Epilogue
Jonathan sat in Zach’s apartment, nursing a beer. He sighed as he glanced around. It was quiet. Too quiet.
But that had been happening a lot lately. Ever since Zach and Danielle told his parents about Jesse, they’d gone up to Myrtle Beach every weekend, leaving Jonathan alone. As always.
Reaching to grab the beer, Jonathan took another long drink.
How had his life come to this? He used to be the life of the party. Now? Everything seemed to be crumbling around him. His job. His love life. Even his friends were getting serious with women where he was struggling just to keep one longer than a second date.
This was not how he saw his life going.
There was a sound at the front door. Jonathan turned his attention to see Zach come in, followed by Danielle and Jesse. They were sunburnt and laughing. Jesse had a long alligator floaty that he was dragging behind him. Sand trailed after him as he made his way into the living room and dropped down next to Jonathan.
“Wow. Did you wrangle that thing?” Jonathan asked as he chuckled and leaned over, securing Jesse in a headlock before he ruffled his hair.
“Stop,” Jesse laughed as he struggled to get away.
“Shower, Jesse. Uncle Jonathan,” Danielle said, giving Jonathan a stern look.
Jonathan raised his hands and Jesse wiggled lose. He grabbed his alligator and made a beeline for Zach’s room.
“Mr. Snappy will not be joining you,” Danielle called out just as Jesse disappeared.
Zach chuckled as he plopped down on the armchair across from Jonathan. “Hey, man. How’s it going?”
Danielle glanced between them and then walked over to the kitchen. “I’m going to make up some sandwiches. Do you want one Jonathan?”
Jonathan nodded. When he glanced back at Zach, he shifted in his seat. He hated being underneath Zach’s scrutiny. If anyone could see through his walls, it was this guy.
“Just biding time until I head back to Honey Grove.”
Zach nodded as he leaned back, resting his hands on his thighs. “That’ll be nice. Visit the old family.”
Jonathan nodded. It would be nice. Besides, it’d been a while since he’d seen Tiffany—his partner in crime and best friend since middle school. “It’ll be nice not to enter a world that’s been shielded by my life.”
Zach cocked his head to the side. “Talking about football?”
Jonathan smiled. “Things move a bit slower in Honey Grove.”
“We’ll have to come visit sometime.”
“That would be amazing.”
Danielle returned with a plate stacked high with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. She set them on the coffee table and then turned to sit on the arm of Zach’s chair.
“Did you ask him?” she asked, in an attempted whisper.
Zach cleared his throat and then shot her a look.
Her eyes widened. “What? What did I say?”
Confused, Jonathan glanced from Zach to Danielle. “What’s going on?”
Zach sighed and a slow smile crept across his lips. “I was wondering if you would like to be my best man?”
Jonathan coughed, the question catching him off guard. He forced his feelings of frustration for his own situation out of his mind, and nodded. “Of course, man. Yeah. I’d love to.”
Zach wrapped his arm around Danielle and dragged her down onto his lap where he planted a kiss on her lips. “It’s been a long time coming,” he said.
Danielle giggled as she scrambled to stand. “Men,” she said as she walked past Jonathan and gave him a wink.
“I think I’ll take a nap. I’m going to head to Honey Grove tonight. Josh’s back and I haven’t seen him in a long time.”
Zach parted his lips like he wanted to say something but then he just nodded. “I get that. I’m sure your mom’s desperate to see you.”
Jonathan smiled. “Yep.”
He gave his friend one last wave as he headed toward the guest room and closed the door.
Well, it was pretty evident. He didn’t belong here anymore. Not with Zach and his family moving in.
Jonathan flopped down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. If he were honest with himself, he really didn’t belong anywhere.
There was talk of trading him, so Pittsburgh was sounding more and more like just a stopping point in his NFL career. There was nothing in Atlanta for him except Zach, who was now engaged.
The more he thought about it, the more Honey Grove sounded like the perfect place to hide out for a while. At least, until he figured out his life.
Besides, his mom had been begging him for a while to come home and now felt like the perfect time.
Jonathan grabbed a pillow and punched it a few times as he attempted to get comfortable.
Next stop, Honey Grove.
***
Coming Home to Honey Grove , the first book in the Braxton Brothers series, will make you swoon, cry, and sigh.
Also, feel free to pick up your copy of my brAND NEW series, The Red Stilettos Book Club Romance .
A story about new friendships, a forgotten Book Club, and finding what you didn't know you needed.
Welcome to Magnolia
Maggie is thirty-six, recently divorced and embarrassingly unemployed. With a bank account nearing zero she does the only thing she can think of: make a business proposition to her gorgeous and successful estranged mother.
To Maggie's utter surprise, her mother agrees. Any funds she can create off the sale of the dilapidated family inn on the island of Magnolia would be hers to invest.
So Maggie packs her few belongings and heads off to Rhode Island to make her dreams come true.
Clementine has been stuck in Magnolia her whole life. The moment her father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's she knew she could never leave. And it was unrealistic for her to rely on her older brother, Archer, who can't seem to outrun the ghosts of his past.
So when Maggie blows into town, both Clementine and Archer find themselves intrigued by the new move-in.
When they stumble upon an old photograph of Maggie's grandmother buried up in the attic, Maggie can't help but be drawn to a woman she's never met. In an attempt to feel closer to a family she never knew, a book club is revitalized.
The Red Stilettos Book Club.
What starts out as an act of desperation, soon becomes exactly what the women of Magnolia island were looking for, a sisterhood.