Epilogue Brielle
SIX YEARS LATER
Summer in Lake Spark always causes my heart to beat in a different way. I know it’s not physically possible, but it feels like it could be. It’s as if memories and hopes dictate the beat of my heart. Or it simply could be that the season tends to put people in better moods, and I’m no exception.
It’s the weekend, which means Ford doesn’t need to check in at the training center, and I can leave my cases on my desk, as real estate law has statistically been awarded the least stressful of law practices, and that’s what I picked.
I bring the tray of burgers and hotdogs to Ford who is manning the grill, with our new yellow Labrador Puck drooling as he sits in attention.
I’m surprised he can still sit, as Ford has him playing frisbee constantly.
We’re throwing a BBQ with Spencer and April while Connor has a pool party with a few friends.
As I set the plate down next to the baby monitor because our three-year-old, Wyatt, is napping, I feel Ford’s arm wrap around me from the side so he can keep me close.
I watch Ford give a steely stare at the pool of teenagers while his lips wrap around the bottle of beer.
It causes me to smirk because I know what he’s thinking.
Spencer arrives at the grill station with a chip in his hand, and he too notices Ford’s tense study of the pool. “What’s up with him?” Spencer bites the chip.
I chortle a laugh. “There are girls here,” I note.
My theory about my son has been proven correct. The girls love him, and he’s already playing for the varsity hockey team at the local prep school. The odds of popularity are in his favor.
“I thought you two have the whole ‘we’re cool parents because we’re young’ philosophy going.” Spencer uses air quotes.
April laughs and comes to his side, bouncing their toddler son on her hip. “Don’t you dare. You completely freaked out yourself when you heard Hadley talking about which older boys would be here,” April warns her husband.
Spencer’s face drops and his nostrils flare slightly. “I blame you two if shit goes down.” The humor is there which makes us all smile.
Yet Ford hasn’t broken his gaze on the hormone-fueled kids in our pool.
“Nah, we’re relatable. Connor knows he can talk to us about anything.
” I snort a laugh because as much as you can be close to your child, they will always try something behind your back, it’s part of growing up.
Ford glances over his shoulder at me. “What? I would rather they all do stuff under our noses instead of God knows where. Besides, we get them used to hanging out with us so they party here and keep it safe. We’ll be those parents that even his friends want to talk to. ” Ford is confident with his approach.
“Smart thinking, actually,” Spencer compliments. “Just keep those hockey players from his team away from my daughter.” He points at Ford.
“Likewise, keep those ballerinas away from my son,” Ford counters.
April and I give one another a knowing look, and we gently shake our heads.
“By the way, where is your sister?” I wonder.
Violet moved permanently to Lake Spark a few years ago and took over the flower shop in town. It’s kept her busy, and we love having her around.
“Late as usual, probably.” Ford begins to throw the meat on the grill.
I tap his shoulder with my hand. “Come on, why don’t you let Spencer take over for a little bit? I’m sure April will keep him in line.” I smile at my friend, and she grins in agreement.
Ford blows out a breath and sets the tongs down in defeat.
We walk to the dock to get a moment alone. The afternoon sun always calms us.
“You okay?” I ask and rest my head against his shoulder while we look out over the lake.
“Sure. Completely. Yep.” He smacks his lips together.
“So unbelievable,” I add on, trying to suppress my grin. Ford is as tense as the times when my father comes over for dinner. Although the relationship between us all has improved, especially when Wyatt came into the picture, there will always be a wound.
He sighs and his arm hangs around my shoulders. “Want the truth?”
“Always.”
“I’m fucking terrified that we are at the point where we have to worry about everything that could alter Connor’s life from his choices.” Ford seems agitated.
I do see the look of fear on his face, but it only makes my mouth stretch. “Trust me, I worry every day. But he’ll find his way, and we’ll be there for him without question. We promised him.”
Ford exhales loudly, and I feel him relax slightly. “You’re right.”
We both sigh. When Connor was twelve, Ford overheard Connor talking with a friend about his first kiss, and then man-to-man, Connor told Ford. I’m not supposed to know. It was a girl from his music class at a party. I can only imagine where we are four years later.
“Life is good, Ford,” I remind him.
He moves because a side embrace simply won’t do. He needs both of his arms around me, and I won’t ever complain about that. He lowers his mouth to capture my lips for a kiss.
“It really is,” he confirms with a whisper. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
One of his hands sneaks between us and he places the pads of his fingers on my belly. Instantly, I grin in pure bliss.
“We’ll be doing all of this again in sixteen years.”
My eyes peer down between us where my husband is touching my pregnant belly.
“We’ll be pros by then.” I’m only halfway, and we just found out that another little boy is going to enter our lives, which Connor very much approved of, as he loves being a big brother and can’t wait to train his own little team of hockey players.
Everything is different pregnancy-wise these days. Planned pregnancies, for one, but we also have everything we could possibly want or need to make this smooth sailing.
“How are you feeling?” Ford’s attentive eyes search my face for a true answer.
