Epilogue

“Home is the nicest word there is.”

Laura Ingalls, Little House on the Prairie

Any thoughts Ronan had that they could all relax after the Buoys closed for the season were shot straight to hell when Jessie set her clipboard on the table.

“So I started a list—” Whatever she said after that was drowned out by everyone else’s groans and heckles.

“Okay, very funny,” she said when they’d all settled again. “But we need to prioritize and figure out who’s doing what; otherwise, we’re going to wake up next spring and be wondering why nothing’s done.”

Ronan heaved out a sigh as he refilled everyone’s coffee. “She’s right.”

“What?”

“No!”

“Don’t tell her that!”

The only one who didn’t groan again was Finn, who just wrapped his arm around her and grinned.

“Okay, so here’s what we have so far.” Jessie pulled the calendar off the fridge, set it next to the clipboard, and started penciling things in. “Liam and Kate are heading to Oakland this week here, Finn and I are going to spend these days with my folks, and Maggie’ll be here for Thanksgiving weekend.”

Ronan couldn’t help but smile into the silence that followed. They’d all talked to Maggie again since she’d shown up at the Buoys, and when Ro went to beg Hope’s forgiveness, he told her what had happened and she insisted they go see Maggie before they flew back to the Buoys. They hadn’t stayed long, but it was a start.

They’d also stopped in to see Olivia, whose recovery wasn’t going as fast as she’d like, but with Dawn’s help, she was making steady progress. Would she make it back to the Buoys? Probably not for next season, because she’d still need physical therapy, which she couldn’t get up there, but they assured her again that whenever she was ready, the job would be waiting.

“This is the list of annual chores.” Jessie tapped her pencil on the top sheet of her clipboard, then lifted that page and pulled out the one underneath. “And this is a list of the bigger jobs we need to prioritize for this year and next.”

They all leaned forward to look at the list, and as usual, Jessie had done an amazingly thorough job of listing everything that needed attention. But there was one major thing she hadn’t listed, and that was because it wasn’t directly part of the Buoys.

“You know what?” Ro said, pushing out of his chair. “That can all wait. Let’s go have a look at the patch where the old soccer nets are and see if we can’t fit a house there.”

Liam was on his feet in a flash and reaching for Kate’s hand. The two of them grinned like four-year-olds seeing Christmas for the first time.

Coffees in hand, the six of them started up the north trail, JD trotting along in front, until they came to the mostly empty patch of land. The early sun, still not warm enough to dry the morning dew, danced through the trees, slowly chasing the shade away.

“Well,” Finn said, “you’re never gonna fit the Taj Mahal in there, but I think we can get you a decent place.”

“We don’t need the Taj Mahal,” Kate said, smiling up at Liam.

She pulled him into the middle of the grassy space, and Finn and Jessie followed; the four of them pointing, waving, and drawing imaginary features in the air. And the whole time, Ro stood back with his arm around Hope, watching.

When he felt her shiver, he tugged her in tighter and smoothed his hand up and down her arm to try to warm her a bit.

“Look at them,” Hope said quietly. “Did you ever think you’d see your whole family so happy?”

He’d barely managed to choke out a snort before he felt his eyes start to prickle. Screw that—he wasn’t about to have Finn call him a little girl again. He shook his head clear and pressed his lips against the side of her head.

So many times he’d wondered if it was possible, if the three of them would ever be truly happy, and yet in all those times he never once believed it would happen. But now…now he believed. And it was all because of Hope.

He’d watched Finn and Liam and had listened to them talk, and everything seemed to point to them being happy, but there’d still been a small part of Ronan that couldn’t believe it was true. He liked Kate and Jessie—no, he loved them; they were like sisters to him—but his mind still wouldn’t wrap itself around the idea of any of them finding happiness with a woman.

And then Hope stepped off that Cessna and told him that Texas horned toads could shoot blood out of the corners of their eyes.

Ronan wrapped both arms around her and pulled her in as tight as he could, careful not to dump his coffee down her back. Yup, if it weren’t for Hope and those blood-squirting toads, he might never have wrapped his head around it.

“I love you,” he murmured, brushing a kiss against her cold, slightly blue-tinged lips.

Feeling her smile against his mouth made him say it again.

“Look at you go, Ronan O’Donnell,” she said. “You didn’t even need flash cards that time.”

“If you two are done there,” Jessie said, grinning over at them, “Kate and I are going in to have another look at plans to see what’ll fit on the lot. You wanna come with us, Hope?”

“Absolutely,” she said. “It’s bloody cold out here.”

Another quick kiss and she was gone, walking side by side with Kate and Jessie. Ro stared after her, watching her perfect little ass sway as she moved and grinning as he remembered just how perfect that ass felt in his hands.

“Uh, Ro?”

Blinking hard, Ro turned to find Liam and Finn both smiling at him, but before Finn could open his mouth, Ro beat him to it.

“One fuckin’ word, Finn,” he warned, laughing. “One fuckin’ word.”

The three of them set to work measuring out the lot and discussing the pros and cons of having the house face south.

“Ronan!” Hope’s breathy voice made them all turn as she came running up the path. “Ronan, you need to come.”

“What is it?” It didn’t matter what it was, because he was already heading her way. “Are you okay?”

A smile lit her face like the sun, but she wouldn’t say anything, just tugged him along faster.

By the time Ro and Hope got into the lobby, Finn and Liam were right behind them. Hope didn’t slow down until they were through the kitchen and standing at the door to Jessie’s office, where both Jessie and Kate were smiling almost as brightly as Hope.

“Are you ready for this?” Jessie asked, laughing quietly. “Listen.”

She pushed the voicemail button on the phone, set it to speaker, and then laid it down on her desk.

“What the—” Ro started, then stopped dead the second he heard the voice.

“Hello, Ronan. And everyone else who’s listening. It’s Mandy. I’m sure you’d rather peel your skin off and dive into a lake of lemon juice than talk to me, but I thought you’d like to know: I’m getting married again. His name’s Trevor, and he’s a family doctor down in Medicine Hat.”

“Of course he is,” Ro grunted.

There was a hesitation in the recording, then Mandy cleared her throat delicately, which, as Ro knew, was the sign she was about to concede something and she wasn’t happy about it.

“So it looks like I’ll be moving down there. I’ve already contacted a realtor and set up an appointment for Monday at noon. I know it’s short notice, but if you’re able to be here, that would be…Well, you have my number.”

A second later the line went dead, and the six of them erupted so loudly that they scared JD, who wound himself around Ro’s legs, barking at everyone.

“Well, holy shit.” Ro stumbled back into the kitchen, his head spinning. “I need to…wow…I need to book a flight.”

“Done,” Jessie said. “The Helijet’ll pick you guys up Sunday at noon and get you into Vancouver in time to catch the two o’clock to Calgary.”

“You mean…” He looked over at Hope, her blue eyes shining. “You’re gonna come with me?”

She was already nodding as he reached for her hand.

“Damn right I am,” she said. “I don’t know who this Mandy chick thinks she is, but she’s done screwing with you, and I want to be there when you put the last piece of your past to rest.”

God, he loved her.

“Thank you.” He wrapped his arms around her and held on, knowing he must look like an idiot grinning like that, but he didn’t care, because his brothers had the same stupid grins on their faces. It was about damn time they let go of all that old shit and focused on the future.

And for the first time in Ro’s life, the future looked pretty fuckin’ good.