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“It’s good to be you, huh?”
He nuzzled his scruff against my neck. “Itisgood.”
I had to agree with him on that.
epilogue
CHLOE
“I told you,don’t put the sand in your mouth. C’mon!” Colby groaned as his youngest, Austin, crammed more mud into his mouth.
“I think he thinks it tastes good.” Bryce laughed, but then he looked a little disgusted as Austin happily swallowed.
“Aw, you’re gonna get sick, and Mom’s gonna be so upset—”
“What’s Mom going to be upset about?” Tate hustled down the beach, baby on her hip. Her long blond hair flew out behind her. She and Colby had two kids under three, the youngest of which was only three months, but her body had already returned to rockin’ status.
She cursed when she saw her son, mud dribbling down his face. “Austin Jake! Mommy told you no more mud!”
“He’s going to rub off on Penelope,” Daphne complained to me under her breath. She held Penelope, her little princess, by the hand as we watched Austin digest more sand. “Mommy says no-no to that. Okay, angel?”
Penelope looked up at her, eyes wide, and nodded. The little girl was an angel, well-behaved, studious, and quiet—nothing like her mother!
“Kowabunga!” Noah ran past us with my oldest on his back, James, and they splashed into the freezing Maine water. Boss, who was now fully grown, chased after them happily. Both James and Noah shrieked as the cold surf engulfed them. My youngest, Hazel, reached out toward the water, indicating she wanted to go in. “Not so fast, young lady,” I joked. “Mommy would have to carry you in there, and Mommy doesn’t want to freeze to death!”
Jake had called that morning from Dubai. He was currently Vice President of Global Initiatives for Windsor Enterprises, and he’d been traveling all over the world. He loved every second of it. Still single, Jake enjoyed being a doting uncle. He especially enjoyed it when he missed things like his nephew Austin ingesting a large quantity of Maine beach sand!
Life was good on the island. Bryce was still CEO, and Windsor Enterprises had flourished under his leadership.
Hazel and Midge were still with us, as was the rest of the staff. Hazel had finally gone on vacation; she’d cried happy tears when Bryce told her we were naming our daughter after her. Midge was as feisty as ever. Bryce had put her niece through school, and now Midge was considering going herself. But I told her I couldn’t live without her!
Plus, I’d had my suspicions for some time that she was dating Chef. No confirmation as of yet, but I was working on it!
Mimi and Michael Jones were, somewhat inexplicably, still together. We saw them occasionally at the Nguyen’s summer soirées. Mimi had quit drinking. She still held a grudge against me and of course Daphne, but we offered to host her gardening club from time to time, and we never revoked her pool-club membership. What could I say? I was doing my best.
Felicia Jones had married Finn Ryder, but then she’d cheated on him with his drummer. Mimi had been nicer to me after that.
As for the rest of the crew, Akira and Elena were both making bank. Akira had been hired by Jim Wright and had just been named partner at Kellogg, Kramer and Wright LLP. After I’d gone public with my story, Tate had shared hers. Elena’s business had grown over one-thousand percent. She was now considered the Queen of the Arranged Marriage, and everyone was flocking to Accommodating.
Both of her girls had graduated from private schools. Elena had even told them she’d pay for grad school!
My dad and Lydia had relocated to sunny Florida. That had been Bryce’s idea. Lydia often posted on social media, showing off her lion tattoo as she and my dad strolled the beach. They were still gambling, drinking, and complaining. At least they were far away! They’d wanted a mansion; we’d bought them a nice condo. They’d wanted a Hummer; we’d bought them a truck. It was as close to justice as I was going to get, and I’d made my peace with it.
Bryce ambled over to me, kissed Hazel on the top of her head, and grinned at us. “Hi there, Mrs. Windsor.” He put his arm around me.
His touch lit me up from within, the same way it always had.
“Hi yourself.” I grinned up at him.
“Will you two get a room?” Daphne joked. She was still married to Gene, happy as a clam that he was spending the rest of his life in prison, and she got live in all of his mansions and raise her beautiful daughter on her own. She’d also recently gotten back on social media and was selling more shakes than ever!
“Of course we will. As soon as it’s nap time.” Bryce beamed down at me, and I beamed up at him.
I wasn’t even ashamed of how much I loved my husband.
That was him.
That was me.
That was us, and we… We were forever.
