“Why’d you run in the first place? We could’ve figured this out.”
“I didn’t trust that I wouldn’t make it worse.” He shrugs as the waitress sets a steaming cup of coffee between us. “I’ve been angry for a long time. I need to figure that out. Maybe the best place to do that is jail.”
I don’t know how to respond. I don’t want to see my brother in jail. I want him here with us.
“We could hold off until after Christmas,” Nick’s voice booms in behind us. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to intrude. I told Evie I’d stop by this morning, and well, bad timing.” He reaches his hand out for Cole’s, and Cole takes it before Nick slides into the booth beside me. These tables aren’t built as generously as the ones at the bar, and it shows in the way Nick has to contort to sit.
“I don’t want to delay the inevitable,” Cole says, sipping his steaming coffee.
“Well,” Nick tilts his head to the side, “the courts aren’t going to move much until after the new year, so you’d just be sitting in jail. That, and I’m not ready to leave yet. That means we could hold off until after Christmas. I know some guys that owe me favors. I’m not promising anything, and you’d still need to steer clear of the guy’s family, but if you don’t run, I don’t chase.” Nick scrubs his hand down over his beard. “I need you to agree to meet back here on January 2, though.”
A dish clanks against the counter in the back kitchen as the jukebox plays an old Christmas tune. Cole sits straighter and tilts his head to the side as though he’s thinking over his options. “Tess did ask me to help out with her book club, and I’m sure the fire department could use some volunteers this time of year. I don’t think Chief will give me trouble if I’m just helping out.”
I roll my eyes. “Of course Tess asked you to help with the book club. Are you taking your shirt off ‘cause when she says, ‘book club,’she really means strip club.” I take a sip of cocoa and hold back my laughter.
“It’s for a good cause, right?” Cole grins. “If the bookstore can get people back for something regular like a book club, maybe they’ll sell more books.”
I nod in agreement as I lean back in the red vinyl booth, staring out into the snowy scene on Main Street. I didn’t see any of this coming. Not Nick, not my brother coming home, not the un-invite to my sister’s wedding, but somehow, everything feels right. Cole wants to come home for good, the bookstore has more hope than it did before, and I’m snuggled beside a giant in a booth again. A giant that I’m bringing home tonight and the night after that. Right now, that’s all the promise I need, but I have a feeling forever isn’t far away.
Epilogue
Nick
Two Years Later
Evie leans against my chest, feet up on the ottoman, as snow falls peacefully outside the cabin walls. It’s quiet nights like this I’m learning to appreciate the most. The quiet life is a harsh transition from chasing down bad guys and dragging them in for money, but it’s so much better.
I rub my hand over her expanding stomach and kiss the top of her head. “How’s our baby Noelle today?”
“She’s starving, though I don’t know if she’s never not starving,” Evie laughs. “I had two rows of chocolate Christmas cookies last night, and she was demanding more before the sun came up. The girl is insatiable.”
“Well, we can’t have that, can we?” I stand from the couch and head to the kitchen, positioning myself in the glow of the fridge light. “What does she want?”
“Oh.” Evie straightens with a smile and stares down at her stomach as though she and the baby are talking via some kind of psychic language. “Yup, I’m getting it loud and clear. She wants a grilled cheese with pineapples, barbeque chips, and a hot fudge sundae on the side.”
“Damn,” I pull out the loaf of sourdough Evie made earlier this week, “and what do you want, Mama?”
She grins. “You know what I want.”
“Well yeah,” my eyes widen playfully, “clearly your book boyfriend would know exactly what you want without you having to tell him.”
“Right.” She grins and pushes herself up from the couch, holding her hand on her back to steady her weight. She’s always beautiful, but the way she looks now, swollen with our baby growing inside of her, beats out every other look she’s had since I met her.
It could be her full breasts, or her puffy nipples, or the milk dripping from her daily, but I gather it’s more. It’s the way her skin is glowing. The way she’s been prepping the house to make everything perfect for our daughter. The way she tucks into me at night with everything I’ve ever loved.
Holding onto my biceps, she tips up onto her toes for a kiss. “So, book boyfriend… what do you think I want?” I love the teasing that’s always in her voice.
“I think you want a back rub, a soft pretzel from the bakery, and an oil change.” I kiss her soft lips and tangle the tips of my fingers in her hair.
“Wow. I’m so glad this delusion never ended. I really need you.” She grins. “I think we should start with the oil change.”
I bend down and scoop my wife into my arms, carrying her toward the bedroom at the back of the cabin. “I agree.”
It’s been two years since I met Evie. To some that might not sound like much, but for me, it was a new beginning. The beginning of a life I didn’t think I’d ever have.
It was a year of dating, of selling my place in Montana, of moving out to Rugged Mountain. It was a proposal during the spring in a field of wildflowers. A wedding the following month by an old miners’ church tucked in the valley by the river’s edge. It was buying this cabin in the hills not too far from town and fixing it up to make it our own. It was building that little farmstand and finding out my jam is only an acquired taste. Evie’s pumpkin rolls, though, they’re the talk of the town.
Evie lays back, and I spread her legs, kissing my way up toward her crease. The light from the Christmas tree in the corner of the bedroom reflects onto her face, and I pause for a moment to take her in. The soft brown curls that frame her face, her swollen nipples, and that sweet smile that I’ll love until the day I die.
