Epilogue
“Phew!”
Poppy sagged back against the counter, fanning herself with a magazine. It had been a hectic day, with tourists pouring through the Girdwood Springs Gift Shoppe from dawn till dusk. Well, from ten till five, anyway.
And since then, she’d been counting cash, doing reconciliations, tidying shelves, and doing all the other countless little things that needed to be done.
It was way more work than she remembered it being in her retail days back in college…
but then again, she supposed, now she was in charge of everything.
She couldn’t just do her set tasks and pass the time by chatting with her coworkers, not caring about anything beyond finishing up and going home.
On the other hand, though…
She watched with open admiration as Max swept the floor, sweat glistening on his forehead, his perfectly sculpted arms bare in the summer heat.
… I do have an employee of my own who I can supervise as closely as I like.
Not that Max was an employee, per se – they both owned the gift shop equally, Max having purchased it from Sadie for a handsome sum so that she could enjoy her retirement. But the day-to-day running of the shop was Poppy’s domain, and she was loving every minute of it. Even the gift-wrapping.
Max paused, wiping his face. “We have got to get the A/C repaired.”
Poppy murmured words of agreement, even as she continued to enjoy the show.
She had originally met and fallen in love with Winter Max, with his jackets and scarves, but now she was certainly coming to appreciate Summer Max, with his tank tops and shorts.
For such a bookworm type, he did not have a bookworm body.
Poppy was thinking about asking the local shifters – of whom there really were a ridiculous amount – if they wanted to make a Hunks of Girdwood Springs calendar, since she knew it would sell like hotcakes.
She probably wasn’t going to ask them to do that, though, for a number of reasons, the main one being that she was unwilling to share sexy pics of Max with anyone.
Taking a moment to just relax, Poppy looked around at the shop.
The two of them had mostly left it as it was when they’d bought it, but they had added a few personal touches.
Like the handwritten signs inside the store that Max had created with his impeccable handwriting, and the much larger number of fancy pens on display.
It was still kind of hard to believe that this was really her life now. She was living in a gorgeous mountain town with the love of her life, and they were running a lovely little shop together. And that wasn’t even getting into the fact that he could turn into a mythical winged beast!
Not to mention that the two of them had their own little cottage – nothing large or fancy, but more than enough for the two of them.
And it had a garden, including an enclosed catio for Geri, so that she could safely watch the birds and frolic amongst the plants…
or roll around lazily on the grass, anyway.
“All done,” said Max, emptying the dustpan. “How about you?”
“Yeah, me too,” Poppy said with a smile, going over to him and leaning in for a kiss. It was all she could do not to run her hands under his shirt and ravage him right there in the store.
They headed back home at a slow wander, not needing to talk, simply enjoying the green summer leaves and deep blue skies. Girdwood Springs really was perfect all year round, and Poppy inhaled deeply, taking in the scents of gardenias and cut grass and freshly baked bread.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she took it out to find a new message from her brother, Brett.
hows things with u and ur hot nerd??
She laughed, her face flushing slightly. It was a bit weird, finally being in a settled relationship – she’d never dated anyone seriously enough to do the whole meet-the-family thing before.
How many times do I have to tell you? she typed back. He’s not a hot nerd – he’s an INTELLECTUAL HUNK.
Another message popped up. sound lik the saem thing 2 me
She tapped away furiously at the screen.
They’re completely different! And is this how you speak to your older sister?
The reply was instantaneous.
yes
Poppy rolled her eyes with fond exasperation. She knew that Brett was only teasing about Max because he liked him – if he’d had any concerns, he would’ve had no trouble letting Max know, despite being half his size.
It probably also didn’t hurt that he and Mateo were now living in Poppy’s old apartment.
She’d sold it to them for the relatively small amount remaining on the mortgage, happy to take the loss – there was no way she could’ve enjoyed living in a house that Max had bought outright, while her brother and his partner worked long hours just to save up a deposit.
It was the kind of thing that she could have only ever dreamed of doing in the past.
