Epilogue
EPILOGUE
BERNADETTE HUDSON
Four weeks after the wedding…
“Don’t forget to hydrate and take it easy on yourself for the rest of the day, everybody. And be proud of what you’ve accomplished. You’ve now conquered the hardest class in my arsenal at the end of your very busy day. If you can lift your arms, give yourself a round of applause.”
The weak claps and smattering of pain-filled groans had me smiling brightly as I patted the sweat from my face with a towel. I wasn’t a sadist, but I did like knowing I’d put together an effective program. My younger students needed a reason to keep coming back. That was one of the reasons I’d made this an evening class, so I could snag them after work and before they went clubbing.
But I also needed to know I could still wipe the now-sweaty floor with their perky, twenty-something behinds.
I grabbed my electrolyte-filled water from a nearby stool and went to turn off the music I’d picked for the session. No serenity spa tunes for this class. I’d chosen those primal beats you felt in your core. The kind of music that got your blood pumping and made you push that much harder.
The kind of music that made me think of picking up the phone and lining up a date for the night.
“Bernie?”
I looked up with a polite smile that grew into one of interest as I took in the handsome, glistening blond who’d decided to linger after class. The new hottie. What was his name again?
“Great form today…”
“Greg.” His big hands nervously tugged the edges of the towel he’d wrapped around his neck. “Thanks. You too. I wanted to ask… My friend took me to an icehouse the other night and I think I saw your band. That was you, wasn’t it? You’re the singer for The Wreckers?”
“It was and I am. Did you have a good time?”
I bet he could give someone a good time.
I made no apologies for being a healthy single woman with an active dating life. I enjoyed good-looking men and I liked sex. There was nothing wrong with that.
“You were great,” he said enthusiastically. “Your voice blew my mind. I wanted to tell you that on your set break, maybe buy you a drink and convince you to grab a late dinner, but your bodyguard wouldn’t let me get close enough.”
I laughed in confusion. “I’d like to say we’re popular enough to need a bodyguard, but we aren’t that kind of band, Greg. I’m not sure who you’re talking about.”
He brushed a hand through his wet, longish locks. “He acted like security. Looked like it too. Buzz cut. Scary scowl. Told me you weren’t taking autographs, which I get, of course.”
Every muscle in my body was tightening as he spoke. What the hell? Was that what Rick had been doing at the bar every Thursday night? Cockblocking me?
He certainly wasn’t there because he liked my singing. Every time I looked his way, he was staring down at his beer like it had done something to piss him off. He didn’t want anything to do with me.
He did a few years ago.
One time. One night. Since then, he’d been nothing but a judgmental pain in my ass. And after what happened at the race in October, he’d been even worse.
“I was hoping we could go out tonight.”
I should say yes, if only to spite the bastard, but I wasn’t in the mood anymore.
“Ask me again next week?” I gave him some sultry eye and a lip bite and he nodded quickly, a blush stealing over his cheeks.
I still had it.
That should have perked me up more than it did, but I was still in a grumbly mood as I cleaned up the studio, sent home Alice the front desk dragon and drove back to the house that, until a few weeks ago, I’d shared with Phoebe, Sammy and my soon-to-be son-in-law, Professor Todd.
I should have been happy to have the place to myself again. To not be surrounded by the evidence that I was old enough to be somebody’s grandmother.
Instead, I sat in the driveway and leaned back against my seat, staring at the home I’d lived in my entire life. Yvonne had signed over the deed to me when I was a new young mother, and Wade had kept up the maintenance on the old place, so it was in fairly decent shape.
I’d been thinking of passing the baton to Phoebe and moving into a tiny place of my own, but Morgan, Wade and Todd had beaten me to it, finding them a home that frankly made this one look like an old heap of kindling.
Now I was alone again. A few of my bandmates had talked about rooming together and finally working toward more gigs and serious money. I loved those guys, but talk was all it would ever be with them. Plus, they were horrible roommates. When I wasn’t babysitting Sammy, I’d spent my time cleaning up after them like a den mother.
Maybe I should sell the place anyway. A little apartment would suit me fine. Unfortunately, my brother had already rented the one above his auto shop, and August had company in the perfect pool house I’d always secretly coveted.
I didn’t mind that Chick was staying there indefinitely, since he was smart and funny and, as I’d recently discovered, the perfect wingman at a bar.
August always did have great taste in friends.
Since those avenues were closed, I’d have to find an actual apartment, and there weren’t many to choose from in this neighborhood. I wouldn’t mind a big tub and something with a view. And I’d need two parking spots so I could work on my recent purchase when I had the time.
