Epilogue

Monday, October 31, 2022

"Ah! This is so exciting," Violet squealed when they walked through the front door of their new house.

The ink was hardly dry on the papers, but they had the keys and the go-ahead to move in, so she wasn't looking back. It was a done deal.

"When will the movers be here?" she asked, walking into the stream of sunlight coming from the large windows high above.

The house was empty, with the exception of the pool table that the previous owners had left in the game room. They had spent the past two days comparing one piece of furniture to another—Violet's versus Simon's—and deciding which they would keep and where it would go, which they would leave at her house for her sister to use when she moved in, and which they would put somewhere to fill the extra space they had. She'd been shocked to learn Simon had very few pieces of furniture, so the task hadn't been difficult.

"Paige said they left an hour ago."

Violet glanced at her non-existent watch. "And it takes how long to get from Dallas to here?"

"About three hours."

"And Archer? When will he be here with Harry and Hermione?"

"Probably in the next ten minutes."

She grinned. "That's plenty of time."

Simon moved closer. "I happen to agree."

She giggled when he put his arms around her. "You don't even know what I was thinkin'."

"That we should christen every flat surface before there's anything on it."

"I like that your mind's as dirty as mine."

"Baby, my mind's filthy."

Violet smiled. He wasn't kidding. And that was just one of the many things she loved about him. For the past month, they'd fallen into a comfortable routine, and to her surprise, things had gotten easier when she stopped fighting it. Accepting that he loved her wasn't nearly as difficult as she thought because the man proved it with everything he did. And because of that, Violet was working just as diligently to show him how much she loved him.

And, of course, there was the sex.

She never imagined it could get hotter than it already was, but Simon proved her wrong at every turn. They'd spent the past few weeks doing exactly what she was suggesting they do here—christening every inch—at her house as a farewell gift to the space. She wasn't going to miss it; she knew that much. The house had been great for her, but this was the next phase of their lives, and Violet was ready to move forward. She'd spent far too much time worried about what would never happen only to get the greatest gift of all: the love of a good man.

"I think we should start with that pool table," she whispered.

Simon lifted her into his arms, making her giggle.

"I thought you'd never ask."