Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79621 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79621 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
EPILOGUE
“Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.”—Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights
Two years later…
Bryson
The office was small and a little cramped, but the view of the forest behind campus through the large picture window was breathtaking.
I sat on the corner of Smitty’s desk and admired the natural beauty for a moment before opening one of the boxes we’d schlepped from our house. “Uh…babe? These are cookbooks. Did you mean to bring Julia Child along on your new teaching adventure?”
“Actually, yes, I did, wise guy.” Smitty plucked the thick book from my hand and kissed my forehead, perching his sexy ass beside me. The gold band on his left hand caught the light as he thumbed through the pages. “I was thinking that it would be cool to integrate cooking into the whole health and nutrition spiel for the kids next semester. I don’t know how I’m going to do that, exactly. I’m not a great cook, but I’m good at the basics and I could bring in experts like JC to give lessons on how to spice things up. In a healthy way.”
“That’s a great idea. Except Julia uses lots of butter.”
“Yeah, yeah. I got a few other books in there. We don’t have access to an oven, but we could make salads and healthy shit. They gotta learn how to feed themselves…be independent—no sink or swim necessary. Basic skills we’ll absolutely teach our kid someday.” He flashed a dopey sideways grin, then opened one of the boxes piled on his chair. “All right, we don’t have to do much here. I’ll unpack everything in August, put the shelves up for books and trophies, and I’ll hang some pics on that wall. What do you think?”
“It’s going to look great,” I enthused, hopping up to tap the blank wall opposite his desk. “So our supersized wedding photo will go right here where you can gaze at it all day?”
Smitty rolled his eyes. “Unfortunately, there’s only one supersized photo, and that’s at home. I’ll bring the smaller one and put it on my desk like a normal person. But let’s be real, the rink is my real office.”
True.
With three seasons as the head coach of Elmwood High School’s hockey team under his belt, Smitty was the undisputed king of the rink. The first season was the roughest, but the Hawks had improved exponentially every year. In fact, they were reigning champions of the Four Forest league, led by graduating senior, Denny Mellon, who’d just signed on with Jake’s agent. According to McD, Denny would be Elmwood’s second active NHL star in no time…alongside Jake, of course.
Jake became a Bruin two years ago and was one of the leading scorers in the league. Yeah, he was a star and this town couldn’t have been more proud. And me? I was over the moon for him. Worried too ’cause, according to my husband, that was how I rolled. I couldn’t help it. His world changed overnight, and that would have been daunting for any young person. Jake was seemingly ready for the spotlight. He relished competition, fought hard, and never backed down. He reminded me a lot of Smitty, who I knew Jake credited for helping him hone his craft.
Smitty and Jake had a nice relationship now. They had hockey in common…and me. Jake had always been my fiercest supporter, and that doubled after Smitty and I made our relationship public knowledge. Sure, we’d expected the press to cover Smitty’s coming-out news, but his connection to me through Jake had made it a mini circus. Smitty had been totally unfazed.
I believe his exact words were, “Some people will congratulate us, and others won’t. That’s life. We’re happy, so…fuck ’em.”
He was right. We mattered. And after years of worrying about how I was perceived by the outside world, I was ready to let go and embrace my own happiness. And when Smitty asked me to marry him, of course I said yes.
Yep, husbands!
We got hitched in the gardens outside of St. Finbarr’s on a beautiful June day in front of our friends and family…and basically the entire town. The reception was held on the patio area at the diner under a thousand fairy lights. It was a gorgeous and heartfelt ceremony followed by a raucous party that lasted till the wee hours of the morning.
Jake was my best man and Smitty’s best friend, Jimmy, was his. This was our second chance at forever, and we didn’t take our vows lightly. I loved Smitty with all my heart. I wanted to support him and make him happy for the rest of our lives, and I knew he felt the same for me.
Nothing too drastic had changed otherwise. My business was steadily growing, and Smitty coached full time and taught a couple of health and nutrition classes that were such a hit with the kids that they’d given him his own space and hired him to teach a summer course. That would be tricky.