t have to. Anyway, my family is going to help, as well as Fitz. Finn volunteered to help, too. He’s new, so you don’t know him. The jury is still out on him… He’s doing damn well in his training, but he can be a cocky son of a bitch, too. I think you’d like him, though. Shit, sorry, Ted, I’m rambling,” I say, stopping myself.
I sit quietly for a few minutes, smiling at the memories as I think about Teddy and the sheer energy and joy he brought to those who loved him.
Looking down at my watch, I realize I need to leave now if I’m going to get everything ready for today.
“All right, Ted, I’m going to head out now. Before I go, though, I want… I want you to know I’m watching out for Em. Fitz is too, actually. We’ve been going over and helping with yard work and minor stuff around the house. Fitz has been plowing her snow so far this season, even though she insists she can do it. Shit, we had one bad storm already, and the snowdrifts were more than half her height, but you know how stubborn that woman can be,” I say, laughing.
“Okay. I really have to go. I love you, man.” I say and pat his headstone before wiping my eyes and heading back to the truck.
ANNIE
Sitting cross-legged on the floor of my back bedroom, Shayna and I are packing some of my linens into boxes to load into my car. I can’t believe moving day is already here.
“I’m so happy you and Tommy will live here,” I say to Shayna, smiling. “You’re going to love how well he and the DePaul twins get on.”
“I can’t wait. I’m not trying to be a wild child or anything, but it’ll be nice when Tommy is at Mom and Dad’s house overnight to maybe have some company or not sleep at home without my whole family knowing my business.” She winks.
“Shayna! Do you have a man-friend you’ve been keeping from me?” I whisper-yell, so her brothers—who, along with Fitz and Finn, are in the other room planning how to move the bigger furniture—don’t hear.
She snorts. “God, no. Just wishful thinking. I’m pretty sure my hymen has grown back. It’s been so long.”
We each grab a box from the bedroom and make our way to the dining room area just in time to see the guys trying to figure out the best way to carry the very heavy solid walnut bookcase and desk that were my dad’s down the narrow flight of stairs.
I watch them for a few seconds until Jack looks over at me and calmly says, “Stop biting at your thumbnail, sugar. We promise we’ll be super careful with these. We know they’re important to you.”
I smile, removing my thumb from my mouth, having not even realized I was doing it. I love he can read me and know what I need even when I haven’t said anything.
“Thanks, Jack,” I say, walking over to him and planting a kiss on his lips as I wrap my arms around his waist to hug him.
“How about Shayna and I grab some of our boxes and go down first, so I’m not tempted to supervise?” I smile.
“I think we can all agree that’s probably the best plan, Annie.” He smirks, then he tenderly kisses my temple.
I nod and pull away to help Shayna as she’s stacked a couple of boxes on top of each other to carry down. It’s a pretty high stack and I see Finn giving Shayna the side-eye. He opens his mouth—I’m sure to suggest she take a box off the stack.
Jack takes it all in, and quickly runs his finger across his throat, signaling Finn to not go there. Finn sees him and stops himself before he says anything.
Damnit, Jack. I was looking forward to watching how that would have played out .
Anyone who knows and loves Shayna knows two things about her. First, she’s intensely independent, and no one tells her what she can and cannot do. Second, she has a temper on her. When it’s in defense of you, there is no one better to have on your side. But when it’s aimed at you, look out.
I smile, watching this amazing friend who has quickly become like a sister to me.
She and I head to the car with our haul, taking a few minutes to rearrange things to optimize our space. As we head back up to the house, grunting from the stairwell meets my ears before we even make it to the porch.
I climb the porch steps and walk over to peek up the steps to the house. I see Finn and Fitz, both covered with a light sheen of sweat, almost to the bottom with the bookcase. Jack and Ben are about halfway down the stairs with the bigger, heavier desk. I observe, note not supervise , as Finn and Fitz make it out of the house and to the lawn before placing the bookcase on the grass and resting.
Jack and Ben have about eight feet left to go.
“Fuck, this is heavy,” Jack pants.
“No shit, dude, I’m sweating my balls off on this one,” Ben answers in reply.
“Hey, guys, take your time and don’t bust a nut!” I holler up the stairs.
Shayna gasps and lets out a snort.
I turn around and she has her hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh.
I swear Finn says, “That’s what she said” under his breath before he and Fitz break down laughing. I’m totally confused .
“What?” I ask everyone. “What’s so funny?”
Ben and Jack have just made it to the porch and set the desk down before Jack turns to look at me, grinning, and says, “Annie, what, exactly, do you think ‘bust a nut’ means?”
Even Ben is laughing at me.
I give Jack the most incredulous look I can muster. “I’m a nurse, Jack. It means don’t strain yourself lifting something heavy and give yourself a hernia.”
Now the laughing gets even more boisterous.
Fitz is doubled over holding his stomach, and Shayna is laughing so hard she’s literally crying.
“No, sugar, it doesn’t,” Jack says, clearly trying not to laugh. “C’mere, I’ll tell you what it means.” He stalks towards me, pulling me into a hug.
Holding me close, he puts his mouth near my ear and whispers, which of course immediately turns me on. “My girl can have such a filthy mouth when she’s begging me to fuck her.” He pauses because he knows what those words will do to me, and I have to make a concentrated effort not to moan as I feel a tingling deep in my core. “But she doesn’t know that ‘bust a nut’ is slang for a man coming hard, like I do every time I?—”
“Okay, okay, I get it!” I say, pulling away, knowing if I continue to listen to him, I’ll embarrass myself further or take him back upstairs and have my way with him on our now bed-less bedroom floor.
