We hurried toward the car.
“Four!”
“Three!”
“Two!”
“One!”
I pulled my wife into my arms.
“Happy New Year, my wife,” I whispered.
“Happy New Year, my husband.”
Fireworks went off over the water, cheers rang out all around town. And I kissed the woman I loved, my wife, my forever.
My happiness.
Epilogue
Reegan
I smiled and waved as the last buses pulled away from the curb. It was finally summer vacation. I exhaled like I hadn’t taken a full breath in months. I had the entire summer ahead of me.
My gut clenched at the thought. I couldn’t remember the last time I had a summer completely free. Working for Finley and Trent MacKellar for the last few years kept me busy. Before that, I stayed busy with school. Before that…
I couldn’t even remember. But a full summer off…
Too much time on my hands was not a good thing. Too much time would remind me of all the things I didn’t have.
Happy fucking birthday to me.
I retreated to my classroom and packed up the last of my things. My fellow teachers were hurrying for the door, excited to start their summer. I waved to a few as they walked past me. I was not in a hurry to spend my thirty-sixth birthday all alone.
I stalled as long as I could before heading to my car. The weather was perfect, so I took a minute to lower the top on my convertible. It was an early birthday present to myself. Cherry red with a black top and shiny new. I’d never bought a new car before, and I loved it.
I also loved cake, and if I was going to spend my birthday alone, I was going to buy one for dinner and not feel guilty about eating the whole thing myself. I pulled out of the school parking lot and turned to cut through the neighborhood to get to the grocery store.
Buses were dropping kids off, and I slow-rolled it through the busy family-friendly neighborhood, smiling at the kids racing off the bus to waiting parents. The bus turned left, and I went right, then immediately stopped behind a moving truck backing into a driveway.
I paused and waited for them, not minding the delay, and looked over at the house.
It was cute. A brick ranch with a picture window out front and huge trees in the backyard. A perfect family house. The kind I never wanted. The life I never wanted. But someone did.
I was staring at the house when the front door opened, and a very pregnant woman walked out. Right behind her was a man who was all too familiar to me.
Landon Boyd.
My ex. The man I thought I’d spend the rest of my life with. The man who wanted that picture-perfect house and family that I bristled against every time he mentioned it.
“Reegan?” Landon said, catching sight of me staring at him and his house. “Um, hi.”
The truck was in the driveway, and I hadn’t moved. “Hi. Sorry. I didn’t realize you guys bought this house.”
“Yeah, we’re just moving in today. We closed yesterday, but it didn’t make sense to move in late in the day. Casey’s moving a little slow these days.”
“Are you complaining?” Casey asked from right behind him. She blanched when she saw me in the car. “Reegan. Hi. How… How are you?”
