Page 237 of Tangled with the Tight End

After Declan hugs his mom and dad, he looks at me. “Ready to go?”

I nod.

He leans in, his breath brushing over my ear when he whispers, “Let’s go home.”

I look up at him and squeeze his hand. “I’m already home.”

Epilogue: Winona

Late March, almost three months later

There’s nothing more beautiful than the way

the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline,

no matter how many times it’s sent away.

~ Sarah Kay

“This airplane!” Cass says for about the twentieth time since we boarded this morning for our four-hour flight to St. Thomas. “I can’t believe the hot little hand towels. They even smelled like lemons. They thought of everything.”

“They sure did,” I agree.

“Gotta love the Gulfstream G Four Fifty,” Treyvon says.

“Declan’s the man,” Jaxon says.

Marcus smiles over at Declan, but doesn’t say anything.

Our stewardess, Tamara, comes into the lounge and says, “Alright everyone, vacation is officially about to begin. We'll be landing in St. Thomas in about fifteen minutes. If you could make your way back to your seats and buckle up, I’d appreciate it.”

Declan stands, bending slightly so he doesn’t hit his head on the ceiling. He waits for me to stand and walk in front of him. We take our seats in the club chairs facing one another. Cass takes the one next to me. Marcus is across from her.

It seemed like a good idea at the time—seating them in a spot where they had to talk. I’m still a firm believer that they got off on the wrong foot at Thanksgiving. If they could start with a clean slate and try to get to know one another, they’d see the good we all see in each of them.

Declan says I’m being an optimist.

“Buckle up!” Marcus says, looking around at all of us.

Cass looks over at me with an expression that says, Told ya so.

Before we left, she said,“I find everything about Marcus Delaney surprisingly annoying. Who knew? I always thought I’d be a fan of him in person.”

I begged her to give him a chance. She promised she would for my sake. Now she looks like that chance has run its course—and we haven’t even landed yet.

Tamara glances around to make sure everyone’s buckled and then she says, “It's a sunny eighty-four degrees in St. Thomas today. Perfect pool or beach weather."

Cass leans forward and tugs off her cardigan, folding it in her lap. Marcus watches with an inscrutable look on his face.

Inside the airport, we gather around one of the three small conveyor belts to retrieve our luggage. The guys all step forward to grab our bags.

Marcus makes the grave mistake of holding his hand up toward Cass and saying, “I’ve got this.”

I’ll admit, the gesture had the feel of a man stopping traffic. His heart’s in the right place, though.

Cass crosses her arms. Her lips thin. She takes a deep breath and glances over at me. I step up beside her.

“I know. I know,” she says. “Give him a chance. But the hand up? Seriously? It’s so demeaning.”