Epilogue #2
My eyes start stinging, and I'm glad she releases me when she does.
The second the front door closes behind us, I suck in a massive breath as my hands shiver.
"Oh my god," I say breathlessly as we make our way to the driveway.
Beau is already typing on his phone, and I turn toward him. "What are you doing?"
"You know what he's doing," Levi says as he opens the passenger door for me.
"Beau," I say.
He clears his throat as he absently slips into the backseat. "Based on the median offer for comparable renovated homes in this area—"
I sit down in the passenger seat. "They haven't even made the offer yet."
"I'm running projections."
Levi laughs. "This is why people think accountants are weird, Talcott."
He finally looks up. "And this is why she didn't run out of money."
I tilt my head side to side. "Fair."
Beau clears his throat. "Now, if they come in at asking price—"
I warn him. "Don't."
His eyebrows rise. "Seriously?"
I nod. "I'm serious. Don't tell me yet."
"Nelly."
"I'll obsess."
"You already obsess."
"I'll obsess with numbers."
"That's usually how finances work."
Nash laughs as he slips in back. "Leave her be for five minutes, Beau."
Beau scoffs. "I'm just trying to help."
"I know, but just give her a moment to enjoy this."
I scoff as Levi cranks the engine. "Enjoy what? The utter suspense of waiting for that realtor's phone call?"
Nash reaches out and squeezes my shoulder. "I'm so fucking proud of you, little one."
Everything inside me goes quiet, and I close my eyes. There it is again. That concept.
Pride.
It's such a simple word, yet I never understood how badly I needed it until I started hearing it from people who meant it.
"You are?" I ask softly.
Nash scoffs. "Are you kidding me?"
I shrug one shoulder as Levi backs down the driveway.
Nash motions outside. "I mean, look at that."
"I have."
"No, Omega. Look at it."
His command turns my head out the window, and I watch the house as we drive away from it. I take in the beautiful porch and the glistening windows. The shutters sparkle beneath the sunlight and the flowerbeds I saved are full of blooms.
That house that nearly broke me.
But it also brought me home.
Nash's voice pierces through my thoughts. "You took something everyone else had given up on and made it beautiful again. You saw its potential and you never once gave up, even when others around you were telling you to do exactly that."
My throat closes, and Levi's hand falls to my knee. "And you made money doing it."
Beau lifts his phone. "Potentially a significant amount."
I roll my eyes. "Jesus Christ, Beau."
"What?" he asks.
I laugh as Levi's fingers trace aimless patterns up my thigh. "Have you eaten yet today, Nels?"
My pause is everything he needs to turn the car around.
"Wait, I thought we were going grocery shopping? I'll just grab something at the store," I say.
"Nope," Levi says as he heads for the diner. "Eat first, shopping second."
"Terrible idea to be hungry when you grocery shop," Nash says. "You end up with everything you don't need and nothing you went in for."
"Preach," Beau murmurs.
And when I don't argue, Levi grins. "That's what I thought. We're feeding you before you pass out and make us all emotional."
I scoff and look over at him. "I'm not going to pass out."
"That's what you said at Summer Solstice."
"I did not pass out."
"You fell asleep mid-sentence."
"I was resting my eyes."
"For forty minutes."
I bury a grin as I look over at him and the car falls quiet. I still hear Beau tippy-tapping on his phone, but then again, that's just a sound that comes with my Beta. The world passes by until Levi parks in front of the diner, and it doesn't shock me to find it busy.
This place is always alive with customers.
Silverware clinks against plates as the bell overhead rings and we all walk in. Someone yells a command from the kitchen. Someone else laughs near the counter while an older couple shares a piece of pie near the window.
And somehow, without discussing it, all four of us head for the same booth.
It makes me pause and Nash ends up running into me.
"You okay?" he asks as he places his hands on my shoulders.
I smile down at the booth. "Yeah, yeah. I'm okay. Just thinking."
Levi slides into one side and motions for me to follow.
Beau steps up to my other side. "You sure you're okay?"
I finally sit down next to Levi while Nash and Beau take the opposite bench.
I don't know if Beau even realizes it, but this is our booth, so to speak.
It's the one we take up residence in every time we come and have breakfast. I've sat in this booth when my life was still divided into neat little boxes.
I sat here before school, paying for a bagel with the change in my pocket just so I wouldn't have to be around my family.
This booth has seen a lot of me over the years. Every part of me that I kept separate from everyone else. And now, my pack sits in it with me.
"What can I get for y'all?" Vee asks.
I look up at Vee, who seems to work every shift this town has. "Do you ever take a day off?"
