Epilogue
ARROW
Six months later…
“Babe?” I carry a cup of coffee up to our bedroom. I’ve been up since dawn and have already had enough coffee to float out to sea. The room is dark and quiet thanks to the blackout drapes Annie installed, and only the soft sounds of Annie’s breathing filling the room.
I set the coffee on the bedside table. As my eyes adjust to the dark, I stroke her hair.
“Babe,” I say quietly. “I gotta roll.”
She mumbles something softly in her sleep, but I feel a hand reach out to clasp my thigh. “Morning, baby.”
I lean down and kiss her hair. “Your coffee’s here. I gotta roll. I’m working a half day, so I’ll see you by noon.”
I’m standing up when she tightens her fingers against my stiff work pants. “Kiss,” she whispers. She thrashes against the blankets and sits up.
I reach for her neck and draw her close. I hold her, the warmth of her body making me wish I could strip off my steel-toe boots and wake her up properly. With my mouth and my already-firm dick.
But I’ve got a new job, and the work won’t wait. So, I give her a kiss and hold her tight.
“I’m so proud of you, babe,” I tell her. “You’re going to be great today. I can’t wait to see you.”
“Josh?” Her voice is sleepy, but her eyes are open. “I love you.”
“Love you too.”
I leave her and her coffee and head out to the truck. I’m just pulling out of the driveway when I get a call from Tiny.
“Yo,” he says in greeting.
“Hey, man. What’s up?” I check the time on the dashboard. It’s half past five, and I’m not due to the house for another half hour. I’m a solid twenty minutes away, so if Tiny needs something, he’d better get out with it.
“Good news, bad news.”
I can hear Tiny slurping something through a straw, and I shake my head, a slight grin on my face. Marla, his friend, has him hooked on smoothies. It’s a healthier habit than Coke, but still. I’d rather not hear how healthy he’s trying to be.
“So, Hancock drew up some paperwork. We’ve got three more houses you need to look at today. You want to fit those in and skip the Redfern Lane place? I know you’re working a half day, or I’d have you do it all.”
I mentally calculate the time it’ll take to run out to Annie’s dad’s law office.
Since Engler was arrested, Annie’s dad decided to start buying houses and flipping them as a way to begin to earn back some of the cash he lost. Since my good buddies Tiny, Crow, and Morris are dabbling in contracting, they’ve all been working together on scouting flips and getting the work done.
Turns out, Annie’s dad has friends in real estate who’ve been feeding him leads on fixer-uppers. The business was running so smoothly, I approached Morris about coming on board.
I have no background in construction, but I wasn’t able to afford to renew the lease.
Morris came through with an offer to teach me their business, starting off with the easy stuff.
I’ve been taking classes at night to learn home inspections, so I’m the first guy on-site before we put in an offer on a house.
Tiny, Crow, and some of the other guys have been helping me learn the ropes, but it turns out all my years of having no money and taking odd jobs have paid off.
I know a lot more about construction than I thought, and I have a good eye for estimating.
Annie was more than happy to see me leave investigations.
I introduced Neveah to all my old contacts, and every time she gets a job from one of them, she kicks me back a couple bucks.
It’s nothing big, but over the months, the referral fees have kept me and Annie in touch with Neveah.
Since I’m no longer in the business, Annie and Neveah have been able to stay friends without Neveah worrying about me blowing her cover. It’s been a win-win.
“Yeah,” I tell Tiny, calculating the distance between the addresses he’s rattled off. “Is anyone meeting me today?”
“You’re on your own today, man. Just take pics and upload them to the system. I’ll sign off if you do, and we’ll have three more new jobs if all goes well.”
“See you later at the opening?” I ask before we go back to our days.
“Wouldn’t miss it.” Without so much as a goodbye, Tiny hangs up.
I punch an address into my GPS and head to the east side of town. Three new houses to flip means months of work for the crew. Profit for Annie’s dad. And job stability for me.
I never thought I’d have a career or an education. But I’m working on all that shit and more. I’m thinking about what it might be like to have a wife. I know everybody says you’ve got to know someone at least six months before you know them.
I call bullshit on that.
Annie moved in to my condo immediately after we cleared out of Crow’s room at the compound.
She fit in my home as easily as she fit in my bed.
Nothing in my life has ever been as easy as it is with Annie.
If Carlene from Pancake Circus had her way, we’d already be married, but we got off to such a fast start, I don’t want to rush any moment of the time I have with her.
We have forever ahead of us. I’m damn sure of that, and I know she feels the same way. I don’t want to waste a day. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to take every step and savor it.
We have a lot to save for, a lot to plan for. Annie has big dreams, and right now, we’re sinking every penny we make into my education and her business. A ring and fancy party—that’ll come in time.
For now, I make the turns my GPS guides me to, and I realize how much my life has changed. I’m not chasing shadows anymore. I’m not hiding from the light, trying to keep the bad guys from putting one over on the good ones. And for the first time in a long time, I’m feeling at ease.
I’m happy.
ANNIE
I stare in the bathroom mirror and put the slightest bit of makeup around my eyes.
I’m fresh from the shower, hair almost air-dried, wearing nothing but a contented smile.
I shake my head as I see the tiniest little bruise on the side of my boob.
Josh and his damn teeth. They feel so good in the moment, but sometimes our sexy times leave a mark.
I touch the tiny discoloration, and a stupid, love-sick grin covers my face.
Who can blame me?
My sexy PI is no longer a PI. He’s just my sexy baby now. I’ve wondered about whether the day will come when I might become Annie Aronowicz. That’s a mouthful, to be sure. But if that becomes my name someday, it’s a name I’ll say with pride.
I pull on a light sweater and a flowy skirt with a pair of ankle boots, then get ready to hit the road. Today is a day I’ve been working toward for six months.
