Page 140 of Downpour

No one said a word until Bree broke the silence. “Cass, this is Mason.”

Cassandra’s intimidating gaze turned on the teenager. “Right. No red flags on your background check, but just know that I have eyes and ears everywhere.”

He nodded nervously. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Don’t say that!” Bree whispered to him.

“Uh—Um—Yes, Ms. Parker,” Mason recited.

“Well,” Mom said as she glanced at the door. “I suppose we should start eating before it gets cold.”

The tension from CJ’s sudden departure faded as we dug into our meal. Luca shared his vision for the restaurant and, I had to admit, it didn’t sound half-bad. Laughter filled the table as he talked about a woman he was going to propose to—a pastry chef from a restaurant his group recently acquired—and how they met.

An hour later, Luca said his goodbyes and headed out to catch a flight to North Carolina.

Bree and Mason had slipped out for a walk around the front of the property that was supervised by Gracie, leaving Christianto commiserate with Becks and Nate. I stole Brooke away from her conversation with my dad and led her out to the porch to watch the sun set.

Cicadas sang as Brooke helped me transfer to one of the rocking chairs.

“Thanks, baby,” I said as I adjusted my legs and leaned back.

Brooke made a move for the other rocking chair, but I caught her around the waist and pulled her onto my lap.

“This is nice,” she said as she rested her temple in the crook of my neck and closed her eyes.

I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Can I ask you something?”

“What’s that?”

“Are you happy here?”

Brooke laughed. “What kind of question is that? Of course I’m happy here.”

I tucked her hair behind her ear. “I mean it. If all your days looked like this one, would you be happy?”

She tapped her chin. “Let me think… Waking up to you? Yes. Walking to work? Yes. My job? Yes. Coming home to you? Yes. Not having to cook dinner? Absolutely. Falling asleep with you? Yes.” She kissed my cheek. “I couldn’t have dreamed up anything better. You’ve given me everything I never knew I wanted.”

She felt so good in my arms. And, for the first time in a long time, I was at peace with where I was.

“What about in there?”

“In the house?”

I nodded. “What if your life looked like that? A big family. A front porch to sit on when the day is done. A whole bunch of kids running around, causing chaos.”

Her fingers glided over the tattoos on my forearms. “I think that sounds like a dream.”

I kissed her lips. “What about all of that here? With me?”

Her hands pressed against my cheeks as she tipped her head to the side and kissed me long and slow. “I’m in for the ride.”

EPILOGUE

BROOKE

Seven Months Later

Ismoothed my hands over Ray’s shoulders, working the baby oil over his muscles. “Are you excited?”

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