“But a good change.” She shifted closer to him, and he had to remind himself that—standing on the side of the bridge as they were—that they were in a very public place. “I thought I was happy, but being with you and with my family is the life I want.”
“Be my wife,” he said, pulling her close. “I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy. So, Gwen Sutton...will you marry me?”
“Yes,” she whispered, and suddenly he was kissing her and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He never wanted to let her go again.
Then a car horn honked at them and they jerked apart in surprise. Laughing, he slid his fingers through hers and they walked hand in hand back to the New Hampshire side of the river. When they reached the truck, Case opened the door and told Boomer he could get out.
He went immediately to Gwen, his tail almost a blur as he threw his whole body weight against her legs so she could give him a good rubbing in greeting.
“He missed you,” Case said. “We both did.”
She laughed, trying to keep her balance as Boomer insisted on more back rubbing. “I wasn’t gone that long.”
“It was too long.”
“Who’s a good boy?” she crooned to the dog, and Boomer just wagged his entire butt because he knew, of course, thathewas the good boy. “Let’s go home.”
Epilogue
Six months later
“We arenotgetting karaoke.”
“Mallory, listen to me, though.” Evie said, her voice raised to be heard over the laughter of the guys at the big table. “When people drink, they want to sing.”
“Because drunk people think theycansing, and they are wrong. So very,verywrong. Gwen, back me up here.”
Gwen laughed and shook her head. “I don’t know what the right answer is. Yes, drunk people want to sing and karaoke is popular, but no, I don’t want to hear these people singing karaoke.”
Evie held up her hands. “There’s no place to do karaoke in Stonefield, though.”
“For good reason,” Mallory insisted.
“You want to sing a sexy duet with me?” Case whispered in Gwen’s ear, and she leaned back against him as his arms wrapped around her. Someday she hoped the tavern could afford proper barstools with backs, but Case’s chest was a very nice substitute.
She turned her head so she could keep her voice low. “You know I can’t sing, right?”
“Neither can I. When I said sexy duet, I meant for us. I think everybody else would want to cover their ears.”
“Or drink faster, to drown out the pain.” She laughed. “Solid marketing plan, though.”
“We’ll be opening soon,” Ellen said, “and I’m going to take the boys to the movies tonight, but I wanted to say something before I go because it’s our six-month anniversary.”
“Tissues,” Gwen whispered, and wasn’t surprised when Case pressed a pocket pack of them into her hand. The man was really getting the hang of the Sutton women.
“David would be so proud of this place—and all of you.” Ellen struggled to get the last few words out, so she paused and Gwen watched her struggle to fight back the tears. Nobody spoke because it was obvious Ellen had more to say, and eventually she was able to continue. “He’d be especially proud of his girls, because you all came together like this. You put aside your differences and made sacrifices to be by my side, and you not only helped make your father’s dream come true but you gave me back a sense of stability, which I’d been missing since he went and died on me. Most of all, you brought me joy and helped heal my heart. To David.”
When she lifted her glass, they all echoed her toast and it took some shifting around, but they all clinked glasses. “To Dad.”
“And no more tears,” she said. “We’re celebrating.”
“We have something else to celebrate, too,” Case said, and Gwen groaned when her mother’s face lit up, along with her sisters’ and they all gasped. “No! No, not that. We’re not pregnant. Yet. Crap, you tell them, Gwen.”
She laughed. “I feel like the fact I’m finally finished with edits on my book and my editor loves the idea for my next one is a little anticlimactic if you’re expecting a baby.”
But her family cheered and embraced her as if she’d just given them the best news ever, and she appreciated that. She also appreciated the office Case had made for her out of one of the spare bedrooms. What would happen when they started filling those bedrooms with children, she wasn’t sure, but they’d figure it out.
Together.
