Epilogue
HUX
Three months later
Sucking in a deep breath, I hold on to it for a beat, letting my diaphragm stretch, doing one last mental check to make sure I have everything.
Parcel of land—check. Folder full of little white houses—check. First pieces of home decor—check.
I tap my pocket for what must be the hundredth time this morning, just to make sure. Grandma Dolly’s diamond ring—check.
Now all I need is the girl.
The same one that I hope isn’t too upset that I left her alone in bed this morning with a note about where to find me. She thinks that we’re headed to Sloppy Seconds—the day after event for Rhythm and Brews where the town gathers to chow down on leftovers from the BBQ tent and then start the work on tearing down—and we’ll get there. Eventually.
We just have something more pressing first.
Gravel crunches behind me and I turn, unable to hide my smile as I watch Jace’s truck roll to a stop. He gives me a nod as the passenger side door opens, my entire world sliding out and slamming the door shut.
Her blonde hair is piled on top of her head in a messy bun, her cutoff jean shorts hugging her glorious hips in a way that makes me more than a little jealous of the fabric, and the little teal off-the-shoulder top is the same one she was wearing last night—her lack of bra perfectly evident in the morning light.
Fuck me, is she delicious…
“I got your note…” she says, skipping a greeting. One corner of her mouth is turned upward, as if she knows that I’m up to something. “It’s a good thing that Jace was home to help me figure out where exactly on the family estate these coordinates are. You couldn’t just ask me to meet you in the far corner by the creek?”
“Where’s the fun in that?”
I casually lift a shoulder, as if this hasn’t been planned down to the tiniest detail. Or at least tried to be. I knew that if I had given her instructions she understood, she’d drive here herself, and we didn’t need two cars. Nope. I want to make sure that when we head back to the house after this, we do it together. Silly? Maybe, but it feels important.
“We gotta get ready and get over to Newton for Sloppy Seconds.”
“I know. But first, I need you to help me with something.”
She looks at me warily, scanning our surroundings, and I can see her still trying to figure out my angle. A long, quiet moment later, she gives in, sighing.
“Okay. Hit me with it. Whatcha got?”
Hands on her hips, she cocks them to one side, ready to sass me. And I could not love it more.
“Pick one.”
I hand her the folder, the weight of it surprising—or maybe not given how many pages I had to print. Looking back on it, I should have thought about printing double-sided. Then again, that might have caused some confusion.
“Pick one what?”
I nod to the folder, silently telling her to open it. She does, keeping her eyes on me at first. Then she flicks them down. And gasps.
“Hux…”
Dolly looks up almost immediately, her eyes glassy with tears. Happy tears. Her bottom lip quivers, and I can tell she’s trying to find her words. So I do the talking for her.
“We can make any of them work. Promise, I’m not just saying that. Yes, some will be easier than others, but we can make any of them work. I marked the ones I like the best with a little star, for what it’s worth, but please don’t let that influence your opinion.”
Flipping through the pages, little white house after little white house moving as if slides in a presentation, Dolly tries to take them all in. For a moment, I wonder if what I’m saying is really registering, or if we’re going to have a repeat of the playground.
Life with Dolly has been pretty perfect since that weekend. No one other than our family seemed to notice that she’d gone AWOL for a little bit that day, something she started to worry about after the fact. The rumor mill did pick up pretty quickly though once we were spotted out and about publicly, not hiding our affection. Much to my surprise—and apparently only mine—they picked up right where they left off when we were children, wondering when we were getting married and having babies, Dolly’s previous engagement all but forgotten.
All of which made a transition into being an official couple almost as easy as falling for her in the first place. Getting to spend the summer waking up with her in my arms only confirmed what I already knew—I needed to change her last name.
“Say something, Doll…”
“I want the creek to be our backyard. And whatever house we choose has to have some kind of mudroom back there so when your sons inevitably come in all muddy from pushing each other around in the creek, they don’t traipse it through my house.”