I grinned at the station wagon I’d bought from one of Wade’s friends. National Lampoon’s Vacation had called, and even they didn’t want it back. It was glorious.
It ran great too. My brother had already checked it out for me. I had a ton of plans for what I was going to do to it so we could rally in comfort. March was still a few months away, so August and I had time to decide how or if we wanted to decorate it to make sure the rally was a road trip to remember.
I’d planned it wanting to reconnect with her, but it was more than that. Now that Phoebe didn’t need me, I’d been feeling restless. I needed a new challenge. I’d thought the race would fix that, but it had only made things worse.
This rally was the answer. That, and winning more points than Rick and his team, since we’d made a bet and I wasn’t about to let him back out of it.
Stop thinking about him.
I was trying. But my friend group was too intertwined with my family, and I couldn’t seem to escape him. Especially when my own daughter was working against me. She loved the guy and invited him over every chance she got.
At least that would stop, since she’d moved closer to Gene and Morgan. I wouldn’t have to deal with him checking in on us during hurricanes or making baby cribs as gifts or insidiously working his mouthwateringly gorgeous self into my life. Reminding me of all the hard angles and barely leashed power I’d gotten a glimpse of when we?—
My phone rang.
“Thank you, universe,” I muttered, hitting a button on my steering wheel. “Hey there, sis.”
“Bernie, I’m so glad you answered.”
I sat up straighter. “What’s wrong, August? You sound like you’re crying.”
When they returned from their honeymoon in Italy a few days ago, she’d been so blissed out I was openly jealous. She’d thought about Scotland, because she loved castles, kilts and cooler weather, but Wade had bought tickets to Italy and she’d been overwhelmed. In the end, she’d said she knew she had to close that final circle, stand where Sam had stood, and say goodbye.
Then they’d spent a beautiful week in Tuscany. In every picture, my brother looked happier than I’d ever seen him. And August was actually in those pictures, so clearly, she’d been too happy to remember her phobia.
“I’m in shock that’s all,” August said. “I had a doctor’s appointment today.”
My heart plummeted. Right after her mother died two years ago, August had gotten sick. There’d been no label for the truckload of symptoms that had come with her illness, but Chick told me he’d called it The Fuckening. Heart palpitations, high blood pressure, headaches, brain fog and an early helping of hormonal issues. Just a bucket of shit that she hadn’t deserved .
But we’d been working out together and she’d been so much better, it had seemed like most of that was behind her.
I braced myself. “What did he say? Did Wade go with you? What do you need?”
“Wade is still at work, but Chick is here. I know you just closed up for the day, but if you wanted to stop by?—”
“Already in my car. Stay on the line.” I backed out of my driveway and tightened my grip on the steering wheel.
“Do you already have the margaritas ready or should I pull into the store on my way to your place?” I asked, trying not to sound as nervous as I felt.
“No margaritas.” She started sniffling again and I sped up without thinking.
“You’re going to have to give me a hint before I get into a car accident,” I said honestly, hating the panic tightening my throat.
“Don’t speed through the neighborhood, B.”
“If you wanted calm, you should have called Morgan.”
Her sister was an unshakeable rock.
“She doesn’t have your experience. Fine, I’ll give you a hint,” she said shakily at the same time I was turning onto her street. “You remember that first day you took me to the track for go-karting? Before the movers?”
I remembered the movers. One in particular. We’d had a nice evening, but it wasn’t nice enough for me to call him back. He had some experience to acquire, and I wasn’t known for being a patient teacher. “Refresh my memory.”
“You said it wasn’t too late for me to come to the dark side. That forty-three was the new?—”
“Thirty-three,” I finished for her, almost stopping in the middle of the road by her driveway as I remembered our conversation. No way.
I’d been joking.
“I’m here. Where are you? ”
“By the pool.”
The sweat that had transferred to the shirt I threw on had almost dried, but in spite of the sixty-degree weather, I was still emitting heat from my workout.
And possibly from the shock of what August was hinting at.
When I walked around back, she and Chick had their feet in the shallow end of the pool while her dogs sniffed happily around the yard. Her head was resting on his shoulder.
I dropped my purse and keys on her new outdoor table. “You’re pregnant ?” I blurted out. “How is that possible?”
Chick grinned up at me. “Well, when an author who hasn’t gotten laid in years does too much naked research for a book?—”
“Don’t tease her,” August said as I dropped down beside them and took her hand. “The doctor said it’s unusual, but not unheard of, for someone to get pregnant during perimenopause... while tapering off the pill. Which, you know, I was still on.”
That was crazy.
