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Wait.
What?
“Our house?” I ask, stunned.
“Yeah. Our house. I moved to Everette, Boone.”
“Buttercup.” Emotion clogs my throat. “Fuck. You didn’t have to do that.”
She shakes her head and tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I wanted to. The girls pointed out that I can open my business anywhere, and I don’t care where we live as long as I’m close to you.”
“You’re opening your business here?” I ask and then continue. “The space in the square? That’s yours?”
She nods. “Yep. All mine. I’m leasing it for the next year with the option to buy. It’s rough, but I’m sure that I can whip it into shape before opening. Especially since your brothers offered to help.”
My heart all but leaps from my chest and splats at her feet. Fuck. I fell so fast for this woman. Like the winter storm that brought us together, she came into my life full force, irrevocably changing things. I can’t imagine that life without her in it.
“How did you pull all this off?” I ask, needing to know the details that brought my girl to me.
“Well. The girls pointed out that since Everette doesn’t really have a coffee shop, it would be a good market for it. And I was striking out on finding a place in my budget back home. I think being close to Jackson Hole and the resort there didn’t help. They also reminded me that just like you were planning to come and visit me, we could go back and visit them anytime. After that it was a pretty easy decision. Ally had me train up a new barista and promoted Eddy to manager. That’s what took the longest for me to get here, wrapping stuff up back in Felt. Then your brothers showed up yesterday with a moving truck and we loaded me up, moved me here, and they helped me to unpack everything to surprise you with the house.”
I turn back to my family, all six of them behind me, sporting various forms of smiles on their faces. “No wonder you had me checking trails from sunup to sundown,” I say to my dad.
He looks proud of his efforts to fool me. “Someone had to keep you out of town and busy.”
Even after not talking to them for weeks and months at a time, after being gone for years, my brothers still have my back, helping to bring the woman I’m falling in love with to me.
I step away from Jem and wrap each of them in a hug, thanking them.
Dad’s eyes are misty when I get to him, and like when I was a kid, his arms feel like safety and security, acceptance and love.
“Thanks, Dad,” I say.
“You’re welcome, kiddo,” he says back, his voice gruff.
I step away and pull Jem back into my arms, eager to get her into our bed, wherever it is in this house.
“Okay. You all can get out now.”
The sound of their laughter in my kitchen makes my heart swell.
Eyes locked on Jem, I can’t help but think I’m finally home.
EPILOGUE
JEM
Nerves simmer in my stomach like a pit of fighting vipers. I look over my shop one last time before we open for the first day of business.
The hand-drawn chalkboard sign hangs on the back wall. Ceramic mugs are clean and stacked in front of the shining copper and silver espresso machine. The handcrafted wooden tables and chairs are all spaced just right to ensure maximum comfort for customers while they find a table in the cozy lounge. Weak early-morning light streams through the front window, competing with the warm glow of overhead lights in creating a relaxed atmosphere. My fridges are stocked, and I have my own personal coffee concoction in my mug behind the counter.
“You nervous?” Boone asks from behind me, his arm coming to wrap around my waist.
This man. Fuck. It’s amazing what an impact this man has had on my life in such a short time.
It’s weird to think that a freak March snowstorm brought us together, and my leap of faith moving to a new town with my very new boyfriend kept us here, but I can’t regret a single minute of the whirlwind.
Over the last five months, Boone and I have found our stride. I’ve been busy getting the shop together, and he’s been busy organizing a food pantry setup for Everette like he did in Felt. After pitching the idea to the mayor with the statistics about how food insecure some households are, the mayor couldn’t sign off on the program fast enough. With the help of the town, donations started pouring in. But every night we both come back to our little house…to each other.
