Epilogue
Pepper
“Is that your engagement ring?”
Austen’s high-pitched squeal cut through the end-of-lunch hubbub in the diner, causing several heads to turn. Her hand flew to her mouth, eyes wide with mortification. “Oh God, was I not supposed to say that out loud?”
I laughed, feeling the weight of the diamond on my finger—both familiar and new. “It’s fine, Austen. Half the town’s been gawking at it since I started my shift. Honestly, the fact that you haven’t heard yet tells me you’re really behind on the gossip tree.”
“I can only blame inventory for the fact that I haven’t surfaced long enough to talk to a human. Oh my God! I can’t believe it! Finally.” She bounced on her toes, leaning forward to get a better look.
I couldn’t stop staring at the ring myself.
The same white gold band with the princess-cut diamond that had adorned my finger for all those years before our divorce.
The ring I’d returned to Rhett with tears streaming down my face, convinced we’d reached our end.
He’d given it back to me last night, and I’d asked him to move back in.
For all my talk about taking things slow, once I knew he was serious about making changes, I hadn’t seen the point in wasting any more time for formality’s sake.
We wanted to be together, and we were committed to making sure we did things differently this time.
“Let me see!” Rhett’s mother practically lunged across the counter, grabbing my hand. Her eyes welled up immediately. “My boy finally came to his senses.”
“We’re back together,” I confirmed, running my thumb along the bottom of the band. My hand had felt naked these past three years without it. “For good this time.”
Chief MacAvoy cleared his throat, clearly fighting emotion the same way Rhett always did.
Warm and squishy weren’t in the job description for the chief of police, but I knew he’d always had a soft spot for me.
“Always knew you two belonged together. Just took that thick-headed son of mine some time to figure it out.”
“Took us both some time.” I could admit now that we’d both had some growing up to do.
Maybe if I’d communicated better what I needed early on, we’d have done more of that growing together.
Or maybe we’d needed the time apart to see what life was like without each other really crystalize what we wanted.
“Have you set a date?” Mrs. MacAvoy still clutching my hand like she might never let go. Her eyes shone with an unmistakable maternal excitement and I could practically see the wheels turning in her brain thinking about weddings and grandbabies.
I gently extracted my fingers. “We haven’t gotten that far. It just happened last night.”
“You can’t elope,” Austen insisted. “I mean it, Pepper. Don’t you dare run off to some courthouse. We all missed celebrating you two the first time.”
I laughed, remembering our first wedding—a hasty affair at city hall between Rhett’s shifts. We’d been so young, so eager to start our lives together that we hadn’t wanted to wait for the big production our families had hoped for.
“No plans to elope,” I promised, though privately I was thinking the sooner the better.
We’d already lost so much time. “But I’m not sure I want some huge production either.
” That wasn’t who we were. But maybe Austen had a point that, this go round, it was worth making a bit of a fuss to celebrate all we’d overcome to get here.
The bell over the door jingled, and I looked up to see Rhett standing there. My heart tripped at the sight of his familiar frame in the doorway, and a smile automatically tugged at my lips. Then I noticed his expression. Serious. Tense.
My stomach instantly twisted into knots.
This had to be it. The moment we’d been waiting for. The results of his captain’s exam. Nothing else would make him look like that.
Our entire future hinged on this. If he passed, he’d have the more predictable schedule he’d promised, less dangerous work, a chance for us to build the life we’d always wanted.
If he didn’t... Well, we hadn’t actually discussed what would happen then.
Would he take the exam again? Would we be back to the same old patterns?
The conversation with his family died as they followed my gaze.
Rhett’s eyes locked with mine across the diner, ignoring everyone else.
He looked so solemn I couldn’t read him.
My heart thumped against my ribs like it was trying to escape, and I gripped the edge of the counter so hard my knuckles turned white.
“Well?” The question caught in my throat, coming out barely above a whisper.
For a heartbeat, nothing changed in his expression. Then his face broke into a grin so wide it nearly split his face in two. “I passed.”
Without a care for who was watching or what they might think, I whooped and launched myself from behind the counter, rushing across the checkered-tile floor to leap at him. He caught me easily, spinning us both in a circle as he laughed, the sound rumbling through his chest and into mine.
