Epilogue
Sloan
Two years later
It was the two-year reunion since the last rodeo that I’d watched. Brady had been out of it for a while, but had decided to start again after Trace had begged him to rejoin. I enjoyed all the other events, but I couldn’t help but feel nervous when he got on the bull again. The bull looked as mean as he always did, but I decided to focus my attention on Brady instead of the animal. For the most part, it worked. Brady looked so sexy when he was out there.
Brady told me that he was determined not to let the bull defeat him this time, and he obviously meant it. He walked away with the title, and the entire crowd went crazy when he won. He was a firm favorite. Although, I did notice a few people with their phones ready to take a video when he was on the bull. Clearly, nobody had forgotten what had happened two years ago. I was so glad that he didn’t have a repeat of that, and I was glad to see him so happy out there.
Afterward he came to me and told me that he had to go figure out his prize winnings and he’d come back to get me when he was done. I sat back and watched the crowd around me. Every now and again someone would walk past and greet me. I’d been living in Wyoming for two years now, and I already knew so many people. It was a very different life to what I was used to back in New York. Nobody seemed too bothered by the fact that I was once a famous actress. There’d been a slight boom in my popularity when the movie came out, especially since it had been shot in their hometown. But they were mostly just excited to have me living with them, and everyone had taken it in their stride. There were still some people that wanted to talk to me about being an actress, and still some that asked for my autograph. But for the most part, I was just treated like the rest of the people living in the area. They saw me as one of them, and never once put me on a pedestal. It was hard to explain just how nice it felt to feel normal again.
The movie had done well, and I was glad that Roger had decided to still release it. He’d asked me to do a few interviews and to be open and honest about my past. I was worried that I was going to ruin the movie for him, so I said yes to a few interviews and told the world the truth about what had happened. People seemed happy with my honesty, and I think it actually made the movie more popular. There were still some people who sent me nasty letters, and there was still the odd angry social media post. But I didn’t care anymore. I was happy, and that was all that mattered to me. I was surprised at how little I missed that lifestyle, anyway. If people wanted to talk about me behind my back, that was okay. I had more important things to do with my life.
My phone rang as I was waiting. It was Victoria.
“Vic!”
“Hey, Sloan, this is an okay time?” she asked.
“It is. It’s a great time. I’m at the rodeo at the moment. Brady just won the bull riding competition.”
“Yes! I knew he would.” Victoria yelled. “He beat the beast!”
I chuckled. “He did. It was scary watching him on it, though. I don’t know how he does it. Sometimes I think that man has no fear. I took a photo of it to send to you. That is one mean-looking bull. I’m so glad it’s over. Where are you, by the way? You sound like you’re in a barn or something. There’s so much noise.”
She laughed. “A barn? Wow, your mind is always on that place now. Imagine a barn in New York? Nah, I’m at some fashion show. There’s some commotion going on. Anyway, I just wanted to see how you were doing. When are you coming to visit?”
“Actually, I’m coming to visit soon. I was talking to Brady the other day. I think it’s time he sees where I used to live.”
Victoria had come to visit twice already, but we still hadn’t made a plan to go to New York, even though we spoke about it all the time. I didn’t have my loft apartment anymore, but I still wanted to show him around. No matter how bad things had gotten, it was still a part of my life.
“That’s a great idea. I’d love to have the two of you here. You can stay with me. Granted, my apartment is not as big as your place, but we’ll make do.”
“That would be wonderful. Oh, I have to go,” I said as I spotted Brady walking my way. “Can I call you back later?”
“For sure. Call me anytime. Talk soon.”
“Thanks for calling, Vic.”
I put the phone down and ran toward Brady. I wrapped my arms around him and congratulated him once again for winning the competition.
“I’m so proud of you,” I said. “You did so well. The crowd was loving you.”
“Want to come and say hi to the bull?”
“Not a chance. I still haven’t forgiven him from the last time. I was just telling Victoria how mean he was.”
“I don’t blame you. Even I was a little wary about riding him. But I was determined not to let him get the better of me. Hey, what’s that in your hand?”
I smiled as I opened up my hands to show him the small stuffed horse that he had won for me at the last rodeo.
“It’s Betty,” I said. “Remember, you won her for me.”
“Of course I remember. The man was so surprised that you chose that one over all the other stuffed animals. I didn’t even know you still had that.”
“Oh, I’ll never get rid of her. She’s my lucky charm,” I said.
“Wow, and it worked. Thanks, Betty.”
