Epilogue

Six Weeks Later

Fall had officially arrived. The forest surrounding the lake had turned from green to amber, brown, and red, creating a vibrant tapestry of warm colors to signal that the winter was well on its way. Bundled up in a fleece blanket, I wondered why the hell Landon had insisted so vehemently that we take Scott’s boat out on the lake.

Now that the end of October had arrived, trips out on the boat were rare for me. Occasionally, I would come out with Scott when he wanted to go fishing, but those trips were few and far between.

I hadn’t been given much of a choice in the matter today, though. Landon had woken up with a bee in his bonnet about it and here we were, gliding across the shimmering surface of the lake while I clung to my blanket, my teeth almost chattering.

It was a chilly but sunny day, and the lake looked like a mirror, not a breath of wind to ripple the water and no other boats to make waves. I glanced at Landon where he stood behind the wheel, his hand gently easing back on the throttle.

“How long are we going to be out here?” I asked as he started slowly. “I love being out on the boat as much as the next girl, but I may just turn into an ice cube before we head back.”

He nodded at the Manor, regally guarding the shore on the other side of the lake. “We won’t be much longer. I just wanted to get another look at it.”

As his gaze moved to the old house, I stood up and rested my head on his shoulder as I stared at the Manor. “I read Lucille’s journals while you were gone. I don’t think I ever told you.”

“Yeah?” The corners of his lips inched into a soft, almost wistful smile. “Learn anything interesting?”

“I did actually.” I hadn’t told anyone else about it, but it seemed safe to share Lucille’s secret with Landon. “It turns out that everything I thought I knew about Lucille and Robert was a sham. After they had their first baby, the romance turned into a whole big mess of drama.”

He chuckled. “Kids can put a strain on any relationship.”

“Not like this,” I said softly, imagining Lucille out there next to the lake chasing after the children all by herself. “Robert disappeared into himself for years. He practically locked himself in his study. Eventually, she had an affair.”

“Whoa, I wasn’t expecting that,” he said.

I sighed. “I guess their love story wasn’t nearly as glamorous or spotlessly smooth as I thought it was.”

“The best ones never are,” he said as he touched his head to mine. “We’ve had our speedbumps, too. Our challenges may have been different to theirs, but it wasn’t just smooth sailing.”

Bringing his hand back to the throttle, he slowly pushed down and drove away from the Manor, guiding us to Soulmate Beach. I smiled at him when he docked at the stretch of beach where Robert had proposed to Lucille and I’d bonded with Landon and Colten for the first time.

“I haven’t been here since that time we came together,” I said as he helped me off the boat. “When Scott started getting Colten into football.”

He laughed, leaving me alone for a moment as he went to retrieve a picnic basket from the boat. “Well, I didn’t bring a football today, but I do have a thermos of hot chocolate and some treats.”

I blinked back my surprise. “I’ll take that over a football any day of the week.”

After he pulled a blanket out of the basket, he laid it out on the sand and we sat down, cuddling together and admiring the lake, which was shockingly blue on the crystal clear, cold day.

“I knew you were still a romantic deep down inside,” I teased as I slipped my hand into the crook of his arm and held on tight, relishing the solid heat of him at my side. “You do know that a picnic on Soulmate Beach is considered almost like a promise around these parts?”

He glanced down at me. “Is it?”

“Yep,” I said, grinning. “You better go fetch a football if you don’t want me to think this is more than it actually is.” I sipped on my sweet hot chocolate as I winked at him. “We’re just going to have to toss it around gently. My fingers might snap off if I catch it wrong. They’re so damn cold.”

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close, taking both of my hands in one of his and rubbing them. “I’d rather not have any of your fingers snap off today, so I suppose it’s a good thing I really didn’t bring a football.”

As I chuckled, he reached over to the basket and started pulling out some of the snacks he’d brought. Little sandwiches and a thermos of soup. Also some cut-up fruit, a variety of cheeses, olives, and some crackers. Spreading them out on the blanket, he brought those electric green eyes to my own and I saw the current running through them. I just couldn’t tell if it was nerves or excitement.

“What’s going on?” I asked. “All of this looks amazing. You don’t have to worry that I won’t love it. I do, and I also really appreciate all the effort you went through.”

He smiled, but even that was suddenly tighter than normal. “Could you grab the last surprise from the basket? It’s just in the side pocket.”

I reached in and my fingers brushed against something smooth and hard. Frowning, I closed my hand around some kind of cube and I pulled it out, curious as to what kind of surprise came in a small, square box.

As the thought hit, my heart started racing at the first possibility that occurred to me. No. Nooooo. No, he didn’t. He couldn’t have.

But as I pulled out the box, I saw that he could have, and he had. When I pulled it out, I found myself holding a deep purple, velvet-encased ring box. I flipped it open and gasped when I saw the gorgeous ring sitting on a perch inside.

The diamond in the center caught the sun, nearly blinding me until I shifted the box in my palm. For a long moment, I just stared at the ornately designed ring with its antique-looking engraved shoulders and the tiny beads of metal used to create scalloped borders.

It was absolutely stunning, so beautiful and perfect that it brought tears to my eyes as I lifted them back to Landon’s. I sucked in another sharp breath of air when I found him on one knee, grinning as his gaze settled on mine.

“When I was much younger, I asked Walter once why he’d chosen my mother. She’d come from an old money family who weren’t exactly pleased that she was involved with a guy like him, who didn’t have money or a family name.”

