Page 163 of Sunkissed Colorado
“You and Jimmy have been great to me. Callum and I are getting our own place at some point, and when we do, you’re welcome any time. Also, Chloe would love to see her favorite auntie and uncle.”
“Oh, Baby-Z.” She threw her arms around me. “And you don’t even know the big news yet!”
“What news?” I asked.
“We’re getting married! I asked Jimmy just last night, and he said yes.”
“Rosie, congratulations!”
Callum whooped and grabbed the whiskey bottle. “This calls for another round.”
“What’s all the racket?” Grandpa was making his way toward us. “What’re you doing drinking my booze?”
“We’re celebrating,” Rosie said defiantly. “Callum, pour my father a shottoo. He needs one.”
Grandpa grumbled. “Celebrating what? It’ll be another month before Hearthstone can open again. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us. Especially my new co-general managers.”
“We’re celebrating becauselove wins!” Rosie shouted.
After that, it was only natural for us to call Jimmy and the rest of our friends and family to come to Hearthstone for an impromptu engagement party. We dusted off more of the tables, Grandpa begrudgingly let us break out more of the alcohol, and Rosie dashed over to the market for some pre-made party trays.
I wound up behind the bar with Callum, pouring shots one handed so I could keep my arm around him.
“So, co-general managers,” he said in my ear. “We’ll be spending a lot of time together.”
“True.”
“I can think of a few ways to make that time more enjoyable. A benefits arrangement, if you will.”
“Callum O’Neal, are you propositioning me? Your coworker?”
“Good thing you love me.”
“I do. I love you, co-general manager.”
Becauselove wins.
Epilogue
Callum, Thanksgiving
I gazed at the tiny,squirming bundle in my arms. “Look at her, Z. Have you ever seen anything so adorable?” I glanced up to find Zandra eyeing me sardonically. Chloe was giving the same narrowed look, tail twitching.
“Same answer as the first hundred times you asked since we got her. No, I have not.”
“Then why do you seem grumpy? What happened to your heart-eyes for our new fur baby?”
Zandra lifted the wooden spoon from the batter she’d been stirring. “I love and adore everything about our kitten. And about you, Callum, except for how you wanted to make gluten-free, dairy-free pumpkin pies from scratch, and now you’re making me do all the work. I’m going to mess this up.”
I walked over to her to kiss her temple. “First of all, no, you won’t. You’re a great cook now. Second, Daisy was sad without me holding her. It’s like she knows we’ll be away from her this afternoon. Could you say no to these eyes?”
I held up our kitten, and Zandra’s expression melted. “Fine,keep cuddling until I get these in the oven. But then it’s my turn with her.”
“Deal.” With my finger, I rubbed Daisy’s furry little head as she tried to climb up my arm.
A lot had changed for Zandra and me in the last couple of months. My roommate era had officially come to an end, complete with a huge goodbye party for me, Connor, Niko and Darius. We’d invited most of Silver Ridge to the event. There’d been lawn games and other family-friendly activities in the afternoon, followed by drinking and reminiscing late into the night. There’d definitely been some off-key singing. Zandra had joined in with me. I’d never seen my girl that tipsy, and I had to say, it was hilarious.
Our new place was close enough to Hearthstone to walk. Which we did, each and every morning on our way into work. Sharing the general manager job with Zandra was, well, pretty much like that trial period. Manny had combined general manager duties with bar manager, and Zandra and I had our hands in pretty much everything at Hearthstone.
