Epilogue
VIOLET
One Year Later
Christmas Eve in Sweetwater Lake is cold and clear this year. There’s snow on the ground, making it a white Christmas, but the roads are clear, and there are plenty of people out doing their last minute shopping.
Blackbird Bakery is so full it’s nearly bursting with customers. It’s a good thing I renovated at the beginning of the year, or I wouldn’t have the space to make enough pastries and baked goods to serve everyone.
The money I got from the guys went right back into the business, letting me get better equipment and spruce the place up even more. Now it’s beautiful inside and out, and I feel proud whenever someone compliments me on the decor as well as my treats.
Without having to worry about money, I’ve been able to throw my whole heart into this. I’ve experimented with things, tried and failed, and soared in ways I never expected to be able to do.
Today is the last push before Christmas, and as late-afternoon light filters through the window, I quickly box up the last of the to-go orders, handling the steady stream of people coming in to pick things up for their families for tomorrow.
“You can go home,” I tell Samantha, the employee I was able to hire several months ago.
It’s made a huge difference in my work/life balance, allowing me to have more than one day off a week and making the day-to-day operation of the bakery a lot easier, since I don’t have to handle baking and serving customers all on my own.
She’s sweet and bubbly, and she gets plenty of tips by being friendly with her small town charm.
“I can wait for you to be done,” she says with a bright smile, waving a hand. “My family knows not to expect me until at least eight tonight.”
“They’re going to think I’m a terrible boss.”
She shakes her head. “Not when I bring them this.” She holds up the box of treats that I made for her family as part of her generous Christmas bonus. “I think all they’re going to do is sing your praises until the new year.”
I laugh at that, and together we finish serving the last of the customers before we finally flip the sign to ‘Closed’ just after five.
“Have a wonderful Christmas, Violet,” Samantha says, hugging me before grabbing her things and darting out into the cold to her car.
I lock up, making sure everything is shut down and clean in preparation for being closed tomorrow. As I’m heading toward the door to leave, my phone rings. Smiling when I see Rhett’s name and picture on the screen, I pick up, already happy to hear from him.
“Hey,” I say. “I’m on my way out the door right now.”
“Good.” He chuckles. “I was just about to say you need to kick everyone out. Tell them you have more important Christmas Eve plans.”
I laugh. “No need for that. Everyone’s been served, and I am heading to my car as we speak.” I can hear a hint of grumpiness in his tone, and I poke at it. “What’s going on? Did Sawyer burn dinner?”
“No,” he says, huffing a laugh. “I just miss you. Haven’t seen you in too long.”
“But I saw you this morning!”
“Like I said. Too long.”
I smile, sliding into my car and turning the key in the ignition. There’s something about how much he hates being away from me—even just during the day when all of us are working—always makes me feel warm. People before have had a way of making me feel clingy and annoying, but Rhett never has.
Someone who preferred being alone more than anything else in the past, now wants to be with me whenever he can. It’s a heady feeling that settles nicely in my heart.
“How was work today?” I ask as I pull onto the road.
The guys did end up starting a new company—something in the same field as their previous security firm but with a more specialized focus, and it’s really taken off, growing by leaps and bounds.
The three of them are equal co-owners, their bond deeper and stronger than ever.
“Not bad.” I can almost see his smile through the phone. “Just a few video conferences, meeting with our team to make sure everything will run smoothly while we take time off for the holiday.”
I nod. “That sounds good.”
Video conferences are a regular thing for all three of my men.
Even though their new venture has been going well, I’m sure they could’ve probably built it up even faster if they had based it in a major city, but they all refuse to leave Sweetwater Lake.
They travel sometimes, for client meetings and other things that can’t be done remotely.
But for the most part, they’re always here with me, in the big house we bought not far from the bakery.
When I asked them once if they wouldn’t rather be somewhere with more opportunities, they spent a whole evening reminding me very thoroughly that they just want to be where I am.
I never brought it up again.
It’s nice having them here. More often than not, they’re home when I get there, and having people to come home to never stops feeling amazing.