“So, what’s happening next? Want to overdose on candy again?”
“Always,” he said and grinned. “But first, I have something I want to show you.”
“Ooh, what’s that?”
“You’ll see; come with me.”
I followed Brady to the back of the rodeo grounds were a big tent had been erected. I was sure that tent wasn’t there the last time that we’d attended the rodeo.
“That’s new,” I said. “What’s in there?”
Brady didn’t answer me. He just held my hand and continued to walk. We were approaching the tent from the side, and I couldn’t see inside. There also didn’t seem to be any noise at all coming from it. But the moment we stepped inside, a crowd of people erupted into applause. I looked around in shock at the faces of the people I knew. I spotted Brady’s father immediately, as well as his brothers. They waved at me, and I waved back even though I had no idea what was going on. I seemed frozen in surprise. Then, I frowned when I saw Victoria grinning at me from the corner. What was she doing there? I had just spoken to her. But I didn’t have a chance to even ask her because as I turned back toward Brady, I saw that he was kneeling in front of me.
“You changed my life, Sloan. I actually didn’t realize how unhappy I was until I met you. Most people, especially Grant, will tell you what a miserable grump I was to be around. And then you came into my life. You showed me what it was like to smile again, to laugh again, to live again. You gave me a reason to want to get up in the mornings. Or, in my case, you gave me a reason to want to sleep in. And I know that you dropped your entire life just to stay with me. I know how much you sacrificed for me. I’ve always been a bit of a loner, and I don’t like big public displays of affection,” he said, and everyone laughed. “But I wanted everyone here today because I want you to know how proud I am of you. I don’t want to hide anymore. Sloan Hill, will you marry me and make me the happiest man alive?”
I dropped to my knees and hugged him.
“Yes! Yes! Yes! Of course I’ll marry you.”
He took out a ring, and I held out my finger. I’d owned jewelry that was worth more than a car before. I’d owned jewelry that was big, flashy and impossible to ignore. But I had never before owned anything as beautiful as the ring he put on my finger right then. It was a plain silver ring, but in the middle was a tiny little horse.
“It’s Betty!” I gasped.
“Another lucky charm,” he said and smiled.
I leaned in and kissed him, and the whole crowd burst into applause again. Afterward, we walked around while everyone congratulated us. I laughed when I saw Victoria.
“Vic! I just talked to you! You said you were in New York.”
She shrugged. “Well, I lied.”
I chuckled. “I didn’t even suspect this for one minute. I can’t believe you’re all here.”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“You know, most of these people are either Brady’s family or people that I’ve come to love from the area. You’re the only person that’s here from my past. You’re like my family, you know.”
She grinned. “I’ve always wanted a sister.”
“Are you staying here for a while?”
“Oh yeah, Brady has organized for everyone to stay the whole week. I hope he realizes that he’s going to have to do it all again when you actually get married.”
“Will you be my bridesmaid? Sorry, I know that’s very premature as I only just found I was getting married. But I couldn’t think of anyone else to ask but you.”
“Yes!” she said and hugged me.
I looked around and chuckled. I leaned in. “You know,” I whispered, “you are the most fashionable person here. As much as I love everyone in this town, will you help me choose a dress?”
She laughed. “We’ll have a New York-meets-Wyoming wedding. Which reminds me, Brady has organized a buffet of food. I had a look at it before you got here and there is not one thing that’s carb-free.”
“I’m sorry,” I chuckled. “There’s no such thing as diets in this part of town. Want me to try and organize something else for you?”
She shook her head. “Are you kidding me? I want to eat all the bread before I go back. Come on; I’m starving.”
After an afternoon filled with food and laughter, Brady and I finally snuck off to spend some time together.
“I wanted to take you away from the crowd for a while. Just, you know, to see how you are. You do want to marry me, right? I mean, you didn’t just say that because everyone was watching? I sort of put you on the spot there.”
I laughed. “I’ve never wanted anything more in my whole life. I cannot believe that I am actually getting married to a cowboy. Now that’s something that most people never think will happen. It’s like that movie I did came true. Thank you for doing this. And thank you for making sure all our favorite people were here to experience it. Harold would’ve been so proud of you, Brady.”
“Yeah, I thought of him the whole time. So, what do you want to do now? I’ve invited everyone over for a barbecue tonight. But we have a few hours to kill until they get there.”
I grinned. “How about a horse race?”
