Chapter 25 #2
“You paid seven hundred dollars for me. I feel like that entitles me to something. Lobster, maybe. A nice bottle of wine.”
“I paid five hundred for you. Elijah was seven hundred.”
“Even worse. I feel undervalued.” He clutches his chest dramatically. “My own packmate thinks I’m only worth five hundred dollars.”
“You literally rolled up your sleeves and flexed for the crowd. You’re lucky anyone bid at all.”
“Those flexes added at least two hundred dollars to my final price and you know it.”
Elijah snorts. Tessa laughs.
“Fine,” I say. “One lobster dinner. But you’re ordering off the regular menu, not market price.”
“Deal.” Milo extends his hand, and we shake on it.
“What about me?” Elijah asks. His voice is dry, but there’s a hint of humor underneath.
“You get whatever you want. You had to stand up there for six minutes while Maeve tortured me.”
“It was entertaining.”
“It was traumatizing.”
“Same thing.”
The music starts—something slow and romantic, the kind of song that gets couples onto the dance floor. I watch the crowd filter toward the center of the room, swaying together under the fairy lights.
“Dance with me?” I ask Tessa.
She looks at me, then at Milo and Elijah.
“Go,” Milo says. “We’ll survive without you for five minutes.”
“Barely,” Elijah adds.
She takes my hand and lets me lead her to the dance floor.
I pull her close, one hand on her waist, the other holding hers. She fits against me perfectly—her head tucking under my chin, her body warm and soft.
“Thank you,” she says quietly. “For tonight. For all of it.”
“You don’t have to thank me.”
“I want to.” She pulls back enough to look at me. “I’ve never had this before, Ben. People who show up. People who plan things just to make me happy. People who spend twelve hundred dollars at a bachelor auction because they can’t stand the thought of anyone else—”
“I’d do it again,” I cut her off. “Every time. Whatever it costs. Whatever it takes.”
“I know.” She smiles, soft and real. “That’s what makes it so scary.”
“Scary?”
“Good scary.” She rises on her toes and kisses me. “The best kind of scary.”
When the song ends, I walk her back to the table and Milo immediately stands.
“My turn,” he says, offering his hand. “I believe I’m owed a dance for five hundred dollars.”
Tessa laughs and takes his hand.
I watch them go—watch Milo pull her close, watch him whisper something that makes her throw her head back laughing. He’s good at this. Making her feel special. Making her feel wanted.
“You did good,” Elijah says from beside me.
“Thanks.”
“Twelve hundred dollars though.”
“Don’t start.”
He almost-smiles. “I’m just saying. That’s a lot of lobster dinners.”
“Worth it.”
“Yeah.” He watches Tessa and Milo on the dance floor. “It really was.”
When Milo brings her back, Elijah stands without a word. Offers his hand. Tessa takes it, and I watch them walk to the dance floor together—the quiet woodworker and the woman he’s loved for three years.
He holds her differently than Milo did. Closer. More protective. Like he’s afraid she’ll disappear if he lets go.
Milo slides into the seat next to me. “Look at him. Our boy’s growing up.”
“He’s the same age as us.”
“He’s an old soul. It counts.”
We watch in comfortable silence as Elijah and Tessa sway together. She’s looking up at him, saying something. He’s looking down at her, listening. Whatever she says makes him smile—a real smile, not his usual almost-smile.
Movement catches my eye near the bar. Cara Donovan is standing alone, her three bachelors nowhere in sight. Her back is to the room, shoulders hunched.
I glance at their dinner table. Empty now. Theo, Lucas, and Nate must have left.
And Cara... Cara looks like she’s trying not to cry.
Whatever she came back hoping to fix, it’s only gotten worse.
Milo follows my gaze. “That bad?”
“Looks like they ditched her.”
“Ouch.” He shakes his head. “Ten years is a long time. Can’t just waltz back into town and expect everything to be the same.”
“Guess they’re not ready to forgive whatever happened.”
“Would you be?”
I don’t have an answer for that.
I turn my attention back to the dance floor, where Elijah is walking Tessa back toward us. She’s smiling, her cheeks flushed, her eyes bright.
“My turn again?” I ask.
“Not yet.” She sits down and takes a breath. “I need a minute. And maybe dessert.”
“Dessert I can do.”
I flag down a waiter and order the chocolate cake. She leans against me while we wait, her head on my shoulder.
“This is nice,” she murmurs.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She looks around the table at us—at Milo, still watching the room with that easy awareness of his. At Elijah, quiet and steady. At me. “I could get used to this.”
“Good. Because you’re stuck with us.”
“So you keep saying.”
“I’ll keep saying it until you believe it.”
The dessert arrives. We share it, forks crossing, and talk about nothing important—Milo’s plans for the bar, Elijah’s latest project, the disaster that was this morning’s balloon arch debate. Normal stuff. Easy stuff.
Dean Maddox finds us as we’re finishing, looking a little awkward in his dress shirt instead of his usual firehouse gear.
“Hey, sorry to interrupt the celebration,” he says, giving us all a warm smile before turning to Tessa. “Got a delivery for you. Lila wanted me to bring it over personally.”
Tessa frowns. “Lila?”
“Well, she didn’t say it was from her.” He pulls an envelope from his jacket, rubbing the back of his neck. “Anonymous, supposedly. But you know how she is about not wanting credit for stuff.”
Tessa opens it. I watch her face as she unfolds the check.
Her eyes go wide.
“Dean, this can’t be right,” she says.
“Trust me, it’s right.” He grins. “You know Lila. She just wants to help. Didn’t want a big fuss.”
“But this would cover the entire roof. And then some.”
“Yeah, well.” He shrugs, still smiling. “She loves this town. And she wanted tonight to be special for you guys.” He glances at the four of us, eyes crinkling. “Looks like it worked out.”
He gives us a little wave and heads back toward the door, probably to find Lila.
Tessa stares at the check. “That woman.”
“The movie star?”
“She’s bonded to Dean. And apparently the most generous person in Montana.” She tucks it carefully into her clutch. “She didn’t want it to be about her.”
“That’s really generous.”
“Yeah.” Her voice is soft. “It is.”
The music shifts to something slower, more intimate. Couples are drifting off the dance floor, heading home. The night is winding down.
“We should go,” Tessa says. “Before they start cleaning up.”
“Where to?” Milo asks.
We all look at each other. My place is too small. Milo’s apartment above the bar is loud. Tessa’s—
“Mine,” Elijah says quietly. “If you want.”
Tessa’s breath catches. “Are you sure?”
“Got plenty of room.” He pauses, the corner of his mouth twitching. “And wine. And a fireplace.”
She smiles—soft and real and perfect. “I’d like that.”
My phone buzzes as we’re standing to leave.
Dad: Heard you made quite a scene at the auction tonight.
Papa: Bea called us. Your mother’s already planning Sunday dinner.
Dad: We’re proud of you, son. She’s a good one.
Papa: Bring her. And the other two. We want to meet them properly.
Ben: I will.
Dad: And Ben? Good job.
I pocket my phone and look at my pack. Tessa’s holding Elijah’s hand. Milo’s throwing an arm around both of them. They’re all looking at me, waiting.
“Ready?” I ask.
Tessa smiles. “Ready.”
We walk out into the cold Montana night together. All four of us.
A pack.
Finally.