Epilogue
Two weeks later
After a week in Cabo San Lucas and another in Eagle Rock, Montana, Alana and Chase flew to San Diego to wrap up Chase’s life there.
After a day filled with cleaning and sorting through the contents of Chase’s apartment, they’d ended the day with Alana sitting on a stool in McP’s Irish Pub in Coronado, California.
She smiled as she watched her hunky former Navy SEAL walk across the floor toward her, a grin spreading across his face.
When he reached her, he gathered her into his arms and planted a kiss full on her lips, a kiss she gave back as good as she got.
A full minute and a half later, and to the wolf calls of the men around him, Chase lifted his head.
Alana’s cheeks heated, and she chuckled, pulling away just enough to look up into his eyes. “What took you so long?”
“I had to drive around the parking lot several times before I could find a parking space.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Did you miss me?”
She nodded. “I did. Why were you grinning so much?”
“It’s my natural reaction to seeing my wife,” Chase said, the grin broadening. “I can’t help but think how lucky I am that you chose me.”
“I thought you chose me, and I just went along with it because I had nothing better to do in Cabo San Lucas,” she teased him.
“You mean you haven’t since fallen for me because of my skills in a kayak?”
“Uh, no,” she said. “You flipped it and took me down with you. You nearly drowned me. If it had been in Cabo, I wouldn’t have minded as much. But getting dunked in a glacier-fed stream in Montana wasn’t my idea of a good time.”
“Hmm. That’s not how I remembered it. I thought I saved you from drowning after you capsized us while trying to kiss me.” He nibbled a line along the length of her neck, slowing to test the pulse beating at the base. “Either way, we lived, and we’re here now,” he murmured against her skin.
“Why did you bring me here? I thought we were going to stay Montana, where you’ll be working now.”
“I had a couple of things to take care of first. You know, pack my apartment and forward my mail. And I wanted you to meet my family—the brothers who’ve meant the most to me for the past few years.
They’ve been my unit, my team and my family.
Despite how bad they smell, I’m going to miss the bastards.
Besides, I wanted to see their faces when they hear what we’ve done.
They aren’t going to believe it when I tell them.
” He turned her toward the group of men gathered around a large table.
“This is your family?” Alana held back a frown pulling at her forehead. “You didn’t tell me we were meeting a big group of people.”
“I didn’t want this motley crew to scare you away before you got to know them.” Chase gave a sharp whistle to get their attention. “Hey, you bunch of dirtbags, I want you to meet Alana.”
“Alana!” As one, all of the men lifted their drinks and shouted her name.
“Because you’re all family to me, I wanted you to be here to get to know someone I care a great deal about. This is Mrs. Alana Neal Flannigan, my wife.”
“What? You’re kidding!” one yelled.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” said another.
Yet a third man slapped his leg and laughed. “The most confirmed bachelor took the plunge. That doesn’t bode well for the rest of us.”
“Let me introduce you to them by their favorite drinks—which we use as our ‘handles’ on the team.” He pointed to the first man to his right, a dark-haired man with soulful brown eyes. “This is Dirty Martini, or Dirtman for short. He doesn't talk much, well, except to cuss. You'll get used to him.”
Dirty Martini shot Chase his middle finger and gave Alana a chin lift of recognition.
Chase pointed to a man with a high-and-tight haircut, wearing a crisp white button-down shirt and a navy-blue blazer. “That’s Bourbon Neat. He likes the expensive stuff.”
Alana smiled at the man and shook his hand. He dressed like a man on his way to a business meeting, except relaxed like being so cool was as natural as breathing.
Pointing to a man sipping from a wine goblet, Chase said, “This is Red Wine. He likes to think he’s sophisticated.”
The man in question tossed a pretzel at Chase. “Nah, I just never developed a taste for beer. Why suffer drinking piss water, when I can have a smooth, red wine?” He lifted his glass to Alana. “Welcome to the family, sister.”
“Cold Beer likes his beer cold and his women hot.” Chase tipped his head toward a man holding a frosty beer mug. “He can flip a beer cap into any can. He’s won money from that particular skill.”
“Damn right.” The man with the neatly trimmed beard lifted his mug in salute. “Still can’t believe Salty Dog got hitched. You must be some special kind of woman. Congrats.”
“She is the best kind of woman,” Chase said and pointed to a man with a glass containing a dark liquid. “Single Malt’s not as pretentious as his choice of liquor would lead you to believe. He just doesn’t drink if single malt isn’t available. He’s acquired a taste for the good shit.”
Single Malt nodded. “I don’t settle for less than what I want.”
“Stick with your standards, man,” Chase said and turned to a man with a mixed drink. “Rusty Nail likes the hard stuff because he’s a hard case.”
Rusty Nail lifted his glass. “Don’t listen to him. I like my liquor hard, and my women soft. I’m a teddy bear at heart.”
“Last but not least is our permanent designated driver, Black Coffee.” Chase indicated a man with dark hair, sipping a steaming mug of java. “We’re fortunate to have him stone sober, for the most part. Although on occasion, he likes to mix a little Irish cream in his mug.”
Black Coffee nodded his head. “Glad to oblige. Nice to meet you, Alana.”
Chase continued. “And you know Sex on the Beach, who earned his moniker by being the biggest womanizer of the lot.”
