Epilogue
JOHNNY
One Year Later
“Cheers to one year of Walt’s on Water and me signing my divorce papers!
” Bethany screams across the bar, raising her vodka tonic above her head.
I raise my brows across the bar to Walt, who is shaking his head and trying to hide the smile daring to peek out from behind his perma-scowl.
You’d think the man’s body was fueled by the tears of his enemies.
No one would ever guess the man under that exterior contained the sweetest heart to ever exist. Well, other than the sheer amount of pastries he’s able to consume on a daily basis.
I smirk. You can’t have all that sugar pumping in without some kind of return on investment.
I guess that’s true about a lot of things though. Sometimes what’s on the inside doesn’t match the outside. This building here on Water Street looks like an ordinary bar, but I promise it’s anything but ordinary.
After Walt punched a guy defending me, word spread through the gay community that Walt’s was a safe place.
Who wouldn’t feel protected with a bar owner willing to knock a guy’s lights out to stick up for someone?
We don’t advertise, we don’t do anything to promote this place, but Walt’s has become exactly what he always wanted—a place for anyone to come and feel at home.
I told him that first week this place was special… and a year later it still is.
It’s where I met the love of my life.
It’s where we first kissed.
It’s where we had our first fight.
It’s where we got to know each other as friends, then lovers.
And now it’s the only place I ever wanna be.
“You look deep in thought.” A hand wraps around my waist, the smell of his aftershave intoxicating as always. “What’s on your mind?”
“I was thinking about the factory. You know…I used to spend eight hours a day in that stuffy place, watching the clock crawl toward quitting time like paint drying on a wall. And yet,” I place my hand on the small of his back, “most days I never leave this building, and I’ve never been happier.”
“Same.”
“And the fact that you’ve got your arm around me in a public place? I’m proud of you, boss.”
He shakes his head. “Come into the office with me.”
“I don’t think we have time for—”
“Oh, calm down; we already took care of that this morning,” he whispers. “I have something for you.”
“Cover me for a bit?” I yell to Sandy. Walt couldn’t stand her not having a job, and with all the extra business, he insisted on hiring her.
“No problem! You two behave back there…or don’t!”
Sandy winks.
Walt rolls his eyes.
I wrinkle my brows, trying to figure out what the hell is going on.
“I know it’s the first anniversary of you opening the bar and all, boss, but please don’t throw a bottle of vodka back here in remembrance.”
He snorts as we close ourselves into the office. “That was one time, and you weren’t even here. Will you stop bringing it up?”
“Never.”
He walks over to the desk and picks up a white shirt box with a piece of twine tied around it and hands it to me.
“What’s this?” I shake the box. “Another key?”
“Something like that. Open it.”
My hands tremble as I lift the lid off, not knowing what the hell is in here. I dart my gaze between the box and him as I pull open the tissue paper covering…
I blink. “You got me…you got me a stack of papers?”
He laughs. “It’s not just papers. It’s paperwork.”
I tilt my head, stifling a groan. “Paperwork for what? You want me to file your taxes? You’re the financial mastermind in this relationship; I can barely balance my checkbook.”
As he grabs my hand, the memories of those first few weeks all come flooding back, my heart racing in anticipation of whatever this is.
“I want you to be a co-owner of the bar.”
My jaw falls to the floor. “Walt. What? You can’t…what if…”
“I know you don’t want or need this. I know there are risks.
I also know you don’t care what we can be called as a couple.
You’ve told me no less than a million times it doesn’t matter to anyone except us.
But it matters to me. If I can’t legally call you my husband, I’d like to be legally tied to you as a business partner. ”
I’m not typically a crier, but that damn mist hits my eyes. He has got to dust this office more often.
“Are you…you’re sure?”
“I am.” He nods. “And there’s more.”
“More? Please tell me I don’t have to do the tax paperwork if I’m a co-owner.”
He laughs again, this time deep in his belly, before pulling me into a tight embrace. “Not for the bar. Not unless I die. Then you’ll have to file the tax returns.”
I pull back, my arms wrapped around his neck. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“The other document in there is my will. Stating that I, Walter Bennet, leave the bar and my entire estate to Johnny Hudson.”
“A will?!” I whisper-yell. “Oh, god. Are you sick?”
“No, no. God, no!” he reassures me with a hand on my cheek.
“Listen…I know we’re young. But this is a freaking weird time.
People are going missing, dying, even just randomly getting in car accidents.
I hope a pine box is forever away for both of us.
But I want to make sure if anything happens to me, you are taken care of. ”
“You sure this isn’t just about the bar?” I glare at him in a jovial way.
He rubs his thumb along my jaw. His touch, the one I feel every day, still ignites warmth into every inch of my body. “Johnny. In case you’ve missed the million times I’ve told you this…you are the bar. You’re what everyone comes here for. No one wants to see my grumpy ass.”
I can’t hold back my smile, and I sure as hell can’t hold back the tear that trickles down my cheek.
“You’re everything to the people that come here.
And it’s not just them. You’re everything to me.
You’re my entire world. You’re the reason I wake up in the morning.
You’re the only one who knows how to calm me down.
You’re patient with me, which probably classifies you for some type of sainthood.
You listen to me. You care. And being that it’s the anniversary of the bar, I thought this could be our official anniversary too.
And I wanted to ask you…” He clears his throat, his hands shaking against mine.
“Will you make me the happiest flannel-wearing grump and be my legal business partner, the sole recipient of my estate, and my not-legitimate husband?” We both laugh as tears stream down our faces.
“Sign this paperwork and make it as official as we can get. Though, I’ll even get down on one knee if you—”
“Walt,” I stop him. “You can get down on your knees for me later.” I wink as he shakes his head.
“I would love nothing more than to be your husband. I don’t care what the world says.
You’re mine.” I grab his hand, holding it against my chest. “Remember me telling you my heart never used to beat like this before we met?”
“I do.”
“Well, it’s gonna beat like this until the day it doesn’t beat anymore. It only beats for you.”
He pulls me in to press his lips onto mine like we have so many times in this room. Only this time, it’s not for a stolen moment. It’s not for a quick grab-and-go in the back office. It’s forever.
He’s my forever.