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One moment I was standing next to Presley and the next I was across the room, fisting my father’s collar so tight it compromised his air supply. “You don’tevertalk about her like that. Do you understand me?” I gave him a violent shake, his cheeks turning ruddy as he struggled to pull in a breath. “Call her a whore again, or, hell, justlookat her in a way I don’t like and I’ll make it my life’s mission to ruin you. And I can do it too. Don’t test me, old man. If there’s anything you taught me, it was to always make sure you had more power than the man you were going after. And I took that lesson to heart.”
He sputtered, slapping at my wrists as my mother cried out, begging me to stop. But it was Presley that managed to clear the haze of red that had crept across my vision. She remained completely calm as she walked up beside me and placed her hand on my arm.
“That’s enough, Beau,” she said gently, her eyes a combination of amber and cinnamon as she smiled at me.
I let him go, hooking my arm over her shoulders and holding her to me as my father sputtered and sucked in huge, gulping breaths.
She stared the man down like he was nothing more than a bug beneath her shoe. “There’s nothing you can do to stop me from buying that bar because it’s already done. And I didn’t even need the loan to do it.” She cast me a quick glance, her grin turning downright wicked as she lowered the boom. “Since Beau and I decided I’d be moving in with him, there was really no reason for me to keep my house. It sold in record time, and as itturned out, I had quite a bit of equity built up in the place. Diane sold the bar to me outright.”
“I guess I should actually be thanking you,” I said. “Turns out, your threat only pushed us closer together. It’ll only be a matter of time before she has my ring on her finger too.”
His face went red again, only for a whole different reason this time. He’d spent so long trying to keep Presley and me apart, but it was all in vain. I was going to make this woman my wife one day, and I was going to spend the rest of my life loving her exactly how she deserved.
“I might live in the same town as you, but as far as I’m concerned, you don’t exist. The last words I’ll ever speak to you are to warn you if you ever try to come between me and Presley again or harm her in any way, it’ll be the biggest mistake of your life.”
And there it was. I’d said what I wanted to say, and I was officially done. Tilting my head down to Presley, I smiled and asked, “You ready to go home?” Because that was exactly what it was now—ourhome.
“Absolutely.”
We turned as one and started toward the door, only stopping when we reached my mom. She’d gone pale and was staring at my father with wide, disbelieving eyes.
“Mom.” She blinked, bringing her attention back to me. “I love you, that’s never been in question, but our relationship needs to change.” She sniffled, tears forming in her eyes before sliding down her cheeks. “I’m willing to put in the work if you are, but you have to accept that he will never, ever be a part of my life. Nothing you say or do will ever change that. And if you continue trying to guilt me into having a relationship with him, the one you and I have will suffer.”
She let out a little whimper as I leaned in to press a kiss to her cheek, and while it killed me to know she was hurting, I couldn’tgo back on my word. The only way she and I could move forward was if he wasn’t a part of it.
I led Presley to the door, but right before we crossed the threshold, she pulled me to a stop and looked back over her shoulder at my old man, her eyes pure cinnamon as she smiled at him and said, “My mom and dad say hi.”
With that parting shot, she laced her fingers through mine and led the way to our new lives.
Epilogue
PRESLEY
DroppedAnchor was closed to the public for a private event that was filled with all my family, closest friends, and the bar staff who had officially become mine when I signed the papers, taking ownership from Diane.
We were celebrating not only my purchase of the bar, but also my former boss’s retirement. Their RV was packed up and Diane had shown me the route she and her wife were taking when they left for their cross-country road trip in a few days.
As always, Freddy was sitting on his designated stool, enjoying a Coke as he talked all things football with my dad, Beau, and Sam Killborne.
Beau’s mom was standing with mine, the two of them tipsy and red-cheeked on wine and giggling every other minute. After Beau’s confrontation with his father, something rattled loose for Catherine. She realized how wrong she’d been and made quick work of trying to fix it. She’d hired a divorce lawyer, was seeing a therapist, and she and Beau were working hard to repair their relationship. She’d also started joining us for Sunday dinner at my parents’ house, and since then, she and my mother had become close.
Donovan was behind the bar, slinging drinks, even though I’d told him twice now to take a load off. He was too excited to sit idle. When I’d become the new owner and vacated the manager position, I couldn’t think of anyone better to fill it than him. He reminded me a lot of myself. He’d started as a busser and quickly moved his way up, knowing he was destined for bigger and better things. When I’d offered him the job, he’d hugged me so hard and so long that Beau had eventually stepped in to separate us, shooting the poor guy a glare that made Donovan’s spine curl in on itself before he tucked me under his arm protectively.
Turned out, my man had a bit of a jealous streak. And I didn’t hate it. In fact, I’d gotten endless pleasure out of teasing him mercilessly about it.
I took a private moment to stand in the corner and gaze over my dream. For as long as I could remember, I’d wanted this bar, and now it was mine. Not only that, but it was filled with all the people I loved and cared about the most.
As though he felt my gaze land on him, Beau lifted his head and turned to look at me, gracing me with a smile that made my insides all soft and melty. He broke away from the group and started in my direction, taking my face in his hands as soon as he was close enough and brushing a tender kiss against my lips.
The two of us had had our own private celebration the night before. After closing everything up, we’d spenthourschristening the place.
“Hey, Bubbles,” he said softly once he ended the kiss. “What are you thinking right now?”
“You mean aside from the fact that I’m the luckiest woman in the world?”
His clear blue gaze heated. “Yeah, aside from that.”
“I was thinking if you’d told me a year ago I would be running my own bar and be blissfully in love with the boy who tormentedme all through school, I would have laughed in your face and called you a dirty liar.”
