Page 143 of Falling Into Forever
EPILOGUE
Dante
“She’s going to wear that bathing suit like a trophy, isn’t she?” Grady asks, slipping into the chair next to me.
Turning my head, I find Saylor standing with Ainsley and Blake. It’s been a couple of weeks since her first swim lesson, and he’s right. She wears that sorry excuse for a suit every chance she gets, and the unseasonably warm weather today is her excuse.
She’s still not a great swimmer, but she can doggy paddle and hold her head above water, and that’s all she really cares to do. She loves to float, and I tied a raft to the dock so she doesn’t drift too far away.
“She’s proud of herself,” I say with a chuckle.
“I am too,” he says.
Together, we scan the wild little family we call ours, and the tiny pain I’ve always carried in my chest eases. This is what family is supposed to be like.
Harrison infiltrates Saylor’s little circle and whispers something to Ainsley. She stiffens and turns a red that flares like the waning sun.
“What’s going on with them?” I ask.
Grady’s shrug is a little aggressive. “Fuck if I know. I’ve never seen him like that with anyone, but Ainsley’s not his usual type. She’s…”
“What?”
“Mature,” he laughs. “She’s not a one-night stand, and I made sure he knew that, but man, is he persistent.”
On the other side of the fire pit, Cassie and James hiss at each other in not-so-hushed tones. “Mark my words,” I say. “Those two will either kill each other or fall in bed together, but either way, there will be hellfire.”
Grady chuckles, but it’s distracted and, following his line of sight, I see why. Lena stands, rocking Poppy, who sprawls over her mom like dead weight. She swam for four straight hours today.
“I’ll be…”
I shoo him away. “Go.”
They’ve both asked me to mind my own business, so I do—for now. And I’m trying, but I think I caught the nosy fucker bug that comes with living in a small town because I really want their story.
James drops into Grady’s vacated chair as Harrison sits on my other side. The two of them expel matching sighs, and I know we’re about to hit guy-talk hard. Thankfully, we’re interrupted when Saylor wraps her arms around my neck.
“Blake is heading out. Want to say goodbye?”
I twist in my chair so I can take her hand. “He wasn’t here long. Everything okay?”
She shrugs. “Yeah, he’s heading to their Boston office. Something about going undercover in his own company to spy on his cousin. He hasn’t told me all the details yet, but it’s going to make a fabulous book.”
That makes me laugh. My girl can turn everyone’s life into a story and make it good.
“Gentlemen,” I say to Harrison and James, then excuse myself to shake hands with Blake.
Sadness washes over me every time I’m with this man. He’s still grieving, and I’m crushed to find he still carries such heavy pain, but he hides it behind so many layers of hate that I fear no one will ever be able to penetrate his walls.
“So, Boston?” I ask as we approach.
He nods. Gone are his expensive suits and clean-shaven face. Now he’d fit right in at Three Brothers Brewing, and it makes me wish he’d taken Saylor’s offer to stay a while.
“My cousin’s a prick, and my brother, Noah, has convinced me he’s mistreating our executives, if not blatantly stealing from us. Noah has more incentive to check up on him now that his fiancée’s best friend is working there.” He clasps his hands tightly and mumbles, “Fucking complications.” Then he sighs and inclines his head in my direction. “I can’t believe I agreed to his asinine plan, but I owe him for ghosting him and our company for so long.”
Saylor’s beyond happy he’s rejoining the living, but I’m curious what it will take to get him to move on—or who it will take.
“It’ll be an adventure,” Saylor says with a grin that makes my heart stop. “And make sure you keep me posted so I can add it to a book. It’ll be a bestseller for sure.”
