32. Epilogue
Epilogue
J ess sets out the platters of food she prepared the past two days for their housewarming party. Her house sold quickly, but Kade refused to let her put the money into the house. Instead, he told her to save it for buying out her boss when the time comes. She fought him, but ultimately, she lost. He's very convincing, and he has an uncanny way of kissing her into submission.
Her coworkers, Drew and his family, Kade's coworkers, and their friends all gather in their home to help them celebrate. Even Lena and Joe, who are now engaged, are here.
Lena and Joe pull Jess and Kade aside, and Jess realizes Joe and Kade have never officially met. This could go badly.
"Hey, Joe. This is Kade. Kade, this is Joe, Lena's fiancé," she says.
Kade holds out his hand, and Joe shakes it. "It's good to finally meet you, Joe. I've heard good things from Jess."
"Yeah? What'd she say?" Lena asks.
The platinum blonde stands in three-inch heels wearing a tight black dress with her left hand showing off her large, yellow diamond engagement ring Joe gave her on their cruise. The woman never fails to show it off, and Jess gets a kick out of how she seems like a kid in a candy story with it. She has to admit, Lena looks genuinely happy.
"She said he's a perfect match for you, Lena. The type of guy you deserve. I may not really know you, Joe, but from what I do know from Jess, you're a good guy. The type of guy Lena should have marrying her."
Joe wraps an arm around Lena's shoulders. "I know about your history with her, but I can't hold it against you. If not for you, I may not have met the woman I plan to spend the rest of my life with."
"I'm happy for you both," Kade says and takes Jess's hand. "And I want to thank Lena for being such a good friend to Jess. She told me you said you wouldn't give her your blessing to take another chance on me, but you also told her she didn't need it. You're her friend, and I'm glad she has you."
Lena reaches out and hugs him. "Thank you for screwing us over so I could meet Joe."
Jess bursts out laughing. "Never thought I'd hear something like that come out of someone's mouth," she says.
Joe laughs, too. "Me neither."
"Jess, I have an important question to ask you," Lena says. "Will you be one of my bridesmaids?"
Their friendship may be unconventional in nature, but Jess really enjoys having Lena in her corner. "Of course, I will. Thank you for asking!"
The two women hug, and Lena jumps up and down. "The bridesmaids dresses are going to be red. You'll look so good in it."
"She looks good in anything," Kade says. He leans over to whisper in her ear and says, "And nothing."
She flushes and hits their joined hands against his thigh. "I can't wait to try it on."
"I know we just met, Kade, but I wanted to ask if you'd consider being one of my groomsmen," Joe says. "Totally understand if you say no, but after the blow up with Landry, I have an opening in my lineup. And knowing how you stood up for my girl to him makes you someone I would really like to build a friendship with."
"Uh, I would be honored, man. Are you sure it won't be awkward, though? It sounds like these two aren't exactly shy about sharing how they became friends."
Jess and Lena laugh, and Joe nods his head. "Anyone who doesn't find the story hilarious can go fly a kite."
"What happened with Landry?" Jess asks. "If you don't mind me asking."
Clenching his fist, Joe lets out a deep breath. "After Lena told me what Landry said to you two, I confronted him at the country club. He told me that marrying Lena will be the biggest mistake of my life, and it's only a matter of time before she finds someone else to climb into bed with. Someone with more money."
"You're kidding," Kade says. "What's his deal with women?"
"It's how he's been since high school, but I just never really noticed until now. Women should play a specific role in his mind, and when they don't fit the role or the place he deems them to, he gets angry. But he took offense to how Jess and Lena met, even though it has nothing to do with him."
Lena wraps her arms around Joe's waist. "To put it in normal words, Landry thinks I'm a whore."
"That's pretty much what he said to us, too," Kade says. "I couldn't believe he said that. But to say that to his friend... that's a whole different level of low."
"He said a few choice words I won't repeat in front of Lena about her, and I lost it. Security had to pull me off him. I've never hit a man in my life, but I think I might have killed him if someone hadn't intervened."
"When someone says or does something against your girl, it's an instinct, man. Regardless of how Jess and Lena met, both are good people. The way he attacked them both, but mostly Jess, let's just say I know what you felt."
Joe shakes his head. "I don't know how you didn't kill him without someone else there to stop you."
Kade looks down at Jess and squeezes her hand. "I had Jess there. Besides, I'm kind of hyper aware of my actions like that. There are only two men I've ever hit, but my father murdered my mother in a drunken rage. He's the last person I ever want to be like, so I do what I can to keep my anger in check. But he deserved the fists he got."
Lena's mouth drops open. "Your father murdered your mom?"
Jess stares in surprise. Kade doesn't share this with many people out of fear and some resentment.