“Your brother is a fertility god.” Chick shrugged. “Part of me feels like quoting Jurassic Park . You know, ‘Life finds a way?’”
“Because I’m a dinosaur?” August narrowed her eyes.
“Apparently, the part of me that told me to keep my trap shut was right this time.”
“How far along?” I asked, because that was the question you automatically asked and I was still trying to wrap my head around this completely unexpected turn of events.
“I’m due in the summer. About three and a half months along.”
“That’s good news,” I told her firmly. “You’re already through the first trimester.”
I watched her take her first full breath since I showed up and knew that was the experience she’d been talking about.
“You didn’t have any symptoms before now? Nausea? Tender breasts? ”
August shrugged helplessly. “I ate a lot and had tons of sex. I thought that’s all it was. Italian food and orgasms.”
“I have a few pregnant clients who are almost our age. And women are safely having children in their forties all the time now,” I said with as much confidence as I could muster. “What we’re going to do now is adapt your yoga lessons, watch your blood pressure and make sure you’re eating better and getting enough rest.”
With her health issues, she’d have to be on top of things, but… “August Retta Hudson, you’re growing my niece or nephew inside you.” Excitement exploded through me. “You’re having a baby.”
She put her hands on her stomach hesitantly. “Do you think Wade will be upset? He’s been talking about all the traveling he wants us to do, and some of it is probably going to have to be put on hold now.”
“Are you actively trying to see the downside here?” I demanded.
Chick nodded. “She’s very good at doom-spiraling.”
I got to my feet and put my hands on my hips. “I’m now declaring this a spiral-free zone. You’re going to be an amazing mother, August. And it’s finally going to be my turn to be the fun Auntie. I’ll spoil that child within an inch of its life and then send it home to you to deal with the aftermath. Karma is real and payback’s name is Aunt Bernadette.”
“And Uncle Chick.”
She was starting to smile at us. “Auntie Beebee.”
“Beebee?”
“We’ve decided that’s your Grandma name,” Chick informed me helpfully. “You didn’t like Granny or MeMaw or Nanny, and August already calls you B, so we workshopped a compromise.”
I tilted my head. Sammy could shout that in the grocery store and people might think it was my name because I clearly wasn’t old enough to be her grandmother. “Sold. Beebee it is. ”
A thought struck me and I placed a hand on my chest, where it felt like I’d just been punched. “Your child and my grandchild are going to be the same age.”
“Actually, your grandkid is older.”
“Not helpful,” I barked at Chick, staring into the middle-aged abyss. “This is really messing with my chi.”
August had the audacity to laugh. “I’m very sorry my pregnancy is making you feel old, B, but?—”
“Pregnancy?”
Oops. Wade was home.
Chick got up and slid his arm through mine, backing us both up as my brother strode toward his new wife. He slipped his hands under her arms and pulled her to a standing position with impressive ease.
“Gus?” He cupped her face, searching her eyes.
She smiled up at him, her cheeks wet and her expression glowing with love and possibly hormones. “We’re having a baby, Wade.”
He didn’t ask questions or go through any of the stages of denial the rest of us had. He simply dropped to his knees and pulled her into his arms. “We’re having a baby.”
The moment felt too intimate to witness. My oldest friend and my brother were so in love it was palpable. Sometimes it physically hurt to be in the same room with them.
I used to want that.
Don’t get me wrong, no one was happier than I was that they’d both finally gotten their heads out of their asses. But I was only human.
“If we were better friends, we would leave,” I told Chick quietly, openly staring at the Hallmark moment unfurling before us.
“They’re right in front of my apartment and I don’t have a car or a satisfying personal life. I’m staying. ”
I snickered. “Well, if you are, so am I. Anyway, I’m invested now. I’m also thinking of selling my house and getting an apartment because even though they’re gone, months of waking up to a baby crying in the middle of the night has really ruined the vibe. Oops. I think she heard that.”
August was laughing against Wade’s mouth, and she turned her head to take us both in. “How do you two feel about korma?”
“We’ll order in to celebrate,” Wade said instantly, following her lead. “I don’t want you cooking tonight.”
“The Overprotective Daddy Phase begins,” Chick intoned ominously as we headed into the house behind them, dogs in tow.
My brother was going to be a father, I thought, feeling a tickle of emotion in the back of my throat. He’d raised me and helped with Phoebe, so he had enough experience, but this was different. This was his child. August’s child. Morgan was going to flip her lid.
“We should call Morgan.”
August gasped. “You’re right. I’ll text her right now and invite her for dinner.”
And I’d bring the popcorn.
At least I wasn’t thinking about Rick anymore.
Damn it.