Epilogue

Carrie

Five Years Later

I was standing in the exact spot I'd stood on the very same day for the past four years, and I was surrounded by family. It was my mom's birthday, and it was Grace's too. She'd never met her great-grandma, but you'd never know it. Little Gracie was a spitting image of my mom, and she had the attitude to match. Not one day went by that our little girl didn't remind me of my mom, the one that held our family together.

That was Cassie's job and had been since the day we lost my mom. It was one responsibility that my daughter did not take lightly. She'd promised her grandma that she'd hold the family together, and she stuck to that promise. Watching Cassie walk into the middle of an argument or put Lance in his place, when his mouth was getting away from him, was like something I'd never seen from her before. She wasn't the least bit afraid of the backlash that could come her way. Instead, she'd stand tall, pull her shoulders back, and come out swinging, and it worked every single time. The one person that had disappeared from all of our lives had turned into the most loyal of us all, and I knew, one day, she was going to pass that down to Gracie.

That little girl may have been one of the youngest, but at only five years old, she didn't take shit from anyone, not even the oldest in the bunch.

Yes, you read that right. I said one of the youngest, not the youngest. Parker got his way in more ways than he'd planned. That joke he'd made had come back to bite him in the ass. Not three months after Gracie was born, Cassie got pregnant again. I thought she was going to kill the man, and if she didn't get him, I thought Lance would for sure, but he'd made it through. Of course, he'd blamed the whole thing on her, claiming she couldn't get enough of him and his giant, I won't even finish that one. If you knew our group, you already knew what was coming next. Anyway, he got his way, he finally had enough players for a team. Yes, you read that right too. There are nine spots on the field. They had twins, one boy and one girl. You'd think that would be the end of their story, right? It wasn't. We joked about his team, and he joked right along with us, but when asking about finally getting the snip, he stood his ground.

“Already said that shit wasn't happening,” he said.

“Parker,” Cassie growled out. “We're done. We have nine kids. It's time.”

“Not happening, princess,” came his response. “Not doing it.”

“Whatever,” she snapped at him. “You're not touching me.”

“The fuck I'm not,” he snapped back, as he narrowed his eyes at her. “You won't be able to keep your hands off me, Woman.”

“You want to bet on that one, wannabe?” she asked.

“Sure do, princess,” he said, as sternly as he could.

We all laughed about that one, and secretly, we'd all placed bets. I thought she'd stand her ground. She was doing a fine job of that with everyone else. Why not him too? I bet in my girl's favor. We thought it had worked. She'd stood her ground. We were all sure of it and had been for years, but we were wrong. That man was the only person that could get my girl to cave, and he did, right away, but it took us four years to figure it out. They'd just had a little boy three months before, and I was holding the precious little guy in my arms.

Parker had argued that they needed a bigger home, but Cassie wasn't have it. She wasn't moving away from us, and she wasn't letting him add on either. Their ten kids were sharing rooms, and he was going to be right there. That was exactly how it went too. Parker was an amazing dad, and she was a great mom, but one thing had changed. He'd gotten the snip, and he'd done it only weeks before our trip.

“You know what that makes you?” James asked, as we stood there, with balloons in our hands, just like we had the four years before.

“What?” Parker asked, as he reached over and took his son from my arms.

“A pussy,” James said.

“Ten kids,” Parker growled out. “Not one damn pussy thing about that. Your ass punked out after four.”

Every single one of us burst into laughter, including Parker. There was no way he couldn't. He knew that shit was funny.

I looked around at my amazing family, the one I knew would always have my back and my kids' backs as well, and I said a silent thank you to mom for being the woman she was. Without her, there was no way any of us would feel the love we felt.

Cassie started our countdown, just like she did each year. She started at ten, and when we got to zero, I felt Scott's hand on mine, and we let go of our balloons together. Everyone else looked up, as our balloons headed up into the sky, but I looked around at my family. That was when I saw Jackson take Sarah's hand in his. He had just recently entered his teen years, and he was still the same sweet kid he'd been when Lance Jr. had brought him and his mom home to live with him, only he was a little mouthier too. Sam had become his best friend, and with Sam came Sarah. The twins were close, so I'd seen that coming, but what was happening before my eyes I hadn't seen coming at all. I nudged Scott, and he looked over at them just in time to see a sweet smile cover Sarah's face. Scott shook his head before leaning in to whisper in my ear.

“I think our most interesting days are yet to come.”

“You've got that right,” I said. “I sure hope she's watching over us in about six years when that one comes to light. We're definitely going to need her then.”

