Epilogue
Over the next few weeks, Jace and Cindy cheered on the boys at their fall baseball games, attended a recorder recital at school that had made their ears bleed and had dinner with her family members to celebrate new jobs for Jace, Jeff and John, who’d invited Niall Fitzgerald to join them.
The two had been spending lots of time together and seemed content.
Everywhere he looked, Jace saw happiness. It infected every moment of his life with the kind of peace and tranquility that had evaded him before now. And nowhere was that truer than in his relationship with Cindy.
She was the sun around which his life revolved.
Like she had from the moment they first met, she brightened every day with her sweetness, her positivity, her laughter and her light. She cut his hair. He took her to the gym. They laughed and loved and made plans.
He loved his new job, the great people he worked with and the salary that had enabled him to buy the truck he’d seen for sale on the island’s east side.
He adored his groups of friends from AA, the gym and the bar, where he tended to a big crowd on Saturday nights.
He loved every second he got to spend with his boys.
Last night, they’d cooked dinner for the O’Gradys, wanting to help while Carolina recovered from her injury.
As he’d hoped, Seamus and Carolina were beginning to feel like close friends.
The previous weekend, Jace had helped Seamus clean up the yard in anticipation of Shannon’s upcoming wedding.
All of that was wonderful.
But Cindy… She was like the frosting on top of the best cake he’d ever tasted.
As they walked home from dinner with Owen’s family at the Sand & Surf, Jace put his arm around her, wanting her as close to him as he could get her after missing her during the long hours at work.
“My ears are ringing from kids screaming,” Cindy said, laughing. “I don’t know how they manage three little ones and make it look so easy.”
“They have a good groove with them, and I think they laugh a lot.”
“I suppose you’d have to. Otherwise, you’d be crying all the time.”
“How many ankle biters do you want to have?” he asked in a casual tone.
“Uh… Are you seriously asking me that?”
“I think I am. I’d love to have another chance at fatherhood and do it right this time, from the beginning.”
“Oh, um, well… I haven’t really thought about that.”
“Like, ever?”
“It hasn’t come up in past relationships, usually because I cut and run before we ever came close to that.”
“Do I need to be worried about you cutting and running on me?”
“No,” she said, laughing. “You know you don’t.”
“So then maybe we could talk about the possibility of kids, since you’ve convinced me to have faith in you and us and promised it’s not going to go to shit.”
“Have I convinced you?”
“I’m getting there, thus my question about kids. The more time I spend with Jackson and Kyle, the more I want a do-over, but only if that’s what you want, too.”
“If I said I don’t want kids, that would be okay?”
“I’d be sad to not have the chance for more kids, but I’d be sadder if I didn’t have you.”
Cindy went up the stairs and used her key in their front door.
Jace followed her in, feeling more at home in this tiny house than he’d ever been anywhere else, and that, too, was thanks to her.
She turned to him, her expression unreadable. “That was a really good answer.”
“What was?”
“That you’d be sadder without me.”
He put his arms around her and breathed in the fragrance that had been imprinted upon his soul. “I couldn’t live without you.”
“Same. How’d that happen, anyway?”
“I’m not sure, but I’ll be thankful that it did for the rest of my life.”
“Can I tell you something I’ve never told anyone?”
He pulled back and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I wish you would.”
“When I was nine, I made a vow to myself that I’d never have kids because I wouldn’t want them to ever feel the way I did every day growing up with my father.
I fully intended to honor that vow until I saw you with your boys.
That changed the game for me. You’re a wonderful father.
You’d be nothing like my father was, and our kids would be so lucky to have you in their lives to guide them and teach them.
So, yes, Jace. If you’d like to have more children, I’m down with that. ”
Nothing anyone had ever said meant more to him. “I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you and the way you love me, but it’s the greatest gift in a life suddenly full of amazing gifts.”
“You’re the best thing to ever happen to me, too. I hope you know that.”
He’d felt guilty to realize that as much as he’d loved Lisa, what he had with Cindy was on a whole other level.
He was overwhelmed every day with feelings he’d never experienced so intensely before, and now was no exception.
“That means everything to me, sweetheart. I promise I’ll never let you down. ”
For once, he felt comfortable making a promise like that. He knew for certain he would keep it or die trying.
“How soon can we start making some babies?” he asked.
Cindy laughed as she drew back from him and looked up at him with her heart in her eyes. “What’re you doing right now?”
He bent at the knees to put her over his shoulder, chuckling at her shriek of surprised laughter as he carried her to bed.
Turn the page to read Hurricane After Dark!