Epilogue
Two weeks later…
“Oh shit,” the curse slips from my lips before I can think better of it.
”What? What’s wrong?” Quade asks from the other side of the closed—and locked—bathroom door.
“Ah, nothing. I’m okay. I’ll be out in a minute.”
“That wasn’t a nothing oh shit, Hads.” The door rattles as he tries to open it. “Unlock this door right now.”
I look at the counter, the trash can beside the toilet, and wonder why I thought I could do this without him knowing. With a sigh, I put down what I’m holding and unlock the door.
Quade is inside, his gaze sweeping from my head to my toes checking for possible injury before I’ve even stepped back. “What’s wrong? What do you need?”
“Um, well.” I glance over my shoulder before returning my gaze to his. “You know how you said you’d wait as long as I wanted to get married?”
“Yes. Name the date and I’ll be there. Today, tomorrow, next month, next year, I don’t care when we get married as long as we do.”
“Right. Okay.” I think about the logistics of getting everyone here, how quickly we can pull something together… “How does next week sound?”
“Next week…” Quade’s gaze is no longer on me. His eyes are glued to the stick on the counter behind me. “Is that…”
“Yeah.”
“That’s the oh shit?”
“Uh-huh.”
“We’re pregnant?”
Tears well in my eyes and it has nothing to do with an accidental pregnancy. It’s that Quade instantly referred to this pregnancy as ours. We’re pregnant. Not you’re pregnant.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” He pulls me into his arms, cradles my head against his chest as I try to sniff back the tears. “We might not have planned to start our family this way but it’s perfect.”
“I’m not crying because of the baby. I’m crying because you said we’re pregnant.”
“Ah, okay, you’ve lost me there, Hads.”
“As soon as you worked it out, you claimed it,” I sniffle.
“Of course I did. Why wouldn’t I?”
“I don’t know. It just made me cry.” I reach over and grab a tissue. “I don’t want a big wedding. Just immediate family.”
“You can have whatever you want.”
“I want it on the cliff. Where you used to go with Grampa, where you proposed.”
“Done.”
“I need to tell Dad.”
“I know you’ve been putting that off.”
“I wasn’t sure how I would explain moving across the country, never mind getting engaged to a man I’ve known for only a few weeks and now…”
“I’ll be right there with you. We can call him now.”
“You’d do that?”
“I told you I would but you said you wanted to do it on your own.”
“I thought it would be better if I broke the news of the move first, then told him about you.”
“And waited to tell him I’d put a ring on it?” Quade asks with a cocked brow.
“Guilty.”
“He’ll understand the move more if you tell him about the engagement.”
“He’s going to be so disappointed.”
“No, he’s not.” He pushes me away, holds me at arm’s length. “Why don’t you get in the shower, freshen up, then we’ll head over to the house. Gram invited us to afternoon tea.”
“She did? When?”
“Earlier.” He turns me and gives my butt a tap. “Freshen up. I’ll be waiting out here.”
Once Quade leaves me alone it doesn’t take long to get myself together. I’m not usually a crier and if I’m calculating right, I’m about two months pregnant so I’m going to blame the hormones.
I’m smiling when I emerge from the bathroom to find Quade sitting on the sofa talking to—“Dad?”
They’re both on their feet as I round the sofa, shock and pleasure rolling through me, and the tears I’d gotten under control are back again.
“What are you doing here?” I ask as I walk into his open arms and bury my face against his shoulder.
“Got a call a few weeks ago from this guy I’d never heard of. Turns out we’ve got a mutual acquaintance.”
Pulling back, I look over at Quade. “You called my dad?”
“Had to ask for his blessing.”
“You what?” I shove out of Dad’s arms and stare at Quade. “You, you, you…” I can’t get my thoughts together.
“Yes. I called, introduced myself, and laid out my intentions when it came to you.”
“And I told him if my daughter saw fit to marry him then he’d already passed the hardest test and I’d welcome him as a son-in-law.”
My gaze bounces between the two most important men in my life as tears stream down my face. I’m a mess. And they both looking at me with love in their eyes and I don’t know whether to strangle them or hug them.
“I have some news of my own.”
Looking back at Dad, I wait for him to tell me.
“But first I want to apologize for ever making you feel as though you would disappoint me if you didn’t follow me into the business. I never intended to put that pressure on you. And looking back, my reasons for it were narrow sighted. All the things you tried, all the places you went, they weren’t because you were avoiding being an adult or responsible, they were because you have a thirst for life I wish I’d be brave enough to have.”
