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She stepped closer to Brian, slipping her hand back into his so they could present a united front.
“I’m so happy for you!” Avery squealed, rushing forward to give Rae and Brian a hug, which they returned. Out of the corner of her eye, Rae saw Iris leaning forward across the counter, pointing her finger at Law.
“I told you!” Iris crowed. Obviously, she was more concerned about being right than anything else, which worked for Rae.
Law just rolled his eyes and shook his head, coming forward to join Iris behind the counter. On his way, he clapped Brian on the shoulder as if to say ‘congratulations.’
As she lifted her gaze over Avery’s shoulder, she met Nick’s. He shrugged and smiled at her, but he wasn’t as invested as the other guys, the Baby Doms, who had been friends with Brian since the beginning.
Brian’s friends were the real possible barrier.
Zach wasn’t looking at her, though. He had turned away to nudge Kincaid in the side. She couldn’t quite see what he said, but it looked like it might have been ‘told you so.’ Which it might have. Brian had told her that he was pretty sure Zach suspected something was going on, even if he wasn’t as vocal about it as Iris.
They shared a cute little smile that wasn’t quite like the looks she’d seen them share before but gave her hope for them for the future. After all, if she and Brian could make things work, Zach and Kincaid surely could as well. They loved each other, she could see that… they just still needed to find the right compromise, the right piece of the puzzle that hadn’t fallen into place yet.
They would. She had faith.
“I care a little bit about what they think,” Brian said, bringing her attention back to her grand announcement. She looked up at him, narrowing her eyes. He chuckled. “You do too, Sunshine. Don’t even pretend you don’t.”
“Her name’s not Sunshine, it’s Rae.” Ana peeked out from behind Mitch and Kincaid’s legs. She must have gotten curious about why everyone had stormed into the kitchen. Her comment got a laugh from everyone around the kitchen.
“I know.” Brian’s smile down at Rae widened, and he didn’t take his eyes off her as he answered Ana. “I’m calling her that because she’s my ray of sunshine.”
The filthy things this man did to her.
He’d made her name into a pun, and she loved it.
“That was terrible.” She smiled widely back at him, her heart beating in her chest. “You should absolutely say that in front of my parents next weekend.” They’d give him a hard time, but they’d eat it up too. In fact, she was surprised her dad had never thought of it before. That kind of cheesy but affectionate joke was right up his alley.
“Oh ho, he’s meeting the parents already,” Nick said. “It’s serious!” His tone was joking, but he was right.
They weren’t going to pretend that it wasn’t. They’d been dancing around each other too long for that. This was the real deal, which was why they’d wanted to make sure their friends knew it was official, and they’d come to announce it together.
“Damn right, it is.” Ignoring their friends, Brian leaned in toward her, dipping her back slightly as he lowered his lips to hers. Reaching up, Rae wrapped her hand around his neck to help her keep her balance, well aware that they looked like something out of a movie. It was one of the most romantic moments of her life, and her heart thrilled at the physical demonstration.
All around them, their friends literally started clapping and cheering as they kissed. Laughing followed as Brian straightened back up, bringing her with him, and took a bow. Cracking up, Rae elbowed him in her side.
This was her happily-ever-after, and it was nothing like what she’d thought it would be, but everything she needed it to be.
Epilogue
Julie
“John got another promotion.”
Another phone call from her mom, another update on her ex-husband’s terrific life. If only her parents were as proud of her as they were of their former son-in-law, but of course—according to her parents—she’d peaked when she’d married him, then lost it all when she’d divorced him.
“That’s great, Mom, but I asked how Dad is doing.” Julie rubbed her forehead. Forget that her father had a procedure today to check out some suspicious shadows on a recent scan. Talking about her ex’s recent promotion was far more important. Why John didn’t stop picking up the phone when her mother called him, she didn’t know, and she probably never would since she refused to ask him to stop talking to her parents. Again.
Family is family, Julie. His snide, superior voice echoed in her head from the first and last time she’d asked him to stop answering her mom’s calls. She ground her teeth as she waited for her mom to answer her.
“Oh, your father is fine. John saw to him personally, even though that’s beneath him now that he’s going to be the hospital director.” Her mom sounded breathless, as if she was swooning over the fact that John was just so gracious to be personally involved.
Which she probably was.
With only one girl child who had no interest in becoming a ‘real’ doctor—her master’s in psychology didn’t count—her parents had been thrilled when she’d married a ‘real’ doctor. In retrospect, she’d finally realized that a big part of her attraction to John had been knowing she’d finally have her parents’ approval. The hardest part of divorcing him had been losing that.
She loved her parents, but she also understood their relationship with her was not the ideal adult-child relationship. It didn’t stop her from yearning for that. Julie felt like it helped her with her own work, though.
