Page 64 of The Contractor's Rose
The dam had broken after that. Not all at once—but slowly. Some cracking. A few tears. Then more. And Gavin had just sat there, head in his hands, breathing like it took everything in him not to chase after his best friend. I didn’t blame him for feeling his feelings while I was also struggling. He was hurting, too.
The sound of someone sliding into the booth beside me had made me look up. It was Teagan.
“I’m going to hug you,” she’d said. “So don’t freak out and make it a thing.” I half-laughed through tears and let her do it. She patted my back awkwardly, then added, “Oh, also … I’m never calling you Mom. Or even my stepmom.”
That actually made me laugh. Really laugh. Gavin had groaned and muttered, “Jesus Christ, Teag. Let’s go home.”
We’d stopped for ice cream on the way back to his house. Sat together on the couch while Teagan picked a movie. None of us really paid attention. But we were together. Teagan and I were civil. Gavin and Teagan were not at one another’s throats. That counted for something.
Now, the hug with my parents finally ended, and I wiped under my eyes before anything could spill over.
“You didn’t have to do this,” I said, my breath catching.
My mom smiled. “Oh, I was swamped with paperwork. Couldn’t take the credit if I tried.”
I turned to look at my dad, eyebrows lifting. “Dad?”
His cheeks turned pink as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I had some help.”
The chimes above the door jingled. I turned—and there he was.
Gavin stepped inside holding a bouquet of multicolored roses, wearing his typical dark jeans and a black button-down with the sleeves rolled to his forearms. His smile was soft, his eyes only on me.
From behind, my father’s voice rang out, “Your boyfriend’s quite the party planner.”
I turned back to face him and those stupid tears threatened to spill over again. Without thinking, I threw my arms around him.
He held me tightly, his voice low and only for me as he whispered, “I love you. I want you happy. And if that’s with Gavin … it’s okay.”
The tears came then. But for the first time in weeks, they didn’t hurt. They healed.
EPILOGUE TWO – GAVIN
The party was winding down.
The lights across the ceiling of Rosemarie’s little shop cast a warm golden hue across the faces of the people who mattered most to her. Her mom was chatting with one of the women from the bakery down the block. Teagan was hoarding a bowl of chocolate-covered pretzels and dodging Elodie’s camera like it was the plague. And Rose … my Rose … she was glowing. Radiating something so goddamn beautiful it made my chest ache.
I leaned back against the corner of the checkout counter, a drink in my hand, and took it all in.
It had been a hell of a week. Planning this surprise with Harry hadn’t exactly been on my calendar. It started with a few beers at a place on Main Street. Okay—more than a few. Stella ended up dragging both our asses home, which she did with the kind of long-suffering sigh that saidfinally, these two idiots figured their shit out.
She didn’t care that we were drunk. I think she was just relieved we were talking like something other than enemiesforced into a shared meeting room. We didn’t solve every problem that night. But we did get to the heart of one thing: Rose’s happiness. We were united on that.
I remember sliding my empty bottle across the bar and saying, “As a father myself, I’d never stand between a man and his daughter. That bond’s sacred. I don’t take being part of her life lightly.”
Harry had stared down into his glass for a long time before he answered. “It’s not easy to understand,” he admitted. “And maybe I never will. But … it’s not mine to understand. If she’s loved and cared for, if she’s happy …” He looked at me then. “Then I can find my peace with it.”
And tonight—watching him wrap his arms around her after weeks of silence and tension—I think we both found our places in Rose’s life, together.
I didn’t hear her footsteps, just felt the soft warmth of her body as she slid in behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist and resting her hands on my chest.
“Thank you for this. All of this,” she hummed into my back. I turned in her hold and tugged her in front of me, wrapping my arms around her as she leaned into my chest.
“I love you, Rose,” I said softly against the side of her head. “You never have to thank me for doing something that shows I care.”
She tilted her face to mine, lashes low and a slow smile curving her lips. “I love you too, Gavin.” A moment passed before I felt her giggle. “Now can we kick everyone out so we can go upstairs?”
I laughed and pushed a loose wave behind her ear. “We can kick them out, sweetheart, but we’re not going upstairs before we christen the new store.”
