Epilogue
One month later
They attended the christenings of five Maverick babies. Where once Ava would have shuddered at the thought, now she felt aglow with the festivities.
Paige and Evan’s house was decorated to the nines, with Happy Christening banners and paper flowers and moons and stars and anything that might glitter to catch the babies’ attention.
Evan had once owned a mansion in Atherton, but he’d left that to his ex-wife. The more modest Los Altos house was now a true home, with kids’ toys strewn about and bouncy chairs for their twins, Savannah and Keegan. In the backyard, Evan had already set up a swing set, monkey bars, slide, and sandbox, even though the twins were only seven months old.
It was late October, but this was the Bay Area, and it didn’t have the fall colors of the East Coast, except for the massive Liquid Amber tree shading the back garden whose leaves had begun turning a deep orangey red.
“You look happy.” Dane sat beside Ava on the couch.
She let out a sigh of satisfaction. “I am happy. Very.” They both looked across the wide expanse of the living room to Ransom, who was talking with Susan and Bob Spencer.
“Well, it certainly took you long enough to get back together.”
She turned to Dane, her head reared back a little. “What are you talking about?”
Dane leaned back, crossing his arms thoughtfully, “I saw all those sparks between you two way back when you took care of his grandmother in the nursing home, and Ransom and I were working on the resort.”
“There was a spark,” she admitted, though that was such an oversimplification.
He snorted a laugh. “It was way more than a spark.” Then he leaned close. “You crackled like fire, sister dear.”
She felt herself blush. Dane had known all this time. “But you never said anything.”
He shrugged in a typical brotherly gesture. “It was your business. I was hoping you’d talk to me about it when it was obvious things had gone wrong. But you never did.”
And wasn’t that the Harrington way—talk about anything else but love. It was why Ava had never said anything about Cammie. None of the family had, though they all knew how Dane felt, especially after the “incident” with Troy. And yet, at the family mastermind a week ago, Clay had apologized to her for his outburst at the wedding. He’d even told her she’d made the right choice with Ransom. And here she was talking about love with Dane. So maybe things were changing. At least a bit.
Dane held her hand, squeezed her fingers, smiled at her. “I’m happy for you. But hell.” He puffed out an exasperated laugh. “You two took even longer than Cammie and I did to figure it out.”
Cammie stood in the cluster of Maverick ladies, absorbed into the fold just as Ava had been, and Gabby, too, who was cooing at Ari’s little girl, Penelope, now three months old. She was surprised Gabby wasn’t in the kitchen fussing over the christening cake—two tiers, one vegan and one with so much butter it would slow your blood flow. But there was time enough for any fussing Gabby felt she needed to do.
In a few minutes, Ava would join the group of women and babies, talking with them, laughing with them. Because this bunch knew how to laugh. But for now, she enjoyed this quiet moment with her big brother Dane, while Troy had his head together with Matt Tremont, and Clay, without a flavor of the month in tow, was engrossed in conversation with Will Franconi.
“Well,” she said softly, reflectively, “together we raised a couple of handsome Harrington boys.”
“And a beautiful Harrington chef,” Dane added.
But perhaps there were still some lessons to impart, especially about love. Their parents’ legacy of love—or lack thereof—had an effect on them all, to the point where she’d kept her long-ago affair with Ransom a secret. And Dane had kept his feelings for Cammie locked down so tightly they were even a secret from himself. She wondered now if one of her other brothers, or even Gabby, was keeping their own secret about love.
“Raising them all,” she mused, “I don’t even remember now how hard it was, after Mom and Dad died.”
Dane snorted. “It’s like women forgetting how hard childbirth is. All you remember is the good stuff, like holding the baby in your arms for the first time.”
She shot him a look. “Cammie’s not…?”
He shook his head. “No. It hasn’t happened yet. But it will when it’s the right time.”
Dane would be an amazing father. He’d been a good big brother to teenage boys, and they’d grown into intelligent, strong men. He’d doted on Gabby, and their sister had grown into a brilliant woman.
“So you’re off to some big gig of Ransom’s?” Dane asked, looking across the room as Ransom pecked Susan Spencer on the cheek and headed toward Paige and Evan, who were each holding a twin.
Her gaze on Ransom’s beautiful face, her heart swelling as he let one of the babies take his pinkie in a chubby finger, she sighed with joy. “We haven’t exactly worked out all the logistics yet.”
