Page 134 of Somehow You Knew

My mother sniffles from the end of the table.

“I think I can speak for everyone here when I say that I miss that man, more than I ever thought was possible. But I know he’s with us every day—watching over us, keeping us safe, and guiding us to where we’re supposed to be. And Gage?”

I turn to look at my husband who looks like he’s barely holding it together. His jaw is clenched so tight that he might crack a tooth, but the look in his eyes is one I’ve been seeing much more from him lately—gratitude.

“Our dad brought you into this family. Your aunt too. You belong here, and I’m proud to call you my brother.”

“Absolutely,” Parker adds.

“To Gage and Hazel!” Dallas cheers as everyone clinks their glasses together.

I lean into my husband and whisper, “You sure you want to be a part of this?”

“Absolutely, Spitfire. You and your family are my people now.”

Gage kisses me and, for a moment, I just take it all in.

My life and journey with love did not pan out the way I thought they would, but I wouldn’t change it for anything since it’s how I ended up here.And I guess what I’ve learned in all of this is thatsometimes, somehow, somewhere,andsomeday, you realize thatsomeoneyou love could know what’s best for you before you ever figure it out yourself.

Chapter twenty-eight

Hazel

One Month Later

“This is it.” Gage whispers in my ear. “You ready?”

Astrid jumps up and down next to us. “We’re gonna win! I can feel it.”

I smack her arms, pulling her to a stop. “Don’t jinx it.”

“It’s called visualization, Hazel. Manifestation.” She points to her temple. “You have to say and believe what you want, then the universe will give it to you.”

I roll my eyes. “Fine. Then I want a million dollars and to beat my brother in the Carrington Cove Games.”

Gage laughs beside me. “You’ll have five million dollars in a month from now, remember, Spitfire?”

I turn to look at him. “Oh yeah.”

“How do you keep forgetting about that money?” Cashlynn asks as Timothy MacDonald calls for the teams to line up at the starting line for the final game, a potato sack race that I feel confident we can win. However, I underestimated Dallas. He recruited people from losing teams over the years that he knew wanted a taste at being on a winning team for a change. They’ve definitely put up a fight, but I think this last race is ours.

Gage and I have been practicing potato sack racing in our apartment for the past two weeks since I had a feeling it would be one of the games this year. They rotate from year to year and this one hasn’t appeared for a while.

“Because that’s not my focus right now, Cashlynn,” I say, glaring at her. “My focus is beating my brother, showing him that he isn’t the most badass Sheppard sibling, proving to him that I can outsmart him, and…”

Grady leans over to Gage. “You sure you’re not rethinking marrying into this family now?”

Gage shakes his head, but his smirk tells me that he knows how I feel about this. This win is for bragging rights. “Not at all. In fact, I hope we wipe the floor with Dallas just so I can watch him pout.”

I reach out to high-five him. “That’s my fucking husband.”

Grady tosses his head back in laughter and then rubs his hands together. “Then let’s do this.”

Our team lines up along the starting line. I glance over at my brother, glaring at him to make sure he knows that I’m dialed in.

“You ready for this, Hazelnut? This is for all the marbles.”

“No. This is about pride, Dallas.” I pound a fist to my chest. “Get ready to cry.”

---