Page 61 of Choose Me

Stef sighs dramatically. “You two were not ready back then. Erik’s mom had only passed a few months earlier.” I glance at Erik, but he’s nodding and doesn’t seem upset. “His family’s situation was a mess.” He turns to Erik and squeezes his forearm. “No offense, babe, but it was.”

Erik shrugs. “It still kind of is.”

Stef ignores that. “Your brothers were going to kill each other, and the stress level you were under was incredible. There was no way you were in any kind of position to have a healthy relationship with my brother.” Erik doesn’t deny that either.

“You were still struggling with severe social anxiety.” He squeezes my hand sympathetically. “But you worked really hard and overcame so much of that.” He puts his hand over his heart dramatically. “And I’ve watched you both mature into wonderful men.”

I bite my lip and try not to laugh because he’s such a proud parent right now. “Thanks, dad.”

“Oh, fuck off.” But he’s laughing, and it’s music to my ears.

“And you promise you really don’t have a problem with us being together?”

He puts down his pizza and leans over Erik to grab us into a group hug. “Really. I’m so happy for you both. You two are going to be so good for each other. Just don’t fight over whose mate of honor I’m going to be. And I get to pick the dress.”

I chuckle, trying to blink away the prickling in my eyes. “Aren’t you getting a little ahead of yourself right now?”

“Not at all. I saw where this was going years ago, and I’m just moving things along. Now here, take your beers.” He hands us each a beer and takes his wine glass, lifting it up. “I love you to pieces and I am so happy for you both. I hope you have many, many wonderful years with each other.” We clink glass and I take a sip, trying to wrap my mind around everything that just happened. As far as I can tell, I pretty much got the fairytale ending I’ve always wanted.

Epilogue - Erik

Sixmonthslater…

“Okay, we’re here.” I turn off the car and get out, running around to the passenger side to help Jules, nerves and excitement making me jittery.

“Can I take this blindfold off yet?”

I kiss his cheek. He’s been such a good sport about this. “Not just yet.” I slip my arm around his waist and guide him over the uneven ground until we’re in the perfect spot. “Okay, you can take it off now.”

I watch as he removes the bandana and looks out over the cleared lot to the trees bordering the property. “Am I missing something? What am I looking at?”

“Well, it’s pretty, isn’t it? I mean, there’s the grassy area, and beyond it are the trees, and–”

He turns to me and places his fingers over my lips with a confused smile. “Erik, where are we?”

“Carnation. Quinn’s parents’ farm is about fifteen minutes west of us.”

He nods, still smiling. “And what are we doing here?” I chew my bottom lip, suddenly wondering if this was a bad idea. Maybe I jumped the gun. Shit. I probably should have asked him about this first. “Erik?”

I jump. “Shit. Sorry. Um, I kind of bought it.”

Jules blinks at me. “I’m sorry, what?”

“It’s mine. Ours. For us. I bought it to build our house on.” Jules stares at me, eyes wide, but he isn’t saying a word, so I keep talking.

“So last week, our realtor called to tell us this property was for sale. You were working in the office that day, and I was only twenty minutes out, so I told her I’d take a look. I figured why bother you with another disappointing property? If it was rubbish, then no big deal, but if it was what we wanted, then you could come out and see it.”

I risk a glance at Jules, worried my impulse buy has upset him, but there’s only amusement in his eyes. I chuckle and take a breath. “Anyway, as you can see, it’s great! But someone else was supposed to view it later that day, and I knew they’d love it as much as I do, and they’d probably make an offer and buy it out from under us, and I couldn’t let that happen. So I bought it.”

About two months after we told Stef about us, Quinn moved in with Tadhg and I moved into the apartment with Jules. The plan had been to stay there until we found a house we both liked, one closer to the forests where we do most of our work, but we never found anything we both loved.

And then things went south for Jules at work. Van couldn’t make the necessary accommodations, and Jules didn’t want to put himself through the trauma of a lawsuit, so he filed a complaint with HR, put in his two-week notice, and is weighing his options. He’s considering an offer from a company about twenty minutes from here who does freelance forestry research, but I really hope he comes to work for Cascadia Tours.

“I see.” Jules steps back and leans against my chest, taking my arms and wrapping them around his body. “So, tell me what your vision here is.”

I point off to the right of the clearing. “Well, we build our dream house right there with the front facing east. We’ll get morning sun on one side and afternoon sun on the other. The driveway would come in right where we’re standing and curve into a circular drive.”

“So we’re building a house.”

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