EPILOGUE
CASEY
EARLY JUNE
Just over a year ago I showed up in Bayshore with a car full of too many appliances, a heavy heart, and basically no plan.
One year on, I feel like I’ve changed things for the better. I’m one of TikTok’s top book reviewers. I’ve got a five-year plan that leads into a ten-year plan. But if you were to judge everything by the state of my car? Well, it might not look like it.
I’ve traded random appliances for advance reader copies of forthcoming books—four boxes sent from various publishers clutter my backseat—along with recording equipment I keep meaning to put away, tote bags full of various sugar scrubs from the farmer’s market that morning, and a bunch of party decorations that I am currently carting to Piper’s barn.
But there’s extra chaos this weekend. Not only is Griffin slated to begin his summer Bayshore residency in mere days, I have also been part of what can only be considered the biggest surprise party of Bayshore history: celebrating Griffin and the Cleveland Crushers’ championship win last week.
We had a family outing to Minnesota—the Keegans and the Harts—where the championship game was held this year, and we’ve all been flying high since.
Griffin has been on a whirlwind of scheduled activities and press since then, which has given me and his mother some time to collaborate on this surprise party.
At Piper’s suggestion, she hired an event coordinator to help speed some things along.
I haven’t met her yet, since she’s been darting around like a whirlwind tending to details.
“Oh! Casey! You brought the banner!” Griffin’s mom claps her hands excitedly.
Piper had the brilliant idea of creating a custom banner for this party, but it was extremely last minute.
Plus all her brothers wanted to weigh in.
I was merely instructed to pick it up. I haven’t seen this work of art yet myself.
“I’ve heard so much about this thing, I can’t wait to unroll it.”
Mama Keegan takes the tube from me and we unroll it together on the barn floor. It's a massive print—Griffin on the ice, mid-celebration, stick raised, jersey drenched in sweat or maybe celebratory champagne—and across the top in bold block letters: GRIFF KEEGAN, OUR #1 PUCKER.
I snort, tilting my head at the choice of words. “Number one pucker?”
Mama Keegan rolls her eyes. “You can thank Jett for that. He insisted. You know how boys are.”
“Well if it’s a boy you raised, I know they’re exceptional. All the Keegan boys are number one puckers, aren’t they?”
A laugh bursts out of her. “It just doesn’t sound right, does it? Here, let’s hang it over here.”
We spend the next hour getting Cloud Nine Events into shape.
Piper has the barn looking incredible—Crushers colors everywhere, fairy lights strung across the rafters, food pans along the far wall, waiting to be filled with delights from Kru's restaurant.
An elderly lady shuffles past, a plastic-wrapped tray of cake balls in her hands.
“Dee’s Balls are here!” she announces as she sets the tray on the dessert table.
Half of Bayshore has been invited. People flit in and out—Griffin’s brothers, Piper, Kru, the DJ, the event coordinator Nora who Piper has recently started working with, a soft-spoken beauty who looks young but has a knack for putting on a party.
As we get closer to party time, it seems to me there are lurkers outside.
I occasionally poke my head out to check out a small group of women who have been lingering near the road.
Looking this way like they’re too afraid to come up.
I can’t tell if they’re lost hockey fans or early attendees.
One of the times I walk out of the barn, they shriek.
“Book Rec Bartender!” one of them shouts.
I wave dumbly. They know who I am? The whole 800,000 followers thing feels surreal most days, but it doesn’t often reach me here in Bayshore.
Especially since I’ve cut back to guest appearances only at Brews on the Bay.
There are way too many books to review and drinks to recommend on my TikTok account, and the more I post, the bigger my audience grows.
Talk about an incredible plot twist in life.
It sure didn’t hurt when my romance-loving fans found out I was dating the Griffin Keegan.
I think sharing that tidbit with the world netted me a hundred thousand new followers in that one week alone.
They love a hockey romance-reviewing girlie who’s actually dating a hockey player.
And watch out when I feature him in my videos, even briefly.
The comments explode with thirsty ladies.
I go back to arranging centerpieces, lost in my thoughts until I hear Mama Keegan shush someone. I whip around to find her shooing someone out of the barn.
“Everything okay?” I ask.
“Oh yes. Totally fine.” She gives me a warm smile. “How’s it going, sweetheart?”
“Great. I think we’re mostly ready.”
Jett saunters over, looking annoyed. “Mom, why is she here?” He jerks his thumb toward Nora and Piper where they’re chatting in the doorway. People are beginning to arrive now, cars filling the parking lot, guests beginning to fill the space.
“That’s Nora,” Mama Keegan begins. “She’s helping with the party coordination.”
Jett narrows his eyes. “I know her name but there’s no reason for her to still be here. Can we get rid of her? She’s not letting me set up the life-size cut-outs of Griffin wearing underwear on his head when he was a teenager.”
“No, we cannot get rid of her,” Mama Keegan hisses, swatting her son’s arm. “You’d do well to be nicer to her.”
“I’d be nicer to her if she didn’t call my cardboard cut-outs inappropriate.”
Piper joins our group just as Mama Keegan grins mysteriously. But it fades as she presses her fingertips to the side of her head.
“Are you okay, Mom?” Jett asks.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” She draws a deep breath, then opens her eyes. “I just got another one of the…sensations.”
“Are you serious?” Piper squeaks.
Jett blinks a few times and then looks around. “What, like what happened at Piper’s grand opening when you knew Griff and Case were gonna be an item?”
