Epilogue
The Fourth of July was blazingly hot out by Matt’s pool. The kids, and most of the adults too, were staying cool in the water.
Daniel was glad to find a rare moment alone with his mother while Tasha was playing with kids and puppies. Both Jeremy and Noah were ecstatic that their little furry friends would finally be able to stay with them.
“They are absolutely adorable,” Mom said.
“Yes, they all are.”
Especially his gorgeous, talented, smart, and sexy Tasha. He’d never been happier. He’d always known love would do that; he just hadn’t realized how many different meanings there could be for the word perfect. And Tasha was finally happy too.
She’d connected with her friends and reestablished her business. The clients were rolling in again. She was crafting some super-secret special interactive program that would be an adjunct to his how-to videos. That was all he knew, since she shut down her computer every time he entered the room so her huge surprise wouldn’t be spoiled. Whatever it was would be magnificent, he was certain of it.
Her gray clouds were gone, her shadows dispelled. She was the woman who had been lurking beneath the surface that first day he followed her into her cabin.
And he never wanted to leave.
Daniel slipped his hand around his mom’s, squeezing. “I have you to thank for finding Tasha.”
She smiled softly, watching the puppies and kids wrestling and rolling on the grass. “I wish I could say that were true. But you found her all on your own. I wasn’t much help this time. More of a hindrance, I’d say.”
A weight seemed to have been lifted with the confession she’d made over a month ago during that long phone call. Yet he feared his mother was still walking under her own cloud.
Raising their clasped hands, he kissed her knuckles. “That’s what I really wanted to talk to you about. You seem to be under the mistaken impression that it was a bad thing to allow me to grow up thinking all marriages had to be perfect.”
“It made your expectations far too high.”
“Do you remember what you said the day you told me I was a twinkle in your eye before you and Dad got married?”
She pursed her lips, but he sensed the smile there. “What a lovely way of describing my indiscretion. But I said a lot of things during that phone call.”
“Ah, but the most important thing you said was that you loved me just the way I am. That if you hadn’t gotten pregnant with me exactly when you did, I would have been someone completely different.”
“You’re right. You wouldn’t have been my Daniel.” She cupped his cheek, moisture glistening in her eyes. “And I would have missed you so much.”
“Don’t you see that’s exactly the way I feel about Tasha? If my expectations about the perfect marriage, the perfect relationship, and the perfect wife had been any different, I might have missed finding her. I might have taken another path that didn’t lead me to her. So what you taught me, Mom, is that everything happens exactly the way it’s supposed to.”
“Oh sweetheart.” She leaned her head on his shoulder as Tasha saw them and waved. “I’m so glad you finally know everything. And that you’ve found the love you deserve.”
“Tasha completes me, Mom.”
“I know exactly what you mean.”
“Because it’s the way Dad completes you?”
“Yes. And Will and Harper, Sebastian and Charlie, Matt and Ari, Evan and Paige. I’m so happy for every single one of my boys.”
“I love you, Mom. I always have and I always will. You never did anything wrong. You never needed to feel guilty, so I want you to promise me that you will forgive yourself for whatever mistakes you think you made. And I don’t want you to ever feel like you need to hide anything from me either. Because I will never judge you. In fact, knowing what you and Dad went through, I admire both of you even more. If anything, I feel more loved because of what you sacrificed to keep me with you.”
“Oh honey, thank you. I love you so much.” She sniffed, then she looked past him to her big brood of Mavericks. “I love all of you. Every single one of my boys and the wonderful families you’re building.”
He kissed the top of her head. Then he smiled across the lawn at the woman snuffling her face into the fluffy, furry belly of a squirming puppy. The beautiful, perfect woman with whom he would spend the rest of his life.
* * *
Sitting under the canopy covering several lounge chairs, Gideon Jones nursed a beer, watching.
They were a cheerful bunch, these Mavericks. He was happy that Ari had found Matt and Noah. Matt was a good man, worthy of her, and she was as radiant as the child she’d been when Gideon had left her behind to join the Army.
The two would be married by the end of the summer, and she would truly become Noah’s mother. Her love for the kid shone right out of her, like a beacon for all the world to see.
She’d grown into a beautiful woman, and he was so damn proud of her. But it was something he could never seem to find the words to tell her. He’d lost the ability to express the things he felt. He’d seen too much during his eight years in the service.
But he didn’t think about those lost years. He didn’t think about the past.
He simply watched other people living their lives. Sometimes he even smiled. Like now.
Sebastian Montgomery had actually talked Francine Ballard into the water. Charlie’s mother was a dear old soul, crippled with arthritis, but always with a kind word, even for him.
“Oh my goodness,” she trilled as Sebastian carried her down into the water. She wore a flowered bathing suit with a high neck and a skirt that covered her thighs.
“The water will be good for you, Mom. We should have thought of this years ago.” Charlie held her hands and danced her along the edge of the shallow end while Sebastian hovered close by in case he was needed.
