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“I know. He told me in a text.”
“You should answer him.”
Rhett cocks a brow. “I thought you were done being the go-between with the Swift brothers?”
A laugh falls from my lips. “Okay, fine. You got me there. Just know that they love you…I love you…and you love them too.”
Rhett nods but doesn’t reply.
“Morgan and I are leaving for California. We’ll be gone about three weeks. We’re flying out, dealing with everything he needs to take care of, then driving back with his vehicle.” Even though we’re staying in Birchbark, Morgan will be showing me places I’ve never seen. I’ll get to experience California, and then we’ll take our time exploring on the way back. I can’t wait to see with him parts of the United States I’ve never seen.
“Be safe. Let me know if you need anything.”
“I will,” I tell Rhett, giving him a sad smile. His whole world has been turned upside down, but again, I’m so proud of him for doing it. Who knows what will happen on the other side, when Rhett discovers who he is.
“I love you, brother,” I say a second time, pulling him into my arms for a hug.
Rhett nods but doesn’t return the words. I pull away. I’m at the door before he says, “Thank you…for being my friend, even when I didn’t deserve it.”
“You always deserved it, and I’ll always be your friend…even if you’re a terrible kisser.”
I wink, and Rhett lets out a deep, rumbly laugh. “Maybe it was just because I didn’t like kissing you,” he teases back.
“Sucks for you. I’m very good at it.” I toss a smile his direction and leave.
I head to the bar, which is officially Morgan’s now. It’s open for business until we leave, will close down while we’re gone, and once we get back, he’ll start remodeling. It’s not open at this hour, though, his rental car the only one in the lot. The door is unlocked, so I slip inside, finding my boyfriend sitting at the counter, looking over paperwork.
“Did he see you?” Morgan asks.
“Yeah, baby.”
There’s a mixture of relief and sadness in his gaze—relief that Rhett is okay, and hurt that he hasn’t spoken to Morgan or East.
Morgan twists around on the barstool, and I stand between his legs, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. “He’s sorting through some things, figuring out what he wants in his life now that he’s not chasing the dream of himself your dad built for him. We just need to give him some time.”
“We’ve wasted so much of it already… I know it won’t be easy. He still makes me crazy, and I have no doubt we’ll still butt heads, but I want to fix my relationship with him.”
“You will.” I lean in and claim his mouth in a quick kiss.
Morgan’s gaze holds mine, his hands traveling up and down my back. “I love you, Dusty James. You’ve believed in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself, even when I didn’t deserve it. You love my brothers like they’re your own. There aren’t enough words for what you are to me.” He takes off the silver-and-black oval-shaped ring he always wears on his index finger, takes my hand, and puts it on me. “And one day you’re going to be my husband.”
Blood rushes through my ears. “Oh, am I?” Abso-fucking-lutely, I will, but I also have to give him a hard time.
“You are. Even if I have to kidnap you.”
“Hey, we should play kidnapper and kidnappee sometime. That would be fun. Then you can claim me.”
“You’re already mine.” He leans in and kisses me again.
“I’ve always been yours…and there’s nothing I would love more than to be your husband.” I tilt my head. “Now let’s bend you over that chair so I can fuck you in your new bar. Then we’ll go see East and Pretty Girl at the shop. How does that sound?”
“Sounds like I’m finally home,” he says, and there’s nothing I like more than hearing him say that.
EPILOGUE
Morgan
One month later