She wasn’t the least bit worried. Because they would never let anything come between them again. No matter the compromises they had to make. Compromise was no longer a four-letter word.
“We’re going to Milwaukee to see his brother, Adam, and his family.” She looked at Dane. “Did you know his brother has a chain of burger joints out there? They’re all the rage.”
Dane waggled one of his eyebrows, turning his handsome face comical. “Meeting the family, huh?”
Ava elbowed him teasingly in the ribs, but said nothing.
Then, being older than her and playing the devil’s advocate, Dane echoed her earlier thoughts. “Why is talking about love so off-limits in our family?”
Ava snorted. “You really don’t know?”
Dane’s gaze found Cammie. “I didn’t. Not for a long time.” Then he turned to Ava again. “When we were kids, and I looked at Mom and Dad, it was like they were the only two in the world to each other. I thought that’s what love was supposed to be like. To the exclusion of everything else.”
“But they excluded us from that world too.”
He nodded. “Then I started to realize they were bad examples of love. Two people truly in love have room for more love in their lives than just each other. They have room for kids and family and friends.”
Ava breathed deeply, remembering all the times she’d wanted them to notice her, to see her. “Love is inclusive rather than exclusive.” She laid her head on his shoulder a brief moment. “I wonder what would have happened if I’d said something to you about Cammie right after you went ballistic when Troy asked her out.”
He mused with her. “I wonder what would have happened if I’d asked you what happened between you and Ransom instead of deciding it wasn’t my business.”
Ava shook her head. “We’re talking about Harringtons here. People can’t tell us anything. We have to figure it out on our own. Or wait until Fernsby has a talk with us.”
This time, Dane reared back. “Fernsby talked to you?”
She nodded.
“Hell. He talked to me too.”
They both looked at Fernsby as he stood over a bassinette, holding one of the newly christened babies, though Ava wasn’t sure which one.
At that moment, the man looked up. And winked.
Dane whispered, “That’s scary.”
“Very scary,” Ava agreed.
Except that the last scary look Fernsby had given her four months ago in Dane’s home theater had heralded Ransom’s coming back into her life.
Maybe that scary look was actually a good thing.
* * *
Ransom was aware of Ava every moment as he mingled his way through the reception. She’d been sitting with Dane for a while, then she’d joined the ladies. He loved standing back to watch her, so beautiful, so charming. And all his.
After making his way to Rosie, he hugged her. “Thank you so much for the painting. It’s gorgeous. The view of the bay at sunrise is the exact view I see out of my office window every day. How could you know?”
Rosie just smiled. “The bay is one of my favorite subjects.”
“Honestly, you guys didn’t have to give me anything for helping out with the wedding. It was my pleasure, and I wanted you both to have the best.” Ransom held out his hand to shake Gideon’s.
Gideon slapped his two big hands around Ransom’s and shook. “You bailed us out. We don’t how to thank you.”
Rosie, with the prettiest smile, said, “Gideon handcrafted the picture frame. He’s got a whole setup for woodworking in the garage. People are asking for his frames as much as they’re asking for my paintings,” she added with a laugh.
They were such a special couple. They’d recently moved into a larger home to accommodate Jorge and baby Isabella. Ransom would have said he’d never seen a happier couple, but as he looked around the christening reception in Evan and Paige’s living room, it was filled with loving couples.
His gaze once again alighted on Ava laughing with Cammie and Kelsey and several of the Maverick ladies. What a feeling to be half of one of these loving couples.
Rosie gave his shoulder a little push. “You better go to her. I could feel something brewing between the two of you even at the wedding.”
Gideon chuckled. “Oh yeah, all those longing glances. Will just wouldn’t stop talking about it. I swear he’s the biggest gossip.”
Rosie rose on her toes to kiss his cheek. “I swear, all of you Mavericks are the biggest gossips around.” Then she whispered to Ransom, “Go to her.”
He didn’t need another push. All these Mavericks might think they’d cornered the market on love, but he truly had. He’d found Ava again, and she’d found him.
And a little while later, he was arm in arm with his beautiful Ava when Fernsby and Gabby rolled out another fabulous creation. One tier was Victoria sponge, Fernsby’s winning cake from Britain’s Greatest Bakers, and it was all vegan, if one could ever imagine a Victoria sponge as vegan. Gabby had done the honors on that, under Fernsby’s tutelage. The other tier was a classic sponge, with nothing vegan about it.
No one knew which was which except the two bakers.
