Epilogue
Two Months Later
“Mama, Mama,” Micah yelled on Christmas morning. “Santaaaaaaa!”
Tasha laughed and turned to Baker in the kitchen. They’d gotten up earlier than her son who was too young to have the excitement that woke him fast to get to his loot.
“I’m coming,” she said, walking to his room where he was standing in front of the gate. “Potty first.”
She picked him up and brought him to the bathroom, sat him down and waited while he went. The toilet training was coming much faster and better than she thought.
Maybe it was having a guy around to help.
She put her son on the stool, watched him wash his hands, then make a mad dash for the tree.
“Gifts!” Micah squealed, and all but did a slide on his knees to them, reaching for the biggest one and attacking it.
There was red and green paper flying all over the room, Baker’s laughter and help to open the boxes and get the toys out of the plastic and cardboard.
Half the gifts came from Baker to her son.
Once Micah was playing and not paying attention to the two of them, they exchanged their gifts, then their stockings.
She got to the bottom of hers and pulled out a small box.
“What’s this?” she asked, her heart hammering hard in her chest, her hand shaking, the silver wrapping paper almost blurring her vision.
She was almost too afraid to let her mind go there.
That it might be too soon.
For years she’d said she was taking it slow, yet everything with Baker was fast. And it was right.
“You know what it is,” he said softly, the smile filling his face. “Open it.”
She attacked it the same as her son, sending the paper flying.
Before she could flip the lid of the box, he was taking it out of her hand, getting on one knee, and showcasing the heart-shaped diamond.
“Oh my. It’s perfect.”
“Just like you,” he said, holding the box up closer toward her, then taking the ring out. “Tasha, I never thought I’d get the one thing I always wanted, but then there you were just waiting for me. I want to say the wait is over. At least for me. That is, if you’ll marry me.”
She held her hand out, and he slipped the ring in place with a perfect fit. “The wait is over for both of us. Yes, I’ll marry you.”
She launched herself into his arms, her lips landing on his, the two of them on the floor.
Micah moved over and picked up the empty box, looked at them and said, “Mine?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “This one is mine.”
Baker reached for Micah and gave him a huge hug. “And you’re mine also,” he told her son.
“Oh my God, ladies,” Jolene said on Christmas night. “A few minutes ago I got a text from Baker.”
“And?” Carolyn said. “What did it say?”
“It was a picture of him, Tasha, and Micah, with Tasha’s hand in front of the camera, and a stunning diamond ring on her finger.”
“Damn,” Diane said. “You always come through.”
“I do,” she said proudly. Though she didn’t always know how it worked herself. “How are things going with Marly?”
“Getting there,” Diane said. “Just like them all lately. I feel as if we are slowing down and I’m okay with it.”
“Me too,” Carolyn said. “I want to really enjoy all the fruits of our labor rather than cramming for someone else to match up.”
It was hard for Jolene to admit that herself. “You know, it might be time to sit back and enjoy this retirement of mine too.”
“What?” Diane and Carolyn said at once. “You’re joking, right?”
“Of course I am,” she said, laughing.
But the minute she hung up, there was her husband, grinning at her like always. “You aren’t joking, are you?”
“Guess everyone will just have to wait and see,” she said, smirking. Because the truth was, she wasn’t going to push or pressure anyone again. If it fell into her lap, then it did.
To be continued for... Marly Conway, Fierce-Colson.
Some second chances aren’t about starting over… they’re about holding on.
Detective Colson Ryder’s life is chaos wrapped in control.
Failed engagements, a divorce, and the sudden custody of a teenage half-sister who’s become his whole world.
He barely has room to breathe… until Marly Conway walks back into his life.
His first love. His deepest regret. And the District Attorney who knows wanting him again could cost her everything.
Marly has built her career on discipline and distance.
She doesn’t blur lines. She doesn’t chase feelings.
But every chance encounter crackles with heat, every look lingers too long, every touch reminds her how dangerously easy it is to want Colson Ryder again.
He’s protective, possessive, and still hers in all the ways that matter.
When the past threatens the family Colson is fighting to keep together, Marly doesn’t hesitate to join his fight, even if it costs her the career she’d fought so hard for. Because some second chances don’t wait for the right moment. They demand everything for those willing to take the risk.