"I was eight. My aunt and uncle took me in and raised me. I'll be forever grateful to them for it, and Jess saved me from either drowning myself in alcohol or murdering my father when he was paroled. She saved me from myself, honestly."
Jess gives Lena a look, and she knows Lena understands now what she's talked about before with things in Kade's past that played a part in how he acted. She never wanted to tell anyone without his permission, and she can tell Lena softens towards him.
"What're you guys talking about here?" Noelle asks, her arm wrapping around Jess's waist and giving Kade a warning look. She's accepted Kade and Jess are together, but she hasn't quite forgiven him for everything that's happened.
"How my father killed my mom when I was eight," Kade says.
Noelle drops her arm and looks at Kade with anger on her face. "That's not funny."
"He's not kidding," Jess says, suddenly defensive against Noelle.
"What?"
"Ask my cousin, Drew. His family raised me after it happened," Kade says and points to his cousin.
Her eyes look to Jess. "You never told me that."
"It wasn't my story to tell."
"Who's the other man you punched?" Joe asks, wanting to shift the conversation.
Jess almost groans. He's trying to help, but this is another story Kade doesn't share. "Does anyone need another drink?"
"My ex-best friend," Kade says. "I'm good, baby."
"What'd he do?" Noelle asks.
Jess shoots her a glare, but she ignores it. Lena and Joe stare at Kade with rapt attention, both waiting for his answer.
"He'd been sleeping with my ex-fiancée for years, and I found out five months before we were supposed to get married."
Lena's jaw drops, and Joe's eyes widen. "What?"
"That's why I had such an issue committing," Kade says and turns to Lena. "It was why I did what I did to Jess. I had a lot of shit to work through, and I'm sorry you were pulled into it. I don't know that I've ever apologized to you."
"You know, I think I can forgive you," she says. "Wow... that's... that sucks."
Noelle looks to Jess, and she nods. It killed Jess not to share this information with her best friend, especially when she knew it would help smooth things over between her and Kade, but she didn't even want to ask Kade. She wanted to respect him.
"Did you put him in the hospital?" Joe asks.
Kade smirks. "An ambulance was called, and I got hauled to jail. Everything got dropped, but he's lucky I didn't want to join my father in prison."
"Okay, okay, I understand now," Noelle says to Jess.
"Can you stop being such a bitch to him then?" she asks.
"No, she keeps me in line. I kind of like it. Besides, it's not often someone the size of a child can scare me," Kade says.
Noelle smiles. "I scare you?"
"A whole lot, yes," he says and nods his head.
"You kind of scare me, too," Lena says, and Joe nods his head in agreement.
"Aww, you guys are the nicest!"
Jess laughs and hugs her. "I guess I'll be the only one not scared of my little pixie."
"You're the only one ever allowed to call me that," she says and laughs back.
Kade moves into the room and whistles to get everyone's attention. He waits for everyone to quiet down before speaking.
Paul, who surprised Jess by showing up, makes his way over to her and gives her a hug. "Congrats, Jess."
"Thank you, Paul."
"First, I want to thank everyone for coming to our party tonight," Kade calls out. "Some of you know me, but most of you are here for Jess. And those who do know me, well, you probably kind of hate me a little and still only came for Jess."
Everyone laughs, and Jess just shakes her head. It's the running joke with them. People only show up besides Drew and his family because they like her.
"Second, I want to say I'm the luckiest man in the world to have gotten a second chance with one of the most perfect women out there. Not to say Jess doesn't have her quirks, but she has such a forgiving heart and beautiful personality that it's impossible not to love her. I ran away from it because it scared me, and to save everyone from a long story, I also had a lot of baggage to unpack before I was even worthy of her."
Tilting her head, she smiles at him. "You're kind of okay, yourself," she says and winks.
The room laughs again, and he walks over to her. "This might bite me in the ass, but now feels like the perfect time."
"For what?"
Kade bends down on one knee, and he reaches into his pocket to pull out a black, velvet box. Jess's eyes widen as he opens it to reveal a solitaire princess cut diamond on a white gold band with alternating diamonds and emeralds.
"Someone once said you were an emerald in a sea of diamonds, and I couldn't have come up with anything better myself. Jessica Massey, the love of my life, will you do the honor of making me one of the happiest men in the world by agreeing to be my wife?"
The room falls silent as she stares at the ring he holds, and it feels like the world stops turning. Everyone else fades away, and all she sees is Kade.
"Yes."
"Yes?"
She nods and lets him put the ring on her finger before kissing him. He lifts her in his arms and spins her around, his mouth still on hers.
Holding her hand out, she stares at the ring on her finger, and she can't remember a time she's been this happy.
"I love you," Kade whispers in her ear.
"I love you, too."
The rest of the room cheers, but all she sees is Kade. How they went from being unofficial to moving in together to soon-to-be married feels like a dream. A dream she never wants to wake up from.