Epilogue
THREE MONTHS LATER
TEAGAN
“Are you ready for this?” Quinn asks, fiddling with the tie I got him last month for his birthday.
Once everything about Pierce and his family came to light, Quinn could finally take credit for the books he wrote. He’s being interviewed today to discuss it on one of the local radio stations, and I couldn’t be prouder of him.
I place my hands over his, stilling them. “I’m always ready. But you, my love, seem riddled with nerves,” I tease. “What can I do to help?”
He blows out a long breath. “I’ve never been in the spotlight before. I was always fine hiding in the background. I don’t know how to discuss my part in these books, knowing it’s being filmed for the whole world to hear. I’ve never been allowed to talk freely about them before.”
I grab his face and kiss him gently. “It’s one interview. We’ll all be there right next to you. Lexi and Capri will meet us here, then we can go to the station together.”
“Yeah, but you girls do this for a living. I’m the newbie here, and it’s a bit nerve-racking.”
“First off, you don’t need this,” I tell him as I pull his tie off. “It’s a podcast, no real cameras required. You could sit there in your briefs if you felt more comfortable that way.”
He raises a brow at me. “Oh, don’t tempt me. I may scare the radio hosts off when I decide to jump into the booth and ravish you instead of doing this interview.”
“Any other day, I’d probably let you. But this is a big deal, Quinn. You should be proud of how far you’ve come.” He rolls his eyes at me as he nips playfully at my neck. “Besides, you won’t be the only newbie there. Lochy is coming too.”
His lips pause as he looks up at me. “Really? He’s coming?”
I nod. “Lexi’s picking him up from the airport and driving straight here. It was supposed to be a surprise.”
We haven’t seen Lochlan since he returned to Scotland after Lee’s funeral.
He needed space to process everything and volunteered to ensure all the staff Pierce held hostage got home safely.
He also cooperated with the police as they investigated what happened at Windermere, so he needed to stay in Scotland.
Lexi has traveled back and forth a few times to visit him, but this is the first time we will all be back together in months.
She told us the island is still standing, but the castle is nothing but rubble.
Good riddance.
Quinn pulls me to the bed, so I’m straddling him, and kisses my neck again. His fingers travel up my spine, making me flush. “I guess if Lochlan can brave the world, I can too,” he says against my heated skin. “But first, I have other plans with you.”
I laugh against his lips as Paws jumps onto the bed with us, inciting a groan from Quinn.
He pushes me off his lap and grabs Paws, kissing her little nose before setting her outside the bedroom door.
“You’re too young to watch the things I’m about to do to your mother in here.
” Paws meows and walks down the hall. He closes the door quietly before diving back into bed with me.
I still can’t believe this man is mine. He came back to America with me and moved in almost immediately. I know, I know. Taking things slow would have been the smart thing since both of his brothers and his father tried to murder me.
But after what we went through and watching Capri lose the love of her life, I refuse to let life pass me by.
I'm in charge of my own fate now, and all I want is him.
LEXI
I hate airports. The parking is expensive. The elevators take five million years. The crowd is too… crowded. And half the time, the coffee shop is closed for no reason other than to make my trip to the airport even worse than it already is.
But, while I hate airports, I also sort of love them.
I love watching children’s faces light up when they finally spot their grandparents. And don’t even get me started on military homecomings. I bawl like I’m an extra in a Hallmark movie every dang time.
My favorites, though, are when I’m people-watching and get to see the faces of those long-distance couples when they spot each other after looking nervously at each face that passes the gate.
The joint excitement and reunions just bring out that sappy side of me that always wished for someone to look for me with nerves in their chest and hearts in their eyes.
And now it’s my turn.
I’m standing on the tips of my toes as I search the baggage claim, desperate for the tall, burly, Scottish man of my dreams.
I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. I swear, this idiot lights my heart up from the inside out when he’s with me.
Is this what love feels like? I can see why everyone’s always yapping about it, now, because I might be helplessly in love with the guy.
There’s a gentle tap on my shoulder. “Looking for me, lassie?” I jump into Lochlan’s arms with a squeal before kissing him soundly. “I’d take that as a yes,” he laughs against my lips.
With heavy reluctance, I release my hold on him. “Let’s get your bag and get out of here. If we hurry, we’ll have an hour before we meet everyone at Teagan’s. You’re going to surprise the hell out of Quinn.”
Lochlan squeezes my hip. “Bags, lassie. I’ve got bags. And we will have loads of time together. That is, if you’ll have me. And if I know you girls the way I think I do, then I know Teagan’s already spilled those beans.”
My eyes widen as I take in his words. “Are you serious right now? You’re staying? Here, in America?”
He smiles that adorably lopsided smile at me and kisses my nose. “Only if you’ll have me. My visa is good for three months as I search for a job here.”
