Chapter Twenty-Four
Ten months later
“Where’s Chuck Norris?” Sloane asked, glancing about the lawn for that rooster she had come to both hate and love over the last ten months. “I haven’t seen him since we got here.”
Both Estelle and Natasha bowed their heads sadly. “He died last week.”
“Oh shit, I’m so sorry,” Sloane blurted out.
She and Kendall had been at the Stiles residence for no more than thirty minutes, and yet she’d managed to change the entire celebratory atmosphere into morbid talk of death.
Just great.
Kendall, sitting beside her at the beautiful table that Sloane had admired on their very first visit to the farmette, placed her hand on Sloane’s leg and squeezed.
“What happened?” she asked.
“He got too brave for his own good,” Natasha said, biting into a strawberry she’d just picked from the spread in front of her. “He pissed off Mr. Henry, one of the alpacas. Kept getting into his space, pecking at his hooves.”
Estelle sighed. “He learned the hard way that you shouldn’t mess with an alpaca on a bad day. One kick and he was gone.”
If Sloane had known there had been a death in the family, she would’ve called or sent a condolence letter to their new neighbors. It was the right thing to do when you ended up buying the property next door.
Sloane and Kendall had put in an offer a month ago, and after back and forth and inspections, they closed on the deal this morning. It was one of the reasons they were celebrating_new beginnings, new adventures, and the end of one amazing chapter of their lives.
“Who’s Chuck Norris?” Reese asked, scrunching her nose.
It was Kendall’s idea to lug Reese all the way to Crestline. Not that Sloane hadn’t grown to love the woman and all her many quirks.
Gloria, who’d been making intensely strong eye contact with Reese all evening, pointed to the chicken coop. “He was the rooster. An asshole, if you ask me. But may he rest in peace.”
Reese bowed her head in respect, which had Gloria in stitches. If Sloane didn’t know any better, the two were radiating some kind of energy. Call it sexual tension, if you must.
“We’ve mourned him long enough,” Natasha said, reaching for her glass of wine. “And today is a day for celebration.”
“Agreed,” Estelle said, raising her glass. “I’m going to make a toast.”
“Shouldn’t Sloane make a toast, my dear Estellie?” Gloria interrupted. “Or Kendall, seeing as they’re the ones who bought the property next door.”
Estelle sent Gloria a look that was sharp enough to cut through short ribs.
Natasha cleared her throat. “How about it, Sloane? Are you up for a speech before my wife and Gloria kill each other?”
“Of course,” Sloane said, winking at Estelle. She stood up and raised her glass with one hand while Kendall twined her fingers with the other and looked around at the table.
All her favorite people_Robbie couldn’t be there since he was on a yacht in Greece with anesthetist Harry for their nine-month anniversary.
“Before I start with any sort of celebration talk, I just want to say thank you to Natasha and Estelle for your almost too gracious welcome. It feels like you two have taken us under your wings the last few months… even though we didn’t ask you to. ”
The two of them burst into laughter. “You are most welcome,” Natasha said, grinning.
Sloane stole a quick glance at Kendall, her heart practically bursting with happiness.
Funny how just one person could change everything.
How easily one person could make her feel like she’d finally found her place in the world.
So much so that Sloane was going to propose to her when they moved into their new house.
It was romantic, wasn’t it? She was considering doing it naked or in the new hot tub which she was planning on installing.
Either way, Kendall was going to love it.
Kendall winked at her, and Sloane turned her attention to the table. She lifted her glass even higher. “First off, we can officially call ourselves the proud owners of the farmette next door. We finally closed today and it’s ours.”
Everyone clapped their hands and cheered.
“We have absolutely no idea what we’re doing,” Kendall said, her cheeks stretched into a lovely grin. “I don’t think I’ve ever even cut my own grass.”
“We’ll teach you everything we know,” Estelle said, laughing. “We’ll gift you a few chickens,” she added. “And I’ll personally help you set up the coop.”
Kendall blew her a kiss.
“Second,” Sloane said, getting back to the toast. “Our documentary Wildfire Women won not one, but three awards at the Blaze & Glory Film Festival last month. Best Documentary Feature, Best Cinematic Storytelling, and the EmpowerHer Award for Outstanding Contribution to Women’s Storytelling.”
