Epilogue
Marshall
Five Months Later
I ’d been working for Kingston Construction for a while now, and it was good to be back. I was carefully rebuilding trust with Hudson. Ivy had been working through the fall to find us a beach house, but we hadn’t found anything that fit as well as Blaire’s place did.
It held a lot of memories since this was where I got my second chance with Saylor. I was reluctant to let it go.
Hayden was having a rough time returning to her life in Naples. I discussed with Billie the possibility of Hayden living with me during the school year, and we agreed to give it a trial run in the spring.
Would Hayden be okay not living with her mother and twin brothers for that length of time? I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but I was looking forward to my daughter living with us again.
For now, Hayden was staying with us for the holidays.
Saylor had spent the last few months talking to local businesses and offering her services. Kingston Construction was the first to hire her for marketing, and we’d kept her busy with a new campaign. She was overhauling our brand and even renovating the office to make it more inviting.
For now, she was busy enough with our business that she was only taking a handful of other clients, creating websites and revamping brands and logos. She was happy working for herself and creating her own hours just like I suspected she would be.
Tonight, we were supposed to go out with my family for dinner. I got out of my truck and met her on the porch.
I’d never get tired of coming home to Saylor. She was my girlfriend, but the title seemed trite compared to how I viewed her role in my life. She was so much more than that.
She was special, and I needed to do something about making her mine soon.
Saylor smiled as I approached. “I want to change. Then we can be on our way.”
My stomach rumbled. “Good, because I’m starved.”
She unlocked the door, and we stepped inside.
“Surprise!”
Saylor’s mouth dropped open as we took in our family and friends who’d been hiding in the dark, waiting for us to arrive.
There was a Congratulations banner hanging above the fireplace.
“What’s all this?” Saylor asked.
My heart was thumping hard.
Blaire approached with a smile. “I wanted to throw you a party.”
Saylor looked at me incredulously. “For what? It’s not our birthdays.”
It wasn’t even our anniversary.
Blaire held a box in her hand. “Open it.”
Our friends and family stood in the living room, waiting with bated breath for Saylor to carefully unravel the ribbon and open the lid. A key sat prominently inside.
Saylor’s brow furrowed. “What’s this?”
“It’s the key to the house.”
Hayden appeared at my side, and I pulled her into my other side. I scanned the room, seeing Saylor’s parents, my family, and all our friends.
“I don’t understand,” Saylor said, and that’s when I realized what was happening and tightened my grip on her shoulders.
Blaire smiled at her. “I’m giving you the beach house.”
“You’re giving it to us?” Saylor parroted.
“Well, I’m letting you buy it. It’s my retirement plan after all. But I don’t want to deal with renting it out anymore. I want you and Marshall to have it. Hayden loves it here.”
“We love it here,” I said squeezing Saylor’s shoulder.
“I wanted to throw you a party to celebrate the beach house being yours.”
Joy appeared at her side. “It’s also to welcome you officially to the island.”
Ivy approached with a file folder. “I have the sales agreement here. You can take your time to look it over, and we'll finalize it when you’re ready.”
I had a feeling the financial terms would be more than generous to us. But I’d make sure Blaire was fairly compensated. I didn’t want her worrying about money during retirement.
Saylor moved away from me to hug Blaire. “Thank you so much. I never thought it would be ours.”
“We couldn’t find anything that compared to this place,” I said as I hugged Blaire.
“That’s because there isn’t anything comparable, and you’ll be the perfect owners. You’ll maintain the history of this place and appreciate it.” With one last smile, Blaire stepped away from us. “Now let’s have a party.”
One by one, our family members congratulated us. Even Luna and Axel were in town, and I was happy to introduce Saylor to my sister. There were people milling about the house and spilling onto the patio surrounding the pool.
Outside, Lilliana and Henry sat in a little playpen by a cluster of chairs. We sat with Dalton, Cooper, and Ivy, who kept an eye on the babies who were more mobile.
“It’s nice that they will grow up together,” Saylor said.
“Now that Lilliana is older, Oakley’s finally given me a real visitation schedule. I can take her every other weekend. It’s fine for now,” Dalton said.
“That’s great. Congratulations,” I said to him.
“I can’t say I know what I’m doing most of the time, but hopefully, I’ll figure it out.”
Ivy leaned back against Cooper on their lounge chair. “I can send over Blake to give you some pointers. She’s been amazing with Henry.”
Dalton nodded. “I’d appreciate that. I’ll take any help I can get.”
“She’s actually looking for a place to rent, but there isn’t anything available at the moment. Maybe she could rent one of your extra rooms and help you out with Lilliana?”
“I’ll have to think about it. I don’t know how Oakley would feel about that.”
“I’ll let you meet her and decide,” Ivy said simply.
