Epilogue
Taryn
Christmas morning is bright, beautiful, and sunny, and as I sit in the great room sipping coffee and eating a cookie, I feel like I might have found my way back to Heaven.
My mother and Johnny Massimo are gone, and I know they won’t be coming back.
I have no plans to go back to New York City, at least not immediately. One day, maybe.
Right now? No.
Because right now, everything I need is right here in this house.
I glance up at Gunner as he walks toward me, a gift in his hand, and smile when he hands it to me. It’s a small box, I can feel that much, and if I didn’t know better, I would think there might be jewelry inside. But that can’t be. He wouldn’t have had time to get anything.
“Just something small,” he says, blushing like this is the most embarrassing thing ever.
I can’t help but grin up at him. Gunner has been stoic and quiet since I got back, and seeing him open up and allow vulnerability and love is quite possibly the most rewarding thing I’ve ever experienced.
He’s also become quite the hero, putting his body between me and the people trying to hurt me, and something about his behavior has shifted since that happened.
Like he’s just finally stepped into who he always wanted to be.
My grin turns to a quiet, thoughtful smile at that, and when he gestures for me to open my present, I turn down toward it.
I unwrap it carefully, something inside me wanting to keep the wrapping paper for the memory of our first Christmas together in our new form, and when I move the paper away, I see that this is a jewelry box after all. A small, black, velvet one.
My heart stops beating and I forget how to breathe. Surely this isn’t what I think it is. It’s only been a couple weeks since I got here. I don’t even have my own clothes here yet.
I bite my lip and flip the top of the box open... and then I laugh.
It’s not a ring. It’s a charm bracelet that matches the one I got Gunner years ago. When I take it out of the box, my blood humming, I see that it already has a charm on it.
A tiny yellow bird accompanied by a heart.
I lift my eyes to Gunner’s, my heart full, and say, “How did you get this?”
He leans down and places a gentle kiss on my forehead. “That’s a secret. Merry Christmas, Little Bird.”
I don’t answer, as I don’t think my voice will work. Something seems to have lodged itself in my throat, cutting off all the sound. When Gabe steps up behind Gunner, a bag in his hand, a tear streaks down my cheek.
Jesus, I don’t know if I can handle another gift like this one.
Gabe is grinning openly, though, and I laugh to see it. When I arrived, he was somber and quiet, his eyes dark and his dimples gone shallow, and I’d been shocked at how much he had changed. Now, though, he’s my Gabe again, all smiles and jokes and mischief, and it makes my heart sing to see it.
He hands me the bag, barely containing his laughter, and I grin back.
“Is this some sort of joke?” I ask.
“Nope. But it is an idea for the future. A double present, if you will.”
I cock my head at that, interested, and shove my hand into the bag. A couple seconds of searching brings me to a large chunk of what feels like wood, and I pull it out, confused.
“You got me... wood?” I ask, confused.
Gabe hisses in frustration and turns the piece in my hand impatiently, like he’s annoyed that I can’t figure it out for myself.
And when he takes his hands away, the chunk of wood is in the shape of a heart, and I see that it’s split into many fragments.
I look at him, still confused, and he takes it and carefully lays it on the coffee table in front of me.
A quick flick of his wrist and the thing comes apart, breaking into pieces.
He spends mere moments putting it back together, though, and I laugh, surprised.
“It’s a puzzle.”
He laughs with me. “Of course it is. But not just any puzzle. It’s my heart.”
The smile melts off my face and I look at the puzzle again. Of course. He told me his heart was broken into a million pieces until I came back, and that’s exactly what this is. A heart that breaks apart, and is rebuilt.
He’s given me his heart for Christmas.
And he’s showing me that I’ve put it back together for him.
When I look at him again, his eyes are shining with tears, like he knows I’ve just figured out what he did.
“Your heart,” I whisper.
He puts his hand to my face. “I wouldn’t trust it to anyone else.”
My heart squeezes and expands like it’s exploding, and I gasp at the flood of emotion. There was a time when I wouldn’t have been able to handle that sort of statement. I would have been running for my razor and the relief it could give me.
But now I let the feelings rip through me, breaking me down and building me back up as they go. I let them shine through my eyes and show on my smiling mouth. And Gabe takes them into himself and hands back his own.
And this feels good.
This feels perfect.
“My turn,” I say. I reach under the couch and grab the envelope I put there this morning. It’s a big one, but that’s because of what it holds.
When I hand it to Gabe, I say, “This is for both of you. Two people. One gift. Open it together.”
Gunner moves to stand next to Gabe, looking confused, and then puts a hesitant finger out to flip the envelope open. Gabe pulls the paperwork out and holds it, and my two men bend to read what the top paper says.
I don’t need to look, because I know it by heart.
It’s a note from my lawyer, indicating that I’ve received my inheritance from my father, and further, that I’m signing half of it over to the Gunner and Gabe, specifically for their business.
In exchange, the business becomes one-third mine.
The final paragraph is that I’m making Gunner and Gabe my beneficiaries in case anything happens to me.
They both look up at me at the same moment, two sets of bright blue eyes wide open in shock.
“What is this?” Gunner asks.
I shrug. “It’s my inheritance from my father.
That’s what Helen was after. I’ve been organizing things with my attorney, though, and making sure I could access it when I wanted it rather than running scared.
That money is mine, now, and I get to do what I want with it.
And what I want is to buy part of your business. Become your partner. Stay forever.”
That last part wasn’t planned, but it feels so right I don’t take it back.
“I figure it’s about time we make things legal,” I finish. “As long as we’re going all in.”
I wait an eternity, then, as I watch the men go through every emotion, from confusion to realization to pure elation. And when they both drop to their knees in front of me and take me in their arms, I know they’ve already decided on their answer.
The same answer that’s singing out from my heart with every passing moment.
This is forever. And I wouldn’t change that for the world.
THE END
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