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DIRTY SEAL
By Alycia Taylor
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 Alycia Taylor
Chapter One
Grant
“So, how do you go from being a Navy SEAL to working in real estate? Do you actually enjoy this job?”
I tried not to show my annoyance, which wasn’t too difficult because I’d grown fairly good at keeping a deadpan face over the years. But the question still annoyed me. I hadn’t been a Navy SEAL in a long time, and I’d already been at this job for almost a year. Surely by now I should be accepted as just one of the guys, rather than some prize monkey in a cage?
“Well, do you enjoy it?” I asked hoping to turn the conversation around to Peter.
Peter sighed. “Not really. I mean, when I manage to sell something decent, then yeah, I guess so. But for the most part, it feels like too much admin and too much running around. And it’s sort of depressing selling houses that are so much better than the one that I live in. I’m not sure I’m cut out for this job. I’m too honest.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. Peter was by far one of the most honest men that I’d ever met. Sometimes it was refreshing, and other times it was frustrating. But he was a good kid who meant well, and it was hard to stay mad at him.
“Tell me about it. When they’re asking me all these questions about the house I feel like they can totally see through all my lies. I’m not good at exaggerating like some of the other guys here.”
Peter looked around at the other men and women in the office, most of whom were on the phone or typing furiously into their computers. They were the sort of people that gave estate agents a bad name, because they would do anything to sell a house. I didn’t get along with any of them. Peter was the only one that I actually enjoyed being around, even when he was a pain in the ass.
“Yeah,” he whispered. “They’re all sharks. They were born to do this job. But if I don’t make a sale soon, I’m not sure I’m going to be able to continue here.”
“Seriously?” I asked. “You thinking of leaving?”
He nodded. “I am. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time now. My wife has been nagging me to leave. She can see I’m unhappy. I don’t think I’m good with commission-based work. I need to find a place with a solid and dependable salary.”
“So, what are you thinking of doing?”
“I don’t know. That’s the problem. But I’m definitely keeping my eyes and ears open for something else. I have to. And, I’ll be honest, Grant, I think you should, too. No offense or anything. You just don’t seem happy here. Ah, that’s my phone; maybe I sold a house!” he said and ran off.
I could tell by his facial expression that the person on the other side of the phone was not a client, but more than likely his wife. For a while, I sat staring at my computer screen. We got a small base wage, but the rest of what we earned was based on commission. And so far, I hadn’t been doing very well. But I knew that the fault was with me. I just didn’t feel any passion for the job. I didn’t go after the sales like the rest of the staff seemed to do. And Peter was right; I wasn’t happy. I’d overheard one of the other staff members talking about me once. They’d laughed about how miserable I always was. Apparently, I walked around with a permanent scowl on my face. I’d walked passed the mirror once and realized that they had been right. I really did look miserable.
But going from being a Navy SEAL to a realtor had not been good for my general state of my mind. Every day I made my way to work and wondered what on earth I was doing. I felt as if I was just floating through the days without a sense of purpose. And while that was not how I wanted to live my life, I also had no idea how to fix it. I needed a job, and I needed something to occupy my mind.
I spent the rest of the day trying to focus on the job at hand, and by the end of the day I’d set up a few appointments for the upcoming week. It was hardly enough to make me feel good about the job, but at least it was something. Perhaps if I just applied myself more, I’d be better at the job. I was sure that if an old friend hadn’t set this job up for me, I wouldn’t have actually been accepted into the company. I was sure they were already regretting their decision.
As I was leaving for work that day, Peter waved goodbye at me and said, “Give some thought to what I said. I think it’s time we changed our lives for the better.”
I nodded and walked away without giving it much thought, and tried to shove the conversation to the back of my mind. Peter might be right, but I had more important things to think about that day. For one, I had to visit my father in the hospital.
My father, Paul Maxwell, had taught me how to be tough. He was a good man who loved his bikes more than anything else in the world. The only thing that came close to his love of motorcycles was the love that he had for his five children, although you wouldn’t always know it from the way that he acted. But I’d always been close to him, and I was probably the only one out of all the brothers who didn’t mind showing that love to him. He might have shown me how to be tough, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t be close. I sometimes felt that he was the only one who could see through my toughness, and I assumed that was because I could see right through his.
The day I found out he had cancer had been a dark day for me, but I was grateful when the doctor had pulled me aside to let me know that it was treatable. Still, he had to go through a round of chemotherapy, and I knew that this was going to be hard on him.
I made my way to the hospital and found the cancer treatment facility where my father was staying. It was my second time going to meet with him, and even though he kept telling me that I didn’t need to visit, I knew he appreciated it.