“And every day in between,” he said. “I'm going to be watching that boy. That's my granddaughter's hand he's holding.”

“I think it's sweet,” I said, as I wrapped my arms around him and snuggled in close. “They're not much younger than we were when we first fell in love.”

“Carrie,” he whispered in warning.

“I love you, Scottie Reid,” I said. “I'm so damn glad we found our way back to each other. If we hadn't, none of us would be here together right now.”

“You're right about that,” he said, as he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. “You're lucky I forgave you for leaving me all those years ago.”

Before I could pull away from him, he burst into laughter.

“I love you, and I'm so happy we found our way back to each other too,” he said. “Our family is everything to me. I don't know where I'd be without it.”

The End.

Watch for my next novel “Code of Love, Bachelor Billionaire Kids #2”.

Please continue on for the Prologue and Chapter 1 of “Working on My Brother's Best Friend”.

Other Stories by Sharon Cummin

Romance Series

Billionaire Romance Series

Bachelor Billionaire Series

All six novels together in one set. Sea of Love, Hot for Love, Battle for Love, Rescue of Love, Built for Love, and The Future of Love.

Bachelor Billionaire Kids

The Game of Love Series

His Assistant Serials

Unexpected Love Serials

In Love with My Brother's Best Friend

A Blast from the Past (A Second Chance Romance)

The Dark Night

A Crush on Her Best Friend's Brother

Showing Him Who's Boss

Playing Hardball

Falling for My Best Friend

Hacked by Love

Out of My League

Working on My Brother's Best Friend

Hunter PI & Security

A Forever Love

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Working on My Brother's Best Friend

Prologue

Gabby

I was twenty five when I threw the going away party for my brother Gabe. There were so many things going through my mind. I looked around at all of his friends and then at the one that was leaving with him. That was where my emotions mixed.

I was going to miss my brother more than anything. We were twins and had been close our whole lives. My name was Gabriella, but he called me Gabby. His name was Gabriel, but I called him Gabe. It was the only thing we'd gotten from our parents before they took off. We were raised by my mother's parents. Ours were too young and not ready for two kids. That was what my grandma told me anyway. Gabe and I had been inseparable growing up. He was the life of the party. The man always had a joke for everything. He always found a way to bring a smile to my face no matter what was going on around us. He had my back anytime I needed it, and I would have done anything for him.

Gabe finished college and had decided to move from Michigan to California to start his own business. I was so happy that he was going to be doing what he loved without having to answer to anyone. He'd loved web development and graphics ever since he'd first gotten onto a computer. It was something he was very passionate about. I was more into the financial aspects of business than anything else. He'd offered me a job at his company. I thought about going so I could be close to him. There were only two reasons I declined his offer.

The first reason being our grandparents. They were both having health issues and I was afraid to leave them alone. My grandma begged me to go. She didn't want me to pass up the opportunity of being with Gabe as he started his company. She didn't know they weren't the only reason I'd said no.

The second and biggest reason I stayed behind was named Doug. He was Gabe's best friend and had been our entire lives. Growing up, Doug was it for me. He was my first and only crush. He was the man I thought in my heart I would end up spending my life with. He was the first boy to kiss me. We were sixteen and he left for the summer to stay with his father. I couldn't wait for him to come back. I counted down the days. Something changed in him while he was gone. When he came back, he was different. He was distant with me, and nothing was ever the same again. It didn't change how much I liked him. He was still Doug, and I still knew we were destined to be together. There was nothing the boy could do to make him less than perfect in my eyes. That was what I thought anyway. By the time we graduated high school, he'd proven me wrong. My crush was gone and was replaced with more disgust than I'd felt for anyone else in my life. He'd hurt me, and there was nothing he could have done to take that hurt away.

I'd been able to avoid Doug all through college. I stayed at school even during the summers. It was awesome. Gabe had gone to college close to home, so he'd been with my grandparents. Doug had gone to school with him. We'd all graduated, and I'd come back home. Being around Doug was awful. I'd seen him move from woman to woman those three years. Just seeing his face made my stomach sick.

When Gabe announced that he was starting a company in California, I didn't know what to think. It was going to be hard to be away from him. I'd done it in college, but that wasn't a five hour plane flight away. I was going to miss him so much. It wasn't easy knowing he was leaving. The one thing saving me was knowing Doug was going with him. I knew he'd have someone right there all the way. Doug would always have his back. Gabe was the one person he'd never screw over. That I was sure of. It was me he didn't mind hurting. I knew with Doug across the country, I could move on with my life. I wouldn't have to see women hanging on his every word or hear his disgusting mouth. That was my decision maker. I wanted a life, and with him gone it would be easier. If I never saw him again, it would be perfect. I'd never let anyone make me feel the way he did, not ever again.

