“Here goes,” he muttered as he raised his hand to knock.
Nessa opened the door before he could make contact and stepped out onto the porch. “I hope you were really serious all those times you asked me to move in with you.”
“I was.” He wrapped his arms around her.
“They’re kicking me out, and they already have my stuff packed. April slept in her room last night.” She rose up on her toes and kissed him. “And something tells me that you already knew.”
“I did,” he said as he gave her another kiss. “Let’s load your things up and go home, darlin’.”
“Home,” she repeated.
“Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?” Jackson said.
“Are y’all going to stand out there all morning?” Flynn yelled from the kitchen. “Come on in and have some breakfast, Jackson.”
“I guess I’m getting a family, along with you.” Jackson chuckled.
“Family is another wonderful word.” Nessa took his hand and pulled him into the house.
“I love you, Nessa,” he whispered.
“I love you right back, Jackson.” She stopped in the middle of the living room and kissed him one more time.
Epilogue
One year later
Flynn noticed the T-shirt hanging on the wall when he walked into Weezy’s that cool September evening. It read: “Where the heck is Blossom, Texas?”
“It’s the best-kept secret in all the world, and is right next door to heaven,” he muttered as he headed toward the booth where he and his two cousins had their group therapy once a month. He had just slid into the booth when Nessa and April arrived. Nessa hadn’t changed much since the first time they’d met there, but April had put on a few pounds and looked amazing. They crossed the café and sat across from him.
“Thanks for coming here, even though we do see each other almost every day. Nanny Lucy would be so glad to see us keeping up the tradition of meeting like this. I want us to remember her, so I decided to make a donation in her memory to a bipolar research facility each year on the anniversary of when we came back to Blossom,” he said.
“Great minds.” April smiled. “Kent and I were just talking about doing something like this for his firm to support a few days ago.”
“Tell me more,” Nessa said.
Flynn spoke up before April could and told her the name of the organization he’d chosen and then said, “It’s a nonprofit organization supporting research on the causes of, and treatments for, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. It’s been around since 1989, and from everything I could read, it’s legit.”
“That’s the one Kent chose, too,” April said. “He did a lot of research on several charities that support Nanny Lucy’s illness, and this is the one that looked best to him.”
“I’m in,” Nessa said. “Jackson and I were just talking about what charity we should support this year. This may be our choice forever.”
“Mine, too,” Flynn said. “And thanks for agreeing with me. We just need to do something to help folks who have the same difficulties she had. Now let’s talk about the honeymoon, April.”
“It was absolutely wonderful, but it wasn’t a honeymoon as much as it was a vacation, because we took Callie with us,” April said. “I just couldn’t leave her with either of you guys, as much as she’d love to stay.”
“She’s so full of life that she brings sunshine when she just walks into a room,” Nessa said. “Someday I hope Jackson and I have one just like her.”
“Your biological clock is ticking,” April teased. “And you do have a hope chest to keep all the baby things in until your daughter gets here.”
“Hey, if my clock is ticking, so are both of yours,” Nessa shot back at her. “We’re all three pretty much the same age.”
“Guys don’t have biological clocks, and I need a little more time to get my ducks in a row before I get into a relationship,” Flynn said.
“Who would have thought that a year would make this much difference in our lives?” April said. “Or that Nessa and I would be married at the end of the year? I really thought you would bring a plus-one to my wedding, Flynn.”
“I was my own plus-one.” Flynn grinned. “I’ve learned to be a patient man. My time will come, and I don’t intend to rush things. When I do tie the knot, I hope the woman of my dreams wants to go to the courthouse, like Nessa and Jackson did.”
“I didn’t want to have to deal with my dad insisting on doing the ceremony,” Nessa said.
“And I don’t want to deal with my dad even being there,” Flynn chuckled. “He’s in mourning now because Delores left him. And when he’s sad, the only thing that cheers him up is chasing another woman. He’d spend the whole time at my wedding looking out over the congregation for his next victim. I don’t want him to choose one from Blossom. I think we’d all have to save Tilly.”
Tilly came over to the table, almost as if she’d heard them, and sighed. “You still tryin’ to shape up?”
“Yes, ma’am, and makin’ progress. What about you?” Flynn asked.
“Still happy with my life.” She grinned. “What are y’all havin’ today?”
“I’ll have a large sweet tea and a chicken-fried steak.” He figured that when he was close to a finished product, he might be able to eat a hot dog again, but that wasn’t today.
“I want a sweet tea, chicken-fried steak, and a peach fried pie,” April said.
“And I’ll have a sweet tea and a burger basket,” Nessa added.
“Same thing every time y’all come in here,” Tilly said.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” April smiled up at her.
“Well, my pitiful little heart is broken.” Tilly sighed again. “I’ve missed out on two good men in one year. Jackson and now Flynn.”
“Maybe your luck will change next year,” Nessa said. “But just a word of advice you can take or leave. If you want a change, you have to work for it.”
“I’ve always been a little bit lazy.” Tilly grinned and then hurried back to the kitchen.
“A year can change luck for sure,” Flynn said. “A year ago, I was the one who wasn’t going to be in Blossom but a month or six weeks at the most, and now I’m the one living in the house. If and when I ever get married, y’all realize the wife will make changes to the place, right? Is that going to bother either of you?”
“Of course not.” Nessa shook her head. “I made lots of changes to Jackson’s place when I moved in. Y’all ever think that fate had a hand in bringing us all back to Blossom?”
“Oh, yes, I do,” April answered. “Call it fate or the will of God or good luck—whatever you want to name it—but it’s a miracle that we’re all sitting here together tonight.”
“And we have found the happiness we were looking for, right?” Nessa asked.
“Yes!” Flynn and April said at the same time.