Blaire approached me. “Can you help me get something down from the closet? I left a few photo albums in there.”
I stood. “Of course.” I told Saylor, “I’ll be right back.
I followed Blaire to the primary bedroom that we’d recently taken for our own. Hayden had moved into Saylor’s old room upstairs. I opened the closet.
“It’s that box on the top shelf,” Blaire said.
I grabbed it and put it on the comforter.
Blaire sat on the bed and opened the lid, pulling out a few albums. Then she opened a small velvet box. “This is my engagement ring. I want you to have it.”
My heart skipped a beat. I’d been thinking about proposing to Saylor, but I wasn’t sure which ring to buy, but this one was perfect. It was vintage, and it held meaning.
Blaire raised a brow as she handed me the box. “Provided you give it to my granddaughter.”
My lips twitched. “I was thinking about proposing to her.”
“I was hoping for that,” she said dryly.
It was fitting since it was Blaire who’d conspired to bring us together.
Blaire stood, and I hugged her. “Thank you for everything.” She’d given me this house, Saylor, and now her ring that held so much meaning.
“You’re welcome. I want to throw an engagement party for you at the center. So don’t dawdle over the proposal. Just ask her.”
I chuckled. “I can do that.” I didn’t want to wait any longer to make her my fiancée.
When the guests were gone and the house cleaned up, Hayden said she wanted to show us something on her computer. We waited in the living room while she grabbed her laptop.
She sat next to us on the couch. “This is the mural I want to paint for the center. It’ll go in the lobby.
It was a map of the island with larger pictures of various highlights: the lighthouse, the community center, and the nature preserve.
“This is absolutely perfect,” Saylor said to her.
“I thought it would be a good time to start work on it. I’m going to be living here, and you said you’d help me scale this.”
Saylor nodded. “I’d love to.”
I was pleased that my girls were working together, and I couldn’t be happier. I had the perfect beach house, my girls living with me, and my family close by.
“I have something I want to show you as well.” I handed Hayden a leather-bound book. “I wanted to put our letters somewhere you could read them at any time. They got me through my deployments and allowed me to know you even when I couldn’t see you.”
Hayden opened the cover where I’d signed the margin: With Love, Dad. Her hand touched the raised writing. “This is amazing. Thank you.”
I waited while she thumbed through the pages of letters that I’d scanned and added to the book. I’d arranged them in chronological order, so they started out with more illustrations and then morphed into letters and emails as she got older.
A tear ran down her cheek. “I can’t believe you saved all of these.”
“I reread them more times than I could count.” I’d added the handwritten letters along with the emails we’d exchanged.
Saylor interlaced her fingers with mine, a show of support because my throat was tight.
Hayden set the book aside on the cushion and threw her arms around my neck. “This is perfect, Dad. Thank you.”
I cleared my throat, patting her back.
When Hayden pulled back, her eyes were shiny. She picked up the book and held it against her chest. “I’m going to get ready for bed and read a few letters.”
“Good night,” we said as Hayden went up the stairs to her room.
I wasn’t ready for the night to be over. I hadn’t planned on tonight being anything out of the ordinary, but it had become an evening to remember. “You want to go for a walk on the beach?”
Saylor smiled. “I’d love to.”
We left our shoes on the patio and walked the sandy path to the beach. It was a full moon, illuminating the sand so we could see where we were walking.
I held Saylor’s hand, patting the box in my pocket I’d put there after my talk with Blaire.
“I still can’t believe Grandma gave us the house.”
The sand was cool under our feet. “She wants it to go to someone she loves and trusts.”
Saylor glanced up at me. “It feels like everything worked out the way we wanted it to.”
I turned and faced her. “There’s one more thing.”
She tipped her head to the side. “And what’s that?”
I dropped to my knee, one hand still holding onto hers. I dug awkwardly in my pocket to pull out the box, and Saylor gasped.
“This evening, Blaire gave this to me. I’ve been wanting to ask you to be my wife, but something was holding me back.”
Saylor’s eyes searched my face.
“I didn’t have the perfect ring, but now I do.” I opened the box so that the diamond caught the light of the moon.
Saylor blinked. “Is that my grandmother’s ring?”
I nodded. “It’s hers. You’re my second chance at life, and I don’t want to squander it. Will you marry me?”
Her hand went to her mouth. “Yes. I will.”
I slid the ring onto her finger and stood, bringing her into my arms. It was the perfect ending to the perfect night.
I hope you loved Saylor and Marshall’s story! Read more about their happily ever after in the bonus epilogue .
Blake and Dalton’s romance is next in Summer Fling .
Asking Blake to be my live-in nanny was supposed to be a practical move—not a proposal.
But to win custody of my daughter, I need more than just help—I need a fiancée.
The problem? This arrangement might be fake, but my feelings for her are anything but.