Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
“Bring it on.” Laughing, I let him lead me up the aisle to loud cheers and clapping. Outside, the bright August afternoon sun awaited us, but the sun had nothing on the heat and light in my soul. Sam’s love lit me up, and knowing I could keep that feeling for the rest of my life made me feel as light and airy as the bubbles various guests were blowing in our direction.
“Think we can make our appearance at the coffee shop reception short?” I whispered to Sam as we neared the door.
“Why?” He laughed. “Not like we have a honeymoon flight waiting.”
“No, we have a home.” I put every ounce of what I was feeling into the word home, layers of meaning.
“Oh, yes.” Sam leaned in to kiss me to a fresh round of hoots and cheers. “You can take me home anytime, Worth.”
And I would. Because Worth Stapleton had finally come home to Safe Harbor, and this time, he was staying forever.
Epilogue
Two Years Later
Kane
“Come on, Kane.” Jared whined my name like a squeaky hinge. Little brothers. Hinderances to art everywhere. “We’re going to be late.”
“No, we’re not,” I assured him, not that it did any good. Jared was bouncing from side to side, crashing into our bunk bed, the dresser, and my desk. His ADHD was better these days, thanks to Dr. Betty, but the kid still had enough energy to power Portland. “It’s not like they can start without us.”
“Kane.” Jared sounded like he’d removed an arm. “What’s so important on the mural anyway?” He pointed at the chalkboard wall, my favorite part of our room. Over the last two years, I’d done space scenes, zombie invasions, and fantasy wars, and Jared should know darn well not to interrupt me when I got going. But Mr. Future Businessman simply scowled and pointed at my gray khaki pants. “You got dust all over your nice pants.”
“I don’t know why we had to dress up,” I grumbled. New clothes were always too stiff. Smelled weird. And inevitably, I got them messy before I was supposed to.
“Dad said it’s because people dress up for court to show respect,” Jared said archly. He’d been first to call Sam Dad. Me, I’d taken my time. This dad business was serious stuff. I liked Sam and Worth just fine, but I wasn’t quite sure I believed, even now, that we got to keep them. Trust issues, the counselor in the group at the hospital called it. Jared, he didn’t have them. Trusted the whole damn world. “And there’s a party after.”
“I’m here for the party.” I grinned because I’d forgotten that part. We were all headed over to Holden and Cal’s big backyard after the court thing. “And the food.”
“Cal’s grilling.” Jared waggled his eyebrows. We both loved to eat, but the way he bounced around meant Jared was always hungry. And all our dads’ friends seemed to love making us food.
“Yasssssss.” I groaned happily at the thought of the ribs and chicken Cal had grilled for Memorial Day a few weeks back. “Tell me Grandma’s making cookies.”
“Better.” Jared twirled across the room, narrowly avoiding the rack over the door. “Grandma’s doing two kinds of cookies, and Leon said he’s bringing brownies. And you know Knox will bring ice cream.”
“Man, I love our dads’ friends.” I said dads carefully, knowing that would get me a smile from Jared.
“Me too.” Predictably, he grinned at me. “Oooh, maybe Holden’s mom will do that tater tot casserole.”
“Maybe.” Distracted, I added a bit of missing pink to my artwork.
“But first, you gotta put down the chalk.” Jared used his stern voice, the one where he tried to sound all older. Didn’t work. I was always gonna be his big brother. However, footsteps sounded on the stairs, so I finally stepped away from the wall.
“All right, all right.”
“Kane.” Jared gasped as he saw my masterpiece. “You added everyone.” He bounced over to the door and stuck his head into the hall. “Hey, Pops! Come see what Kane did.”
“Please let it be fixable,” Worth said from the doorway. Sam had been Dad almost from the jump for Jared, and the Pops business was his idea too. Probably because the family on one of the dozens of sitcoms Jared loved had a dad they called Pops. Regardless, the names had stuck, and now he had me using it almost all the time.
“I only painted that one lamp,” I said as Pops came into the room, looking as perfect as Jared in a white shirt, gray pants, and perfectly tied blue tie. “And I haven’t taken anything apart in a long time.”
“Weeks.” He shook his head, then gasped exactly how Jared had when he saw my wall. “That’s amazing, Kane. Is it Safe Harbor?”
“Uh-huh.” I felt my face flame up like one of those steaks Cal liked to grill. I’d added signs to the buildings outlined on the wall to be the coffee shop, the flower shop, and so on. And the houses were colored like ours and all our friends. I’d tried to add the people too, and apparently, I’d succeeded at least a little if Worth and Jared had both guessed.