“Perfectly okay. I took a nap earlier, and now I’m kind of starving.”
He kisses me fast and hard. “We better get you fed then.” Taking my hand in his, he tugs me along back to the seating area. “Spence, how are the burgers? My wife needs her protein.”
A spray of water comes out of April’s mouth, and she dives her head into Spencer’s shoulder to maintain herself. “You should totally know by now that Spencer and I take that sentence completely out of context.”
Spencer shakes his head.
Ford laughs and continues on with his mission by grabbing a plate. “You two always liven the party, that’s for sure.”
My attention on my friends is broken when the sight of a puddle appears at my side, I smile when I see Connor standing there and drying off with a towel. “Mom, where’s Aunt Violet?”
“Good question,” I reply. I’m fairly confident he talks to his aunt about girls, and I’m sure she is more updated than we are. I hum in response. “She’ll be here soon.”
“Uhm, Brielle, can you help me with the pasta salad that I brought?” April interrupts us.
My eyes draw a line to the table, and I swear I see the pasta salad there and ready. Looking at April, she is giving me wide eyes and the indication that the pasta salad is a cover.
“Right, salad. Kitchen?” I suggest.
She nods. I quickly kiss Ford on the cheek who is now in a deep conversation with Spencer about sports.
A minute later, I find myself in the kitchen where energy springs into April’s body, and her face tells me she is excited. “I can solve the mystery of where your sister-in-law is.”
I lean against the counter. “Violet?”
April nods. “I was at the grocery store and heard the old lady from the knitting club tell the cashier that she saw the florist canoodling with some new guy in town. Naturally, I turned to Hadley who was at the ballet studio near Violet’s flower shop, and she confirmed that she saw a guy talking to Violet. ”
I’m intrigued. “Okay, and?”
April’s face brights up. “It was a guy with a Maserati.” My face stays blank.
I scratch the back of my head, because I’m hearing the story, but something still doesn’t connect.
“Brielle, figure out who has the Maserati, and we solve the mystery.”
“Or I just ask her.”
“It’s more fun playing detective.”
I peer over her shoulder to see that Violet has arrived, and Ford is already getting her a glass of wine.
“Come on, she’ll tell us if there is something to tell.”
April groans, as if I am ruining her entertainment.
I interlink our arms and yank her with me back outside to join the group.
“Hey, Vi, we have plenty of food, so help yourself,” I offer with a smile.
“Thanks. Sorry I’m late, it was a busy day at the shop.”
“Normal busy or unusual busy?” April questions.
I give her a death stare.
“Normal busy, I guess.” Violet doesn’t take notice as she fills her plate with food.
Glancing around our backyard, I see the guys already offered hotdogs to the kids who are now sitting over on the dock with their legs hanging in the water while they chomp on food.
“We’re going to need to throw on another round. Those boys are growing,” I comment.
Ford leans over to kiss my cheek. “I’m a step ahead of you. Besides, we have more adults joining us.”
“I thought Hudson and Piper went to see his son in Bluetop,” I say.
Ford grabs the bowl of salad that I still have not perfected cutting. “They are, but I invited Declan. Now that he owns the Spinners and is adamant that they train here in Lake Spark, he’ll be around more.”
I hear someone nearly spit out their drink, and my head whips in Violet’s direction.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
She pats her chest while her hand returns the wine glass to the table. “Yeah, totally, just drank a little too fast.” Her attention turns to Ford. “Around more?”
“Declan? He’s thinking of moving here,” Ford answers.
Her face drops as the sound of a car motor hits my ears.
My focus on Violet is broken when one of Connor’s friends who is walking into our yard hikes his thumb over his shoulder calls out, “Con, your parties are always unreal. Not only are the adults here like former pro athletes, but now you have a guy show up in the newest Maserati, and I’m pretty sure he looks like Declan Dash.
” The teenager shakes his head with a grin.
My eyes snap to April who looks thoroughly satisfied, before my sight pins to Violet who is holding onto her wine glass for dear life as she hides behind another sip of the expensive white.
Mystery solved.
The thing about Ford is that he is a caveman when any man comes near me. When someone goes near his sister? He is a bear, and not the cuddly kind.
This isn’t going to end well…
My former hockey career had me playing a game. But now I'm playing a new one, and it involves my friend's little sister and the card she just pulled from a bowl at that kind of party.
I should have thrown Violet over my shoulder and dragged her out of the kind of party that her brother would lose his mind over.
But I didn't. Instead, I admired the way she didn't bat an eye at my billionaire status or was afraid to admit our attraction.
We had that wild night. I should have let her be, but our paths crossed a few weeks later because I'm the new owner of the hockey team that practices in Lake Spark, where she lives.
I ignore the fact that her brother would kill me for laying a finger on his sister or that I present Violet with an offer: meet me every day for a week at my hotel room to enjoy a little fun while I pass through town.
She agreed, but our timeline got extended, and the game we began to play didn't come with a rule book. The lines between us get blurry. Violet makes me want things, and now I just need to break my wall and admit that it turns out that she is the point in life that I've always been waiting to score.