Epilogue
Three Months Later
“Happy Birthday, Mom,” Archer yelled when she came out of her room rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
Farrah couldn’t believe her son had gotten up before her on a Saturday morning.
She turned to look at the clock on the microwave and noticed it was seven. Later than she normally slept.
“Thank you,” she said, accepting the hug from Archer.
“What about mine?” Jayce asked.
“You didn’t wish me happy birthday.” But she moved into his arms for a hug and kiss.
He’d been staying Friday and Saturday nights every weekend. He’d stay during the week once in a while, but now with school back in session, things were a bit crazy.
Though Jayce did show up for most of Archer’s games and her son was thrilled to have that male support in his life.
She was thrilled to have it for her too.
“Happy Birthday,” he said. “Archer and I have been making breakfast for you.”
“I thought I smelled something. Where is it?” She was looking around the kitchen but saw nothing.
Jayce opened the oven and pulled out a stack of pancakes and a dish of bacon.
“Yummy,” she said. “Are those chocolate chips or did you burn them?”
“I made them,” Archer said. “One got burned, but Jayce said it was just a tester, you always burn the first.”
She smiled. “That can happen, but I bet it still tasted good.”
She filled her plate with them, then sat at the island and cut in first, filling her mouth with the sweet concoction.
“I’ve got your day all planned,” Archer said. “But Jayce said I can’t do it until he asks you to marry him first.”
“What?” she asked, coughing on her food.
“Thanks, Archer,” Jayce said drily.
“Sorry,” Archer said. “I’m just excited. You asked me last week and I’ve kept it a secret.”
“Awww,” she said, her lower lip dropping and her eyes watering over that.
She shouldn’t have been surprised that Jayce would have brought her son into that.
“I had to do it,” he said. He got down on one knee in front of her. “I know this is fast and you’re not one to move that way.”
“I told Jayce it was about time when he said that to me,” Archer said.
She laughed. If Jayce thought this was going to be a proposal without interruption he shouldn’t have done it in front of her son.
But then, she told herself, she wouldn’t want it any other way.
“There you go, the boss spoke. I love you, Farrah,” he said. “I love your son. I’d love to have more kids with you too, and you know, we aren’t getting any younger.”
“We’ll let that comment slide,” she said and put her hand out.
He flipped the lid on the box. “I take it you want me to get on with it.” She nodded her head yes. “Will you marry me? Will you give me those things?”
“Yes. You’ve got my love. You’ve got my son’s love. And the thought of having more children, having our children, makes me want to get married tomorrow!”
Jayce slid a gorgeous diamond on her finger, then she pulled him up for a kiss.
“Yes!” Archer said, his fist in the air. “I don’t have to wear a suit, do I?”
“You do if you want to give me away,” she said, reaching for her son again to pull him into the hug.
The three of them. And hopefully more in the future!
“I’m so happy for you, Stacy,” Diane and Carolyn said on the phone later that night.
Carolyn knew right away when the text came in asking if the two of them could talk at the same time.
She’d had a little side chat going with Diane and got on this call right away.
“All three of my children are on their way. I can’t tell you how relieved I am. Now I know what you all felt when your kids settled down.”
“It’s a great feeling,” Carolyn said. “Especially when you know they are going to continue in the family legacy.”
“That’s a bonus,” Stacy said. “I know they will get married soon. Jayce wants a child too. Jocelyn said she wasn’t waiting and she hadn’t. With her getting married last month, I expect to get baby news at some point, fingers crossed.”
“That’s wonderful,” Carolyn said. “Maybe she’ll get two done at once. Been there and done that.”
“She actually would like that,” Stacy said.
“Keep us posted on Jayce’s upcoming wedding news. Glad it all worked out,” Diane said.
“I will.”
Stacy hung up with them and Carolyn immediately called their sister-in-law, Jolene, to share the news.
“Tell me you’ve got another one,” Jolene said the minute she answered.
“We do,” she said. “Not that we had much to do with this one. It was sad, but happy at the same time. Stacy said we taught her well with the other two. I feel like things are slowing down for us, not many left to match.”
“I feel the same way,” Diane said.
“There is always someone,” Jolene said. “Keep looking. They fall into your lap.”
She laughed. “You’ve got your hands in a bigger pool than us. Sounds like things with Baker are going well?”
“As well as can be expected,” Jolene said. “But there is always more work to do there too.”
“You’ll never slow down, will you?” Diane asked.
“What fun is there in that?!”
To Be Continued for Baker Hanson
She’s cautious. He’s guarded. And neither of them wants to admit the spark between them.
Tasha Robinson thought she had her happily-ever-after within reach.
.. until a late-night text from another woman shattered everything.
She dumped her cheating boyfriend without a second thought.
Then she learned she was pregnant. Now she’s a single mom determined to give her son the stability she never had.
As far as she’s concerned, men can stay far, far away. She’s done.
Baker Hansen grew up watching his mother cling to a man who never deserved her.
His father lied, cheated, and walked over her heart without a care.
Baker swore he’d never be that kind of man.
And when he finally let himself fall, the woman he trusted used every piece of him before disappearing without a backward glance. Love? Relationships? Hard pass.
But their well-meaning, meddling boss has a gift for matchmaking… and a plan. And as Tasha and Baker are pushed into each other’s orbit again and again, their walls start to crack. Maybe what they’ve both been running from is exactly what they need.