“We beat you back to the house, so we’re all waiting for you,” Rhett says as if he can read my thoughts. “You still sure you want to go tonight?”
I purse my lips but nod again. “Yeah. Just for a little while. I may not get along with them well, but they are my family, and it’s the holidays. But we don’t have to stay too long.”
He makes a little noise in his throat. “You’re a better person than I am, Tink.
Your family really doesn’t deserve you. But if you’re in, so are we.
I’m holding you to that ‘not too long’ thing though.
My brothers and I were just talking about how we were so disappointed we didn’t get to spend Christmas with you last year. We had to be apart, and we hated it.”
“I hated it too,” I tell him softly.
“That’s why we want you to ourselves this year. We’re going all out. It’s going to be a Christmas to remember.”
“It would be one to remember even if you didn’t go all out.”
He laughs, warm and deep. “Well then, it’ll be doubly special. See you soon, Tink.”
He’s not wrong about that. Our house is so close to the bakery that I’m already almost home. We hang up, and less than five minutes later, I pull into the driveway outside our sprawling house.
As I get out of the car, Sawyer comes out to greet me. He beams at the sight of me, striding down the walkway and sweeping me into his arms. His lips meet mine as he hauls me into his embrace, his hands gripping my thighs and lifting me off my feet.
“Welcome home,” he murmurs against my mouth.
“Oh, I feel very welcome,” I reply with a giggle, kissing him again.
Kicking my car door closed with one foot, he turns and carries me toward the house.
He doesn’t stop once we get inside, crossing through the living room and making a beeline for the stairs that lead to the second floor.
He takes the steps steadily, and it doesn’t even occur to me to worry that I might be too heavy for him.
He and his brothers banished those kinds of doubts from my head a long time ago.
Rhett and Lennox are in the massive bedroom we all share, and they glance over as Sawyer carries me inside.
“Look what I found,” he announces proudly, before dropping me gently on the bed and following me down, his body hovering over mine.
He kisses me again as his brothers watch with heated, fond smiles, and when he drops his head to nibble at the curve of my jaw, a little zing of pleasure shoots straight to my clit.
I let out a little sound, lifting my hips to try to get more contact with his—but we’re interrupted by a throat clearing nearby.
“As much as I’d love to watch you fuck Violet right now,” Lennox tells his brother, arching a brow at us when we both look over at him.
“Let you warm her up, get her all slick and pliable, pussy stretched just right and dripping with cum so I’d slide right in when I fucked her too…
” He clears his throat, seeming to lose his train of thought.
Then he shakes his head and continues, “As much as I’d love that, we really don’t have time.
We’ve got to get ready for this family holiday party.
I want to get there on time so that we’ll have plenty of evening left to get to the cabin afterward. ”
Sawyer blows out a disappointed breath, and I can feel that he’s half hard even through the layers of fabric that separate us. But we’re all really serious about having some time at the cabin to ourselves later, so I know Lennox is right.
I sold my little house when the four of us moved in together, but Rhett kept his cabin about an hour outside of Sweetwater Lake.
It’s no longer his private sanctuary though, the place he goes to be by himself and cut off everyone else.
Instead, it’s become our sanctuary, a place we all escape to together.
Sawyer gives me one more kiss and then stands up, helping me to my feet too. All four of us dress quickly for the party, the men putting on nice pants and button down shirts with no ties, and me slipping into a comfy, festive sweater and jeans.
We load our bags up into Rhett’s SUV so that we’ll be ready to head right to the cabin after leaving my parents’ place, then pile into the car and drive over.
My mother greets us at the door, and even though we’re almost exactly on time, she glances down at her watch pointedly before greeting us. I notice Lennox catch the gesture, and we share a small eye roll as she greets my other two men.
I don’t want to cut off contact with my family, but my mom is still a lot sometimes. It’s so much easier to deal with now that I have three people in my corner who stand up for me and love me unconditionally though.
“I was starting to wonder if you’d make it. Come in, come in!” My mother ushers us all inside, and my father comes over to hug me and the guys, telling us he’s glad we came.