Page 143 of Rules to Love By

“Yes?”

“Did you ever look into that dance thing?”

Schiffer grinned at him. “In fact, I did. And I found an excellent company run by Cobalt Winslow, the brother of a good friend. It’s been…life affirming.”

“Good.” Marcus nodded. “That’s really good.”

“Yes, it is.”

Marcus trailed Eli out of the office after that, then followed him through to the bright sunshine on the street. For a moment, they all three stood on the sidewalk outside the lawyer’s office, blinking.

“What just happened?” Marcus looked from one of them to the other.

Eli wrapped one arm around his shoulder, and the contact grounded him. “Your life just changed a bit, I think.” He kissed the side of Marcus’s head. “Hungry?”

“Let’s go to the Hen and Hog,” Tris suggested, taking Marcus’s near hand. “I wanna see if Ira’s working. Pick his brain on where he shops.”

“Where he shops?” It seemed like such a weird side note. Marcus peered down at his best friend.

“Well…” Tris winked at him. “Heard I might be coming into some money soon, so…”

“It’s probably not that much, Tris.”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m going to spend it on something I love. I feel like that’s what she’d want.”

Marcus could hardly fault his logic. It felt like all spring he’d been preoccupied with trying to figure out what Iris might have wanted. He saw no reason Tris’s theory couldn’t be as valid as anything else. Besides, it was nice to think what she really cared about was making sure the people she loved were happy.

And maybe that was all she’d ever wanted for Johnathan too. It wasn’t her fault if the man had no clue how to actually be happy.

Marcus leaned into Eli’s side and squeezed Tris’s fingers. He was not Johnathan. He could be happy. He had his best friend at his side. He had his diner and his home back, and maybe some money to start fixing it. More important, he also had Eli. And maybe, someday, they’d talk again about sharing the Egg Basket. The idea made him shiver, but in a good way.

“All right?” Eli asked into his ear.

He sighed in response, turned his head and kissed Eli’s cheek. “It’s going to be, yeah.” He peered into Eli’s eyes. “With you?”

“Oh, most definitely with me. Which reminds me. How do you feel about cats?”

“Every nosey building needs a cat.”

“Good. Because I come with a cat.”

“I wasn’t sure you remembered that.”

“I remember. Is the offer still open?”

Marcus grinned. “It is.” He’d wasted enough time grieving. He was ready to move on.

“What are you two whispering about?” Tris asked.

“The future,”

“Lunch?”

Marcus hugged him. “Let’s go see a man about some boots, shall we?”

EPILOGUE

Like all legal things, the will and estate took some time to settle. Marcus expected blowback from Johnathan but got none at all. In fact, when the lawyers reached out to him to tell him of his good fortune, he was nowhere to be found.

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