50. Epilogue
NESSA
Retired Soccer Championship MVP, Nessa Hart, Makes Blackstone Falls Home
By: Arden James
In an exclusive interview, Nessa Hart shared her thoughts on being a professional athlete, winning the championship for the Tennessee Tornadoes, and accepting a coaching position at Blackstone University. Hart, recently engaged to county sheriff, Jensen Kade, stated that Kade’s mother, Dottie, had been influential in her decision to retire from the league.
“She told me it was okay to redefine success. I’d spent a lot of years living and breathing the game and had lost so much of the passion I’d had in my younger years. When I first came to Blackstone Falls, I was given a unique opportunity to coach at the collegiate level and it was that spark I’d been missing…
T ossing the paper down on the counter, I grin at Mason who has no fewer than five copies around the room. “I think I’m gonna frame them. One at least. I mean, also they might show up on your doorstep so keep an eye out.” He winks and I close the distance to hug him.
“I appreciate you,” I say honestly before stepping back and grabbing a plate of food as everyone mingles around.
The stories about game night were epic—mostly Jensen losing his shit over losing—and I couldn’t wait to see it in action. Dottie and Wayne had Remi for a sleepover, much to the guys’ dismay. Their love for her never failed to warm my heart because while I had never been showered in love, my daughter certainly would be.
Daughter.
It’d taken me almost the entire season, but I hadn’t corrected Remi when she called me Mama for the first time or any time after that. We’d taken flowers to Scarlett’s grave, and I’d felt strangely at peace, a light wind blowing my hair back from my face. It was like she was giving me her blessing in the only way she could.
I hadn’t stopped the tears, only held Remi tighter as Jensen wrapped his arms around us, as I grieved my cousin and the life she never got to live. I gave thanks for being able to take care of Remi, for finding Jensen and falling in love, and feeling bone-deep happiness despite so much tragedy.
As if sensing my unease, Jensen’s hand slips into mine as he leans down and presses a kiss to my temple.
“Are you all right?” he asks and I nod, squeezing his hand back and leaning against him.
“Just thinking about Scarlett and how happy I am to be here.” The emotions remain complicated, my own needing to be nurtured with each of Remi’s milestones and my love for Jensen. I didn’t want to feel guilty and even though I worked tirelessly, sometimes it still snuck in.
“You’re allowed to have both. We’re allowed to have both. But what we’ve built is ours and the past doesn’t change that,” he says firmly before placing a kiss on my lips.
“It’s like Montana and Ellison all over again!” Mason yells and everyone laughs, Jensen ignoring them and taking one more kiss before straightening and lifting one shoulder.
“I don’t know,” Bea chimes in, fanning her face dramatically. “Those two were all about the tension.”
“We’ll try harder next time,” I muse as I turn back to the game set up on the other side of the table.
“Nessa, in honor of it being your very first game night, you get the privilege of going first,” Ellison says with a flourish as she points at two muffin trays with paper numbers in the bottom of each well. “If you get one of the balls into a tin, you get that corresponding prize.”
Jensen groans behind me, and I grin as I take the ping-pong ball, standing behind the line taped on the floor and tossing it gently.
“Fifteen, baby!” I cheer, doing a little dance after sinking the ball in my jersey number. Ellison high-fives me and hands me a container that has a gift card to Cedar Lake Day Spa in it. “Aren’t you fancy.”
She winks. “We had to mix it up a little. Last time the prizes were abysmal,” she says pointedly at Archer.
He raises his hands in surrender. “I told you I’m sorry and that I shouldn’t have been in charge of it.”
Montana snickers as Bodhi points at Jensen. “You’re up.”
Grumbling under his breath, Jensen takes the ball and stands behind the line. He throws it no harder than I did, but instead of landing in the tin, it bounces along the side before jumping to the counter and onto the floor.
Chaos ensues as Jensen tells everyone to fuck off, Montana cackles, Mason is laughing so hard he can barely stand, Ellison and Bea are giggling and holding each other up, and Bodhi’s lips twitch as he silently picks up the ball and stands behind the line.
He sinks it, and this time when the laughter breaks out, Jensen throws me over his shoulder and marches down the hallway to an open bedroom. Whoops and catcalls follow us as he kicks the door shut with his boot and locks it.
“They were right; you’re such a sore loser.”
“Doesn’t matter, Trouble.” He brings my left hand to his mouth, placing a kiss next to the diamond sitting there. “Where it counts, I already won.”
THE END