“Wait, wait. What happened?” Confusion was written across Austen’s face. “What did you pass?”
Rhett let me slide down his body until my feet touched the floor, the friction between us sending a delicious tingle up my spine, but he kept his arm tight around my waist as he shifted focus to his family. “The captain’s exam. Best of all, there’s an opening here now. I’ll start next week.”
I gripped his arm, digging my fingers into the muscle. “Seriously?”
“Seriously. It’s a done deal. Promotion offer has been signed.” His eyes sparkled with triumph when they met mine again.
“Captain?” Mrs. MacAvoy pressed a hand to her chest and went brows up. “But you never said anything!”
“That was kind of the point, Mom.” Rhett’s arm tightened around my waist, pulling me closer. “Didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up in case it didn’t work out.”
“Including mine,” I added, poking him in the ribs with my index finger, trying to mask how emotional I actually felt with playfulness. “Though we’ve already had that discussion.”
Chief MacAvoy stepped forward, clapping his son on the shoulder. “Damn proud of you, son. That’s a hell of an accomplishment. When did you even have time to study for this with deployment?”
Rhett’s chest puffed out slightly at his father’s praise. “Had a lot of time to think while I was recovering. Made good use of my downtime.”
“Oh my God, this is amazing!” Austen bounced on her toes. “Captain MacAvoy. Has a nice ring to it.”
“This calls for champagne.” Mrs. MacAvoy dabbed at her eyes with a napkin. “We should have dinner tonight. All of us. Celebrate properly.”
“Actually...” Rhett’s fingers traced circles against my hip. “We kind of had plans.”
“Plans that involve christening every room in the house now that you’re officially moving back in?” Austen waggled her eyebrows.
“Austen!” Mrs. MacAvoy’s scandalized tone made me laugh. Especially as she wasn’t entirely wrong.
“What? They’re engaged. Again. And clearly making up for lost time.” She grinned. “Don’t think we haven’t noticed all the time you’ve been spending over there ‘fixing the porch’, big brother.”
Rhett’s ears went red. “The porch needed fixing.”
“Uh huh. Sure.” Austen winked at me. “Don’t worry. We’ll do dinner another night. You two deserve some time to celebrate. All this good news at once.”
He’d done it. We really were going to have the chance at building the life we’d always wanted. The life I’d dreamed about in those quiet moments alone, when I allowed myself to hope that somehow, someday, Rhett and I would find our way back to each other.
Giddy with relief, I hugged him again. “Does this mean you’ll already be going back to the station this week, or do you have more time off?”
“I’ve actually finished the last of the projects around the house, but if you’ve got something else for me to do, I’m happy to oblige.” His eyes sparkled with that mischievous glint I’d fallen for years ago.
I rose to my toes and brought my lips close to his ear to whisper only to him, my voice low and full of promise. “I think it’s a great time to get started on that family for real.”
“Sold.” He scooped me up and tossed me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing at all, his firefighter strength on full display.
I was still shrieking with laughter as he hauled me straight out of the diner, past my startled staff and the handful of afternoon customers who were suddenly getting quite the show.
But for once, I couldn’t bring myself to care what anyone thought.
This was our moment, and I wanted to savor every second of it.
I hope you enjoyed this conclusion to the Heroes of Huckleberry Creek! There is, of course, MORE of Rhett and Pepper’s happily ever after in their bonus epilogue! Grab your copy of that here:
The Heroes’ love stories might be finished, but there’s more where they came from. We’re moving on to the HOT SHOTS next—aka Huckleberry Creek’s finest firefighters, starting with none other than Hollywood himself.
I've never been one to say no to a good cause. So when the fire station decides to hold a bachelor auction fundraiser, I'm all in. After all, I'm Hollywood—the guy with the pretty face who's always ready to put on a show.
What I don't expect is to be bought by a grandma. Not for herself (thank God), but for her granddaughter.
One night with Lucy is all it takes to knock me off my feet. She's beautiful, funny, and sees right through my act. For the first time, I find myself wanting to stick around for the morning after.
Then I discover she's a single mom—the one thing I swore I'd never get involved with. She deserves better than a guy like me with my messed-up childhood and zero parenting skills.
But walking away from Lucy feels impossible. And maybe, just maybe, the package deal I've spent my life avoiding is exactly what I need.