“Yeah, honey. Like that.”
I look between Mama Keegan, Jett, and Piper. “Okay, so…what did you sense?”
Mama Keegan smiles again and shuffles off. “I don’t need to say anything. Jett will find out soon enough.”
Piper and I share a shocked look while Jett just looks unsettled. We don’t have much time to dwell on the news, though, because Piper gets a text from Asher.
“Griff, Dane, and Asher are almost here!” she shouts.
The set-up Mama Keegan devised is that we’re all meeting Griffin for a celebratory dinner here in Bayshore.
I’m sure the ruse will work only until Asher gets close to the barn and they start seeing the cars lining the side streets.
The place is really filling up now, and servers from Kru’s restaurant have begun filling the pans with all sorts of delicious-looking food.
I’m too excited to eat right now, though.
My parents filter into the barn next, followed by Claire and Paul.
Roxie, Sara, and Julie show up, Branson not far behind.
We form a tight cluster of excitement, gushing about the season, the surprise, the summer ahead.
There’s a low murmur of conversation as everyone squeezes into the barn and waits.
I’m on pins and needles—there’s something so excruciatingly gratifying about waiting to surprise someone you love.
I hang near the doors, so I can run up to him first. I can’t wait to see the look of surprise on my hockey hero’s face.
“What the—” Griffin’s surprise is the first thing I hear as he walks up to the barn with Asher, Dane, and Lia in tow. Then he comes into view, wearing a shirt and tie and dark pants, since he came straight from the end of his press tour in Cleveland.
“Surprise!” Everyone shouts. I run toward him, launching myself at him. He catches me easily, surprise and amusement in his gaze.
“What the hell is all this?” he asks with a laugh. People are cheering, swarming around him, clapping him on the back.
“The champion is in the house!” The DJ begins playing music from his station in the corner of the barn. Now it feels like a proper party. Somewhere on the far side of the barn, chants of “Kee-gan! Kee-gan!” flare up.
“We love you,” I explain. “That’s pretty much it.”
Griffin finds his mom nearby, sending her a look I don’t entirely understand. “You knew about all this?”
“Of course, honey,” she says, patting his arm. “I thought they’d pair very well together.”
“What would pair well together?” I ask.
Griffin’s smile just grows wider. He shakes his head at his mom then looks back at me. “I thought I was going to be surprising you today, not the other way around.”
He gently lowers me to the ground, and I watch him dig around in his pocket for a moment. With friends and family swirling around us, the low thump of chill electronic music in the background, surrounded by smiles and good energy and great food, Griffin gets down on one knee.
His slate blue eyes are shining with so much emotion. Time downshifts. My focus shrinks to only him as he pops open the ring box. A diamond ring glitters inside.
“Now I get to ask you with everyone important at our sides,” Griffin says.
“I’ve been ready to ask you this since last August. From the second you walked into this barn a year ago, you changed my life for the better.
I don’t just want a summer or two at your side, Case.
I want all of it. I want us to write our love story the only way we can. ”
I clamp a hand over my mouth. Shock has rendered my voice useless, but the tears are coming anyway. People have begun to notice what’s happening, and there’s lots of shushing around us.
“You showed me that love is worth the risk of loss. And I’m going all in. Casey Hart…will you make me the happiest man in the world and be my wife?”
I crumple onto him, nodding and blubbering and full-on crying. He receives me without even flinching, because he is my rock. My strong, steady foundation who builds me bookcases and supports my wild dreams and never once doubted that Chaotic Casey could carve out her own path.
“Of course I’ll be your wife,” I manage to say. Because I’ve been his since the day he helped me dab up spilled cocktail from my linen dress. Since before then, if we’re being honest.
The barn goes wild a second time. Maybe louder this time. We kiss so hard my lips go numb while hundreds of friends, family, and acquaintances shout and cheer. The “Keegan” chants begin again, but this time they mean a little extra.
When we break for air, Griffin presses his forehead to mine. “I love you so much, Casey. Oh shit, I forgot to put the ring on your finger.”
I laugh as he pops the ring out of the case and slips it onto my left hand. It glitters as I admire it—it’s honestly breathtaking.
“When did you buy this?”
“A few months ago.”
I cover my mouth with the hand that has the ring on it. Griffin’s eyes go hooded.
“God damn, that ring looks good on you. Almost as good as my name across your back.”
“Were you planning on doing this today all along?” I ask, still incredulous.
“Yes! I told my mom to make sure she invited your family to dinner tonight too, because I wanted everyone to be there when I asked you.”
Laughter rolls out of me. The irony, the multi-angle surprise, the pure love—it’s all so delightful. Mama Keegan catches my eye from across the room and winks at me.
What a sly woman.
We stand as people begin coming up to us, offering congratulations or saying it was about damn time we got engaged. It’s all a whirlwind—the most joyful, heartwarming whirlwind.
And then Griffin looks over at me, rooting me to my spot with those slate blue eyes that I’ll never tire of getting lost in.
He’s not just my hockey hero, or my high school bestie turned roommate turned soul mate.
He’s the man who looked at my mess and said “hell yes.”
The man who helped me realize I wasn’t a failure, I was just a book shelved in the wrong section. He didn’t try to edit the quirky out of me. He just understood me in my own way.
Like I understand him.
And now, we’ll write the best parts of our story…together.
THE END