Epilogue
One Month Later…
“I think that’s the last of it.”
Jayce looked around, shaking his head with amusement. “Are we sure? Because the last time we said that, another dozen boxes appeared out of nowhere.”
“Oh, stop. We knew there was going to be a lot, and I totally forgot to look under that blanket in the back of the moving truck.” Even now, she couldn’t be quite sure she had grabbed all the boxes. “Give me a minute. I’ll look again. There might be one or two small ones on the front seat.”
Jayce had flown up to Rochester five days ago and helped her pack up the house and then the moving truck.
It had been hard to say goodbye to her childhood home, but she had sold it to a sweet little family and she knew they were going to make the best memories there.
Once the house was empty, Jayce had climbed behind the wheel of the moving truck for the drive down to Raleigh, and she had followed in her little SUV.
It had taken two days to get here, but now Kelsey genuinely felt like she could say she was home.
“I’ll go look,” he assured her. “Why don’t you…?” His words were cut off by the ringing of his phone. After glancing at the screen, he frowned. “Um…I need to take this. Can you…?”
“I’ll go double and triple check for boxes,” she told him. “Go.”
Outside, she found one box and a small bag that had somehow slid under the driver’s seat of her car. After inspecting everywhere else, she could now say with great certainty that this was definitely the last of it.
Relieved, she stepped back into the house and shut the door.
Jayce’s home was amazing. It was a cozy, three-bedroom brick ranch on a beautiful wooded lot.
When they first started planning this move, he had explained that the house was a good fit for him, but he always knew it wasn’t his forever home.
They were going to find that one together.
She still sighed happily at the memory of that discussion.
Things were definitely going to be tight around here once she unpacked, but luckily, she had put a lot of stuff in storage.
“Hard to believe these are all the necessities,” she murmured, hoping Jayce didn’t think she was a high-maintenance person.
Speaking of Jayce, she wondered where he was.
She could hear him talking, but she didn’t know the layout of the house well enough to pinpoint which room he was in.
Plus, it was obvious the call was important—and private—so she didn’t want to interrupt.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything she could do until he was done because she couldn’t really start unpacking without him.
Sighing, she went to the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of water, and sat down on the sofa. With nothing else to do, she picked up her phone and just scrolled through her social media to pass the time.
Several minutes later, Jayce came strolling into the room, smiling. Without a word, he went to the kitchen and grabbed himself a drink before joining her on the sofa.
“Everything okay?”
Taking a sip of water, he nodded. “Absolutely.” Reaching for her hand, he held it in his. “So, what do you think? Ready to tackle some unpacking?”
“I want to say yes…”
“But…?”
“But…I’m pretty beat,” she admitted. “I know this has to be done and I hate being in the middle of chaos, but maybe we can hit pause for an hour?”
She expected him to argue or tell her why it would be better for them not to take a break, but he surprised her.
“That actually sounds good because I just got off a call that I wanted to talk to you about.”
Her heart immediately began to race. “Was it Walker?”
Frowning, Jayce shook his head. “Damn. No. Sorry. It was my real estate agent. He has a house he’d like us to look at this week. I know it’s soon, but it may help us decide how much to unpack.”
“Oh! Well, that’s even more exciting!” Then she paused. “Wait, he doesn’t want us to see it today, does he?”
“No. Tomorrow. Is that okay? I told him I’d have to talk to you first since we’ve already had a chaotic week.”
“Whew. Okay, good. I don’t see why we can’t go and look at it tomorrow. Did he send pictures? A link to the listing?”
Jayce pulled his phone from his pocket and swiped the screen a few times before handing it to her. “I know you don’t have anything to really gauge it by, but it’s only ten minutes from here.”
Laughing softly, she had to agree. “Yeah, that doesn’t mean much to me. Most of the drive here is a blur, so…”
“So we’re okay with going tomorrow?”
“Absolutely! It’s kind of exciting!” Scrolling through the pictures, she admired the newly renovated kitchen and the overall craftsman style of the house. “It’s a lot bigger than this house. Do you think we need that much space?”
“If it’s our forever home, then yes.” He settled in a bit closer to her so they could look through the pictures together. They talked about what they liked and didn’t like about it, but overall, it seemed like a good contender.
“It would be crazy to pick the first house we saw, but maybe he can pick a few more houses for us to look at over the next week?”
“I can certainly ask!” Taking the phone back, Jayce tapped out a text.
Then his shoulders sagged and he groaned.
“What?” she asked. “What’s the matter?”
“I just realized we might have an issue.”
“With…?”
“I lied.”
“What? When?”
Turning his head, he looked her straight in the eye. “Just now. It wasn’t just the real estate agent I spoke to; I also talked to Walker.”
“Oh my God,” she whispered. “And?”
“And…it looks like we’re investing in Lakeview Harbor Resort.”
Gasping, Kelsey felt her eyes go almost comically wide. “Are you serious right now? Really? He’s doing it?”
“ We’re doing it,” he corrected. “Us, Walker, Axel, Milo, Connor, and Slater! They’re all in!”
Launching herself into his arms, she happily screeched. “This is amazing! Oh my God! What did he say? When is it happening? What do we need to do?”
Holding her close, he kissed her soundly before pulling back. “We’re going to have a call with everyone Wednesday night. But it looks like you may have saved Lakeview Harbor Resort. You’re amazing.”
She blushed at his praise. “Well…it was a team effort, and I can’t believe how things are falling into place and how much my life has changed for the better.
” Sighing happily, she looped her arms around his shoulders.
“Ever since I bumped into you that day, you turned my life around. I love you, Jayce.”
“Love you too, Kelsey. My forever girl.”