“Sorry, guys,” I say, smiling. “I now have a better understanding of the phrase and I most certainly do not want any of you doing that while you help us move.”
JACK
Ben and I have just finished getting the desk inside the house and in the office, so I head back out to the driveway to see if there’s anything else to bring in. We’re running against the clock here for everything to work out according to plan.
Just as I step out the side door, Shayna’s struggling with a small, but heavy, walnut file cabinet as Finn walks toward her. Uh-oh …
“Hey, little lady, that looks too heavy for you. I’ll get it,” Finn says to her.
“Excuse me? What the fuck did you just call me?” she practically hisses, looking pissed as hell.
He rolls his eyes at her, and I can see her anger level rising. Unfortunately for Finn, he doesn’t pick up on it and reaches for the cabinet. I can’t help but chuckle as she keeps her hands firmly on it and kicks at him to keep him away.
“Jesus, woman! I was just trying to help!” He yelps when she lands a kick on his shin.
“You called me ‘little lady,’ asshole! I’m perfectly capable of getting this in the house. I certainly don’t need some He-Man muscled-up chump telling me what I can and can’t do. And?—”
“Okay, Xena, calm down. I won’t try to carry the cabinet. Christ,” Finn says, clearly not used to being put in his place by women.
“What the hell is a Xena?” Shayna asks, angrily putting her hands on her hips.
“You know who He-Man is, but not Xena the Warrior Princess? How super feminist of you,” he says sarcastically.
Oh, fuck, now he’s done it , I think to myself, clearly not dumb enough to say it out loud in front of my sister.
Since they’re so focused on fighting with each other, I walk over and grab the cabinet and they don’t even notice until I’m already at the door.
“Hey!” Shayna yells at me, but I just ignore her and head into the house.
ANNIE
I’m dying laughing as Jack describes the encounter between Finn and Shayna in the driveway. I take deep breaths and try to stop the laughter at the sound of their approaching footsteps coming up the back porch stairs.
“After you,” he says to her, annoyance clear in his voice.
“No, after you,” she replies with saccharine sweetness, clearly trying to push his buttons.
“Jesus, will you just fucking go in?” he says, refusing to go in front of her.
“Fine, but don’t look at my ass when I’m in front of you, He-Man,” she says, bitchily.
“I wouldn’t dream of it, little lady,” he says without missing a beat.
“God, you’re such an asshole!” Shayna snarls.
Jack’s parents are here making lunch for our volunteer moving crew and the ruckus on the stairs has drawn them, Fitz, and Ben into the kitchen to listen with us.
Rose turns to Jack’s dad and whispers, “She gets that sass from you.”
At the squeaking sound of the back door opening, we all bolt out of the kitchen into the dining room to hide the fact that we’ve been eavesdropping.
Once Shayna and Finn step into the kitchen, Jack calls them into the dining room and clears his throat. “Annie and I want to thank you all for being here for us today. We couldn’t have gotten this all done without you and appreciate you giving up a Saturday to help.” He pauses for a second, before continuing, “Oh, shit, Annie,” he says, looking at me oddly. “I forgot to call the dogs in from the back. Would you let them in?”
“What? Don’t you just want to leave them outside when we eat? You know Bean will try to steal at least one of these sandwiches and probably a few of the cookies,” I remind him, pointing out the food on the table.
“No, they need to be in because… because there have been a string of dog-nappings in the neighborhood lately and I don’t want to risk them being unattend?—”
“Oh my God, Jack, why didn’t you tell me?” I screech, rushing to the door, hoping no one has already tried to get my babies.
I pull open the door, whistle, and Gracie runs in shortly after—Beanie following a few seconds behind.
“Oh, my goodness, I’m so sorry we left you out there all alone with bad people on the prowl,” I say, bending down and giving them all the loves and hugs. That’s when I realize they’re wearing shirts with writing on them…
Gracie’s shirt reads, “Will you .”
What the heck does that even mean? But then I look at Beanie’s shirt and see, “marry me?”
Holy hell, it hits me that their shirts read, “Will you marry me?”
I think my heart stops and I just stare at their shirts for several seconds before it strikes me that the room behind me is now silent. Slowly, I stand and turn around.
Oh. My. God. Jack is down on one knee, holding open a small box with a gorgeous princess cut solitaire ring in it as his eyes meet mine. He has that beautiful smile I love on his face, and he says, “So, will you, sugar? Will you marry me?”
As happy tears flow down my face, I nod emphatically, not sure I can get words out.
“Is that a yes?” Jack asks hesitantly. “I’m kinda feeling like I need to hear the words, baby.”
“Yes,” I squeak out. “Yes! Yes!”
Before I know it, his arms are around me and he’s lifting me off my feet and spinning me to the cheers of our friends and family behind us.
Pulling back, I look up at his face and ask him, “Babe, does this mean there isn’t someone in our neighborhood stealing dogs?”
“No, sweetness,” he laughs. “No one is stealing dogs in our neighborhood. Just one gorgeous woman stealing my heart.”
He beams at me just before giving me the first kiss as my fiancé.
Thank you for reading Come Back to Me.