Epilogue
A year later, Jack finished yet another rendition of Total Eclipse of the Heart.
Most of the audience was the same, plus a hundred more familiar faces, but the venue had changed from Nashville to his second favorite spot in the world.
Cassidy's Place in Arbor Bay, Alabama.
His new favorite spot was a house that had two bedrooms, an office, space for entertaining, and a deep need for a complete repainting.
Jack knew his love for it had nothing to do with the building and everything to do with the man he’d bought it with the month before.
He waved that man over now to the open barstool next to him. Jack clapped, knowing he’d broken his own bartending code by becoming a little tipsy himself to celebrate.
Benny De Carlo, all cute in his button-up and jeans, was laughing.
“Have I told you that's my favorite thing you do?” he asked after a quick kiss. “I’m sorry but I think you’re just going to have to do this every year on our anniversary for, like, ever.”
Jack arched his brow high.
“And here I thought, your favorite thing I did was that twisty thing I do in bed. You know where I move you like—”
“Jack!”
Atomic. Cherry. Red.
Benny swatted at him as Santana cackled behind the bar. Tipsy Jack didn’t mind the attention. Not after his, apparently annual, performance in front of a crowd to declare his love for The One Who Always Said A Lot.
Dixon, however, lost his focus as it drifted to one of Felicity’s cousins.
She was one of many women who were still all about Cassidy’s tampon selection. To Jack’s utter surprise, it had truly been a PR boost for the bar.
One of many since the internet had followed along with the story of Jack and Benny.
Jack wasn’t sure about the rest of the world, but he’d been pleased to see the people of Arbor Bay seemingly lose interest in the shiny new allure of The Drinking Spot. Old regulars had returned, new regulars had appeared, and to his surprise, the Robertsons had become the most vocal of patrons.
All of them.
“I still think you should add some new dance moves,” came Carol's voice from next to them. She waved at Dixon who kept his conversation going with another patron while making her drink. “You know, maybe throw in a split to really wow the crowd.”
Benny laughed.
“I’m not sure about a split, but I think we should just make those short shorts from last year an official uniform for the performance.”
“And finally drop the leg routine, Knox,” Cotton threw in, moving past them with a Cassidy’s Special in his hand. “Even a year later my lady is still talking about your damn legs.”
Jack laughed, Carol smiled.
Had it been the year before, Jack and his legs would have hated the sight.
Now, it had become somewhat normal.
Especially over the last few months.
The poisonous snake of Arbor Bay had become their poisonous snake.
“She’s still trying to figure out who she is, outside of all of the small-town and family expectations,” Benny had told him one night in bed. “It’s a hard thing to do, even if the internet isn’t staring at you.”
Jack would have held back his dislike for the woman if only for Benny’s sake, but, when she started helping them renovate Benny’s home office a few months later, Jack finally let his anger go.
A helpful decision, considering Benny would go on to ask her to join his event planning business once he decided it was time to take the leap.
Queen Bee, beneath all her pretenses, decided she actually did like flowers.
She bought into the florist shop with Benny, and Jack went from seeing her at the bar occasionally to seeing her in his home with arms full of flowers more often that not.
Before all that, Carol simply took her drink and a conversation about Jack’s leg routine back to the table she’d been sitting at with Cal and his girlfriend. Justus was with Ms. Peggy, who also had voiced plenty of opinions about Jack’s legs over the last year.
Something else, he realized, he’d gotten used to.
Benny rolled his eyes.
Ethan’s laugh pulled their attention to the booth Dewey and he had claimed after the ceremony.
Jack lowered his voice—tipsy or not, he had decorum after all—and nodded to them.
“Did we ever find out if they…”
Benny followed his gaze.
He mimicked the low volume.
“I’m waiting for Ethan to talk to me about it first, but I’m suspicious.”
Jack chuckled.
Then he leaned in and kissed Benny one more time.
Red cheeks reflected his surprise.
“I love you,” Jack said honestly.
Benny, still red, cracked a laugh.
“I love you too, sweet cheeks.”
The front doors opened and everyone turned to the reason they were all gathering at Cassidy’s that night to begin with.
Marcus and Felicity rode in on a chorus of congratulations and cheers.
Jack used the couple’s entrance as an excuse to leave Benny on his stool. He reached the new groom’s side and congratulated Marcus again.
“Kickass ceremony and reception,” Jack told him. “You even had me tearing up a bit with those sappy vows. I thought I was in a Hallmark movie.”
Marcus laughed.
The sight hadn’t bothered Jack in a long time.
“And it's going to be a kickass after party,” Marcus yelled over the noise. “Thanks again for letting us have it here.”
Jack meant it when he said no problem.
He also meant it when he congratulated Felicity.
She beamed at Jack, still wearing her wedding dress.
She was beautiful, but she was never really his.
Marcus lowered his voice once his wife was pulled away by his mother, Benny joining in for a series of, Jack only assumed, a trillion pictures.
“Did you get it?” he asked.
It was Jack's turn to smile.
“Yeah. It’s in the back.”
Marcus clapped him on the shoulder.
“I'll just be happy when I don't have to keep this secret anymore!”
Jack agreed to that.
The party ebbed and flowed for the next hour until Jack snuck away one more time.
He held the ring in his palm, standing in the office while the world outside of it was loud.
Rizzie had told him during her last visit to the house to discuss Benny’s book deal that Jack was lucky he made such damn good drinks. If not, would a drunken Benny have ever confessed to him?
Jack had been thinking about that a lot in the weeks since.
Not because she was wrong.
He’d already admitted that Benny loving Marcus had been the greatest stroke of luck of his life.
Though that feeling wouldn’t last past the end of the week.
Instead, when Jack asked Benny to marry him while standing next to their kitchen sink, he’d feel the luckiest then when Benny said yes.
And then, when Benny said “I do" at the altar six months later, Jack would feel it the most.
It wasn’t every day that every day felt so damn special.
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