Gabby and Fernsby had worked on the cake the entire morning before the christening, in a collaboration. They’d piped all the babies’ names on it in tiny perfect script. Instead of flowers, they’d added balloons in all the colors of the rainbow.
And, incredibly, both tiers were equally delicious.
As they stood with Gabby, Ava hugged her sister. “You’ve made another amazing cake.”
Ransom added his two cents. “I can’t believe one of these is vegan.”
Gabby beamed. “That was all Fernsby’s recipe. I’m selling the cake in my vegan bakery, but if you want to know the truth—” She cast a glance at Fernsby, who was fawning over Susan Spencer. “Don’t tell Fernsby, but I couldn’t have figured it out on my own. He’s brilliant.” She put a finger to her lips. “And don’t tell him I said that either.”
Ava laughed. “Didn’t you tell me that day at the chophouse that he was the wisest man you knew?”
Gabby rolled her eyes. “I should never have said that. It totally went to his head.”
They all laughed. Ransom would always love Ava’s laugh.
“So,” Ava said, squeezing his hand. She’d already talked with him about what she planned. “Here’s what I would really love from the two fabulous cooks in my life.”
Gabby frowned, as if she were afraid of what was coming.
Ava rushed on before her sister ran away. “Ransom is taking over the catering for all my US facilities.” She put her hand on Gabby’s arm, sliding all the way down to her wrist. “And I’d really, really, really like it if you and Ransom could work together on some vegan offerings. Right now, we’ve got salads, vegan soups, and vegetables.” She shrugged. “But honestly, we need really fabulous vegan food. I know you two can do it.”
She looked at her sister with hope. Ransom knew how badly Ava wanted this.
Many years ago, when he’d taken stock of the rising number of vegans and vegetarians around the country and the globe, he’d had one of his people approach Gabby. But she’d given his representative a blistering no. He’d understood it to be a result of what had happened between him and Ava. Gabby was the most loyal of sisters, and she wasn’t going to forgive easily.
He hoped she could forgive him now. “I’d really like to work with you on this, Gabby. I can create menus, but figuring out how to make them vegan or vegetarian is beyond me.”
He waited for her to smash him down while Ava squeezed his fingers. That’s what they had—solidarity, togetherness. Even if Gabby slammed him, Ava’s love would pick him up again.
But he wanted this to work.
For just a moment, fire blazed in Gabby’s blue eyes, and narrowing them at him, she said, “Don’t you dare hurt my big sister ever again.” A smile lurked on her lips as if she were making a joke. But he knew she meant every word. And there would be consequences.
His arm around Ava’s shoulders, he pulled her close. “I love your sister more than anything in the world. And I promise I’ll never hurt her.”
Ava sniffed as if she wanted to cry, and she kissed his cheek. They’d shared so many kisses and touches and lovemaking over the past month. But somehow that kiss, in front of her sister, was one of the most special he’d ever known. It held love and ownership and appreciation and total belief in him.
“I have to admit that marinated tofu you made at the wedding was yummy. But we can do so much more.” A smile stretched across Gabby’s pretty face. “So I’d love to work on the menus with you.”
Ransom felt Gabby’s forgiveness wrap around him at last, like a warm blanket.
Then Ava clutched his arm. “Oh, oh, I knew there was something I wanted to talk to you about.”
Ransom had no idea what. If her sister hadn’t been standing right there, he’d have wished for a litany of the sexy, seductive things she wanted to do with him tonight.
Instead, she shocked him. “You haven’t billed me for all those renovations on the kitchens.”
Ransom smiled because he had that answer all worked out. “Consider it a donation to your subsidy fund for all the people who can’t afford a decent place to live when they’re too old to live on their own.”
The two of them stared at him. Then suddenly, both sisters engulfed him in hugs.
When they finally let him go, he said, “Really, ladies, it wasn’t that big a deal.” He smiled at Ava. “All your kitchens were up to code, and I only had to do a few modifications to make the flow easier.”
Ava whispered the only words he ever wanted to hear. “I love you.”
Gazing into her eyes, he said, “I love you more than anything.”
Gabby coughed loudly. “Oh my God, I need to get out of here. This is getting way too sappy for me.”
Ava just smiled. “You said that about the final scene of Pretty Woman too.”
Ransom reeled in his beloved. “She’s young. She has so much to learn.”
Thank God he had learned how to love Ava before it was too late.
* * *
Ahhh.Fernsby allowed himself a mental sigh.
