Chapter 15
Waylen lifted his coffee and sipped, glancing around the table. His heart swelled with love and pride. He’d gotten zero hours of sleep and didn’t care. He’d crash soon enough. The night’s events deserved a bit of a celebration.
Even if it came in the form of pancakes and coffee.
He smiled.
Lane had his arm draped over the back of Cassie’s chair. Raider held Piper’s hand, and Harlan whispered something into Storm’s ear. Four out of five of his men had found something other than a great vacation, a little adventure, and the possibility of a new career on Big Island.
And he couldn’t be happier for them.
Now if he could get Kian to get some game on and ask Blake out.
Presley squeezed his leg. “Thank you.” She leaned in and kissed his cheek.
“For what?”
“Doing that interview and talking your friends into agreeing to do it as well.”
He shrugged. “It’s the least I could do after telling Lane and Kian about our little secret.”
She jerked her head back. “You didn’t?”
“Come on. As if you didn’t tell Blake.” He arched a brow.
“That’s different.”
“I don’t see how.” He lifted her chin with his thumb and kissed her sweet lips. He’d never tire of this. For the first time in a long while, a full picture of the future formed in his head.
A home with the only woman he ever loved. A cat, which wasn’t exactly what he had planned on having as a pet, but it made Presley happy. Therefore, it made him happy.
A family.
And in the place that he’d always wanted to come back to.
Life didn’t get any sweeter.
Kian tossed a napkin at him. “Break it up over there. You two are disgusting.”
“You’re just jealous.” Waylen reached into his water glass, snagged an ice cube, and chucked it at Kian.
“Asshole,” Kian muttered.
“So, when’s the wedding?” Blake asked.
“We’re thinking next month if we can pull it off,” Presley said. “And as long as his mom can find a place and get here.”
“Exciting times.” Harlan raised his glass. “Here’s to Waylen and Presley. May you always have us at your side.”
The entire table burst out laughing.
Waylen’s life had come full circle. Just like his father had always told him it would.
Presley rested her hand on his thigh. “He would be proud of you,” she whispered as if she knew exactly what he was thinking.
“And your parents would be proud of you.” He smiled.
“They’re all toasting us from the heavens,” Presley said. “My dad always had faith that you’d return and that we’d be together. I wish I had believed him.”
“According to my father, timing was everything. Patience was never our strong suit, but here we are. This is our time and I will enjoy growing old with you.”
Presley bit her nails while she patiently waited for Waylen to finish the article, which focused on Waylen’s return to Big Island, the water rescue and subsequent problems with Vernon until the showdown at the marina, and the second chance love story between her and Waylen.
It wasn’t an interview Waylen, or any of his buddies, wanted anything to do with.
But Waylen ultimately relented when it meant good publicity for Driftwood Tours. After everything Vernon had done, she needed all the decent press she could get.
And his buddies didn’t need any of their arms twisted. They stepped up to the plate without having to be asked.
Waylen set the paper aside and shifted on the bed, adjusting the covers.
“Well, what do you think?” she asked.
“I can’t believe you gave them our prom picture.” He arched a brow. “There were so many other pictures of us on the boats. Or hanging on the beach. That one you picked is fucking cheesy.”
“I gave them five from when we were kids. That’s the one they chose.”
“I wouldn’t have given them a choice.” He tucked her hair behind her ears. “The article was good. Honestly, I enjoyed it and I think it will help with business.”
“It wasn’t too personal?”
“That was the point.” He kissed her cheek. “I don’t have a problem with anything the reporter said. It highlights all the key points. It talks a lot about your parents—my dad—all the stuff that will make people curious and book charters.”
“And you don’t think that will put us on display?”
He sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “It might a little. However, eventually, it will die down. But hopefully it will be enough to get the business back on track.”
“Do you really want to run fishing and scuba charters for me?”
“I have to do something.” He shrugged. “And even when we do hammer out a deal with the Brotherhood Protectors, which I’m confident we will, it’s not like I’m going to be on assignment every day. I’ll have a fair amount of downtime, and that concept will make my skin crawl. About the only thing that made retirement bearable was fishing and trust me when I say my team hated every second of every fishing charter I roped them into. I’ll love it.” He rested his hand on her stomach. “Besides, the bigger you get, the harder it will become for you to do some of these things.”
