Epilogue
RAVEN
From: Ravenhawthorne@
Subject: Early beta copy of Reined and Tempted
Surprise! I have something I need to share with you all…
Regards,
Raven
Bella: OH MY GOD!!!!!!!
Lucy: How do you have this? Do you know Ayana Cox?
Summer: I’ve been waiting for this!
Me: I am Ayana Cox.
Bella: WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IS HAPPENING?
Me: Surprise!
Bella: This whole time? The WHOLE time? THIS WHOLE TIME? Fuck, you can’t hear me, but I sound like Sally Field in Mrs. Doubtfire.
Summer: Finally!
Lucy: What do you mean finally? Did you know she was Ayana?
Summer: Not the whole time. RJ accidentally let it slip when we were setting up my library.
Me: I’m going to kill him.
Summer: Please don’t. It was an accident. He thought I knew. He felt really bad.
Bella: Okay, if we’re confessing things. I hid remote-controlled vibrators all over your house and set them off randomly to fuck with you.
Me: [Gif of David Rose from Schitt’s Creek saying, “I knew it!”]
Lucy:
Summer: You know, that doesn’t even surprise me.
Me: I thought I was going crazy. I kept hearing buzzing. There was even one in my purse. Is that why you were so interested in it when you came over to help with Jonah’s costume?
Bella: Guilty!
Lucy: I’m gonna pee my pants!
Bella: Can we circle back to the part where you’re our favorite romance author?!? Why aren’t you two making a bigger deal? This is HUGE!
Lucy: I’m in shock.
Bella: This calls for a celebration. I can make cookies!
Me: Please don’t.
Lucy: OMG your cockies would be perfect for this! This is the one occasion they’d actually be appropriate!
Me: Please don’t encourage her.
Bella: I can sketch out some ideas! Does this mean you’re going to do signings?
Lucy: Yes! We could sit at your table and sell your books.
Summer: We’d be the perfect hype girls since we’ve read them all and love them!
Bella: We could be your booth bitches!! I’m gonna make shirts.
Summer: Please don’t put that on my shirt or Logan will make me pay the swear jar.
Lucy: Yeah and no penises on my shirt.
Summer: Good call. Same goes for me.
Me: We’re not making shirts. And when did I agree to a signing?
Bella: I wasn’t gonna put penises on the shirts.
Summer: no one believes that.
Me: So you all aren’t mad?
Lucy: Why would we be mad?
Summer: We love you and your books!
Bella: This is amazing. I know a celebrity!
Summer: We’re not mad.
Me: Good because I’m currently at the courthouse with the kids and Sawyer.
Bella: WHAT THE FUCK RAVEN?!?!?!
Lucy: What are you doing at the courthouse? Are you getting married?
Summer: Raven, answer us!!!!
“You just tell the girls?”
I glance up from my phone. Sawyer’s face is beaming, and I get lost in the crinkles around his eyes. “How did you know?”
“I’m not the only one with a terrible poker face.” He winks, and I take him in. He’s dressed in his navy T-shirt, suspenders, and firefighter pants. It was a compromise since I didn’t want him in his Chief dress uniform.
Jane and McKenna race over, their cotton dresses billowing behind them as they carry a handful of…weeds?
“We couldn’t find any flowers since it’s November and everything’s dead,” McKenna says.
“We tried to match your dress as best we could. There’s some grass with the wheat thingies on the end, red, orange, and yellow leaves, and some pine tree-looking thing. Be careful, it’s spiky,” Jane says, pointing to each item.
“That’s Colorado blue spruce,” Tommy chimes, and I tilt my head, surprised he knew that. “Cub Scouts,” he says with a shrug.
“If we had more time, we could’ve gotten a real bouquet,” McKenna pouts.
“It’s perfect, girls, thank you.” I hold it up against the bottom of my dress. It’s a long, mostly black number with lace sleeves. They were able to find some leaves that match the red and orange ombré on the hem.
I didn’t wake up this morning knowing I’d be getting married.
Jocelyn dropped the kids off, and today was the day Sawyer and I decided to move everyone into my house.
Our house. Tommy and Jane will still spend every other day and every other weekend with Jocelyn, but on Sawyer’s days, we’ll live in the house that brought us together.
Jonah and Tommy insisted on sharing a room, and when we were cleaning out the closet to make room for Tommy’s clothes, Jonah found a suit and started playing dress-up, calling it his fancy wedding suit. This led to Jonah’s brilliant idea that Sawyer and I should get married today.
“How’d the girls take it?”
“I dunno. They were starting to spiral when I put my phone away. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“We could wait. Plan something big if you want. I’m sure we can convince Jonah.”
I look over at Jonah as he and Tommy play on the sidewalk.
“No, this is what I want. Just the six of us. I already had a big, fancy wedding. It was huge, had way too many people, was way too expensive, and while it was fun, it wasn’t me. The wedding doesn’t matter as much as the life we build.”
“Good. There’s no way Tommy would sit still long enough for us to make it down the aisle, anyway. We have less than an hour before he starts tugging off parts of that suit.” He takes my hand in his and guides me up the steps.
“You’re probably right.”
“We could always do a small reception later so our friends can celebrate with us.”
“That’s a good idea. But I’ll hire the cake decorator. Knowing Bella, she’d show up with a three-tiered giant dick cake.”
Sawyer chuckles. “Probably not the most kid-friendly option.”
“Nope. And let’s keep it small, like my birthday. Nothing too loud so Jonah isn’t triggered.”
McKenna rushes to open the doors to City Hall for us. “Can we dress up in fancy dresses and throw rose petals?”
“I don’t see why not,” Sawyer says, gesturing for me to go first.
“Can I wear my turtle costume?” Tommy asks.
I chuckle. “Sure.”
Exactly thirty-seven minutes later, we say “I do.”