“Grant, I didn’t know you were coming today!” he said. “It’s good to see you, son.”
I could see the smile on his face, which was good to see. Because, other than the smile, he was looking a little gaunt and a little more tired than usual.
“It’s good to see you too, Pop,” I said. “So, how’s it going? They treating you nicely here?”
He nodded. “They are. The food is great. Better than home cooking.”
I laughed. My father lived by himself, and he’d never been good in the kitchen. “That’s because your home cooking is terrible.”
“Ha! How can you say that you to your own father?”
“It’s the truth. And don’t worry, the same can be said for me. I think it was pretty clear that none of the Maxwell brothers were going to be chefs. A good old cheese and tomato sandwich and I’m good to go.”
“Sounds like the food in my house, too. I didn’t mind, but now that they’ve introduced me to real cooking, I’m not sure that I can go back to that. I might actually have to learn a few things.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Oh yeah? Well, you can invite me over for dinner then. So, other than food, how are things?”
“Ah, you know, same old. I’m feeling okay. They said this first part would be rough but that after that I should feel more like my old self. I only have to stay here a few days at a time. At least I can come into work every now and then. I hate being away from it.”
I chuckled. That didn’t surprise me one bit. My father was a workaholic whose whole life had been dedicated to his motorcycle garage. On top of the shop, he was also one of the leading members of the motorcycle club. His whole life revolved around the shop and the club. The only other person in the family who was quite as dedicated to being in the motorcycle business was my brother Ian, who worked at the shop.
“Oh, you’ll be back in no time. And don’t worry it. I’m sure Gunner’s doing a great job. You know he’s good at what he does.”
“Do you ever call him by his real name?”
I laughed. All the members of the motorcycle club had a nickname, and I’d been calling Ian ‘Gunner’ for as long as I could remember. It would be strange to call him anything else.
“Nope. Just like I call you Pop and everyone calls me Patriot. It feels more . . . normal.”
“Hmm, well you’re still Ian and Grant to me. Did you hear that Ian was in the newspaper again? That boy is giving me gray hairs.”
I sighed. Ian and my father were more alike than either of them cared to admit.
“Look, I was also angry when I saw that he was in the paper. He shouldn’t have hit that guy. But it’s not his fault. I spoke to him. Ian has met the nicest girl. Her name is Eliza, and she’s nothing like the girls he is normally with.”
“I know. I met her. She’s adorable.”
“She is. But she has an abusive ex-boyfriend that has been looking for her. You can’t blame Ian for punching the guy’s lights out. Come on; you know that you and I would’ve done the same in his position. And it’s not his fault he was put in the newspaper for it. The media hates the motorcycle club and will do anything to tarnish our name. Did you see that the paper barely mentioned the other guy even though he was the one that was causing trouble? It’s not Ian’s fault.”
“I don’t know. He should’ve just walked away. He knows that we have the club’s reputation on the line. I don’t know, Grant. I’m starting to regret putting him in charge of the club. He’s great at his job, but I don’t want to see the club fall apart because of his poor decisions.”
I sighed. Ian was the perfect man for the job, and once my father retired from the position, I wanted to see Ian take over. Nobody else in the club cared as much as he did. Hell, even I didn’t. I was a member of the club, but I barely went to any of the meetings. I’d only been going recently to stop me from going mad sitting at home alone with just my thoughts.
“Pop, Ian is great for the job. You know that as much as I do.”
“I don’t know. Maybe you should be the one that takes over.”
“I’ll help as much as I need to while you are here. But don’t count Ian out too quickly. He needs you. And he’s a born leader, just like you are. He just doesn’t realize it yet.”
My father grunted and said he’d think about it, and I quickly changed the subject. I had no desire to be in the club anymore, and I needed him to start seeing Ian’s potential.
Afterward, I walked out of the hospital feeling confused. I loved my bike, but I just wanted to ride it. I didn’t want to be too involved in the club, and I didn’t want to work in the shop. It was clear to me just how much my father and my brother loved what they did. Every single day they woke up excited for the day ahead. But I just went to work and wondered why anyone would care so much about real estate. I stared at a screen and willed the day to go fast. I didn’t want to be involved in the motorcycle world, I didn’t want to be involved in the real estate world, and every day I came home to an empty house with nothing to do but think.
Peter’s words came rushing to the forefront of my mind as I climbed onto my bike and headed home.
I think it’s time we changed our lives.