Epilogue
One year later
Harte
We were on our way to Laura and Shane’s for Christmas dinner, but Jet was distracted.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him as he took the turn off his road. “You didn’t sleep well last night, and now you’re lost in your head. Everything okay at work?”
Jet’s hands gripped the wheel. “What? Yeah, no, everything’s fine. Had a long talk with Em—he and Nina broke up.”
“Really? They seemed to be going strong. I thought he might even propose. What happened?”
Jet frowned. “She thought she was pregnant. It was a false alarm, but Em freaked and realized he wasn’t ready to be a father, or at least not ready to have a baby with Nina.”
I sighed. “Well, at least he didn’t string her along. But I thought he was going to stop serial-dating? Or was that just talk?”
Jet stopped at the red light. “He tried. Then he got lonely. But between him and Starr, they’re gonna run out of women in Appleton Falls.”
I snickered. “Guess Em might have to expand his reach to neighboring areas. And Starr might have to start dating women over twenty-five.”
The light changed, and Jet started driving. The roads were slick and snow-covered, reminding me of that first night when I crashed into the fence. A night that had set me on the path to my new life.
“Simms didn’t mind you asking for the time off?”
We were taking a long weekend, and I was looking forward to time away with Jet. Between his tours and my schedule, running from college to college, watching upcoming talent, we hadn’t had much “us” time.
I had no idea why he was taking the long route to Laura’s, but it didn’t matter much to me—I would’ve been content to lock the doors to the house and stay put.
For the past several days Jet had been busy making mysterious phone calls, and if I’d ask who he was talking to, he’d merely kiss me and say I had to wait.
That it was part of my Christmas present and not to spoil his surprise.
“Nah, he was cool with it. He doesn’t have any family here, so I think he was happy to be busy. And Em and Starr will be working as well.”
Hawley Simms was Jet’s new sergeant, the replacement for Gleason, who’d retired.
Jet and I had sat up for many sleepless nights, debating the pros and cons of him taking the promotion, and while the pay was better and it would have helped his career path, the simple truth was, Jet loved patrol and being out with the people, seeing what was happening in town, rather than sitting behind a desk, reading and writing reports.
In the end, he’d decided to remain with Emerson.
The promotion would’ve taken him out of harm’s way for the most part, but Jet needed to be happy and fulfilled in his career.
Simms had transferred from Overlook’s sheriff’s department and was well-liked and respected.
“Why’re you taking this way to Laura’s instead of the shortcut?” I hated this part of town, the dark and twisty two-lane road where I’d had my accident. I tried to avoid it at all costs.
Jet took my hand. “You’ll see. Now how did the midyear scouting-report meeting go with the Kings?”
“They were very happy with the prospects I’d gathered and even happier that they weren’t on anyone else’s watch list. Some of these kids have incredible talent, and I can see them going far.
Of course, right now all things are getting primed for the Kings to be in another postseason, so once the Super Bowl mania is done with, I’ll sit down and go through each school and see who’s graduating and if we want to make an offer, plus there are some juniors who are looking to skip their senior year that we might be able to get in the draft. ”
“You love the job, don’t you?” Jet glanced at me quickly.
“Yeah,” I answered without any hesitation. “I don’t like the time spent away from you, but I do feel like I’m doing something with my life. Helping Dev and Brody with GAINS is also special. I’m thrilled there’s been so much acceptance for out players, not only in football, but in hockey too.”
“Yeah. Although I was sad to hear about Ripley Tremaine and Denis Bouvier splitting up.” Jet slowed as we approached the turn where I’d skidded. My breathing kicked up a notch, and unconsciously, I braced myself and tried to concentrate on anything else except me spinning out of control.
“The fund raiser was pretty amazing. I was happy to see so much support, not only from within the community, but from allies as well. As for Tremaine and Bouvier, yeah, they were the golden power couple of the NHL, but in all the times I met them, they didn’t give off forever vibes.
” I peered into the darkness, as ahead of us were all kinds of Christmas lights in front of the fence I’d smashed into.
“Not like us.”
He took my hand, and I squeezed it. “No. Nothing like us.”
For some reason, Jet slowed down, then pulled off to the side of the road and stopped. He turned off the engine. My heart pounded as if I were on the offensive line and knew the blitz was coming.
“Jet…what’s going on?”
A sweet smile tipped up his lips. “Take a walk with me?”
I chewed my lip. “Uh, in case you didn’t realize, it’s snowing.”
He leaned in. “I know. Please?”
Without waiting for an answer, he jumped out, ran over to my side, and opened my door. Hand in hand, we walked closer to the fence.
“Jet?” I blinked, afraid the snow on my lashes had created a mirage. “What did you do?”
Two fully decorated Christmas trees stood on either side of a giant red heart made of lights.
Under a white-top tent, a table was set with a bottle of champagne and two glasses.
A red carpet led from the road to the table, and with my hand still holding Jet’s in a death grip, we walked to the table, where a sign read: YOU CRASHED INTO MY HEART, AND I’LL NEVER LET YOU GO. I LOVE YOU. MARRY ME.
On the table was a small box. Jet picked it up and opened it. A gold band rested on a bed of black velvet. His face shined bright with hope.
“Be mine forever, Harte. My life was empty before that night I found you—”
“Bleeding and black and blue.” I laughed, but I couldn’t stop shaking. “I can’t believe you did all this for me.”
“Who else would I do it for? You’re the only person I’ve ever loved, the only one I will ever love. Let’s make our life together here. A home, a family.” He took out the ring, and it slid on my finger, cool and heavy. And perfect. Like Jet.
“I’ll have to get you one to match,” I said, holding up my hand to admire it. “I love it and you. Of course I’ll marry you.”
Jet kissed me, and all of a sudden a big Suburban drove by, horn blaring. Dev stuck his head out the window, with Brody in the passenger seat.
“He said yes, right?”
Jet gave a thumbs-up, and less than two minutes later, fireworks exploded in the night sky. I stared at the spectacle in wonder, then at Jet’s beaming face.
“I might’ve had some help coordinating all this.”
“Dev and Brody.”
The two best friends I could ever hope for. But it didn’t matter who’d helped Jet. I had the love of my life, and a place to call home.
“They like to be involved—what can I say? I told them what I wanted to do, and they said I needed to think of it in football terms. Not a Hail Mary—that’s a play of last resort—and it’s definitely not a trap or a fumble.”
“No.” I kissed him softly. “Not a trap. I want to be here with you. Every minute. Every hour. No way will I fumble this. Let’s go home where we can lock the doors and huddle together for the holiday and make it last forever.”