I let out an excited scream, startling a group of people waiting for their bags, and jump right back into his arms. “Yes, yes, yes, you big oaf. Stay forever.” I gush, then take a glance at his shoes.
“I threw my favorite alligator shoes away just for you,” Lochlan tells me with a grin.
“Miracles do happen!” I tease before my lips meet his. My heart explodes with happiness when he kisses me back with a smile.
I want him now, and forever. It’s the least we deserve after surviving what we did.
We untangle, and he quickly finds his seven neon green bags.
“Those are absolutely hideous,” I say with a sneer while he figures out how to squeeze all of them in my car.
He has to try three times to get my small trunk to close, but he grins when it finally does.
“It’s not my fault you fell in love with a horrible, fashion-challenged oaf, now is it?
” He pushes me against the car and finally kisses me the way I crave.
His tongue teases mine, and all my senses fly away when he grips my face to deepen the kiss.
“I do love you, you know.” I gasp when we come up for air. “But you love me, too.”
Lochlan grins. “I do, lassie, I sure do.”
CAPRI
Grief is like a train that never stops running. The tracks are infinite, never derailing.
It’s been three months since I lost Lee. Three months of living with a hole in my heart the size of his love. Three months of reminding myself that I’ll never see his smiling face again.
Three months of an emptiness that sears itself into my very bones, flaring up anytime I forget for even one moment.
But today, I don’t have the energy or time for grief. Today, I have to be strong—for myself, for my friends, but primarily for my daughter. Because today is Skye’s first day of school, and the girl is nervous as all get out.
Rebecca homeschooled her at Windermere the entire time she was there, so Skye has never been in a classroom setting, let alone around children her age.
I know she’ll do great; she’s light-years ahead of any child in her grade.
Rebecca taught her well, and I thank her every day for being there for my baby girl when I wasn’t.
Skye shifts her purple backpack nervously as she stares up at the doors of her new school. “I’m scared.”
I bend down and brush a hair from her cheek. “I know, baby, I know. Change is scary. But I promise you’ll have so much fun. You’re going to meet so many new friends.”
She looks around the school yard and watches the other kids with interest. “What if they don’t like me?”
“Then you’ll find one who does. All it takes is one friend to make you feel invincible.”
She cocks an eyebrow at me. “But how did you get two best friends? You have Aunt Teagan and Aunt Lexi?”
My heart thumps happily in my chest as I remember first meeting them. It’s a nice change-up from the painful pulsing it usually does these days.
“Well, I got lucky with them.” I wink at her, making her laugh.
“But you know how I got so lucky?” She shakes her head.
“I walked right up to them with chocolate treats and a smile and introduced myself. You just have to be yourself, sweetheart. After all, you’re my favorite human on the planet.
And if you keep being yourself, you’ll be someone else’s favorite, too.
” The bell rings, and I stand and kiss the top of her head. “I love you.”
Her blue eyes take my breath away when she looks up at me.
I no longer see her father’s eyes when I look at them.
I only see hers. “I love you, too, Mom. Hopefully, I’ll get to meet my own best friends today.
” She grins and salutes me before walking toward the school’s double doors.
They are only a few feet away from where I’m standing, but I find myself holding my breath the moment she steps away from me.
I wonder if I’ll ever get used to the fact that she’s mine now, and that she’ll always come back.
My heart stills when two girls stop her before she can enter. “Hi, my name’s Skye.” She pulls two beaded bracelets we made last night off her wrist and hands them to the girls. The two girls smile at her, take the bracelets, and put them on their wrists.
“Want to be our friend?” the blonde girl asks.
Skye beams and nods her head. “Yeah.”
The brunette girl fist bumps her, and all three link arms and head into the school together.
“I wish you could see our girl, Lee. You’d be so proud of how brave and strong she is,” I whisper as I head back to my car. A magnolia flower falls from the tree above me and lands on my windshield.
I let out a strangled laugh as I pick it up. Lee may not be here with us, but I know he’s always watching from above.
My phone goes off, and I see Teagan’s name on the screen. “What’s up?” I ask.
“Lexi and Lochlan just got here! Where are you?”
I can hear Lochlan laugh at something in the background and smile when Quinn and Lexi shout something.
“I’m heading that way now,” I tell Teagan, putting my car into drive. “Sorry, I missed out on the surprise!”
“Teagan spilled the beans before we even got here!” Lexi shouts. “Hurry up! We miss you!”
“Can’t get this show on the road without our favorite, Mama bear!” Lochlan chimes in.
Quinn laughs again. “You guys are really serious about this whole group thing, aren’t you?”
“Oh, hush, you guys! She’s on her way!” Teagan yells before the call drops.
I smile and turn my music up as loud as I can while singing to the lyrics to some ’80s mix Lee loved because I know that somehow, someway, we’re all going to be okay again one day.
This world tried to break us, and it failed.
THE END