Page 108 of Forgotten Romance

“But … your LEGO.”

He puts the kids down. “The truth is, I got so into it because it was my way to escape the tension in the house. I don’t need to do that anymore, and coming out here to build things just takes me back to that place. So I want you to have this space. And I thought … if there’s room at the library, I could set up some of my bigger pieces there, and the rest … maybe one night a week, I could run a building class with kids or something.”

“That’s a fucking amazing idea.”

“Yeah?” The relief that crosses his face is so sweet. “I want to enjoy it again. Maybe it sounds stupid, but?—”

“Nope. I think it’s amazing. Like you.”

He rolls his eyes. “There’s that word again.”

I pointedly look around the room. “Well, you keep on proving me right.”

He looks down and lifts my hand to slip the ring back onto my finger. The ring finger. Right where it belongs. “We’re doing this again?”

“For the last time,” I assure him.

Davey smiles and buries his face in my neck, and I hold him close, breathing in his scent, bathing in his warmth, the anxiousness of the past few years dissolving into nothing.

“Finally,” I sigh.

“What?”

“Everything is finally perfect.”

EPILOGUE

Davey

“Not again.” Payne rushes to grab the four-year-old redhead off the bar top. She’s wearing a Tinkerbell dress, combat boots, Barbie sunglasses, a bike helmet, and a dinosaur tail. I’m not sure what style it is she’s channeling, but when she says, “But, Papa, I’m following the stars to Neverland!” I know exactly which parent she takes after.

The one sitting with his nose in a book at a party.

My husband would probably be the same if I let him. And that’s husband, officially, as of last year. It feels different the second time around, like I have my eyes open, and it’s easy to appreciate the little things. When we fight, we fight properly and actually come to a resolution instead of Mack having his worries build up and me shutting down to it all.

I love this new version of us.

Mom and Dad have the kids downstairs in the bar area of Killer Brew, leaving Davey and me to chat with our friends.

Almost everyone we know is here. Art’s Fourth of July celebrations have turned Killer Brew into a headache of red, white, and blue. Families pack the bar around below, and Art invited a few of us upstairs to take a minute away from the mayhem.

I watch as Art pours out fourteen shot glasses while Joey hands them out. No one is talking much, the noise from downstairs more than enough to fill in the comfortable moment. Barney takes one each for him and Leif since Leif’s busy hugging him from behind and doesn’t look like he’s in a hurry to stop. Once Payne has their daughter planted firmly between them, he and Beau take their glasses too. Heath takes his and Griff’s from where he’s perched on Griff’s lap. Orson and Ford are next. Keller and Will. Me and Mack. The final two are taken by Art and Joey.

“Thanks for taking this moment,” Art says, none of his usual fuckery detected in his voice. “I don’t know what it is about this year, but I’ve been more sentimental than usual lately.” He shrugs, and Joey rubs his back softly. “I’m sitting here, looking around at your ugly faces, and realizing, somehow, I love you guys more than just about anyone in the world.”

“Me, more than the rest of you,” Joey points out.

“Thank fuck for that,” Payne mutters.

“So thank you for being here,” Art continues like there was no interruption. “Truly. Barney and I had a mad little idea, and it warms my heart to see how far it’s come. How many of you have found your person. Knowing I’ve been able to be there for every one of you … it really is …” He blinks quickly. “Thank you for giving me that.”

There’s a stunned silence, and then Art cracks a smile.

“Now that I’ve officially freaked you all out …” He lifts his shot glass. “To us. Cheers.”

“Cheers.” We all throw back our drinks, and when I’m putting mine down, my gaze catches on where Mack is watching me.

“You okay?” I ask him.

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