Bonus Epilogue Paisley #2
“Oh, you have a lot of experience with that?” she countered, blonde eyebrow arched perfectly.
Greyson snickered and punched his brother-in-law’s arm. “Walked right into that one, man.” He hugged his younger sister. “Go easy on him. The man’s injured. For a good cause, too. I saw the game.”
“He’ll live,” Juliet deadpanned and wriggled out of the hug, pushing past him like only a younger sibling could. Not that I’d know since I didn’t have one, but I’d hung around the Satterfields—Juliet, Cal, and Greyson particularly—long enough to have noticed these things.
“Heard that, babe,” Myles called after her. “She took that stick to my face more personally than I did.”
“Wait, hockey!” I said, things clicking in my brain.
“We’re having spaghetti. Does that work with your diet?
I know you’re not supposed to have high carbs during the on-season.
” With it being the middle of the hockey season, Cal and Myles were pretty regimented with how they ate.
The original roast dinner with salad and roasted veggies would have been ideal, but would a carb-heavy pasta be too much? I mean, we still had salad, but…
Myles grunted, but reassurance lined his light smile. “It’ll be fine, Pais. I’m not turning down Grey’s spaghetti, no matter what Coach says.”
“Where can I put these?” Ben lifted a plastic container of what looked like pastries.
“Oh, sorry, Ben. Anywhere on the counter’s fine. Make yourself at home,” I said, and he disappeared into the kitchen.
A car door slammed outside, and a minute later, Nash and Stephanie hurried up the front stairs.
“Wow, it’s cold! Pretty sure my nose froze between here and the car.” Stephanie gave her head a little shake, bouncing her curls.
“Three words. Fleece-lined tights,” I said simply, taking her coat and giving her a quick squeeze. “Oh, you guys look tired.”
Stephanie snorted. “Just what every woman wants to hear, Pais.”
“Does this mean the launch was successful?” Greyson asked at my back. The rest of our friends crowded closer to hear the news.
Nash and Stephanie exchanged glances, dark-rimmed eyes shining. Sharing a hundred thoughts and no small degree of elation.
“Short answer, yes,” Nash said. “Long answer over dinner.”
The guys did the standard man greeting with nods, handshakes, and backslaps. We were lucky that our guys got along almost as well as us girls did.
Greyson let Rosie out of the laundry room, and introductions were made. She fell instantly in love with Liz—no surprise there, kids and animals adored her—and demanded pets from everyone, even Juliet, who only tolerated animals because hair. Okay, and allergies. She wasn’t a diva.
Eight was a tight squeeze around our little dining room table in the nook off the kitchen, but we managed, and after Greyson said grace, conversation ebbed and flowed punctuated by jokes and laughter.
We’d done friend dinners before, but tonight was the first time Nash was joining us, and he fit right in.
“So, the impromptu launch?” I prompted, sliding a piece of garlic bread onto my plate. “You made it!”
“Congratulations for pulling off the insane!” Liz said between bites of salad. “Any hiccups?”
“Nope.” Nash grinned down at Stephanie. “Thanks to my brilliant girlfriend, we beat her father at his own game.”
“And it was really his own wife who gave you the missing information?” I asked.
Stephanie hummed, twirling noodles onto her fork. “I’m not sure how long that wife status will last, but Zara’s got a good heart. Without her, we wouldn’t have had the identity of the mole. Or any evidence to start a lawsuit against Nova.”
“You’re really taking on your dad’s company?” Myles asked, looking impressed.
Stephanie nodded. “It’s not personal. Well, it sorta is. But from a business outlook, we’re not the only ones he’s tried to sabotage.”
Nash sighed happily. “For now, we’re all just grateful it’s done and out. Pretty sure we’re going to need a vacation after those crazy hours.”
“They weren’t all bad,” Stephanie said, a flirty edge to her words.
Wow, I was still so not used to seeing Stephanie date. Or flirt. Or kiss. Which was what Nash was doing now. On the cheek, but still.
“But enough about us,” Stephanie said, straightening. “Thanks for hosting this, Pais. Grey. It’s nice to get out of town and relax for the first time since Christmas.”
Liz offered humorous escapades of the return to school of her kindergarteners.
Ben recounted a tow he’d done recently involving an elk and the front end of a car that miraculously still drove…
until it didn’t. Juliet mentioned she’d be going on the road with Myles and the guys next month to negotiate a brand deal for a couple of the players as part of the Chargers’ legal counsel.
Then talk shifted to Liz and Ben’s wedding.
“Two months,” Liz said grinning. “It’ll be great.”
“Any more hiccups with the planning?” Nash asked, taking a sip of water and using his free hand to pet a persistent Rosie who sat between his and Stephanie’s chairs, soaking in the love. She wasn’t begging so I couldn’t really fault her.