Carson, wearing a shirt with palm trees and hula girls, grinned. “That’s right. Two of my favorite things. Sex and beaches.”
Alana laughed. “Thank goodness, some people can be reformed.”
“Some of these guys need it,” Chase said.
The men threw cardboard coasters at him.
“Some of us don’t want to be reformed,” said the one Chase had called Dirty Martini.
“By the way, what did you do with Delgado?” she asked Carson.
Carson grinned. “That’s classified.”
Alana snorted. “Classified, my ass.” But she shook her head. “One of these days you’ll have to tell us.”
“One of these days, I might,” Carson said.
Alana grinned and looked up to Chase. “Your team has some interesting names. And that’s where you got the nickname Salty Dog?” she asked. “You like grapefruit juice and vodka?”
He nodded. “Yes, it is. Now that my rowdy family is here, and because my girl has a propensity for forgetting some of the most important moments of her life, I wanted you all to bear witness to what I’m about to do.”
Alana frowned. “What’s this all about?” Her heart fluttered in her chest, and butterflies erupted in her belly.
Chase puffed out his chest and dug a hand into the pocket of his jeans as he pulled out a small box and sank to one knee.
His friends whistled, hooted and called out.
“Go, Salty Dog!” Rusty Nail called out.
“Do it right, old man!” Carson yelled.
Dirty Martini snorted. “Another one bites the dust.”
Chase shot them a glaring look. “Shut up and listen. I need witnesses.”
Every one of the men pulled out their cell phones and hit their video recording buttons.
Alana’s knees weakened as she stared down at Chase looking up at her.
“Just so you know,” he said. “I’ve cleared this with your father.”
Her breath caught. “My father? You two are talking?”
Chase nodded. “Yes, we are. He doesn’t hate me anymore.”
She chuckled. “You’re a miracle worker. My father hates everyone.”
“Not his son-in-law. Not anymore. We’ve bonded. And I worked it out with Hank Patterson that I’d go to work with the Hawaii branch of the Brotherhood Protectors. It helps that Jace Hawkins and I worked together for a couple of years. He put in a good word for me with Patterson.”
His gaze settled on her expression. His wife’s eyes were beginning to look a little glassy. His wife. Man, he liked the sound of it.
“Are you kidding me?” Alana’s eyes widened and she flung her arms around his neck. “You’re going to work in Hawaii?”
Chase frowned. “I thought you’d like to be close to home—and your dad was all for it. For the record, he doesn’t expect you to go back to work for him, unless you want to.”
She leaned back, her brow dipping low on her forehead. “I thought you had your heart set on Montana?”
“If you want to go to Montana, Hank left that option open as well. Or we can go to the Louisiana bayou or Colorado.”
She laughed. “I love where I’m from. Hawaii is in my blood and bones.
Of course, I’d love to stay there, and it would be nice to be close to my father, as cantankerous as he can be.
I know all the Brotherhood Protectors there.
They helped me when my friend Kimo and I were kidnapped.
Hawk is an amazing man. You’ll love the entire team. Which means more family and friends.”
She’d already filled him in on her last adventure, so he didn’t wince too hard at the mention of it.
“Good. Hawaii, it is. But that’s not all.
” Chase took a deep breath and launched.
“Alana Neal Flannigan, you’ve shown me that marriage isn’t as scary as I always thought.
You’ve shown me how strong a woman can be, and how much joy she can bring to a relationship.
I wanted to show you how much that has meant to me by giving you a token of my love.
” He opened the box and extracted a beautiful ring with a large diamond solitaire at the center, the band lined with smaller diamonds.
“I know we skipped the whole engagement thing. So, we don’t have to do that.
And we got married before we got to know each other, and I have the certificate to prove it.
So, Alana, will you not annul our marriage, will you stay married to me for richer or poorer, until death do us part?
” He took her left hand in his and held it with the ring poised to join the wedding band on her ring finger. He paused, waiting for her response.
The lump forming in Alana’s throat almost made it impossible for her to answer. She swallowed several times, delaying the inevitable conclusion.
“Oh, sweetheart,” Chase said. “Don’t hesitate. You’re getting me worried.”
She laughed, the joy of the moment bringing tears to her eyes.
Finally, she forced words past her vocal cords.
“Yes, yes, yes,” she said, and pulled him to his feet and into her arms. “I wasn’t sure who you were at first, but you’ve shown me a man I can trust to save me when the cartel is after me.
A man who likes to dance and isn’t afraid to do it in front of every barhopping drunk in Cabo San Lucas.
And you’ve shown me that falling in love doesn’t have to take months to get there.
When you find the right person, you just know, even through a haze of alcohol.
I love you, Chase Flannigan…my best friend, my hero and my husband.
I’ll stay married to you for as long as we both shall live. ”
Alana flung her arms around her husband’s neck and kissed him with all the love and passion she felt for the stranger she’d woken up married to in a foreign country.
The men congratulated Chase amid hugs and good-natured ribbing. All of them lined up to kiss Alana’s cheek before they resumed their seats and lifted their drinks for a toast.
“To the newlyweds!” Carson said. “May they live long and procreate. We need the next generation of Navy SEALs to carry on the tradition.”
A cheer went up from the table of Navy SEALs, and the party of Alana’s life began in earnest.
THE END
I hope you enjoyed Alana’s Hero.