Between the cottage and the gift shop, Max had spent most of the money he’d received from his parents… but he’d refused to let them give him any more, despite the fact that his father had made it clear that a few million dollars would be like pocket change to him.
When Poppy had asked Max if he was sure he wanted to use up his money, he’d just shrugged.
I can’t think of anything I’d like to spend it on more, he’d said, and really, Poppy hadn’t been able to argue – there had been nothing more she’d wanted in the world than to settle down in Girdwood Springs with Max.
In any case, the shop was doing well, and they were slowly starting to build up some savings again. Max seemed enthused about the idea of fully earning his own money, rather than just living off the money his father had left him and making some cash here and there as Aubrey Z.
The first glow of sunset was just starting to touch the treetops as they reached the cottage, and Poppy let them in.
“Hey, Geri!” she called out. Geri pointedly ignored them, clearly deciding that a punishment was in order for having dared to leave the house.
Poppy made a beeline for the shower, sighing in contentment as the day’s grime was washed away.
Of course, after Max joined her, she found herself in need of another shower – and so it was a while before she found herself on the couch in her pajamas, Max at her side, glass of wine in hand, and Geri’s little triangle ears silhouetted against the window as the sun went down.
“We should clean the house a little before my parents get here,” said Max with a slight grimace, and Poppy hid her smile behind her glass.
Max’s mom and dad were coming over to visit on the weekend, which was going to be the first time Poppy would ever have been in the same room as both of them at the same time.
She was both dreading it and looking forward to it in equal measure.
Sparks were sure to fly, but whether in a good way or a bad way, she had no idea.
Apparently they’d had a few cautious meet-ups, with Max’s dad floating the idea of maybe rekindling their romance, while his mom was more circumspect.
She had moved on, after all, and seemed to be enjoying her life more than ever, if Max’s word was anything to go by – certainly she seemed to be enjoying collecting as many spangly, sequined t-shirts and leopard print leggings as money could buy – but the hurt was not easily forgotten, no matter how good the reasoning behind his actions had been.
Poppy was glad that they were at least on speaking terms. Max seemed to be coming more and more out of his shell, and it made her heart sing to see him so happy.
Still, she didn’t think she’d be able to relax the entire time they were here!
The first time she’d met Max’s mom, Flora, she’d apparently thought that it would be a grand old joke to ring the doorbell and then shift into her lion form.
Poppy was quite surprised, really, at how well she’d taken it, reacting with little more than a small jump, and Flora had shifted back into her human form with a hmph, sweeping past Poppy into the house with a waft of long blonde hair and expensive perfume.
Max’s dad, on the other hand, had awkwardly asked her upon their last meeting if the treasure wheel was still on the television.
It had taken way longer than she wanted to admit before she’d worked out that he was talking about Wheel of Fortune, and then she’d had to explain the concept of Ryan Seacrest to him.
All in all, it wasn’t quite what she’d imagined her relationship with her in-laws to be like – but, to be honest, she didn’t actually mind. There was never a dull moment, in any case. It was bound to be a memorable weekend.
She grabbed some leftovers and flicked on the TV, happy to veg out for a bit while Max typed away on his laptop. Tomorrow evening they both had a meeting with the local businessowners’ association, so for now, she wanted to relax.
The association had been a godsend, in its way – not only was she learning a ton about how to run her business, but a weirdly high proportion of the members were shifters and shifters’ mates.
She’d particularly been getting help from Ethan at the vet clinic, who, like her, had moved from a more corporate job to running a business…
and who, very much unlike her, was a pegasus shifter.
His mate, Chloe, the town’s veterinarian, had given Geri a clean bill of health, and sometimes Poppy suspected that Geri liked Chloe more than she liked Poppy herself.
Most cats hated going to the vet, but Geri just had to be a contrarian like that.
The abundance of shifters’ mates in Girdwood Springs really had helped her to settle into her new life.
Whenever she had any questions or doubts, there was always someone she could turn to for answers.
She was so grateful for her new circle of friends – she’d never really realized how lonely her existence had been, how superficial her non-family relationships were, until she’d been given the opportunity to start a different life.