“You better not become one of those husbands who acts like I’m incapable of doing shit because I’m pregnant. I plan on working right up until I go into labor.”
“I have this weird feeling we’ll be arguing about this one for the next eight months.”
She laughed, resting her head on his shoulder. “That and this kiddo’s name.”
“I’m not giving my child my name. It’s honestly too weird after you named a boat and a cat after me.”
Way-Way jumped up on the bed, as if he knew they were discussing him, and stretched before snuggling up between Waylen’s legs.
He picked up the cat, setting him on the kitty bed on the floor. “But I have been thinking about baby names.”
“Oh really?” She tilted her head. “This should be interesting.”
“If it’s a boy, we could name him after our fathers.”
She sat up taller. “Oh.” Her heart swelled. Tears dribbled down her cheeks. “What would be the first name?”
“I thought we’d use your dad’s name first since it’s my father’s surname that’s being carried on.”
“Nico Marlin Brown,” she whispered, glancing up toward the ceiling. “Yeah. I like that.”
“And if it’s a girl, we flip it, using my mom’s name first. Sally Victoria Brown. I know Sally’s an old-fashioned name, but it was also my grandma and great-grandmother’s.”
“Waylen, I love that idea.” She straddled his legs, resting her hands on his shoulders. “And I love you. Now all we need is a house for your mama and one for us. One that we can afford and everything I’ve looked at this morning is way too expensive.”
He snagged his cell from the nightstand. “There’s a place for sale in a neighborhood between here and that bar the boys and I like to hang out in. It’s got an in-law apartment. We’ll need babysitting and my mom comes free.” He tapped away on his fingers and showed her the house.
She knew exactly the one he was talking about. She took the phone and swallowed. The house was perfect. The apartment was behind the pool. It was a spacious one-bedroom and had everything his mom could need.
The house itself had four bedrooms with a master downstairs. It had the most gorgeous kitchen, which was open to a great room. The location was fifteen to twenty minutes from every place she could possibly want to be.
It was perfect.
Except the price.
“Do you have a problem with my mom staying that close?” Waylen asked.
“No. Not at all. But how the hell can we afford that?”
“I have some money saved.” He took the cell and set it aside. “Between that and you now owning this business free and clear, we have enough to make that happen, especially with a free nanny.”
“Are you sure? That seems?—”
He pressed his finger over her lips. “We have some things to discuss, including my finances. I’m not rich, but I’m not poor either. Tomorrow, we’ll go through what I’ve got because that all becomes ours. We’ll make a plan for our family”s future, and if we both think we can swing that house, then next week, we’ll go put an offer on it.”
Her eyes welled with tears.
She turned.
“Hey.” He cupped her face. “Why are you crying?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s hormones. Or maybe it’s that I have to keep pinching myself.” She held his stare. “I used to sit back and watch people I thought had happy marriages. My parents. Your parents. Mano’s folks. Remi and Aleka. Lisa and Al. The one thing they all had in common was no division of possessions. No, this is mine, and that’s yours, especially with Mano’s mom and dad. His father came from nothing. He didn’t have two pennies to rub together, yet his mom gave him the keys to the castle.”
“Mano’s parents loved each other very much. It took a while for his grandparents to get on board, but they supported it when they realized he wasn’t marrying her for money.”
She slid down next to Waylen, hugging him close. “You should know I’m only marrying you for your good looks and the fact that you’re great in bed.”
“Ditto,” Waylen said. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” She closed her eyes and let her body relax. She couldn’t look back on the last twenty-three years and wish them away. Being with Waylen was her destiny, but in order for her to be with the man she was born to love, she had to live through everything else.
Or they would have never gotten to this point.
Nothing in her life had been a mistake.
Nothing.
And now she finally had everything she’d ever dreamed of. Her father had been right. Waylen was not only worth the wait, but he was also the ship she would sail away with on her forever journey.