EPILOGUE | VANESSA
Three Months Later
“Hey hot mama,” a gruff, husky voice hissed into my ear, startling me from behind. I jerked up and twirled around, nearly spilling my glass of champagne in the process.
When I saw the source of the voice -- Summer Adams, practically bent in half from giggling so hard -- I scowled and crossed my arms.
“You looked like you were about to karate chop me in half!” Summer gasped, her voice strained from laughing so hard.
“I was about to! I thought you were some creepy guy!”
“Aww,” Summer recovered from the fit of laughter and gave my shoulder a gentle nudge. “It’s good to see that motherhood and finding true love hasn’t turned you into a total softie.”
“Me? Soft? Never,” I smirked.
I glanced around the white crowded space and felt a swell of pride fill my chest. After months of construction, we were finally ready to open the doors of our new salon for business. Today was the ribbon-cutting ceremony at Fairy Godmother Beauty Salon.
The space had turned out even better than anything I could have imagined. The grungy old floor had been replaced with white marble tile. The walls were painted white, and beaded chandeliers were hung over the rows of sleek chrome work stations. Each station was outfitted with a chrome vanity table and a square mirror surrounded with bright white light bulbs.
We had wanted to create a space that mimicked the look and feel of a TV studio’s green room, and if the buzz in the room was any indication, we had succeeded.
It had been a lot of work, but we had all hands on deck to help. Twelve sets of hands, to be exact; the entire Firehouse 56 crew had volunteered to help us with the remodel. Without their help, we wouldn’t have been able to pull everything together as quickly as we did.
We had already gotten glowing write-ups in the Hartford Courant and other local publications, and a few of our loyal New York City clients had even made the trek north to Hartford to attend our ribbon-cutting ceremony.
It was great to see everyone come together to celebrate our grand opening, but it was even better to see how the business had taken off before we even opened our doors. We were fully booked for the next six months, and the phone still hadn’t stopped ringing off the hook…
I took a sip of champagne, admiring the salon around me.
“Ok, ok…maybe you haven’t gone totally soft,” my business partner conceded. “But I think you found your soft spot.”
She grinned and pointed a finger across the crowded room. My eyes followed and locked onto Josh. He was standing at the opposite side of the salon with his back to us.
“Soft spot, indeed…” I murmured as my eyes trailed down to his ass. He must have sensed that we were staring, because he slowly turned around.
My fiancé looked great from behind…but nothing could beat the view from the front. He was wearing our son strapped to his chest in a baby carrier, and when he spotted us, he lifted Thomas’ limp wrist and waved from across the room.
“Ok, I’m pretty sure my ovaries just started on fire,” Summer said, fanning herself with a salon brochure. “Which one of these firemen is going to help me with that?”
“Take your pick,” I shrugged, shifting my gaze towards the circle of Firehouse 56 crew members who were standing in a circle around the punch bowl. “I’m pretty sure they’re all single…”
“Really?” Summer asked in disbelief. “All of them?”
“I believe so,” I nodded. “And I’m sure they’re all dying to meet hot, blonde business-owner…”
“What about him?” Summer pointed to a guy dressed in black, who was standing by himself in a far corner of the salon.
“Oh, that’s Duke,” I said. “Josh’s old roommate.”
“He’s cute--” before Summer could even finished the statement, a blonde swirled up next to Duke. We both watched as his hand snaked around her waist and he dipped his lips close to her cheek, whispering something.
“Ok, so Duke might be preoccupied at the moment. But don’t worry,” I nudged Summer’s arm. “There are still ten more to choose from.”
Summer was already one step ahead of me, feasting her eyes on the rest of the crew. I was still watching Duke. The blonde looked familiar so familiar…
Duke reached down and took her hand, then led her across the salon floor. The blonde pointed her face up, and I caught a glimpse of her.
Brie! My jaw dropped as I watched Duke lead Brie towards the supply closet at the back of the salon, then slip inside.
Holy shit, I couldn’t believe what I had just witnessed. I have to tell Josh!
“You have fun,” I told Summer as I slipped away. I made my way through the party, greeting the mix of clients, guests, and friends as I went. Finally, I found Josh in the crowd.
“Hey, Pinky,” Josh grinned, planting a soft peck on my cheek. “I think Thomas has a new best friend.”
“Oh really?” I crouched down and pressed my lips against our son’s forehead, leaving a soft ring of red lipstick. “Who’s your new friend, Thomas?”
“Cousin Claire,” Brady answered, swinging around to reveal the bundle of pink blankets in his arms. In the center of the blanket cocoon, there was a tiny pink baby face, Claire Hudson.
Cassidy had given birth to their daughter a week earlier, and today Claire was making her big debut at the salon opening.
“She’s gorgeous,” I gushed, admiring the little baby girl.
“Luckily she looks just like her mother,” Brady grinned proudly.
“My mom thinks that she looks like you,” Cassidy insisted.
“How is Mrs. Laurent adjusting to becoming a grandmother?” Josh asked. Mrs. Laurent was Cassidy’s mom. Last year, she had beat cancer…which might or might not have had something to do with Brady and Cassidy’s quickie summer wedding.
Mrs. Laurent was also a longtime mother figure to Brady and Josh both, and she treated Thomas as if he was just as much her grandchild as Claire was.
“Why don’t you ask her yourself?” Cass suggested. “She’s right over there.”
I flicked my eyes around to see Mrs. Laurent. The older woman had found her place in the center of the circle of Firehouse 56 crew members, and she was in the middle of telling a joke that had the entire group doubled over with laughter.
“She’s the life of the party!” I grinned. It was good to see Mrs. Laurent doing so well. There was a time, not too long ago, that she was so sick that she could barely get out of bed…
Now, she had made a full recovery. In fact, I had her on the books for a haircut next week; her first official cut and color treatment since she had regrown her curly hair after chemo.
“Speaking of grandparents,” Brady said. “Are we still meeting the Colonel for family dinner tonight?”
“We are,” Josh confirmed. “I just spoke with him on the phone this morning. He can’t wait to meet Claire!”
I smiled again. Weekly family dinners had become a new Hudson family tradition. We all got together -- Josh, Brady, Cass, Thomas, and I -- and brought dinner over to the Colonel’s house. Tonight, there’d be a new addition to the weekly dinner date, baby Claire.
“Let’s go get my mom, before she tries hitting on Troy,” Cass joked. She dragged Brady towards the group of Firehouse 56 crew members, leaving Josh and I alone.
Suddenly I remembered my morsel of juicy gossip, “You’ll never guess who I just saw slip into the supply closet with Duke,” I hissed eagerly, widening my eyes.
“Let me guess…” Josh said, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully. “Umm…Brie Wallace?”
“What?! How did you know? Did you see, too?”
“I’ve been waiting for something to happen between those two for months,” Josh said. “Then again…she could just be helping him wax his chest.”
I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing as I recalled the story that Josh had told me about Duke’s chest waxing debacle.
I glanced up at Josh, and suddenly I forgot all about Duke and Brie and the supply closet.
“Hey,” I said. “Have I mentioned how proud I am of you?”
“Of us,” he corrected me.
“None of this would have been possible without you,” I reminded him. “You made my dreams come true…”
“I was just returning the favor,” he grinned. And despite the red lipstick I was wearing, he kissed me right on the lips.
Hi Beautiful,
Thanks for reading February Burning, my second romance novel. If you want to know more about me, you can join my publisher’s fan group on Facebook . I stop in sometimes and visit.
You should also to get a preview of March Heat, the next book in the series. I won’t email you about anyone else’s books ever. Just me and you. I can’t wait to show you more.
Until our next happily ever after,
Chase