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EPILOGUE
WREN
“Where did I leave the damn stud finder?” I groused as I pawed through the mess that was Tatum’s man cave. Okay, fine. Basement. Or at least that’s what he thought it was going to be.
Basement, home gym, and storage for the mountain of Christmas decorations I’d gotten in a January clearance sale.
We had an obnoxiously large house. It required next-level holiday cheer. Lucky for me, those decorations could stay put for another seven months.
It was May and a gloriously sunny day in Westerly. The gentle crashing of waves outside the windows were no match for the mass of stress in my brain that was about to reach critical. I needed to get the friggin’ television mount hung, so I could get the flat screen up before Tatum got home.
The Core Four—Tatum, Gideon, Theo, and Seth—had been in Providence all week, running a camp at the stadium for underprivileged kids. I had been playing Auntie for Heidi and Gid’s little one so that she could be at the facilities each day to help with kid and chaos control.
Baby Cole was watching me with a look of consternation on his chubby little face as he gnawed on a football-shaped teether.
It had been a year and a half since the fateful championship game where Heidi surprised Gideon with her pregnancy news. Now, Cole Carmichael was a cherub-faced nine-month-old and was soon to become a big brother.
I had found out a few weeks ago when the boys were away, and Heidi had stayed overnight at the house for a girls’ weekend. It hadn’t even taken any prying. She shoved Cole into my waiting arms and ran for the bathroom. Morning sickness seemed atrocious.
It cemented our tradition of telling each other secrets before we told our men.
“Aha!” I plucked the stud finder out from under a sawhorse and blew the dust off. Cole let out a gurgle of approval.
Trapping my carpenter’s pencil between my teeth, I eased the stud finder along the wall until it gave me the greenlight to drill. I marked the hole and measured on either side for the mount.
My dad had been out here earlier in the day, entertaining Cole as I worked to put the finishing touches on the basement. Being close enough to my dad to see him every day after years of quick weekend visits during the off-season was a blessing. Most days, he was up before I was, going into town to get whatever I needed at the hardware store. He stayed on top of things with the contractors so that I could meet with potential clients and take on smaller design and renovation projects while we slowly threw money into this pit of a house.
But it was done.
Finally, finally done.
I cleaned up the mess in the man cave and perched Cole on my hip as I walked through the house.
Tatum and I had tied the knot at the end of the season. It was strange showing up to games and not being on the sidelines. But being able to soak up every moment of just how badass Tatum was on the field was a pleasure I didn’t take for granted.
We said our vows standing in front of the lighthouse on a breezy April day. Friends and friends who were more like family cheered us on as we became husband and wife. Most of the attendees were from the Reds family—both his and mine.
We officially said goodbye to the penthouse when we got back from our honeymoon and had moved into the lighthouse estate not too long ago. I was sad to leave some of the creature comforts of the city, but nothing—and I mean nothing—beat waking up to Tatum. He had one more season in his contract, and already I knew he couldn’t wait to retire.
With his help and my dad’s local connections, Wrenovations had a full calendar. There was barely a spare moment in my day. When dawn broke, and I opened my eyes, Tatum would pull me closer. We’d stay like that for another hour before zombie-walking through the maze of rooms, down the stairs to the kitchen for coffee.
I really needed to get one of those single-serve pod machines for our bedroom. Maybe I’d make a little nook. Better yet, I’d turn the empty wall into a kitchenette. Nothing big, just a place for coffee and the protein smoothies Tatum choked down every morning.
Tatum would head to the basement—now finished—for a workout or I would join him on a run through town before he headed to Providence. I’d head to my office in the lighthouse.
We didn’t know what the hell to do with a whole-ass lighthouse. Just that we had it, and it was friggin’ awesome.
It was Tatum’s idea to put my office at the top. Sure, we had plenty of rooms in the Victorian, but there was something about being high above the coastline, surrounded by windows flooding the room with natural light that got the creative juices flowing. It had only been a few months, but I was already putting feelers out for an assistant. If my workload sustained, I’d need to bring on more than one.
Tires crunched as they circled the pebble-filled driveway. Tatum’s Camaro pulled in first, followed by Gideon’s daddy wagon. I had Cole strapped into his car seat with his diaper bag ready to go. Not that I didn’t want to see Gideon, but I really wanted time with my man.
Cole cooed the minute he saw Gideon, and Gid looked just as ecstatic. Tatum beeped his keyfob as I handed the baby off to Gideon.
“Hey, sexy,” Tatum groaned as he dropped his gym bag on the ground and slowly slid those giant hands of his around my hips. He tipped his head to the side and grazed my lips with his. “Missed you, Little Bird.”
“Yeah, we know,” Gideon hollered as he secured Cole’s car seat into the back of his vehicle. “I miss Wren. I need to talk to my Little Bird. When will this week be over?” he teased in a chipmunk-like soprano.
I laughed as I wrapped my arms around Tatum’s neck. “Bye, Gideon!” I called as he slid behind the wheel.