She smiles. "Do you?"
Touché. "Can we get some fries for the table?"
"And some waters?" Nash asks.
Vee nods and doesn't even bother scribbling it down. "I'll be back with that, and when y'all are ready to order, just flag me down."
The fries and drinks come out in a jiffy, and before I know it, Beau and Nash are battling for the fries.
"Hey now," Levi says as he slips his hand onto my knee beneath the table, "save some for the rest of us."
"Yeah," Beau says as he slaps Nash's hand away. "Should've gotten a large fry to share."
"Or we each should have gotten our own," Nash says.
Levi's already holding up his hand for Vee while I shake my head and giggle.
"You two sound married," Levi murmurs as Vee heads this way.
"Careful," Nash says as he points a fry at him, "you're in this mess, too."
"What can I getcha?" Vee asks.
"An order of fries for each of us, thanks," Levi says.
I look up at her and motion with my head. "The boys don't know how to share."
Vee laughs out loud. "And that's why I'm glad I ain't got a pack. Three more fries, comin' right up!"
I remember feeling that way once upon a time, that Alphas were too much. That having a pack would take me away from everything I held dear in life. That people would come in and try to control my life and my business simply because I'm an Omega.
Vee will find her pack one of these days.
And speaking of Vee, just as she brings us our fries, inspiration slams into all of us. We end up ordering the sandwiches we all want to go with our fries, and we get a pitcher of Diet Coke for the table as well.
"Uh oh," Nash says.
I look around. "What?"
"Beau," Levi says as he squeezes my knee. "He's got his finance face on."
I whip my attention to him. "What? What's going on?"
"Okay," Beau says as he sets his phone down.
I sigh heavily. "Come on, you know I don't want to talk about this until I have an offer on the place."
"I know," Beau says.
I blink. "Wait, what?"
Beau slides his phone toward me on the tabletop, and I peer down at it.
Holy fuck, they've already submitted an offer.
"Oh my god," I whisper.
Nash scoops the phone up, stares at it, and then promptly gives it back to Beau. "Unpack it for us."
Beau keeps his attention on me. "Ready to hear the numbers?"
No wonder he's got his serious eyebrows on right now. "All right. Run me through it."
"So," Beau says as he scoops his phone up, "assuming all goes well with this offer and we take into account materials, contracted labor, fees, carrying costs, closing costs, and the unexpected storm expenses…"
He starts tapping away on his phone again and I hold my breath.
"Well?" Levi asks.
A smile slowly spreads across Beau's face as he turns the phone toward me. "Nelly, you make out like a bandit."
I blink as I look at that number. "What?"
Levi leans in and laughs. "Holy shit, Nels."
Nash nudges his foot next to mine beneath the table. "Told you it would all turn out all right, little one."
My vision swims. "And you've factored in everything?"
"Everything," Beau says.
"Even paying Knox and Ford?"
"It's the first thing I factored in."
"Guess all that worrying paid off," Levi murmurs as he slides his arm behind me.
"I don't understand," I whisper as tears crest my eyes. "I was only supposed to break even—"
"Did you even ask the realtor what the asking price was for the house before she listed it?" Beau asks.
I open and close my mouth a few times. "I just told her I wanted it sold to people who would appreciate it."
"I'm so proud of you, sweet girl," Levi whispers as he kisses the shell of my ear.
I melt into him. "I did it."
"Yes," Nash says with a nod of his head, "you did this. You made a good purchase, even when people told you otherwise."
Beau lifts his finger into the air. "You also had a solid plan before the storm, and when the storm changed things, you adapted."
Levi kisses my cheek. "You made smart decisions about where to spend and where to salvage. That's what made this possible: you."
"Soooo," Nash says as Vee delivers our sandwiches, "let's celebrate and breathe for a moment. You've earned this, Nelly."
"Earned what?" Vee asks.
"Our Omega sold her latest home she was renovating," Beau says with pride in his voice.
Vee gasps. "The one by the apartments? Girl, what you did with that house was spectacular. Ain't never seen nothin' like it in my life."
I swipe beneath my eyes. "Thanks, Vee. I appreciate it."
"Y'all flag me down if ya need anything," she says as she rushes toward someone who's got their fingers in the air.
My family never understood this. My passions, and my wants, and why I enjoy doing what I do. They looked at my career and saw something temporary. They looked at the money I made and treated it like a consolation prize for refusing to live the life they wanted for me.
Every conversation eventually circled back to the same things, like when I'd settle down, or when I'd stop working so much.
It's why I stopped talking with them altogether.