Ben shook his head. “For now, things are in order. Next week? That’s anyone’s guess.”
Liz elbowed him. “Don’t say that. Any more hiccups, and we’re eloping.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” Ben smoldered, making Liz titter.
I watched Nash and Stephanie and had no doubt they’d be next in line for the wedding hoopla. In the ten years I’d known her, Stephanie had never been this relaxed. And there was a soft glow to her face, a lightness.
“They’ll be next,” Greyson whispered in my ear, setting a pile of plates beside the sink while I soaked the spaghetti pot a few minutes later.
“Oh? Nash tell you something?”
Greyson smiled smugly. “Nah, but she looks at him the way you look at me, so…”
“Your powers of deduction are profound,” I deadpanned, hip-checking him. But of course, he didn’t budge, and I ricocheted off of him like a bouncy ball. “‘Don’t spoil the wonder with haste.’”
His warm chuckle skittered over my skin. “Quoting Tolkien to me again, Mrs. Satterfield?”
“Hey, Greyson, can I pick your brain for a minute about an old Thunderbird that came into the shop this week?” Ben interrupted from the table. Which was probably a good thing.
“What year?”
“‘55. Beautiful shape.”
“You’re speaking my language.” Greyson kissed my temple before moving back towards the table.
When I turned around, the girls were watching me curiously. “What?” I asked, flicking off the water.
“Nothing.” Liz drew the word out, eyes sparkling with pixie dust. “Sometimes I just forget how cute you two are.”
“And we’re making sure you're okay. Today.” Juliet pinned me with a hard, no-nonsense look.
They’d walked with me during my relationship and brief marriage with Jared.
They’d helped me pick up the pieces of the broken woman he’d reduced me to.
I straightened my shoulders, deciding to be honest. “I’m done giving him room in my head.
It’s in the past. I can’t rewrite the chapter. And he doesn’t deserve my thoughts.”
Stephanie nodded sagely. “You’ve grown a lot since then, Pais. And I know it’s hard to come to terms with a relationship that should have worked but didn’t.”
After Christmas, Stephanie had shared with us what Liz was calling the “final showdown” with her dad.
Even if our situations were different, Stephanie knew what she was talking about.
She’d been abandoned and manipulated by her dad, and I’d been betrayed by the man who had vowed to love me till death did us part.
Grief was messy. One day you felt fine, and the next the past crept up on you like a ghost. Chilling fingers of a phantom gripping your neck in the dark. But we were healing. We were pressing forward in faith towards the light. Our dark chapters were just that—chapters. Not the end of the story.
“Hey, you up for guys versus girls Settlers of Catan?” Myles asked, coming in with the bread basket from the dining room, breaking up the moment.
“Ooh, bring it on!” Liz fist pumped.
“You’re so going down,” Juliet vowed with a smirk.
“Y’all are something else.” Stephanie shook her head.
I smiled at them. “Let me put the coffee on.”
Later that night, after Liz and Stephanie were holed up in our guest room and Ben and Nash left to crash at Myles and Juliet’s, the house was quiet.
I cuddled against Greyson in bed, my hand resting on his chest, feeling the steady thrum of his pulse and his even breathing.
Rosie snored lightly at the end of the bed.
Originally, she was supposed to sleep in the laundry room. That had lasted all of two nights when Greyson caved to her soft nightly whimpers and let her into our room. She hadn’t jumped into bed with us, just curled up on the rug at the foot of the bed and drifted off to dreamland without a sound.
“Grey?”
“Hmm?” It was more a noise than a reply, and I could tell he was nearly asleep, even though his thumb rubbed soft circles over my shoulder.
“Thank you for tonight. You’re amazing. And I don’t think I say that enough.”
He stirred slightly. “My spaghetti does it for you, huh? More than the dress blues?”
I laughed, turning my head to muffle it in his shoulder since we did have guests after all. “It was incredible as always, and I do love a man in uniform, but that’s not what I meant.”
The bed creaked as he rolled towards me, tugging me more firmly into his arms. “Then don’t let me stop you from whatever you had to say.”
I pressed my cheek against his chest. “No conversations tonight. Just… can you hold me for a while?”
“Forever,” he slurred, and I knew he was slipping away again.
Marines (even retired ones) and their freaky ability to sleep within seconds.
Me? Only if the room temperature was sixty-eight degrees, I had a weighted blanket (or Grey’s arm, I wasn’t picky), fluffy socks on, and white noise running.
Even then my brain would kick into overdrive and overthink everything.
Greyson’s arms tightened slightly. “You’re making me dizzy with all that thinking, Pais.”
“What are you going to do about it?” I teased.
He kissed me. And I forgot about everything else.
THE END
The story continues with Paisley and Greyson, coming Spring/Summer 2026!