Epilogue
RIPLEY
I’m not a fashion girlie, but some truths are immutable, and this is one: Thou shalt show your red-carpet dress to your besties.
In my Los Angeles hotel room with my phone balanced on the bureau, I do the obligatory twirl for Chloe and Bridget via FaceTime. They’re at Bridget’s house.
“What do you think?”
Bridget taps her chin. “I mean, it’s kind of your color,” she deadpans.
Chloe smacks her shoulder, then turns to the screen. “She means it’s totally your color, and you look perfect.”
“You two are such assholes, and I love you.”
“Love you too,” Bridget says, then Chloe brings my dog into the frame and adds, “Hudson says hi.”
I blow him a kiss, then they sign off.
I take a look in the mirror, and they’re right—lavender is my color. The satiny dress is a simple sheath with wide straps, and it hits at the knees. My hair is down, curling over my shoulders, and my fingernails are unpolished.
I feel dressed up, but still…like me.
It’s a good feeling. But I feel even better a few minutes later when my escort knocks on the hotel-room door. It’s our hotel room—we’re staying here together, but he stepped out to let me finish getting ready.
When I open the door, his breath hitches. “You look incredible,” he rumbles.
I feel incredible too, under his heated gaze. “Maybe I’ll let you spank me later.”
“A man can dream,” he says.
“We share the same dreams,” I say as I smooth a hand down his dark-blue dress shirt. He’s wearing a charcoal suit tonight, with no tie. The combo is doing things to me. He looks hot and all mine—just the way I like it.
“We better go before I toss you on the bed and have my way with you.”
“Later,” I say.
He offers me his arm, and I take it. Together, we head to the theater for the premiere of Someone Else’s Ring, several months after it was shot in my hometown.
The lightbulbs don’t flash when I step out of the limo.
The cameras don’t pop. The entertainment press has figured out—mostly—that I’m not my sister.
It took a little time and some strapless dresses for them to learn the difference.
But I also know the world is fascinated with identical twins, so sometimes we give them what they want—a shot of us together.
Haven waits for me on the red carpet. We smile for the cameras, and a sea of photogs snaps shots of us—the star and the sister who hosted the film crew.
Silas and Ludwig are here behind their lenses.
Funny how they were never really the problem.
They’re just a couple of guys trying to make a living.
As for Ian, he was charged with trespassing and simple assault and served a short jail sentence.
I also have a restraining order against him, so he can never set foot on my farm again.
It’s good to be proactive, though, so I took a self-defense refresher course that my boyfriend gave me as a gift. Sometimes, I even practice on him. Well, I don’t kick him in the balls. I rather like all his parts.
With the photos done, I step out of the limelight, letting Haven take the spotlight she deserves as she walks the red carpet with her fiancé.
Notting Hill.
William proposed to her a few months ago, and they’re getting married in Darling Springs in a couple of weeks. I happen to know the perfect place for their wedding—Lavender Bliss.
They went public as a couple shortly after she returned to LA. Their first public date? A bookstore in Silver Lake where they ordered coffees and kissed over a stack of paperbacks.
New Chris also made his first public appearance recently with his new girlfriend.
And wouldn’t you know it? She’s from Darling Springs as well.
Turns out the fortune teller at Tell Me Your Tarot was spot-on.
Chris Carlisle, one of the world’s most bankable stars, is seeing Katrina from The Sweet Spot. Cookies were the way to his heart.
They head in next.
Grandma is here too. She flew home from Paris to attend the premiere.
She’s been having the time of her baking life with Laurent, her Frenchman.
I miss her fiercely, but I couldn’t be happier that she’s getting to enjoy her golden years while I manage the farm, her bees, and often, the lives of Ramona and Cyrus. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.
After Grandma and her man sail into the theater, I go inside with my boyfriend. But tonight, he’s doubling as my bodyguard.
Banks likes to play that role from time to time when I have public events, and since I’ve always had a thing for his protective side, I don’t mind it one bit.
Oh, who am I kidding?
I love it.
Banks
Inside the lobby, I stop to say hi to Dean, who wears a black suit and an earpiece.
“Everything good tonight?” I ask my business partner.
“Everything’s great,” he says, then turns to Ripley. “Glad to see his better half,” Dean tells her.
“And I’m happy you’re keeping busy,” she says.
“Me too.” It’s said with relief, but also with contentment. Dean claps me on the shoulder. “Get inside, brother. You’re off duty. Go enjoy the movie with your woman.”
I smile. “I will.”
As we weave through the glittery crowds, I set a hand on Ripley’s back, as I’ve always done. I keep a close watch for threats, as I always will. She’s not a client anymore, but I’m not a bodyguard most of the time either.
Sure, with Apex Solutions I take the occasional job as a close protection officer, but mostly I’ve transitioned to training new guards and to management and IT security.
The other benefit? I can do it remotely a lot of the time. Apex Solutions has offices now in Los Angeles and just outside of San Francisco, and I can spend most of my days in the small town I’ve come to love.
All is well with Dean. My friend understood when I told him I’d put my heart on the line for Ripley. Love happened on the job—I’m not the first, and I won’t be the last.
And in the end, our business has grown because we’re damn good at what we do.
True, we didn’t get the Webflix gig, but Tabitha sent us more work, and now we handle any security needs for Ruby Horizons Productions, including red-carpet events like this one.
We’ve picked up other clients, too, in the entertainment business and out of it, including Lavender Bliss.
The farm has grown in popularity as a tourist destination, and Ripley hosts celebrity events there that require security.
Tonight, though, my job is to go on a date with my woman. We head into the auditorium to watch the movie. I take her hand in mine, and as the love story plays out on the screen, I slip back in time, remembering the way our tale played out behind the scenes.
For a while, I wasn’t sure if we were just one of those “it seemed like a good idea at the time” kind of things.
Now I know exactly what we are. We’re the kind of good idea that lasts a lifetime.
Soon, very soon, I’m going to put a ring on her finger, maybe after we return to Darling Springs.
Our home.