Epilogue
~
Rhea
It was a few months later as I was standing on my porch waiting for the movers that a notification flashed on my phone screen. An email from the chairperson of the town council.
RE: Quarterly Meeting
Dear All,
Please be reminded of the new slot for the next meeting at 09:45 rather than 08:45.
The rest of the email was just his signature and the agenda attached.
I reminded myself to make a note on the calendar I’d put on the fridge.
I hadn’t expected to be elected to the town council, but I’d taken the chance nonetheless.
As soon as they let me know I’d gotten the position, I quit the shoe store and had a wild celebratory night with the guys at Ash’s old place.
“Oh, politics,” Beck said over my shoulder, peering at my phone screen. “Any drama we should know about?”
I laughed and shook my head. “Unless new policies about grass length in the park are dramatic, no.”
“You have no idea,” Beck answered as he moved to lean over the fence and stare into the distance. “People take grass very seriously. Hey, it’s here.”
A truck pulled up in the road in front of the house, and Beck called out for Calder and Ash over his shoulder.
They appeared from the front door about a minute later, sweaty from the random bits of handyman work they had been doing inside.
I wasn’t shy about looking at them, and Calder offered me a wink when he caught me with his eyes.
“Finally,” Ash said as he made his way down onto the lawn and up to the truck.. Calder and Beck hurried after him, all eager to show off their strength. I didn’t mind; I loved the healthy competition they had going between them.
Plus, they were easy on the eye, especially when they were doing particularly manly things.
I watched Calder sign for the delivery, before the four men moved to the back of the truck.
Pretty soon, Calder, Ash, and Beck were pulling out the huge king-sized mattress and bed base we’d ordered from the back.
They spoke to the delivery guy a bit longer, probably insisting that they didn’t need any help and that they’d move the whole thing inside themselves.
My suspicions were proved correct when he seemed hesitant and confused at first, but eventually seemed to relent and got back in his truck. As he drove away, the guys stayed beside the bed, talking to one another and making hand signals.
I didn’t go down to help. It was far too fun to watch them from up on the porch, and how their firefighting teamwork was coming in handy now.
I can’t believe this is actually my life, I thought as they seemed to decide to bring the mattress in first. Beck and Ash stood on either end, while Calder took position in the middle. Their muscles moved as they lifted it and began to walk, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Are you good?” I called out, and received several nods in return. They marched their way to the porch and up the steps, before pausing to take a break.
“This thing is heavier than it looks,” Beck claimed, wiping his forehead. “Good quality, though, you chose well, Ash.”
“Nobody’s better than me at picking beds,” Ash answered proudly, and grinned at me. “Don’t you think so, Rhea?”
“We’ll see,” I teased with a quick wink. “At least it definitely has space for all of us.”
“I don’t know,” Beck said. “Calder snores. He might need to take the guest room.”
“It’s not that bad,” Calder insisted as they started working the giant mattress through the front door piece by piece. “Besides, Ash is the one who kicks in his sleep. I would bet money that’s worse.”
“If he kicks me, then I’ll kick him out to the couch,” I laughed, impressed with how quickly they were maneuvering the thing inside. “I need my beauty sleep, especially with the council meetings coming up next week. People are going to have a lot of questions for me.”
“About the grass?” Beck asked curiously.
“Not just the grass,” I sighed, rolling my eyes. “I’m new. People are going to be judgy. And they’ll probably want to know about the situation with all of you.”
“None of their business,” Calder insisted before he disappeared into the house.
Soon enough, they’d managed to get the mattress into the foyer and upstairs.
They marched back down to retrieve the bed’s new base, made of dark, heavy wood.
I left them to it, heading to the kitchen to make some hot chocolate for when they were finished.
The three of them always appreciated a nice drink after a hard stretch of work, and with days getting colder, I’d switched over from lemonade to something nice and warm.
With all of them moving in, the house was busier and fuller, and looked different from when I had first gotten there.