He stared into my eyes intently. “Plus, as an added complication, she also had a little boy from a previous marriage in tow. It didn’t make sense to me that he’d willingly take on all that, but when I asked him about it, he told me ‘when you know, you know, and trust me, son, one day, you’ll know.’”

“I didn’t understand it at the time, but then I met you, and suddenly, it was like all the lights went on inside. I knew. I just didn’t realize it at first.”

Tears welled on my eyelids as I nodded my agreement. I’d known too and I had realized it. I’d just thought we were star-crossed lovers and that we’d never really get to be together.

“You came into our lives so unexpectedly, bringing with you a world of color, and love, and warmth that I never knew existed. Every corner of my life that used to be filled with darkness and doubt is now filled with purpose.”

He took my hands and held them tight. “My purpose is to love you, Jewel. To cherish you and to make you laugh. To protect you and Colten too. I want to do that for the rest of my life if you’ll let me.”

“Yes!” I practically squealed, throwing my arms around him. He laughed as he caught me, holding me tight for a minute. Then he pulled away and took the ring from me to slide it onto my finger.

The tears were leaking out of my eyes. Joy unlike any I’d ever known swelled in my chest. Landon’s eyes were misty too, the grin on his face so wide that it looked like it would never leave.

“Well, that’s a relief,” he said. “Do you see now why we couldn’t risk your fingers snapping off?”

I nodded faintly, my eyes torn between his and the gorgeous ring. “Did you really think I was going to say no?”

“I hoped you wouldn’t,” he said, and the slight vibration in his tone made me glance back up at him. “Because I have another surprise for you.”

Butterflies hatched and started racing around in my stomach. I lowered my head slowly to one side. “What else do you have up your sleeve, Payne? Isn’t this enough?”

I wiggled my finger at him, marveling at the weight that would live there from now on.

Sliding his hand into mine, he drew in a deep breath and shrugged. “I’ve bought us a house here in June Lake.”

I gasped. Again. I’d known he was planning on starting to look at places soon, but I’d had no idea he’d found one. For the last month and a half, he’d been commuting between June Lake and LA, tying up all the loose ends there while Colten stayed here with me.

At first, they’d gone back to LA after that weekend for Colt to finish out his last month of school there, but once he’d started here, I took care of him whenever Landon had to go. His trips had been less frequent since, though.

“You bought a house?” I asked breathlessly, blinking hard as I tried to wrap my head around what this meant. “This is it, then? You’re going to be here from now on?”

“Mostly,” he said. “I’ll still have to go back and forth until I have Walter settled and if I have to see clients or go to court, but outside of that, yes. I’ll be here.”

More tears streamed from my eyes. I couldn’t believe that this day was finally here. While I’d believed it would happen eventually, I hadn’t been at all sure when. I definitely hadn’t been expecting that day to be today.

Especially since Landon was getting involved with various nonprofit organizations within the criminal justice system. He was acting as an outside consultant they could utilize as a resource, but I had figured he would need to get all those ducks in a row before there would be any possibility of him being here permanently.

“I’m so happy right now,” I said, my voice catching as I shook my head at him. “When?”

He chuckled, pulling me close and holding me against his chest. “Last week. We couldn’t keep bouncing between AirBnBs and the motel any longer. Colten needs a home base now that he’s at school, and obviously, your apartment is too small, which is why I didn’t ask if we could just move in with you.”

I smiled, touching my palm to his cheek and drinking him in. “You’re amazing. I hope you’re going to be so happy at your new house. I’m sure you will be.”

“Your new house too,” he corrected me lightly. “We all needed somewhere we could settle together. A place with space, where we can make memories of our own. You don’t have to move in right away if you don’t want to. We’ll be ready whenever you are.”

“No, I want to,” I murmured. “I’m ready, and besides, I’m practically living with you anyway. I love being there to make Colt breakfast in the mornings and to help him with homework in the afternoons. No way am I giving up that time with him.”

Landon chuckled. “In that case, when can you move in?”

I arched a playful eyebrow at him. “As soon as you tell me where the house is. I can’t exactly move if I don’t know where I’m going.”

He grinned and pointed across the lake at the Manor. “It’s right there. You remember the way, right?”

My mouth fell open. “You didn’t!”

He gave me a cocky smirk before he crushed his lips to mine, murmuring against them in between kisses. “Why, yes. Yes I did. I think it’s the perfect place to live out our happily ever after, don’t you?”

***

What did you think about Landon and Jewel?

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***

If you loved this book, don’t miss out…

Check out book 1 in A Wedding Bells Alpha Novel called Say You Do.

My brother is an idiot—he’s getting married.

And I’m in charge of getting things together since our folks are gone.

Lucky me. The guy who thinks love is for the birds and worn-out 80s songs.

I honestly don’t have time for this drama. I run a billion-dollar company, have women to entertain, and am working on my plans to rule the world.

No, seriously.

And yet, when you least expect it, life kicks you in the balls.

The beautiful, snarky woman that runs the flower shop is perfect to help me pull off this wedding.

Just seeing her sends my head spinning with possibilities.

She’s perfect. To play my fake wife for an event I have coming up as a side deal.

My ex-wife will be at the event, and I sure could use someone to show her how well I’ve done since she ripped out my soul.

So my curvy new friend gets my ring and a chunk of my wallet before agreeing to the deal.

Funny thing is, I’m not so interested in taking it back by the end of the adventure.

I’m willing to go all in on what might be the best decision of my life.

And I’m demanding the same of her. No maybes. No I-don’t-knows.

No fear of what might be or might not be.

Open your pretty pink lips and utter the words.

Say you do.

I gotta have THIS