“Did Everett call the cops?” he asked Juliet as they got ready for bed.
“I think so.” Juliet sighed. “Reid didn’t mean it—he was an idiot.”
Muscles tight, Jake gripped her chin. “Don’t you dare let him get away with this.”
Smiling, Juliet pressed a hand to his chest. “No, he has to be held responsible, but I hope the judge gives him mandatory alcohol-addiction counseling along with any punishment.”
Jake didn’t give a shit about Reid, but he was clearly much more of a hard-ass than Juliet. Since he couldn’t stop touching her, he gave in and took a long, deep kiss. “Behave,” he said when she made a kittenish purr in her throat. “No exertion for a week.” And they definitely exerted themselves when they got together in bed.
Juliet pouted.
Chuckling, he dropped a kiss on her nose before wandering into the master suite bathroom. When he came back out, it was to find the bedroom empty. Figuring she must be making a hot drink in the kitchen, he padded that way, but she wasn’t there either. Then he heard a soft murmur coming from the direction of Esme’s room.
Walking over, he peeked in the half-open door. Juliet was sitting on the side of the bed while Esme stubbornly faced the wall, her back to Juliet and her arms tightly folded across her chest. But Juliet had her hand on Esme’s shoulder and she was telling Esme a bedtime story.
Jake’s heart was already so full, but it expanded all over again right then. He stayed outside and just listened as Juliet completed the story.
Closing the book, she said, “I love you, Boo” and made sure the blanket was tucked up nicely around Esme’s drowsy body.
When Esme mumbled something, Juliet said, “I know you’re mad at me, but I still love you.” Another kiss pressed to Esme’s temple before she came to the door.
Seeing Jake, she walked into his arms.
“Will you love me too, even when I’m grumpy?”
She looked up, eyes dark. “I’ll love you always.”
Scared, so scared at the love that filled him up and could destroy him, Jake said, “Let’s grow old and wrinkly together, Jules.” He knew she couldn’t promise that, that life wasn’t predictable, but he needed to hear the words. A statement of intent against fate.
“We will grow old together,” Juliet said firmly. “We have a daughter to raise, and some day we’ll have grandchildren to spoil.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Let’s do this.”
Epilogue
Happy Ever After
Jake glanced at the gleaming supercar in the lot of the local park where he and the family came often to hang out and play a game of rugby. A bunch of teenagers were gathered around it, snapping pics, pure awe on their faces.
He got it. It was a beautiful machine. He’d hooked up with the engineers and mechanics who’d worked on the engine and knew that the car was as beautiful inside as it was on the outside. Thanks to Juliet’s encouragement, he was thinking seriously about continuing his education and getting into something to do with high-performance cars when he eventually retired from rugby.
Her laughter broke the air.
He looked to where she stood chatting with Charlotte and Ísa under the spreading branches of a flowering cherry tree, unable to believe how his life had changed so much in the space of a year and a bit. All because of her. A woman who loved openly and without fear, and who challenged him to do the same.
“Spot! Wait!”
He laughed as he saw Esme’s mutt of a rescue puppy race away from her with a Frisbee in his mouth. Danny took off after the dog, his long, powerful legs eating up the ground. Emmaline ran over from the other side at the same time to try to cut Spot off from absconding with the Frisbee.
Given how much Sailor’s daughter adored the puppy, Jake had a feeling another dog would soon be joining the family. Lawyers had nothing on the pint-sized negotiating team of Esme and Emmaline.
Gabriel and Sailor were at the portable grill they’d brought out for today’s picnic, and their parents—plus Ísa’s mum—were on loungers, watching the shenanigans. They were also taking turns cuddling Ísa and Sailor’s happy, healthy baby boy—who seriously looked like a miniature copy of Sailor.
The newest human member of the family was named Joseph Connor, in honor of his grandfather. Said grandfather was already predicting another generation of rugby greatness. To avoid mix-ups between Joseph senior and junior, everyone referred to the baby by his second name. Connor took it all in his baby stride.
Alison called out right then, and Ísa and Charlotte headed her way while Juliet stayed behind to flip out a picnic blanket on which he knew she planned to put snacks for the kids. The dark pink petals of the cherry tree fell around her where she stood, and she looked up, a soft smile on her face, her hair as vibrant a pink as the petals.
Juliet was wild color, and she’d drenched his life with it.
Jake was walking toward her before he knew it. Digging into his pocket, he pulled out what he’d hidden there. She smiled at him as he neared, said something, but he didn’t hear. His heart was pounding too hard.
He’d meant to do this at another time and place, but this moment felt right.
Going down on one knee in front of her, he opened his hand to expose the ring within. A burst of color. Not only diamonds but all the hues of Juliet.
Her hands flew to her mouth, her nails shimmering gold and her eyes shining.
“Marry me?” he said, his mouth dry.
Nodding jerkily, she held out her hand and he slipped on the ring. She jumped on him the instant it was on, tumbling him to the picnic blanket. Laughing, he rolled on it with her as the cherry blossoms fell on them, and he felt young and alive and invincible.
“Daddy! Is Jules gonna marry us?”
Opening his arm as Juliet opened hers, they enclosed Esme in the hug, her delight added to theirs. Spot, not to be left out, jumped into the pile, and it dissolved into a thing of wild joy with the wiggling puppy butt in Esme’s face causing her to laugh hysterically.
Across the blanket, he kept one hand linked with Juliet’s, and when she turned her head, he said, “I love you, Jules.”
She said, “I know,” and it was the most wonderful thing she could’ve said.
I love writing about the Bishop-Esera clan, and I hope you love reading their stories just as much. There’s only one more brother to go now—Danny’s turn in the spotlight is coming up next. If you’d like to be notified when his book is available, please join my monthly newsletter at: www.nalinisingh.com Along with release information, I send our free short stories and/or exclusive deleted scenes several times a year.
I’d also like this opportunity to acknowledge my friend and fellow author, Wendy Vella, and her son, professional rugby player Nathan Vella. They were incredibly generous with their time and knowledge of professional rugby. Any mistakes are mine (and I confess I did take some small artistic liberties).
If you’ve missed the stories of the other brothers, they are: CHERISH HARD (Sailor) and ROCK HARD (Gabriel). –Nalini