Page 124 of Hot for the Jerk

EPILOGUE

Raina

Eighteenmonthslater…

“I honestly thought he would have proposed by now,” I said to Gabrielle as we tidied up the tasting room after another very successful event.“He told me he would do it when I was ready, but least expected it.”

“Are you ready?”she asked, carrying a tray of dirty wine glasses to the glass cleaning machine behind the bar.

I gave her a look that basically said, “What do you think?”

She smirked.“So stop expecting it, then it’ll happen.It’s Jagger.He’s like the most romantic man on the planet.When it happens, it’ll knock your socks off.”

I glanced down at my open-toe sandals.“I need to start wearing socks again then.”

She snorted and rolled her pretty amber eyes.

Danica came out from the back room.“Just rough numbers here, but this was one of our most successful private tasting parties yet.Over half the attendees signed up for the yearly subscription box.”

I smirked as I wiped down the counter.“Ah, that coupon code for ten percent off really draws people in.I love it.”

“It also helps that we’ve expanded the box to be anislandartisan box,” Naomi said, coming into the tasting room from the small kitchen, and chewing on something.“Now that we haveallthe alcohol distributors participating, as well as local artisans and vendors, we’re going to have to create tiers for the boxes and possibly start a waitlist.”She glanced at Danica.“Is this even sustainable?”

Danica tipped her head side-to-side in thought.“Itis, but you are right, we should probably create some tiers.It might increase revenue, since the price point is extremely high.Right now, we’re only serving a higher income bracket of customers.If we have smaller subscription boxes, or ones they can curate a bit more for themselves, more people might participate, increasing our overall revenue.”

“I’m on it,” I said.“I’ll add it to my to-do list for the coming week.”

“You should get going home,” Gabrielle said, tipping her chin at me.“We can finish up here.”

I glared at her.“You kicking me out of my own business?”

She exchanged glances with my cousins and all three of them shared knowing, almost sneaky smiles.“No.But you’ve been here since eight this morning.”She checked her smartwatch.“It’s now eleven-thirty.Go home to your man and child.”

Naomi and Danica both nodded, agreeing with our matriarch.

If I wasn’t so dead on my feet, and yawning more than I was blinking, I’d have probed them more for why they were being cagey.But honestly, the thought of crawling into bed at home on the hillside trumped everything else.

“Fine,” I said, twisting my mouth and narrowing my brows, mostly in jest.“But any juicy gossip discussed needs to either beaboutme, or reiterated back to me tomorrow.”

They all made amused noises in their throats, but nodded.

I climbed into my CRV outside less than five minutes later and drove the ten minutes across the island to Marco and Jagger.

It was Marco’s idea that we move in with Jagger.We didn’t do it right away, but after about eight months of Jagger and I seeing each other, and sleeping over at each other’s houses, Marco asked if it wouldn’t just be easier for us to move in together.We saw that as a sign that he was ready.So we took the plunge in August, and the hillside above San Camanez Brewery and the Sound Bites pub became our new home.

I still saw my cousins all the time, and Marco saw his all the time too.It didn’t feel like too much of a change, and plus, Jagger’s place was so much bigger.I was able to increase my plant family—by a lot.

As far as my brothers and Soloman were concerned, all four were serving time—the twins less so than the other two—for kidnapping, assault, and reckless endangerment.Thankfully, I wasn’t required to be present in court and relive the horrors.

Marco, obviously, struggled with some PTSD.He still did from time to time.His level of attachment to me and Jagger intensified, and he didn’t like to be anywhere without us, which made going to school a big challenge.Luckily, we got him an emotional support bearded dragon—Mario—that he was able to bring to class with him in a small portable terrarium, and that helped.Either Jagger or I drove him to and from school for the rest of the year though.Which was totally understandable.Marco was also seeing a child counselor online via videochat once a month, to work through some of his lingering fears and worries.

In the eighteen months since the incident, my kid had come leaps and bounds with his fears and anxiety.He still had some of them, but working together, and with a lot of patience and compassion, he was doing a lot better.

Those first few weeks after though, he slept in my bed and would even follow me if I got up to go to the bathroom.He’d stand outside the closed door, and I would have to groggily reassure him that I was still there.Then we’d walk back to bed together.

I went and saw Soloman and Ozais in prison once and I warned them both, as I stared into their dead eyes, that if they ever came after my family again, I wouldn’t hesitate to gut either of them like a fish.

Now, I pulled into the brewery property, the driver’s side window down the whole drive back so I could breathe in that sweet, briny island air.There was nothing like it.If someone could figure out how to bottle it and sell it, they’d make a fortune.

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