Epilogue

Three months later…

“Is this the last of it?”

She nodded. “I think so.” Then she paused. “I hope so.”

Owen came and stood beside her, putting his arms around her and holding her close. They were closing up Howard’s house. All of his things were packed up and were either being donated or going into storage until Brooke’s parents came to get them. Brooke and Owen had already taken the things that Howard specifically wanted them to have—including the chess set—and shipped them to the house they were renting in North Carolina.

Movers came in and took the last stack of boxes out. The room was empty. The house was now empty. Brooke stood in Owen’s arms, and he could feel the slight trembling of her body. “You going to be okay?”

She nodded, but he heard her sniffle. “It all…it was just so much faster than I thought it would be.”

“I know.” And he did. When they had gotten back to Chicago after the visit with his family, his friend’s health had deteriorated quickly. Six weeks after their return, Howard was gone. He’d had his affairs in order—there was very little for them to do other than sell the house. His estate was to be split between Brooke and her mother. There had been no one else. No other family.

“I think…I kept hoping—”

“I know,” he said softly. They’d had this conversation before. Multiple times. And it still wasn’t any easier.

Then Brooke seemed to pull herself together as she stepped out of his embrace. “I’m just going to look around one more time.”

Rather than argue about how she’d already gone through the house four times, he nodded. “I’ll wait for you outside.” She nodded and went up the stairs. But Owen didn’t leave. He went into the room that had been Howard’s study and looked at the walls that had once been lined with books and degrees. They were all packed away now.

This was another new aspect—new feeling for him. When his mother had died, nothing around their home had changed. It wasn’t until a few years ago that they had even attempted to change the house that his mother had loved. He had been too young to remember packing up her clothes, her belongings. He and Brooke had spent the past two weeks doing just that with Howard’s things—laughing one minute and crying the next. He was emotionally drained. That’s why he knew the move was going to be good for them. A fresh start—a chance to make new memories.

Stepping outside he watched as the last boxes were loaded onto the truck. He thanked the movers and stood back as they closed and locked the doors. Within minutes, the truck was gone and Owen was alone on the sidewalk. Part of him wondered if he should go inside and see if Brooke was all right, but he thought better of it. This was her final good-bye to her uncle, and she deserved some privacy.

Ten minutes later, when she came out, he saw the telltale signs that she’d been crying. He opened his arms, she stepped into them, and he held her.

“Thank you,” she whispered a few minutes later.

“Are you ready to go?”

Brooke’s eyes swam with tears again. “Not really. But I know it’s time.”

Slowly Owen led her away from the house and to her car. He held the door for her as she climbed in and then he walked around to the driver’s side. They made their way across town to the hotel Owen always stayed at—they were going to be there for one more night before driving to the Carolina coast.

“Do you think he knew?” she asked as she looked out the window. “Do you think at the end he knew what was going on?”

Owen knew exactly what she was referring to. “He was extremely alert right up until the end. We’d been talking a lot, late at night. He wasn’t afraid. All he kept talking about was how he was going to finally be with his wife again.”

Brooke smiled sadly. “I’m glad. I’m glad it gave him peace.”

“He had peace about it all. Having the time with you and your mom meant a lot to him. He just wanted to know you were both happy and that you were going to be okay.”

Turning her head, she looked at him. “I told him our news. He wasn’t awake, and…it was right at the end. But I’m glad I got to share that with him. I hope he heard me.” She paused. “Do you think he did?”

Owen had no way of knowing for sure, but he knew what Brooke needed to hear. So he nodded. “I do. I think he heard everything, and if he could have, he would have told you how thrilled he was.” That seemed to please her because she turned and looked out the window again and she was smiling.

They arrived at the hotel, and he took her by the hand. “Are you hungry? I know it’s a little early for dinner, but we could order something now and have it sent up, or we could walk and get something?”

“Let’s get room service. It’s a little too hot to be walking around.” She placed her hand on her belly as they walked through the front entrance of the hotel.

“Are you okay? Are you feeling all right?”

Brooke rolled her eyes and smiled. “Owen, you are going to have to relax a bit. We’ve got seven more months of this to get through. You can’t worry every time I touch my stomach.”

They were having a baby. The first Shaughnessy to get pregnant before being married. Him. The safe one in the family was suddenly the rebel—a tattoo and a baby. It was quite the wild time in Owen’s life.

They were going to be married next weekend, when they were back home with his family. Brooke’s parents were flying down to be with them, and they were having a sunset wedding on the beach. While they were trying to plan where they would have the ceremony, the idea had come to Brooke—mainly because she wanted to paint the sunset on the beach. And he figured it was the perfect way to give her what she wanted.

His life had taken a completely different path than he’d ever thought possible, but as he held her hand and they rode up the elevator to his room, Owen realized that even though it was different, it was perfect.

And he wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Order Samantha Chase’s next book
in The Shaughnessy Brothers series

Holiday Spice

On sale October 2017