“She’s a darling, isn’t she?” Susan Spencer had come to sit beside Gideon. In her mid-fifties, with a cap of gray hair, she was vital and dynamic, moving so softly he hadn’t heard her. Daniel had flown his parents and sister in from Chicago for the July Fourth celebration.
“Yes, she is,” Gideon agreed.
“Why aren’t you in there, honey, playing Marco Polo?”
“I’m feeling lazy today.”
But the truth was that he didn’t feel like one of them. He was still an outsider despite the eight months that had passed since he’d walked back into his sister’s life.
He felt the ache and anger and hopelessness that had been his constant companions for years now. He’d been in the Middle East when his mom died. He’d lost track of Ari. She’d ended up in foster care. He hadn’t saved her.
Having exhausted the trio of puppies—who were now lolling in the shade until they got their second wind—the kids were splashing in the pool, yelling “Marco!” and “Polo!” and having great fun with Matt and the other Mavericks. Jeremy and Will played too, plus Ari, Chi, and Rosie and Jorge. Chi and Rosie, Ari’s best friends, the girls she’d survived foster care with, were part of the family now. Along with Jorge, Rosie’s son. He and Noah had become best friends too.
The Maverick ladies, including Daniel’s sister, Lyssa, were sunning themselves, a bevy of beauties in bright colors.
Bob Spencer, the patriarch of the clan, manned the barbecue. A charcoal smell wafted on the air.
“Bob, honey,” Susan called. “You’re not burning the burgers, are you?”
“No, dear, I’d never do that,” he singsonged back.
A more loving couple he’d never seen—expect for the Mavericks and their ladies. Even when they were nattering, they were good-natured about it.
“Daniel,” Susan hissed loudly. “Your father needs some help.”
Daniel Spencer climbed out of the pool where he’d been canoodling with Tasha Summerfield in the deep end, where the children didn’t venture. Tasha followed him, wearing a ball cap that read Everything’s better with my tool belt on.
Daniel had always seemed a happy guy, laid-back in his work approach, at least for the most part. But with Tasha, he was somehow more than just happy. Gideon wasn’t sure how to describe it to himself. Ari said it was love. And she should know.
Tasha Summerfield was a different genus from the rest of them. Her father was a con man, and her brother was doing community service for his part in their father’s schemes. Daniel had probably paid the lawyers beaucoup bucks to get the guy a sweet deal in which he did his service at a foundation—set up by Daniel—to help the victims of fraud. And to teach people how to spot a con and run in the opposite direction.
“How’s everything going with the job?” Susan asked. “You’ve been such a great help to Daniel.”
She wasn’t a busybody, or prying. He understood that. She simply cared. And she loved her kids.
“It’s good,” he said.
He’d worked for Daniel for close to eight months now. He’d thought he’d be spending his time in the stores, but Daniel had been giving him more managerial responsibilities, dealing with suppliers and materials.
He was even trying to talk Gideon into coming on his DIY show.
“You’re a man of few words,” Susan said mildly. “I like that about you.”
That forced a laugh out of Gideon.
The French doors opened, and the last arrivals spilled onto the deck. Susan jumped up to greet Evan, his arm slung around Paige. Evan’s birth mom—versus Susan, who was more like his real mom—and the twins had come too. Tony and Kelsey, the twin brother and sister Evan hadn’t known about until a few months ago. At twenty-five, Tony was the image of Evan, but Kelsey was the prettier of the two.
The Maverick family had become a clan over the last few months. Gideon was probably considered one of them, especially since he was living with Ari and Matt. But he needed to get out soon, before they became newlyweds. They would need their space, despite the fact that the house was a mansion with eight bedrooms and a bowling alley and home theater in the basement.
No, he had to go.
The kids climbed out of the pool and dashed to the newcomers, with Rosie and Ari calling, “Don’t run,” after them, as they too got out of the pool, streaming water.
Noah grabbed Tony’s hand, then Kelsey’s, pulling them. “You gotta come and see the puppies. There’s one for me and one for Jeremy and one for Uncle Daniel.”
Gideon stood, setting his beer on the side table to say hello. Once that was done, he could take to the background where he preferred to be.
Ari passed him, bussing his cheek with a quick kiss. “You need to get in the water, big brother. Have some fun with us.”
But he’d long ago forgotten how to have fun.
Then Jorge grabbed his hand, looking up at him with imploring dark-chocolate eyes just like Rosie’s. He was a great kid. “Come on, Gid, you gotta play Marco Polo with us.”
His heart seemed to rise up in his throat as he remembered the games he and Ari used to play. It didn’t matter that he was ten years older, he’d always found the time for whatever game she loved.
But that was long ago. And he’d been another person.
Rosie grabbed his other hand. “Or we’re going to throw you in.” She grinned at him.
Together, she and Jorge pulled him along with the force of their laughter.
“Come on,” the others called. Maverick voices, Jeremy, Ari, and Chi. Even Francine.
Then the guys tackled him and tossed him in.
He had no choice but to become a part of them.
At least for now.
* * * * *
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