“Good.” I started to turn but stopped to issue one more warning. “Lose Holly’s number. If you don’t there isn’t a corner of this planet you could hide in that I wouldn’t find you.”
With that, I turned on my heel and stomped back toward the car. Rhodes was standing stoic but there was no missing the respect in his eyes. Lee gaped at me before letting out a full-blown laugh. Finally, I looked at Raylan to find him grinning at me, ear to ear.
He reached out and clapped me on the shoulder. “That was something, man. All I can say after witnessing that is, welcome to the family, brother.”
The only sweeter words I’d ever heard was when Holly told me she loved me. “Glad to hear it. Now let’s get the hell out of here.”
Epilogue
Holiday
Summer
“That’s the last of it.”
I turned away from the amazing views outside my new living room window and smiled at Tanner as he set the box of books on the floor by the built-in bookshelves.
My eyes widened in surprise. “That’s everything out of the truck?”
Tanner let out a snort. “Hell no. I just meant that’s the last of the books.”
Between the two of us, we had enough books to make a library of our very own, and as I stared at the boxes, I couldn’t help but think about which room I wanted to convert.
A lot had happened over the past several months. The owners of the cabin Tanner had been renting accepted his offer, and then as soon as the ink dried on the papers, he asked me to move in with him. It had been a no-brainer. Sure, I loved my littleapartment above One More Chapter, and the commute couldn’t be beat, but the cabin in the woods somehow managed to be grand and cozy at the same time; it was the kind of house I’d only dreamed of living in.
I wanted to make it a home for both of us, and—fingers crossed—maybe our own family one day. But those were thoughts for further into the future.
Tanner was officially retired from the NHL and was already in talks with the youth league about coaching. They’d tripped over themselves to say yes when he inquired. I mean, what could be better than having a two-time Stanley Cup winner as a coach?
Since Tanner’s showdown with our mother, I hadn’t heard a peep from her, and I couldn’t find it in me to be sad about that. I didn’t need her in my life, not when it was already so full of people who loved and supported me.
“Jesus, will you quit slacking off and help me get this damn thing through the door?”
“I am helping!”
I turned just as Tanner’s former teammates and friends, Caleb and Mateo maneuvered one half of a large sectional into the living room.
With it being summer, the hockey season was officially over, so Tanner’s friends had agreed to help with the move. Tanner headed back to DC for a few days to pack up the rest of his apartment, and the three of them, plus Luke, made the trip to Hope Valley to help their friend settle into his new home. Where Luke was a solid, stable presence, Caleb and Mateo were hilarious chaos.
It was easy to see why the four of them were as close as they were, and I loved that my man had that close circle of friends that were more like family.
“You are not,” Mateo snapped. “Lift with your legs, you lazy bastard.”
“I’ve got my end, you’re the lazy bastard,” Caleb gritted through clenched teeth and he shifted his hold on his end of the couch. “We get back to DC, I’m gonna beat your ass.”
I tried to cover my laugh with a cough and failed miserably.
“Language!”
The sharp reprimand was followed by Tanner’s mother entering the room, carrying a floor lamp in one hand and Yoda in the other.
Tanner’s mother, Elaine, and step-father, Andrew, had come to Hope Valley for a visit not long after Tanner took care of everything with Peggy, and it took no time at all for me to fall in love with the woman. She was smart and sassy and hilarious. She had her husband wrapped around her little finger, and watching the two of them together made me excited for the future I’d have with Tanner.
I wasn’t the only one who’d taken a liking to the woman who was responsible for raising the most amazing man in the world. Yoda had developed a crush in no time, and I was starting to think that my cat liked her more than me.
“Sorry,” the two grown ass men mumbled like they were school children being lectured by a teacher.
Elaine caught my eye and winked, her eyes—the very same eyes as Tanner—glittered with humor.
