Epilogue

EPILOGUE

CAT

Three Months Later

“Any regrets?” I ask Holden as I look around the big space. Only one month ago, this was an empty warehouse. Now it’s full of pitching lanes, hitting lanes, a weight lifting area, and a therapy room.

He wraps his arms around me. “Not one.”

Since the day he retired as a professional baseball player and then turned down the coaching job, I’ve asked him the same question at least once a week. “You don’t miss it at all?”

He kisses the top of my head. “Where is this coming from? I thought you’d be happy about me opening the training center. ”

I curl into him, pressing my cheek against his chest. How do I explain to him everything I’m feeling? Of course, I’m happy he put the training center here in Whiskey Run. And he’s already proven that he’s going to be busy. Heck, there are pro athletes that are scheduling time to come here and train with him, and I have no doubt he’s going to make a success of this, but I still can’t help but question him. I don’t want him to ever resent me for this decision. “I am happy… I just want you to be happy.”

He pulls back to look me in the face. “You make me happy.”

I can’t look at him and let him see all my insecurity. I was scared when I moved me and Cole into Holden’s home and I kept thinking it would be temporary. For the first month, I held a part of my heart back, waiting for it all to fall apart, but Holden made it so easy to love him. He made it so easy for me to let my guard down and let him in completely. How could I not? Everything he did, he included me and Cole into the decision. He has shown up for everything. Practices, games, parent teacher conferences, he’s brought me lunch more times than I can count, he asks me about my day and actually listens, and at night—well, at night, he brings me to his room and shows me how much he loves me in the best way.

“I’m just checking. There have been a lot of changes these last three months, and I wanted to make sure you’re handling it all okay.”

He nods. “Yeah, well, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

I lean back and search his face and stutter, “Okay.”

Is he finally going to ask me to marry him? These last three months have been wonderful, but I know if I could go to sleep next to him each night and then wake up next to him in the morning, it would be perfect. I even told him I should just talk to Cole about it, but Holden said no. He doesn’t want us to share a room until we’re married.

Now if only he’d ask me.

“So I’ve been thinking, and I know how my life could be even better.”

Oh God, this is it. He’s going to ask me. “How?”

He lets go of me and walks across the room, turning on the light to the therapy room. He gestures to the room. “I want you to work here. ”

I stumble on my feet even though I haven’t even moved. “You want what?”

He holds his hands up. “I know you like your job, but I thought it would be perfect, if you wanted to, if you worked here as a therapist. We would get to see each other all day… we could build this together.”

I rapidly blink, and I don’t even try to hide my astonishment. “You want me to work here?”

He comes to me. “Are you okay? You’re pale as a ghost. What is it? It was just a thought, forget I even asked.”

He wraps his hands around my forearms. “No, I mean, maybe, we should talk about it. I thought you were asking me something else.” I pull from his hold and walk across the space into the therapy room. I look around the room, at the state of the art equipment. I look everywhere but at him.

“Cat.”

I force a lightness to my voice. “Yeah?”

“Stop. Look at me.”

I grit my teeth. You can do this, Cat. You can look at him without him knowing your heart is breaking in two. I force a smile on my face. “I can see how it would be a good idea, but I need to think about it. ”

He’s frowning at me as he comes toward me. Oh God, if he touches me I’ll never get through this . I step to the side. “I should probably go get Cole.”

He moves to step in front of me. “Dom is passing right by here, so I asked him to pick Cole up and drop him off.”

“Oh,” I say. That’s another thing. I have gone from it just being me and Cole to a full-fledged family. Holden’s brothers and sister have just brought us into their family like we belong here.

I pick up the magazine on the table and thumb through it. Determined to change the subject, I start to ramble. “I’m so glad to hear that Dom is going out on a date. I know you guys said that he’s given up on dating and all that, but he’s too good of a guy to be by himself. Do you know anything about the woman? I should ask Chrissy, she would probably know.”

“Cat,” he says, and when I don’t look at him, he repeats my name. “Catherine. Look at me.”

I lift my head and grip the magazine in my hand. “What is it?”

He comes toward me and doesn’t stop until we’re toe to toe. “What did you think I was going to ask you? ”

I shrug. “It doesn’t matter.”

He puts his hands on my shoulders and holds me to him. “Talk to me, Cat. What did you think I was going to ask you?”

I struggle to get out of his grasp, but he doesn’t let me. “Let’s not do this, please. Cole will be here soon and—”

He releases me. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

He practically runs from the room, and I try to calm myself down. I can do this. I can act like nothing has happened.

When he comes back into the room, his face is flushed, but there is an excitement in his eyes. “I’ve wanted to do this for a while now, but I was waiting on you. I didn’t want to pressure you, and I said I’d give you time but—” He sucks in a breath and drops to one knee in front of me. He holds out a ring box. “Cat, I love you more every day. The only thing that would make my life better is if you are my wife. And before I ask you, I want you to know that I talked to Cole about this around two months ago, and he gave me his blessing. Will you marry me, Cat?”

My mouth is hanging open. “But…”

He laughs. “There’s no buts. We’re meant to be together, Cat. Will you please marry me? ”

With my heart racing, I throw caution to the wind. “Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you.”

He puts the ring on my finger and then he stands up, takes my face in his hands, and kisses me until I’m breathless. The sound of the front door opening has us pulling apart.

“Mom! Holden! Where are you?”

Holden is all smiles. “You want to tell him?”

I reach for my future husband and wrap my hand around his. “We’ll both tell him.” We walk out of the therapy room. “We’re over here.”

Cole is walking to us, and he is all smiles. The change in him these last few months has been a sight to see. He’s so happy, I love seeing the smile on his face every day. I hold my hand up. “Cole, uh, Holden asked me if I’d marry him.”

Cole starts running toward us. “You said yeah, didn’t you, Mom? Tell me you said yes!”

Holden hugs me into his side, and I can’t help but laugh as Cole is practically jumping with excitement. “I said yes!”

He pumps his hand in the air. “Yes! Now I’ll have a dad and—”

He stops talking, and his eyes get really big. “I mean, not that you’re my dad. I just mean…”

He stops all movement and is looking at Holden like he expects him to freak out or something. Holden kisses me on the forehead and then releases me to go to Cole. He puts his hands on his shoulders. “Well, actually, when your mom and I get married, that’s exactly what that means. Technically, I’ll be your stepdad, but I thought about that, and maybe we—” He turns to look at me and gives me an apologetic look before turning back to my son. “I probably should have talked to your mom about this, but I had hoped that when your mom and I got married that your mom would let me adopt you so I could be your dad.”

Cole is stunned. “You want to be my dad?”

Holden nods his head. “Yes, I would be honored to be your dad, Cole.”

Cole bursts into tears, and so do I. I walk over to the two of them, and Holden wraps both of us up in his arms. His voice is thick with emotion. “I love you two… more than anything.”

I squeeze him tighter. “I love you, too.”

Cole buries his head into Holden’s shoulder. “I love you, Holden.”

A calm comes over me, and I soak up this feeling because I have my whole world in my arms and I feel like the luckiest woman in the world.

Want to read more about Dom and his date? Read Say Yes to the Fake Date

Want to read Gabe and Chrissy’s story? Read Marry Your Best Friend