I nodded. “He does.”
“Good, baby. That’s all I ever wanted for my children.” She reached out her hand, and when I took it, she gave me a small smile. “I’m sorry that I ruined everything.”
The sound of the screen door slapping against the house caused me to jump.
“Maverick!” Jackson hollered. “Sweetheart, where are you?”
Beau found me in the living room, his eyes zooming in on where I held my mother’s hand. His brows shot up, and he tilted his head, but he didn’t say anything. I heard Maverickmurmuring softly to his husband, then Tate asked Jackson if he was hungry. I couldn’t help but smile at the question. None of this was funny, but it was so awkward and strange that I couldn’t help myself.
“Are you all right?” Beau asked. He took a step toward me.
I wasn’t, but my therapist was going to have a field day with this. “We have another brother,” I heard myself tell him.
“You... What?” Beau stared at me.
I nodded. “Yeah, his name is Tate.”
“Pink...” And then Beau wrapped his arms around me. I felt safe engulfed in his strong arms, my face pressed against his chest, the warmth of him surrounding me. I closed my eyes as he held me. It didn’t matter that I was in the house that had nearly broken me. Beau was here, and he would fix everything.
“I want them to come home with us.” Maverick’s voice echoed throughout the house.
“Sweetheart, I don’t think—”
“I don’t care! She’s sick, Jax!” Maverick shouted. “She needs to be somewhere we can take care of her. And what about Tate, huh? The brother I didn’t even know existed until like ten seconds ago. You can’t deny me this.”
I pulled back and stared at Beau. “Well...” I smiled at him before he shook his head. I knew how that argument was going to go. Maverick was going to win. Jackson couldn’t tell him no.
“Mavs, just try to see it from my point of view. Why don’t we talk about this later? You look exhausted.” Jackson sighed.
Maverick stomped into the living room. “Mom, how do you feel about coming to live with me in North Carolina?”
“Jesus Christ,” Jackson grunted. “This was not what I meant when we said we could talk about this later. You can’t just...” He stopped when he saw our mother. I wasn’t sure if it was how frail she looked or what, but he swallowed nervously.
Mom reached out her hand. “Maverick, you don’t have to do that. Tate takes good care of me, and Adele comes by. We also have nurses. You and Jackson have your own family to worry about.”
“You’re my mother. And I have money. Why shouldn’t I be able to take care of you? We never had a relationship, but now we could. Before it’s too late. And Dean, too. Don’t you want that?” Maverick’s chin wobbled as he took her hand.
Mom nodded. “I would love that, honey, but not if it’s going to upset your husband.”
“It won’t,” Jackson assured her. “We have plenty of room for you and Tate. We’d love to have you.”
Tate peeked around the doorway. “We’re moving? Oh, I’d love North Carolina. They race NASCAR there. And what about the rest of the band? And hockey, too. This is so exciting. We could live with you! That is so fun. Mama, please? I want to be with my brothers.”
“You’re going to get the best care, Mom. You’ll see. And we’re going to be a family. The one we should have been,” Maverick whispered.
Beau pressed a kiss into my hair, then I moved closer to my mother to hug her. Then Tate was there, and the three of us, the three Frost brothers, hugged her together.
Epilogue Two
Beau
Ipaced the room, stopped to pull back the curtain to look outside, and then began to pace again. What if Dean changed his mind? What if he decided he didn’t want to marry me today? That he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life with me, as my husband, and had gone back to California and hadn’t even bothered to say goodbye? My stomach twisted into worried knots. That’s why he wasn’t here yet. Dean had left, and I was never going to see his beautiful face again or hear his happy laugh. The thought of never kissing him or pulling on his hair had my knees nearly giving out.
“Dad, stop.” Cole grabbed onto my arm. “Dean is on his way here, I promise.”
I stared at my son, the now nineteen-year-old who had just finished his first year of college. I was so proud of him and everything he had become. I opened my mouth to tell him that, like I didn’t say it every single chance I had, when the front door burst open to reveal Jackson, Wyatt, and Asher. They were laughing, smiling, and having a good time. It was still a little weird to see Ash and Wyatt together, both of them happily married to other people, yet they had managed to patch up their friendship. The three of them stopped to stare at me before rushing over to hug me, chanting, “One of us! One of us!”
“Stop, stop! I can’t breathe!” I gasped while I laughed.