I guffaw, throwing my head back. My sons. Oh Dolly…
“Again, if it’s your daughters…”
“Huxley…”
Crossing her arms, she levels me with a look that can only mean one thing—we’ve talked about this and she won’t be repeating herself. I laugh again, because we both know that we’re going to continue this argument until that first child is born.
“So, do you know which one you want?” I press.
“Are you kidding? There have to be fifty houses here!” Dolly holds up the folder, emphasizing its thickness. “Plus, we have to pick this together. It’s our little white house.”
Our little white house…
“I’ll build you whatever you want, Doll. That’s always been the promise.”
She steps into me, wrapping her arms around my waist and resting her head on my chest.
“I know. And what I want is for us to do this together.”
My heart swells, ready to burst I love her so much. Now there really is only one thing left to do.
“Then I have one more question for you.”
Stepping back, I reach into my pocket, fingers clasping the family heirloom her mother was more than happy to hand over. I take a deep breath and prepare for the biggest moment of my life, then drop to one knee.
“Dolly Norah McLain, I love you. That’s all there is to it. You are the best adventure I’ve ever been on, and the only person I ever want to get up to no good with. I thought being cast as Peter Pan was a punishment at first, then I met you on that playground and I thought maybe not. We’ve caused a lot of trouble in this town over the years. What do you say we kick it up a notch, make it forever, and give Hickory Hills another generation of it? Will you marry me?”
I brandish Grandma Dolly’s ring, holding it up for her to see. The morning sunlight refracts perfectly in the diamond, making it sparkle so brightly it almost blinds us both.
“Without question!”
Sliding the ring on her finger, I scoop Dolly up, kissing her. She kisses me back hard, her soft lips knowing exactly how to move against mine as her body presses against me. I groan, unable to hold it back, loving the feel of her in my arms. Exactly where she should be.
“Hux, this is so perfect,” she whispers into the kiss. “I love you.”
“I love you.” I nip at her lip, earning myself a giggle. “Just to add to the perfection, I even have our first piece of home decor in the truck.”
“What?”
She lets go of me, rushing over to the truck, her excitement so palpable you could cut through it with a knife. Throwing the door open with so much force I’m afraid she might rip it off, Dolly reaches across the bench seat, pulling out the wooden signs I made in the workshop.
“Oh my word…you didn’t…”
I walk up behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist, eyes skimming over the signs. The larger of the two, designed to hang above our headboard, has the words Sundown, Somewhere painted in a scrolling script, the white paint standing out brightly against the dark stained wood.
“I was thinking that’s what we could call our place. Miss Belle named hers, after all. Why can’t we?”
“I love it. It’s perfect.”
Taking the large piece from her, I lean it against the truck, turning my attention back to her. Her eyes scan across the smaller sign, a giggle bubbling up, hand flying to her mouth to try and keep it in as her eyes scan the words, these burned into the wood. My FUCK acronym—just as fitting today as it was when I made it up more than a decade ago and when I pulled it from my wallet a few months ago.
“Hux, it’s beautiful. They both are,” she says, giggling more.
“Probably not something we can display in the living room, but…”
“Hey, what time is it?”
What?!
“Ummmm…”
I go to pull out my phone, but Dolly stops me, yanking me into her for another kiss. This one is harder, more aggressive than before. This one tells me she wants something.
Me…
“Actually, forget the time. Who cares if we’re late. Take me home, Hux. You’ve done the F, U, and C this morning. Time to get to the K.”
I pick her up, getting her into the truck as quickly as I can. Laughter rings out, filling the air, making my dick twitch as I climb in right behind her.
“What my girl wants, my girl gets.”
There’s just one question left for Dolly and Hux - boys or girls? Find who “wins” that debate in their bonus scene !
Anton Hayes knows all the right buttons to push when it comes to his friends and family. But what happens when he meets the woman who pushes all of his?
Find out in Good Directions !