Epilogue
EMMETT
Seven years later…
It’s a slow holiday season, but I don’t mind.
Snow is falling thick on the grounds, covering the roof in a white blanket for the winter.
Inside, I see the fire blazing in the lobby, crackling while all the Christmas lights I hung twinkle.
The place looks warm and lively from out here.
A perfect outpost in the mountains for adventurers and weary travelers.
We’re housing a dozen or so for the next couple of weeks. Cross-country skiers and alpinists, mostly. Folks who like to celebrate the New Year by climbing a mountain in frigid temps. My kind of people, if I have any.
I stop in the entryway, watching the woman at the front desk through the window. She’s pointing at a computer monitor, laughing wildly. I can hear her from out here, muffled but joyful. Even the snow can’t drown out her light.
Sandy stands next to our son. They wear matching smiles.
It didn’t take long for us to realize that Sandy was never going to leave.
Didn’t take much longer for me to propose, either.
I’ve never been great at planning or doing things as they’re expected of me.
I sort of just asked her one night, a few months into her stay.
She slapped me, then kissed me, then we rolled around by the fire for a couple of hours.
Maybe I should have got it all on video. She’s better at that sort of thing.
I just fix stuff. Simple.
She fixed me.
I know Eric would smile if he were here, probably crack some joke. But I don’t hear him echoing in my mind anymore. I don’t need to.
A few guests are lounging in the lobby by the fire.
They smile at me as I walk in. I nod back respectfully.
Over the years, I’ve learned that it’s better if I mostly keep my mouth shut.
Honestly, I prefer the guests to think I’m a mute.
Of course, Sandy always introduces me like I’m the pride and joy of Willow Lake Lodge. She loves making me blush.
“There he is!” Sandy waves me over. “Look, Emmett. Look at these old videos I found.”
I round the counter and pick up my son. He loves riding around on my shoulders.
Sandy has old footage from her vlogging days up on the monitor. She lets one play, and I realize that it’s the day we met.
“Get it together,” Sandy from the past says from that old rental car. “Be normal. Sure, he’s hot. But treat him like anyone else…”
Our son thinks that’s the funniest thing he’s ever heard. To be fair, he thinks everything is the funniest thing he’s ever heard. He laughs and smiles and is full of boundless energy. He mostly takes after his mother. Thank God.
“Your mom was so into me,” I grunt, looking at Sandy. “What happened?”
She smacks my arm. “Hush. I’m more into you than ever. Oh! I remember this. Watch this part.”
In the video, Sandy looks at the camera, obviously flustered from our first encounter. “Maybe I’ll show this to our future children. Hey, kids. Today’s the day I met your father! Cute, huh?”
“Holy shit,” I gasp dramatically. “You can see the future?”
“Watch your mouth!”
“Yeah!” my son cries. “Bad word!”
“It’s a great word,” I say, letting him down. “But only for adults. Right, Eric?”
He does that thing where he acts like he’s about to repeat the word he heard me say. Can I really be upset? This kid is already smarter than me…
The video plays on, cutting to Sandy walking through her room, me bowing like an idiot, her chasing Whiskey down the hall, and us sitting in front of the fire.
I lurch and close out the video.
“Hey,” Eric says, “I was watching. What happened after that?”
“Oh, nothing,” Sandy says, grinning at me. “We talked for a while. Boring stuff.”
“So boring,” I add. “Uneventful…”
Eric, being the six-year-old that he is, has already moved on. “I want a cookie.”
“Yeah. A cookie.” I pat him on the butt. “You go to the kitchen and ask Sheryl for one. Go on.”
He runs off happily.
Sandy has her hands behind her back, rocking innocently on her heels as she peers up at me. Standing like that, there’s nothing to hide her beautiful pregnant belly. Even in that thick cardigan, maternity pants, and slippers, I want her more than life itself.
Like our first night together, I can barely think of anything else.
“Oops,” she says. “Almost showed him a side of mom and dad that no child should ever be subjected to…”
“May I have a word with you in the back?” I tug at her arm. “Now.”
“Yes, sir…”
We head around the corner and into the back office. Even though we’ve had a few new staff members in recent years, these rooms remain largely empty. A few desks, computers, and couches. That’s it.
The perfect place for our meetings.
I press Sandy against the wall by her throat, squeezing softly. When she’s pregnant, I’m instinctively more gentle, even when she begs me not to be.
“Think you can show me those videos without paying for it?” I growl. “Trying to make me fucking hard in the lobby? With guests right there?”
Sandy whimpers. “We didn’t even get to the good stuff…”
“You know it doesn’t matter. You know what you’re doing to me…”
In an instant, her eyes flash mischievously, and a grin spreads over her full face.
A primal, lustful sound rolls out of me. “You’re a bad girl.”
I drag her over to one of the desks, turn her around, and pull her pants to her ankles. That curvy, perfect ass waits for me.
I smack it once, watching it bounce.
Sandy squeals and pops up on her toes. “I’m sorry, sir. It won’t happen again…”
“Yes, it will.”
“Only if you punish me…”
“That goes without saying.”
“Oh!” She arches her back, pressing her hips back as I tongue-fuck her pussy from behind. “Will you ever act your age? You’re supposed to be an old man now… oh… right there…”
Not a chance.
“I love you,” she practically begs as she says. “Emmett, I love you so much… don’t stop…”
The day Sandy came into my life, I was reborn.
A ghost used to roam these halls, longing for a life that had left him.
She’s the light who pierced through the veil. Sunshine during the storm.
And all it took was enough one-star reviews to pique her interest in this place. I thank every single person who ever hated their stay here enough to badmouth me online. They delivered me the love of my life.
“Oh, Emmett! Don’t stop! Don’t stop!”
We haven’t had a one-star day since.
~The End
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