Page 29 of My Mountain Man Boss
I never thought I’d find love again, but with Amy I get a second chance.
Afterward we lie together, talking until the early morning bird chorus can be heard. Then we make love again before she falls asleep in my arms.
As I watch Amy sleep, I’m content because I’ve found my forever. She’s scared of love, but I’ll show her that it can last forever, because I know without a doubt that ours will.
EPILOGUE
AMY
Six years later
The sounds of kids’ laughter rings out across the backyard, and I smile as I watch Avery climb up the slide of her new playhouse. Playhouse is an understatement. The bright pink monstrosity with two turrets, a slide, a swing set, and an upper story that Alex and Chantelle bought her for her fifth birthday is more like a fairytale castle than your average playhouse. But they love to spoil all the kids on the mountain, and they have the means to do it, so why not? Luckily we’ve got a huge backyard, and there’s room for a mini princess castle in the corner.
The guys assembled it yesterday, and it’s all the entertainment we need for her party today.
I catch Alex’s eye and mouth ‘thank you’ for the hundredth time. There are perks to having a secret billionaire in our circle of friends..
We’re celebrating Avery’s fifth birthday today, and our backyard is crammed full of our friends and family from the mountain, which includes more kids than adults.
I’ve never been more thankful for our huge backyard. While a bunch of kids climb all over the fairytale castle, another group kick a ball around with Jack. My youngest, Jason, follows after them on his unsteady toddler legs.
The Englishman has made himself at home on the mountain with Suzie, but he keeps some of his English traditions, and teaching all the kids to play soccer, or football as he insists they call it, is one of them. He coaches the local kids team and has even gotten the men into watching the Football World Cup when it’s on.
Suzie sits next to me, watching her husband and sipping a soda. She’s pregnant again, taking it easy while her husband does all the running around. There’s always someone pregnant in our friend group. It’s nice we’re having our babies at the same time.
“Would you like some of my rice crackers, sweetie?” Danni crouches next to Suzie and pulls a packet of dry crackers out of her handbag, a staple for a woman in her first trimester dealing with morning sickness.
Danni’s not yet showing and looks perfectly put together as usual in her polka dot vintage dress. Her hair is perfectly coiffed into her signature 1950s style, and her red lipstick is perfectly applied.
At first I was skeptical of Landon’s friends in the Wild Riders MC, but as I got to know them and their wives, I realized they’re all big softies at heart.
“Thanks.” Suzie grabs a cracker, and Danni straightens up.
Her eyes scan the yard and snap onto her husband who’s been watching her the entire time. The burly bearded biker can’tkeep his eyes off her. She gives him a smile and moves off, and his gaze follows her across the yard.
I smile at the couple, because I know what that feels like. To be so in love you can’t take your eyes off each other.
I scan the crowd, and my gaze rests on Landon. He’s talking to Ethan, but his body is angled toward me. As if sensing my gaze, he looks up and our eyes lock. A delightful shiver runs through my body.
After six years of marriage, I can safely say falling in love was the best thing I ever did.
Our love is as strong today as when we first got together. More so. Because now we have the shared experience of two kids and all the turmoil and joy that brings.
A cry from the kids on the castle grabs my attention. One of the smaller boys has taken a tumble off the slide. Lucy, Ethan’s wife, is there to catch him. She gives him a quick kiss and sets him upright. We all look after each other’s kids here. It doesn’t matter if they’re your own or someone else’s. Everyone’s an aunty or uncle here.
Lucy will be Avery’s teacher when she starts school next week. Ethan’s wife has settled into life in Hope and fits right in here. I’m thrilled she’ll be teaching my kids. She’s kind and smart and patient, all traits you need when dealing with my feisty Avery. That girl will give us problems when she’s a teenager, I’m sure. But then, I did the same, so I’ll have to deal with my karma the best I can.
Fritha comes out of the house with a tray of ices, and the kids swarm her. She laughs as she hands them out. Fritha’s officially family since her grandad, Rodney, married my mom.
I glance over at them sitting on deck chairs in the corner. Their heads are together, laughing at some private joke. Mom’s got the dialysis under control and lives a normal life around it. There’s no sign of it slowing her down.
I’m happy she’s got Rodney, even if it does make Fritha officially my step-aunt, which is weird since we’ve been friends since we were kids. So is the fact that my best friend, Izzie, is my stepdaughter. And her kids, who are around the same age as mine, are Avery and Jason’s nieces and nephews. It’s all a bit complicated, so we leave the labels alone and consider anyone on the mountain family.
Chloe is here with her husband and kids. We meet up to speak French together, otherwise I’d forget the language. She goes back to visit family and I’ve been back twice, once for our honeymoon and again last year so my dad could meet his grandkids.
Landon and I spent our honeymoon travelling through the south of France and through wine country. But this time there was no staying in backpacker dorms with ten other people. We were in luxury hotels, eating local food at decent restaurants. The best way to travel.
It was an amazing time. But for once, I couldn’t wait to get home and start our life together. And what a life it’s been!