Chapter 1

Gabby

I sat in the quiet, cold funeral home looking down at my hands in my lap. Five years had gone by since my brother Gabe had moved to California. If I knew where I'd be just five short years later, I never would have turned down his offer. I would have gone with him. I would have watched him move to success from right by his side. I wouldn't have let anything hold me back. The tears were sliding down my cheeks. I could feel them, but I never moved to dry them. All I had to do was get through one day. Then I'd go back to my apartment and lock myself away from the rest of the world.

Gabe was all I had. He was my twin. He was my family. Both of my grandparents had passed away in the five years he'd been gone. I'd been married and divorced in that time as well. My life was a mess as it was, and I had no idea how I was going to make it without the only person that mattered to me. How could he have done it, I thought? How could he have left me? Didn't he know how much I needed him? He probably didn't. I hadn't told him enough. Even though we talked every couple of days, I hadn't let him know how important he was to me. I'd never gone to visit him either. He'd come to see me every few months. Those were the times that really mattered. He was my brother, and I loved him more than he ever knew.

When I received the call that he'd passed away, I felt the last little piece of life inside of me die with him. I couldn't believe it was true. He was so young and successful. He had his whole life ahead of him. How could a thirty year old lose control of his car? Why wasn't he paying attention? I was so angry and hurt. He knew he was all I had. How could he leave me too? I knew all of my thoughts were selfish, but that didn't stop them from moving through my mind. They said it was an accident, it wasn't his fault. All I knew was that everything that mattered was gone. It should have been me, I thought. I would have given anything to take his place.

I'd told the funeral director that I wanted my brother cremated. That was my only request. Other than that, Doug was to do the planning. I was relieved that Doug had only planned one day. I was sure it was to get back to his life in California, but I didn't care. I wasn't sure I could have sat through two days or a funeral. Just sitting in the same room was too much. I hadn't been able to walk to the front. I'd sat down in the very back of the room, and that was where I stayed. I couldn't see him. I just couldn't say goodbye to him.

I could hear people talking, but I couldn't tell you what they were saying. If Doug hadn't been there, Gabe wouldn't have had a sendoff at all. Doug had a smile on his face as he greeted people. I'd heard them all talking about what a great guy Gabe was. Those people didn't give a shit about him. They were just doing what they felt they were obligated to do. When Doug laughed and talked about my brother being so amazing, I wanted to get up and punch him in the face. Why was he the one that got to see Gabe every day? Why was he the one with all of the memories and stories? Why was he the one that was with my brother through his success? Because I was too big of a wuss, that was why. I should have gone to California. I shouldn't have cared who else was there. That was selfish of me. Look where it left me. I'd lost five years of memories. Gabe was gone, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it.

I'd done fine for myself. I had a great job at a very successful company. What good was that doing though? I'd never have that time back with Gabe. I had no family left. It was just me against the world.

Tears ran down my cheeks the entire day. I had no idea that it was even possible to cry so much. I hadn't cried that much any other time in my life. I thought I hurt in high school when Doug had crushed my heart. I'd cried when I lost each of my grandparents. None of that even came close to comparing to the loss I was feeling. My brother was gone.

When I felt a hand touch my shoulder, I jumped in my seat. I knew who it was. There was something in his touch. Even after all those years, I still felt a weird jolt when he touched me. I jerked my shoulder away from him and didn't look up. I felt him lean down next to me and shivered.

“I'm sorry, Gabby,” Doug whispered. “If you want to see Gabe, you have to do it now.”

I shook my head no.

“Gabby,” he said with emotion in his voice, as he reached for my chin and moved it so he could see my eyes. “Everyone is gone. You need to see him.”

Our eyes connected, and I could see how hard that day had been on him too. Don't feel sorry for him, I thought. He's the reason you haven't seen Gabe. He's the one with your memories. He doesn't care.

“No,” I snapped.

“Fuck,” he whispered, as he let go of my face and stood.

I looked up through my lashes to see Doug standing at the casket. His hands were on top of my brother's. I watched his shoulders shake. Then I heard his sniffles and saw one hand move up to his eyes. Then I started crying harder. I couldn't take it anymore, I had to get out of there. I couldn't accept that my brother was in that casket. He was gone. The entire time I'd hoped he'd sit up and it would all have been one of his jokes, but he never did it. He was really gone. I looked up one last time to see Doug saying goodbye to Gabe before turning in a daze and moving my feet as fast as I could away from there.

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