“Oh, Dad.”
“I sold the agency. I’ve got new adventures to take.”
“What? But? When?”
“A week ago but the idea came after talking with Quade. I want to be where you are so I’m taking early retirement. I’ll do some traveling but mainly I’ll spend time with you. And Quade. And any grand babies you see fit to grace me with.”
My gaze darts to Quade. Wordlessly we come to the same decision.
“Well, Bart, the first of those grand babies will be arriving early in the new year.”
“When do you have to go home?”
“I don’t have a timeline.” The look that passes between Dad and Quade raises questions but I’ve got one of my own before I dive into what’s going on there.
“Will you walk me down the aisle?” Dad’s nodding but I continue anyway. “Next week?”
“It will be my pleasure. And seeing how I’m retired, I’ve got all the time in the world to help you get the wedding sorted.”
I eye my future husband. “Did you already tell him…”
“I did.”
“How long has he been here?”
“I arrived this morning. Ivy has me settled in a guest room up at the house.”
I shake my head. “Today has been full of surprises. I’m sorry I didn’t call you.”
“No need to apologize. I can’t blame you for that. I didn’t make it easy to want to talk to me.”
“Dad.” I reach out and grab his hand. “You were only doing what you thought was best for me.”
“Seems I forgot that you know that better than anyone. Including me.”
“Oh, I don’t know. It took meeting Quade for me to know what I really wanted.”
“All I want is for you to be happy.”
“We’re on the same page there, Bart.” Quade slips his arm around my waist. “As long as Hadley is happy, I’m happy.”
“Speaking of happy, are we announcing more than the wedding date?” Quade asks.
Looking up, I lock eyes with him. “What do want to do?”
“I thought I just made that clear. Whatever makes you happy.”
“How about we wait until after I’ve seen a doctor?”
“Good idea. Maybe we can drive down to Charleston for a few days under the guise of wedding outfit shopping and get you in to see someone.”
“All right, we’re keeping the baby under wraps, and we’ll distract them all with a wedding.” Dad rubs his hands together. “Now let’s head to the house. Ivy was putting out a feast when I left to walk over here.”
“We’ll need to see if Laney can come down for the weekend.”
“Give me a list of people you want there and I’ll make it happen,” Dad offers as he heads for the door. “I’m sure Ivy will help me if I get stuck with anything.”
Quade holds me back when Dad leaves and I glance up to see him smiling down at me.
“I love you.”
“Oh.” More tears spring to my eyes and I have to blink rapidly to clear them. “I love you too.”
“Thank you for answering my ad. Thank you for agreeing to spend the summer with a fake date.”
“You don’t have to thank me. Besides, it’s not like I did a very good job. There was nothing fake about my feelings for you from the minute I laid eyes on you.”
“Same.” He lowers his head and drops a quick kiss on my lips. “Now let’s catch up with your dad before he makes it to the house and tells Gram we picked a date.”
“I don’t care if he tells her before us. I’m just glad he’s here and don’t think for a second that you’re getting out of answering all the questions I have about you calling him weeks ago!”
“I was raised with a lot of old-fashioned values so I had to reach out and ask for his blessing before I could drop to one knee.”
“I know you said as long as I’m happy, you’re happy, but are you? Are you happy your fake date turned into a real one?”
“The only thing that will make me happier is signing that marriage certificate and getting to hold our child in my arms.” He presses a hand to my flat stomach.
“I thought we were in the clear…”
“I know. And you bled a few weeks ago… Now that I think about it, we need to get you in to see a doctor ASAP. I’ll make some calls. We’ll drive to Charleston tomorrow. Your dad wants to go look at real estate anyway.”
“He’s buying a house in Charleston?”
“Here too.”
“But—”
“You might not have wanted the agency but someone else did, and they paid top dollar to get it.”
“He’s really okay with me not working there, isn’t he?”
“Yes. And he’d already come to that conclusion before I reached out to him.”
My head is spinning. Dad is here, I’m getting married…having a baby!
I press a hand to my stomach. I’d never really thought about being a mother until now. Never would have thought the idea was something on the horizon, but I was wrong.
Not only is my fake date the love of my life, but the life we’re going to live is everything I never knew I wanted.
* * *
Come back to Love Beach this holiday season and find out how Laney tames her scrooge in Merry With a Scrooge. A brother’s best friend romance.
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Need more Love Beach now? Next up, Summer With a Fireman.
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