Epilogue
Marissa
One year later.
Sawyer had been right to be worried about my brother.
The very next day after I texted my friends, we snuck off to the county courthouse in Fernwood, parents in tow.
My mom was over the moon about it.
And my dad seemed pretty dang chuffed, too.
But when Matt found out. Well… that was another matter.
Matt sped into our driveway one morning about a month later while I was getting ready for work.
With Josie barking at my feet, he jumped out of his pickup and stormed over to me, a look of anguish and betrayal on his face.
Then, without a word, he stormed into the house and laid into Sawyer.
Sawyer never lifted a fist against him. Not even after Matt hit him half a dozen times. He just took it like a man.
Then I was on my brother’s back, dragging him away from husband, yelling and screeching to stop before he killed him.
Matt had ended up on the couch, breathing hard, while he stared vehemently at Sawyer as though he was a mortal enemy instead of his best friend.
Finally he’d let out a plaintive wail. “How could you do this to me? She’s my little sister.”
As I ran to the kitchen to get a bag of ice for Sawyer’s face, I heard my man say, “But I’m in love with her. I’ve always been in love with her. Can’t you understand that I need her in my life? Marissa is everything to me. I already wasted too many years apart from her because of you, Matt.”
That’s when my brother had finally calmed down, a deep, ragged breath escaping out of his lungs.
He looked between the two of us as I dropped to my knees and pressed the ice pack to Sawyer’s face.
“How long has it been going on?”
Sawyer looped an arm around me. “Since Valentine’s Day. But I’ve been in love with her for years. I tried not to be, but nothing worked. There’s no other woman for me in this entire world. It’s Rissy or no one.”
After that, the two of them made up. Sawyer took the day off work, and Matt drove him to the walk-in clinic to get some stitches where he’d busted Sawyer’s cheek up.
Ever since then, Matt had slowly come around to the idea of us.
He’d warmed up in baby steps. First, he came around for a Sunday dinner with us, his new wife Vicky in tow. Then he’d swung by for one of Sawyer’s poker nights. That’s when I’d known everything would be okay.
And now that it had been a full year, my brother finally understood that Sawyer and I were like grits and cornbread… made for each other.
Today was Valentine’s Day again, and Matt was coming out.
It was our second one together, and we were throwing a party.
The Hopeful Hearts Club was no more. We’d all found our matches.
Jenna, Kelly, and Hope were coming by in a while with their men. We’d all found our loves on Valentine’s Day. And as it turned out, we hadn’t needed to look far for them. They’d been standing by our side the entire time.
Sawyer and I had decided to stay in his house. It was the perfect fit for us, so we sold mine and used the proceeds to build a roof over the deck before socking the rest into savings.
He’d insisted that we pay off my student loan debts, too, so I didn’t have to worry about that anymore.
I was still working at the forestry service for now, but I’d given up the Red Oak Market job.
And the forestry service was going to lose me soon. They should have given me full-time when they had the chance.
But now I had a different full-time job, because I was about to be a mom.
I rubbed a hand over my belly. I’d been hoping for a Valentine’s baby, but it looked like our little girl was taking her time. She was going to be a few days late.
And that was all right by me. She’d come out when she was ready.
Sawyer rounded the corner as the doorbell rang. “You stay put, hon. I’ll get the door.”
Before he opened it, he swung by the couch where Josie was leaning her head on my lap. He gave our dog a quick scritch on the back of her neck, gave me a special kiss, then rubbed my belly saying hi to our little one.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, hon,” he rumbled, a depth of emotion showing in his eyes.
“It will be a happy Valentine’s Day after everyone leaves tonight. Don’t forget, I owe you a big return favor.”
He’d licked my pussy until I sang to the heavens earlier today. And I’d promised to give him a blowjob he’d never forget later on tonight after our company left.
We’d been especially frisky this week since we’d both taken time off work. I was on leave for the next six months. And he was taking a month off from his maintenance job so he could be here with me and the baby while I recovered.
The doorbell rang again, followed by a loud knock on the door.
He reluctantly pulled away. “I guess I better let our company in before they freeze their butts off.”
I watched as he headed for the door to let them in.
That was my man.
Sawyer was everything to me, and I almost couldn’t believe we’d taken so much time to admit the truth between us. There’d never been anyone else for either of us, despite some of the dating we’d done.
My husband opened the door, and my brother walked in, clapping his best friend on the arm before locking eyes on me.
Matt asked, “When are you going to get that baby out? I want to meet her!”
But Sawyer rumbled out a laugh. “Patience, Matt. You’ve just got to be patient.
Will Nolan finally tell Hope he feels on their Valentine's Night friend date? Find out in the first book in the related series, Just Friends With The Mountain Man.