Gooseturned, surveying the room and its furniture, then said, “Well, shit. I guessAlex isgonnaneed more than just one drawer, huh.”
Unableto fight my grin, knowing I was now home in a city I never thought I would callmine, I replied, “We’ll figure it out.”
“Andwe should probably get you a desk, too,” he muttered with a furrowed brow,smoothing a hand over his beard.
Thethought of a desk was enough to make me want to jump around on the spot, but Irefrained, as I stood on my toes, kissed his lips, and said, “I agree, but howabout some wings first?”
“That,I can definitely manage,” he replied with a grin.
Weleft his—our—room together, to find his daughter and my son asleep onthe couch, beside his dog and my cat. We stood for a moment, watching over them,basking in the glow of our silver linings, laid out before us, as they shinedbrightly to conquer the shadows left by our scars.
“Andjust think,” he said quietly, leaning down to bring his mouth closer to my ear,“all of this happened because a girl named Kenny walked into a bar and met aguy named Goose.”
“Itreally would make a good book,” I replied.
“Yeah,”he agreed with a nod. “You should probably write that one.”
“Hmm,”I hummed softly, wrapping an arm around hiswaistandtucking myself into the comfort of his side. “I might just do that.”
Epilogue
“KennyWright?”
Standingbehind the table, I turned on my heel to face an older woman holding a stack ofbooks. She smiled at me when she realized she had my attention, and I smiledback.
“Hi,”I said, walking closer. “How are you?”
Blushing,her hands shook as she lowered the books to the table. “I’m g-good. Great,really. It … it’s such an honor to meet you. I-I can’t tell you how-how much Ijust love your books.”
“Oh,thank you so much,” I replied, honestly grateful as I took the first book fromthe pile. It was my first, one I had written so many years ago. “Wow. This ispractically a relic.”
“Yeah,I know,” she laughed nervously. “But it’s one of my favorites. Molly isprobably your most relatable character, at least for me.”
Inodded fondly, looking down at the cover. “I wrote her to be a lot like me atthe time,” I replied. “It’s seriously crazy how quickly things can change.”
Then,I asked, “Who am I making these out to?”
“O-Oh,uh, Judy. That’s my first name. But I’m also a member on your message board, soyou might recognize my full name. Judy Leanne House-Bowman?”
Iwas embarrassed, because my online community had exploded since the release ofmy most recent books and my online presence hadn’t been what it used to be.Judy deflated a bit with the realization that her name wasn’t ringing a bell,and I apologized for my inability to remember everybody.
“Oh,it’s okay! Um, I’m always talking to my friends, Emma and Dana, so maybe yourecognize them?”
Ismiled apologetically again, and said, “I’m sure I’d know all of you if I wasonline and saw your profile pictures.”
Judygrinned, nodding. “We are all such huge fans of your books. You are one of ourabsolute favorites.”
Iwished I could’ve sat there and chatted with Judy for hours. I also wished Icould take compliments better, as she praised my work and everything I had everdone.SadlyI failed at both, because compliments werenever going to come easily for me and there was a line of other readers,waiting to have their books signed. So, I gave her a hug and thanked herprofusely for coming. Then, I moved on to the next reader, and then the nextafter that, until I reached the last person, and I could finally breathe.
Thatwas when I saw him. The tall, reddish-blond Viking of a man approaching mytable, wearing a plaid button-down and wielding a cup of coffee. And at his sidewas a little boy. A boy who looked like me on the outside but could’ve onlygotten his sweet, loving heart from the man he called Daddy.
“Godbless you,” I gushed, reaching out with grabbing fingers for the cup ofSeattle’s finest. “And God bless the man who founded Starbucks.”
“Longday?” Goose asked, rounding my table to inspect the boxes I had brought filledwith books. “Wow. You’ve sold a lot of books.”
“Nokidding.” I said, after taking a long sip. “It’s been crazy. These last fewbooks have done so well, I guess my name is making the rounds or something.”
“It’sa good thing,” he replied, smiling. Then, he looked to Alex and said, “Hey,wasn’t there something you wanted to tell Mommy?”