Kendall put on a voice and quoted Oscar-winning actress Charlotte Sundries. “A gripping and beautifully shot exploration of the women on the front lines of firefighting. Wildfire Women is as much a tribute to resilience as it is a visual masterpiece.”
“It was a tear-jerker,” Reese said, shaking her head and using the napkin to wipe at imaginary tears. She might be teasing now, but when she had first watched the documentary, actual tears had rolled down her cheeks.
“Absolutely stunning,” Natasha agreed, clapping her hands. “And correct me if I’m wrong, Sloane, but didn’t Charlotte Sundries mention in ScreenScope Magazine that she was looking to hire you to do a documentary about her life? A personal biography.”
“That’s talk for another day,” Sloane said, brushing it off with a grin.
Now that she wasn’t working for Phantom Rise Media, she had the freedom to pursue her own projects.
There were dreams to chase—like possibly traveling to Mongolia and naturally, she would drag Kendall along.
But first, there was an award-winning actress to film.
Natasha stuck out her bottom lip like a pouting toddler. “Fine. Luckily, you’re moving in next door, and I’ve got plenty of time to badger you. I’m a huge Charlotte fan.”
Estelle shook her head.
Reese was just about to open her mouth to speak, but Sloane cut in. There was still one more celebration to acknowledge.
“And last.” Sloane’s tone softened, her eyes moving to Kendall. “I just want to say how incredibly proud I am of this beautiful woman, who not only convinced me to quit my job at Phantom Rise Media—”
“You didn’t need much convincing,” Kendall chuckled, gazing dreamily up at her. “You just needed the tiniest nudge.”
“That may be true,” Sloane said, grinning.
“But what I did is nothing compared to the leap you took. Transferring to Crestline Fire Station wasn’t an easy decision.
But you did it. You left behind the familiar and dove headfirst into a whole new world.
” Sloane’s voice was suddenly thick. She thought she might cry if she didn’t wrap this up quickly.
“I swear you’ve got fire in your bones, Kendall.
And I couldn’t be prouder of you. I love you with every cell in my body and honestly, I’m proud of us… how far we’ve both come.”
“This is just the beginning,” Kendall said, giving Sloane’s arm a tug that sent her flopping back into her chair. Before Sloane could recover, Kendall leaned in and kissed her hard.
There was a chorus of cheers and then Estelle pushed back her chair, reached under it, picking up something from the ground. “This is a welcome gift from us.”
“Me included,” Gloria chimed in, smiling devilishly at Reese, who giggled like a nervous schoolgirl.
Estelle rounded the table and handed Sloane a surprisingly flat but rather large metallic-wrapped gift that wobbled slightly in her hands. “I can’t believe you got us a gift,” Sloane said, frowning at it. “We didn’t get you anything.”
“It’s barely a gift,” Estelle waved it off, plopping back into her seat.
“Open it,” Natasha urged, a grin stretching across her face.
Sloane did just that, peeling away the foil and revealing what was clearly a welcome mat. Her eyes widened as she read the bold letters across it: WILDFIRE WOMEN are WELCOME… BUT YOU GOTTA ACT RIGHT!
Kendall laughed so loudly that she almost tipped her chair over. “My dad’s going to love that when he comes for dinner next week.”
Both Natasha and Gloria whipped their heads to stare at Kendall. “Did you just say Evans Wilde is visiting our dear town of Crestline?” Natasha asked.
Kendall, still shaking with laughter, nodded. “Yup. We’ve been doing supper at his house once every two weeks and since we’re moving here, he’s agreed to make the drive. If you want, you’re all invited for dinner next week.”
“You can’t take it back,” Gloria shot, her eyes practically popping out of her head. “No backsies.”
“We’ll send out invites,” Sloane added, half laughing at the way Gloria was basically leaning over the table. Her breasts—which were not small, on the contrary—were touching the hummus dip.
How had her life gone from lonely nights eating takeout with Robbie, and late-night editing sessions to this?
Surrounded by all these wild, wonderful people—and the most stunning woman she had ever laid her eyes on.
Kendall, the firefighter, who still managed to make her knees weak just by looking at her.