Bonus Epilogue
Addison
A Few Weeks After That
The wildflowers were blooming, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and Dean was complaining per usual as we took our weekly trail ride together down to the river on our farm property.
Dean decided to buy out my loan with Walker (he made sure not to withhold this truth from me), but surprised me by putting the farm in my name and my name alone.
I insisted we both should be on the deed, but he refused.
Spring had sprung, and the farm had never looked more beautiful.
Once we made it to the river, Dean hopped off Waffles, adjusting his jeans.
“Fuck, this horse is so uncomfortable at the trot. Plus, he hates me and is way too small for me.” Coal came along as well, always trotting diligently alongside the horses, occasionally running off to sniff the scent of an animal.
I rolled my eyes. “Well, I’ve been telling you for months that if we were going to keep doing this trail ride thing, we should probably start looking for a horse for you.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. I just didn’t want to spend the money with everything we have going on with building our house.
” He was sometimes the cheapest billionaire I knew.
Dean started to lay out the blanket as I set up the picnic.
We tried to come out here once a week just to get away from all the craziness of every day and talk.
Settling on the blanket, wine in hand, Dean let out a long exhale, staring out at the river as Coal happily played in the water. “We have a pretty great life, don’t we? We’re really lucky.”
I nodded, watching the wildflowers blow lightly in the breeze.
“It doesn’t get much better than this.” We spent the next hour simply enjoying each other’s company and discussing our plans for the house.
Once it was time to start packing up, I had my back turned away from Dean, folding up the blanket.
I turned around and was instantly stunned to find him down on one knee, holding a stunning diamond that winked back at me.
I dropped the blanket I was holding. “W-What are you doing down there, Adler?” I barely sputtered out.
He chuckled. “What does it look like, James? I’m fucking proposing to you.
” He took my hand in his. “Addison James, the minute you walked into my life, I was a goner. I tried like hell to resist you, but when you’ve found the person that you were meant to be with, it’s next to impossible to ignore that feeling.
I didn’t think relationships were for me.
I didn’t think marriage was in my future, or love for that matter, but loving you is easy, sweetheart. Will you marry me?”
I could barely see him through the tears filling my eyes.
The love I had for this man was fierce and something I felt deep within my bones.
I knelt with him so I could wrap my arms around his neck, placing a kiss on his lips.
“Yes, forever yes.” He wrapped his arms around me, pulling my mouth back to his and pulling me up with him as he stood.
Once he set me down on my feet, he slid the beautiful diamond ring on my finger.
I held my hand out in front of my face to admire it. “Wow, this ring is gorgeous.”
Dean smiled. “Look at the inside of the band.”
I pulled the ring back off, and there on the inside of the band was a little horseshoe engraving. I looked back up into his dark eyes. “I love it.”
We got back on our horses and made our way back to the farm when I noticed a lot more cars in the drive than usual. I turned to look back at Dean. “What’s with all the cars?” He shrugged. “Don’t know. Guess you’ll have to go find out.”
My heart rate picked up with excitement. We hopped off our horses right outside the barn, and as we led them in, I was hit with a loud “Surprise!” nearly freaking Cash out. Once I got him settled, Dean looked at me with apologetic eyes. “Sorry, baby, didn’t really think that part through, did I?”
Levi walked up to take the horses from us.
“Congratulations, you two. I’m really happy for you guys.
” I pulled him into a quick hug so he could untack Cash and Waffles and get them away from all the craziness.
Once I was free of my horse, I was finally able to take in the scene.
There in the aisle were all of our closest friends and family.
They had some drinks and snacks set up in the lounge and tack room area, and some music playing.
A giant “Congratulations!” banner hung across the stalls. My heart felt so incredibly full.
After making the rounds and hugging everyone, I was able to make my way over to my parents. My mom and dad pulled me into a big hug. “Honey, we are so happy for you guys. You deserve the world, and we both know that Dean will give it to you,” my dad said with choked-up words.
My mom wiped at the tears falling from her eyes. “Oh, sweetheart, I’m just so happy. I cannot wait to start wedding planning! My first wedding!”
I chuckled. “Slow down, Mom. I just got engaged. Let me breathe for a minute.”
Weston walked over with his phone in hand, playing the live stream of the game that Walker was currently pitching in.
It was still pretty early into the new season, and the team was stacked.
They looked good this year, really, really good.
“Walk’s up again for the fifth inning.” We all gathered around Weston’s phone to watch the inning while the rest of our guests were chatting and enjoying the food and drinks.
Walker threw an incredible fastball, and the batter swung immediately and missed—strike one.
The next couple of throws were balls that the batter let go and didn’t attempt to swing at.
I could tell by Walker’s stance that he was going to throw his curveball next.
He threw an absolute bomb at the batter, but this time the batter was ready and made contact.
Unfortunately, where the ball hit the bat, it didn’t get much lift and was a line drive right into the elbow of Walker’s pitching arm.
Ava and I gasped loudly, both covering our mouths when we heard the impact. “Fuck!” Weston yelled as Walker fell to the ground, holding his pitching arm tightly against his body.
“That’s not good,” whispered Dean, eyes wide.
Archer jogged over with Harper, his own phone in his hand. Being the giant Austin Aviators fan that he was, he was clearly watching the game too. “Did you guys just see what happened?” Worry was etched all over Archer’s and Harper’s faces.
My mom’s previous happy tears for me now turned to sad tears for Walker as my dad held her against his chest while she wept. My dad stroked my mom’s hair. “It’s okay, honey. He’s been hit before. We don’t know how bad it is. Let’s not freak out just yet.”
The announcer didn’t think it looked too good either as Walker rolled on the ground in obvious pain. The trainers and coaches ran onto the field immediately to assess the situation, and the live stream of the game went to a commercial.
“Fuck!” Weston shouted again, startling everyone in the aisle.
I put my hand on Weston’s arm to calm him.
“West, calm down. We don’t know what’s wrong yet.
We have to be patient.” Even though it seemed like Weston and Walker were always going at each other, Weston never did well anytime Walker got hurt.
Over all the years that Walker had played baseball, anytime he got hurt, Weston was at his side.
Farrah walked out of the lounge with a glass of wine and stopped in her tracks when she took in the current scene of my family losing their shit. She looked at me. “Addi, what’s wrong? Is everything okay?”
I shook my head. “No, Walker just got hit in his pitching arm by a line drive.”
Archer showed her the replay on his phone of Walker hitting the ground.
Farrah’s hand holding her glass began to tremble, her eyes welling with tears.
She quickly shook her head, trying to snap herself out of it.
“Can you please let me know when you hear from him and if he’s okay? ” she asked me quietly.
I nodded, seeing the pain in her eyes. “Yeah, for sure.” I watched as Farrah set her wineglass down back in the lounge and quietly slipped out of the barn, leaving the party.
Dean walked up and noticed the concerned look on my face as I watched her leave. “That was odd.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I don’t know what happened between them all those years ago, but they clearly still care a lot about each other. Walker does the same shit whenever anything with her comes up—he shuts down.”
Dean wrapped his arms around me. “She’ll be okay, and so will your brother. He’s a tough guy. Want to go try to enjoy what’s left of our engagement party until we hear from Walker?”
I pushed up on my toes to place a quick kiss on his mouth. “Let’s go, fiancé.”
The End.