Epilogue

GABBY

Eight weeks after the shooting, Patch insisted on returning to work, against the advice of his colleagues and club brothers. He promised to take it easy, and I made sure that he did. When I completed my clinical hours a little over four weeks later, he offered me a job at his practice.

"Shouldn't you wait until after I pass the boards?" I asked.

He shook his head with a smile. "I know you'll pass. You're welcome to work here as a nurse until then, or you can enjoy some time off and start after you pass the exam."

After giving it some thought, I asked if I could work part-time as a nurse until I passed the nurse practitioner boards. I'd had plenty of time off while I was recovering from my injuries, but I wanted to make sure I had time to study, as well as spend time with Byte and Shadow.

I was still staying at his house, though I'd migrated from the bedroom upstairs to his bedroom downstairs. We hadn't talked about our living arrangements. I wasn't sure why he hadn't brought it up, but I was waiting until I finished school and had an idea of where I'd be working to make any plans, which is also why my house in Cedar Valley was just sitting there.

When I got home from the office, there was a note on the table telling me to come to the clubhouse after I'd showered and changed. I smiled. Byte knew me so well.

Once I was dressed and ready, I drove to the clubhouse. I was pretty sure I knew why I was being summoned, but I tried not to think about it.

When I walked into the clubhouse, I was greeted with various shouts of "Surprise!" and "Congratulations!" The entire club was there, as well as Gigi and Papa Ronan. I was surprised to see a few of the employees from Patch's office, Irene, and a girl I didn't know. She looked to be around my age, maybe a few years older, and was huddled close to Irene.

I made my way around the room to speak to everyone and thank them for coming. When I reached Irene, she introduced me to her friend. "This is Evie," she said. "She works at the diner with me and is new to the area. I dragged her along with me so she could meet some people her age in the area."

"Hi, Evie," I said and held out my hand. I noticed Edge standing off to the side with his eyes fixed on Evie and briefly wondered why he was staring at her so intently. "I'm Gabby. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too," she said softly. "Congratulations on finishing school."

"Thank you," I said. "How long have you been in town?"

Before she could answer, Keegan and Annabelle entered the room carrying a huge cake. "Come blow out the candles," Keegan said and waved me over to the table.

"I thought candles were for birthday cakes," I pointed out.

"I tried to tell her," Annabelle said.

Keegan sighed in exasperation. "Just do it," she said.

"Fine," I said and blew out the congratulatory candles.

Byte came up behind me and slid a hand around my waist. "What'd you wish for?" he asked quietly.

"Nothing," I smiled. "I've already got it."

Three Months Later

I sat at a table in the common room with my laptop and clicked refresh. Again. I was not so patiently waiting for the website to update with my exam results.

Keegan laughed. "Be careful. If you keep refreshing the page like that, you're going to cause it to freeze up."

I didn't take my eyes off the screen and said, "There are plenty of other computers around here I can use if that happens."

Byte stood behind me and rubbed my shoulders. "That's one of my laptops. It can handle her rapid clicking."

"Please don't encourage her," Keegan said.

"What is taking so long?" I asked no one in particular. The results were supposed to be available at noon. It had been seven minutes since the clock struck twelve, and they still hadn't been uploaded.

"Maybe you should take a break and check again in a few minutes," Keegan suggested.

"I can't," I said and continued to obsessively refresh the page. I realized I probably resembled an addict looking for their next fix, but I couldn't stop myself. I'd worked so hard to become a nurse practitioner, and it was all riding on the results of one exam.

"Are you sure they said noon?" Keegan asked. "Maybe you got the time?—"

Her words were cut off when I let out a scream and jumped to my feet, causing Byte to stumble back a few steps. "I passed!"

Keegan and Byte hugged me at the same time while the room erupted in cheers. When they finally released me, the handful of people hanging around came over to congratulate me.

"I knew you could do it," Keegan said. "I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you," I said sincerely. "I couldn't have done it without all the love and support you and Jacob gave me."

"I love you," she said and hugged me again.

"I love you, too," I replied.

Keegan released me and took a step back. She glanced at her phone, looked at the front door, and then back to me. "Well, you should probably get going."

I laughed. "Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"Yes, I am," she admitted and shooed me with her hands. "Go."

Byte took my hand and led me toward the front door.

"I'll see you tonight," I called over my shoulder.

"Pretend to be surprised so you don't ruin it," she said.

"I'll do my best," I returned. The surprise would have been if they weren't planning to throw a party for me. Whenever there was something to celebrate, the club had a party. And after everything I'd been through, I felt like celebrating. Chad was no longer a threat to me, Lauren was behind bars and would remain there until she was sentenced, Lawrence succumbed to his injuries about a week after he was stabbed, my license had been cleared, I finished college, and I passed my exam.

"Now that you're officially a nurse practitioner and have a job in Croftridge, can we talk about your living arrangements?" Byte asked.

He'd brought it up several times since I graduated, but I always put it off. I didn't want to make any decisions until after the exam. Perhaps I was more superstitious than I thought, because I felt like I would jinx myself if I let my house go before I took the test. So, ever since the shooting, I had been "staying" at Byte's house, not living with him.

"Sure," I said. "What do you want to talk about?"

He laughed. "You know exactly what I want to talk about."

"You're going to have to ask me. I'm not going to invite myself," I teased.

"I want you to live with me," he said.

"That's not a question," I pointed out.

"Gabby," he said with a hint of exasperation.

"Fine," I said. "I'll live with you."

"It's about damn time," he said. "Do you know what you want to do with your house?"

"I was thinking about keeping it and renting it," I said. "If Jake or Quincy go to college in Cedar Valley, they could stay there if they wanted to. Or any of the club kids. What do you think?"

"I think that sounds like a great idea," he said as he pulled into his driveway.

"I'm glad we got that settled," I said and made a show of stretching and yawning. "I'm ready for a nap."

"Your nap will have to wait," he said.

"What? Why?"

"Because you need to pack."

"For what?" I asked.

"We never got to have our long weekend at Badger's cabin. I figured we should take the opportunity before you start working full-time," he said. "We can spend the night at the clubhouse tonight after the party and leave first thing in the morning."

"Really? Is Shadow coming with us?"

Byte laughed. "Doesn't he always?"

"You're the best."

"I'm pretty sure that's you," he said. "Love you."

"Love you, too."