After Engler was arrested, I spent a couple days trying to figure out what to do. I met with June Crossard, my adviser, for some honest talks. She told me the truth. That if my father hadn’t paid my way into art school, I probably would never have been accepted.
“You have skills, Annie,” she said, that severe face of hers pinched as though it hurt her to say the words. “But skills aren’t vision. Skills aren’t passion. Skills can make up for talent, but only to a point.”
I’d sat in her office and taken it all in. She’s an artist who’s shown in galleries. She’s had work written up, reviewed. She was once paid six figures for a commission that apparently is the centerpiece of an office building in Denmark.
June Crossard was trying to soften the blow, but I understood what she was saying. If I wanted to be an artist, I’d have a lot of work to do, yes, but even more than that, I’d have to do some serious soul-searching.
“Let me ask you this.” June leaned back in her chair and just looked at me.
“How badly do you want it? That’s what this all comes down to.
If you want this more than anything in the world, then nothing—not what I say, not a degree—nothing should matter.
So, tell me, Annie, what do you want more than anything? ”
I didn’t even have to think about the answer.
All the months of questioning myself and wondering what my message and vision and future were came down to this.
And I made my decision. I quit school. I spent a month figuring out what came next.
I knew I didn’t want to go back to work for my dad.
Even when Josh started working construction gigs and flipping houses with my dad and the bikers. I knew I wanted to forge my own future.
A future that I made with my own two hands.
Josh did some security consulting for the school, and in exchange, they refunded almost all the tuition my father had paid.
Dad wouldn’t let me give him the money back. The school paid it back to him, but he turned around and wrote a check to Morris and Alice, paying in advance for the security deposit and several months’ rent on Josh’s office.
Then I got to work. And today, that work is coming to fruition.
I jump into my car with a smile on my face. I check my phone and it’s blowing up with texts, but I don’t answer them. I want a few minutes to myself before things get crazy.
So many years ago, I lost my mother. I wonder if she would have been here today to support me. If she would have liked Josh. I know the answers to those questions. She would have loved Josh. I mean, everyone loves Josh. No one more than me, but that’s expected.
Maybe Carlene. She’s been trying to get the cooks over at Pancake Circus to make a specialty plate just for him. I giggle. I’m lucky to have people like her in my life. I’m sure if my mom were here, she would be with me right now, cheering me on. Maybe in some ways, she is.
When I pull into the strip mall, it’s a little before noon. Everything is set, so all I have to do is open. I get out of my car and unlock the door that was once Josh’s office. Now, it’s a completely refurbished retail space—Annie’s Artscape.
I’m only inside a minute when the door flies open behind me.
“Annie.” Alice has two dozen helium balloons, one bunch in each hand. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
She kisses my cheek and hands over the balloons. “Rider has been crying for one of these all morning.” She rolls her eyes. “I should have known to get some balloons just for him.”
“He can have them,” I say, offering a whole bunch back to Alice.
She shakes her head. “Lia says the balloons will freak out the dogs.” Alice winks. “I’ll get him set up with crafts, and he’ll be just fine.”
Alice looks around the space, a happy smile on her face. “It looks so, so good. Are you ready?”
Annie’s Artscape will be open for small classes, private studio space, anything that anyone with a passion to create can imagine.
We have a colorful table and small chairs up front where kids can work, and Josh’s former office has a long table where adults can work with textiles or pencils, crochet, knit, or model with clay.
I have paints, reclaimed materials, and more colored pencils and pens than should be legal in one space.
When I open the doors for business today at noon, I’m hoping that the community comes in and finds their joy in making things.
I already have three after-school classes fully paid and booked, and I have a moms-only morning adult coloring class that starts next week.
Lia is offering a discount to customers who drop their dogs off at the day care while they’re at my studio.
I don’t have time to get emotional. I nod to Alice, tears of joy wetting my lashes, when all of a sudden, the place fills up.
Tiny and Marla are first to arrive, carrying Rider, who is crying and reaching out for the balloons.
Morris joins next, kissing his wife and promising to bring Zoey and their baby by after school.
Dog and Eagle show up in their neon-yellow construction shirts.
“Where’s the asshole?” Dog asks.
“I’m right here, you fucker.” Josh is holding the door open for Neveah, who is carrying a huge bouquet of flowers.
“Love what you’ve done with the place, Annie Hannie,” she says, giving me a kiss.
She walks through the space, looking over the fabrics and supplies, admiring the work we’ve done.
“This place makes me want to take up art.” She winks at me, then says her goodbyes since she’s surveilling something and has places to be.
Leo and Tim stop by to congratulate us before heading back to their shop. And then, last but not least, I see the man who made all this possible.
“Dad.” I meet him at the door. He’s standing outside, soaking it all in. He’s been here so many times during the renovation, but he’s looking at my name on the door like it’s the first time he’s seen it.
“I’m so, so proud of you, Annie.” He doesn’t move. Doesn’t say anything. Just wipes at his eyes with a fingertip. “So proud. Are you happy?”
I may not have a message or a vision for my art. I may not have a fancy degree or a gallery showing. But I have passion, and I’ve found a way to express it.
“I have never been happier,” I assure my dad. “Now, come on in.”
While my dad chats up Morris, Josh comes over and pulls me close to his chest.
“My baby’s big day,” he breathes against my hair. “Congratulations, baby.”
I look up at him. “Who’d have thought. Can you imagine what my life might have turned out like if I’d hired one of those other PIs? Thank goodness none of them was even half as hot as you.”
He laughs and gives my ass a light spank, trying to be discreet so no one else can see. “We’ve all ended up where we were meant to be,” he says.
And even though it wasn’t easy getting here, I know he’s right.
This is right.
We’re right.
And I’m so, so happy that this is not the end of our story.
It’s just the beginning.