Love was definitely in the air. Ava and Ransom gazed starry-eyed at each other. Cammie and Dane could be at the opposite ends of the room, but their sparks still flew and crashed into one another.
Two down, three to go. There was still work to be done. These Harringtons had so much to learn about love.
He thought of himself as the Love Guru. He wondered what Mathilda would think of his vocation. And why were all the memories of his lost love coming back now, when it was a lifetime too late?
He surveyed the room full of Mavericks and Harringtons, including Robert and Fernsby’s personal favorite, Susan Spencer. It must be all the love in the air that made him nostalgic.
Now, who should be his next project?
He looked to Gabrielle Harrington—beautiful, blond, blue-eyed, just like her mother in all the pictures he’d seen of the family. But Gabrielle was so different from her parents. She was hardworking. Look at that cake as an example. One tier was vegan, made by Gabrielle with only a few comments from him, and one tier was made with butter and eggs, the two major food groups. And not one person in this room had been able to tell the difference.
Dane even had bets going on who had made which tier. Little did they know that Fernsby himself had put the betting idea into Dane’s head.
Standing back, Fernsby tapped a long finger against his lips. So, who needed his help the most right now?
Eenie meenie miney mo, catch a Harrington by the toe…
* * *
Clay felt more animated than he had in months, almost back to the place he’d been when he’d first started his internet platform for artists.
He let it spill out all over Gideon Jones. “I’m telling you, that kid Dylan—” He punctuated his words with sharp slices of his hands through the air. “—he’s a major talent.”
Gideon clapped him on the shoulder. “Thanks for mentoring him. It means a lot to me.”
“Thank you for sending him my way,” Clay said. “In the world of street art, he could be the next Banksy.” Then he added, “Or even the next San Holo.”
Since meeting Dylan, Clay had studied street art more closely. It was no longer the graffiti of old—spray cans on bridges with gang symbols. It was big business, big art, both physically and metaphorically.
“He’s got talent for sure,” Gideon said. “He just needs a guiding hand.”
“I like the kid a lot,” Clay admitted. “He’s good people.”
“He’ll be aging out of the foster care system soon.” Gideon nodded gravely. “So I’m really glad he has someone like you as his mentor.”
“Anything I can do. I love helping talent like his.”
But Gideon was looking over Clay’s shoulder. “I think Fernsby wants to speak with you.” Then the man stepped away with a smile, heading back to his new wife and family.
Suddenly, Fernsby was right there, saying sternly, “Sir.” His gaze turned first to Cammie and Dane on one side of the room, then to Ava and Ransom talking with Gabby on the opposite side.
Damn. A prickle in his gut told him what was coming. Clay held up both hands in the universal stop sign, just in case Fernsby didn’t get the one-handed version.
Fernsby, however, did that expressive look again, from one couple to the other.
In the harshest voice he could muster, Clay said, “No way. You are not matchmaking for me, Fernsby. Absolutely not.” Then he pointed to Troy. “Go pick on him. He’s older.”
But Fernsby, that most resolute of butlers, did not follow instructions and head over to Troy.
Instead, he smiled. For a man who smiled so rarely that it might be considered nonexistent, it was scary. More than scary.
It was terrifying.
* * *
Thank you so much for reading REUNITED IN LOVE! We hope you loved Ava and Ransom.
Are you ready for the next Maverick Billionaire romance, PAINTED IN LOVE?In PAINTED IN LOVE, after years of working with artists to build their careers in a world where fame can exact a terrible price, billionaire Clay Harrington’s number one priority is to foster creativity and nourish artistic dreams through his innovative video platform. So when he agrees to mentor a former foster kid with raw talent, Clay is determined to find the young man’s hero, a legendary street artist named San Holo. In his wildest dreams, Clay never thought it would be so difficult to uncover the real identity of this elusive superstar. Until he discovers that the key to unlocking the artist’s identity might be sexy, brilliant Saskia Oliver. When Saskia opens her door to the tall, handsome, and sexy-as-hell stranger, she can’t fight their immediate electric and irresistible attraction. But even after passionate kisses and seductive nights, she still can’t give Clay what he wants. She’s sworn to keep San Holo’s identity a secret no matter the cost…even if love is on the line. When their two hearts and bodies collide like shooting stars, is there any way they can create a love that will last forever? Or will the cost of keeping secrets destroy any chance at having the love they’ve both craved for so long?