Aside from it no longer looking like a single woman’s house, they’d added some things that would make everything more convenient, and had gotten several appliances, too.
The king-sized bed had been the last addition to make it all feel complete.
“Oh, hot chocolate,” Beck was the first to appear around the corner when they were done, and he grabbed his with excitement. Ash followed closely behind him, smiling when he reached for his own mug. Calder didn’t appear with them.
Ash saw the questioning look on my face. “He said he wanted to make sure everything was perfect, but maybe he’s up there brooding over something. Don’t know what he’s so grumpy about, I’m the one who gave up the perfect man-cave apartment. I mean, not that I’m complaining; it’s worth it.”
“Mm-hmm,” I nodded, though I did raise an amused eyebrow at Ash as I gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“Look, you can still take your bike to work if you want to.” Beck jokingly elbowed Ash in the ribs. “You don’t have to give up that lonely bad boy vibe if you don’t want to.”
“That’s true,” I insisted, deciding to take the teasing even further. “I love you just the way you are.”
Ash rolled his eyes as Beck and I laughed. “Whatever.”
“I’ll take this up to him.” I grabbed my own mug and the one for Calder, before I left the other two in the kitchen and made my way up to the main bedroom.
I found Calder standing in front of the window, looking out toward the station. He was clearly deep in thought, but I decided to bother him anyway. I wanted to know what was on his mind.
“Hey,” I said, holding out the mug that was in my hand. “I brought you some hot chocolate. You know, to thank you for your hard work.”
“That’s very sweet,” Calder said with a small, hesitant smile, taking the mug and leaning back against the windowsill. “So, this is it, huh? We’re really all living together.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, but I noticed his reservations about the situation. “Does that bother you?”
“It shouldn’t,” Calder sighed, looking at the little marshmallows I’d put on top of the hot chocolate. “I don’t know, I guess I’m just not sure if it’ll actually work with all of us here. Won’t it be too busy? Won’t you get tired of all of us?”
I sighed and put my hot chocolate on the dresser before approaching him. Calder put his mug down on the windowsill, and I leaned against his chest, wrapping my arms around his body to give him a tight hug. I felt his arms make their way around me, too, and we stood like that for a moment.
“Listen, I know it’s scary,” I said, “but I think the risk is worth it. You’ll see. We can work through anything that comes our way, and I’ll be honest, I don’t think it’s even possible for me to get bored of you. Although, if you do start snoring, we’ll have to have a talk.”
I felt it when Calder laughed at that, and pulled away from him to look at his face. “I’m serious, though. I think we’ve made the right decision.”
“I know,” he was smiling now, one arm still around my waist. “I’m just a bit neurotic.”
“Mm, sometimes I like that about you.” I leaned up to kiss him, and he responded enthusiastically, picking me up and laying me down on our brand-new bed. We lay beside one another, staring into each other’s eyes.
“This is our bed,” I whispered. “And our house. No matter what.”
I reached out to kiss him again, throwing one leg over his waist to pull him close. He put his hands under my sweater and on the small of my back, causing goosebumps to rise on my skin.
Laying there with him in a space that was no longer just mine, but ours—it simply felt right.
Like I was finally in the place I had always meant to be.
Knowing that Beck and Ash were there too, and every morning I would wake up to the three of them around me (at least, when they weren’t on duty) was like a dream come to life.
It was something that I could never have seen coming, but now I wouldn’t have traded it for the world.
“Calder,” I said when we pulled apart and he pushed a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “I love you.”
He smiled softly, a hint of redness on his cheek. “I love you, too, Rhea.”
“So do we!” Beck and Ash’s voices came from the doorway, and I laughed as I looked up at them. “Looks like something fun’s happening in here. Mind if we join you?”
“Sure,” I laughed, and they hopped into bed in the empty spaces around me. “Now, this is just perfect, isn’t it?”
“It’s about to be,” Calder said with a wink, and leaned in to kiss me again.