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“Maybe I’ll just name it,” I said quietly.
He smiled down at me. “You’re going to name my beard?”
“What do you think of the name Fluffy?”
“I’m not crazy about it.”
“Shaggy?”
“I think we can talk about it tomorrow,” he said with a yawn. He kissed my forehead. “Goodnight, Mags.”
I nuzzled into his neck. “Goodnight, my big mountain man.”
EPILOGUE: MAGGIE
Tyler poured his second cup of coffee and leaned back against the kitchen counter to sip it. I was sitting at the kitchen island going through the morning mail. I glanced at him and smiled. It seemed like just yesterday that he was standing in that exact spot with his junk hanging out and a salacious grin on his face.
Now, a year later, he was wearing jeans, work boots and a denim shirt with the Jenner logo on the pocket.
He had decided to stay in Mountain View to personally oversee the construction of the new hotel downtown. And to be with me.
The boys and I had moved into the mountain lodge shortly after Tyler and I reunited. They worshipped Tyler and he doted on them. It was like having three teenagers in the house.
Tyler was the big brother and father figure they so desperately needed and deserved. We were all one, big happy dysfunctional family. I’d never been happier in my life.
The entire city block where Carl and Doris’ restaurant was located, along with the other shops, had been razed almost a year ago. It was a bittersweet day, watching the construction equipment make short work of the old buildings. Now, the new hotel was just a few months away from opening and there were a million things to get done. On top of that, we made a two year plan to begin the construction of Maggie’s Garden, my very own steakhouse at the heart of downtown. I had to pinch myself. A year ago I would have laughed at the idea, but here I was.
It was important to me that I earned my way up the ladder and I asked Tyler to treat me like any other business partner when it came to working together. He respected my wishes.
“What’s that?” he asked, nodding at the postcard in my hand.
“It’s a postcard from Carl and Doris in Florida,” I said, fanning it at him. The front of the card had a picture of a sandy beach at sunset. On the back, Doris had written “Wish you were here!” and drawn a happy face.
I pretended to read the back of the card.
“Tyler, please do everything Maggie says and give her lots and lots of sex. Love, Carl and Doris.”
“Wow, that’s my kind of postcard,” Tyler said with a grin.
There was a thick envelope in the stack of mail from a law firm in Denver that I didn’t recognize. Tyler’s in-house lawyers handled his business affairs. I held it up for him to see.
“You have a letter from Baxter & Chase, Attorneys at Law.” I cut my eyes at him. “You’re not in trouble again, are you?”
He smiled at me and rolled his eyes. “That’s the firm I hired to set up the foundation we talked about.”
I blinked at him. “The foundation?”
“The James J. Jenner Foundation,” he said, taking the envelope and sliding a finger under the flap to tear it open. He handed me a document that was too full of legalese for me to understand. “Those are the articles of incorporation.”
“This is the foundation you set up in memory of your father,” I said, giving him a warm smile. “The one that will donate camping equipment and set up summer outdoor programs for underprivileged kids across the country.”
“That’s it,” he said with a sigh. His eyes went dreamy for a moment. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my dad. I wouldn’t have all this and I would have never met you. I wanted to do something in his memory.” He gave me a smile. “You’ve taught me how important family is, Maggie. How important people are. My dad knew that. I think I did a long time ago, but I lost sight of it. It took you to remind me of it.”
“Yes, well, what can I say? I am quite the motivator!”
“Yes, you are.”
I grinned at him and slipped the papers back into the envelope. “This is wonderful, Tyler. Your dad would be so proud.”
