Epilogue
Clay was a sneaky bastard. Instead of giving me a million dollars, he gave it to me in shares in a portfolio he had crafted just for me. He’d put me in touch with his top advisor, who had planned out a strategy. If I played my cards right, I’d be set for life.
As for the condo, I got that too. I tried to decline it, but Clay said he’d fire me if I didn’t take it. At the end of the season, after a disappointing playoff run, the Kodiaks season ended, and I moved out of Ethan’s condo and into my gorgeous 1,500-square-foot condo a mere five minutes away. Jeremy and Ethan helped with the move, and I had an even more spectacular view of the ocean than I did from Ethan’s. And the balcony was twice as large.
But before all that, Orla’s steamy hockey romance came out about a disgruntled hockey wife hooking up with the team captain. So much for originality. She claimed the book was semi-autobiographical, and finally admitted to the affair with Jeremy, although that cat had left the bag a long time ago. What she didn’t anticipate was that romance readers weren’t fond of reading about a cheating spouse. The book sold well, but not nearly what the publisher had expected, at least that was what I’d heard through the grapevine.
Then there was Jeremy. We played the role of engaged couple until the end of the season, and while we weren’t officially engaged, we were definitely a couple. I’d asked him to move in with me and he’d said yes. Like Ethan, he planned to sublet or let new teammates stay at his place. That meant that me, Jeremy, and Chloe would be a happy little family.
Speaking of family, I knew I had to have that talk with him. We needed to be on the same page about the future if we expected to make it. Maybe the day of Tangi and Ethan’s wedding wasn’t the best time for it, but after the church ceremony and all the pictures were taken, we had an hour before the reception. We were hanging out in our hotel room with me trying to lie on the bed without getting my pastel-purple dress wrinkled.
“Do you want kids?” I asked as I stared up at the ceiling.
“Do you?”
He was testing the water, and I couldn’t blame him. But I also wanted him to be honest, and based on what Gwen had said, there was no question he wanted them.
“If you’d asked me this time last year, I would have told you not a chance in the world. But now, I think I could be persuaded. I also think you’d make a great dad.”
He lay down next to me and put his arm around my waist. “And I think you’d make the best mom. I know you don’t think that, but I have no doubts.”
I looked over to him and smiled. So much had happened in one year, and for the first time in my life, I felt secure and confident. And that wasn’t because of him, but he certainly played a part in it.
“I love you, Jeremy Vaughn.”
“I love you, Jill Bowman. And who knows, maybe this time next year, we could be getting married?”
He arched a brow, and I gave him a kiss on the lips.
“Maybe, Mr. Vaughn. And if I had to bet on those chances, I’d say they were very good.”