Epilogue
Two months later
“See? I told you the secret to the neighbors not complaining about the noise is to invite the neighbors to the party,” Gavin whispered in Cait’s ear.
“I’ve never seen so many people in this backyard before.”
“We’ve got a lot of people who love us.” He shrugged, which she felt since she was tucked under his arm, leaning against the fence. “And the neighbors.”
Their parents had insisted on a joint family event to celebrate Gavin putting an engagement ring on Cait’s finger after a romantic walk on the beach, but they’d managed—with his dad’s help—to contain the two moms to a barbecue. Diane’s backyard was bigger, so it and the small cape were full of family—including their coworkers—and friends. It was noisy, but Cait was loving every minute of it.
Gavin’s hand strayed down her back toward her ass. “How long do we have to stay?”
“Until the end. Can you imagine us getting out of here without either of our moms noticing?”
“Didn’t you have a bedroom here?” He bumped his hip against hers, making her laugh.
“One, I’m not having sex with you in my mother’s house. And Michelle and Noah are staying in my old room.”
Across the yard, she saw her sister chasing her young nephew, who’d managed to snag a cupcake from the table. Her brother-in-law hadn’t been able to get the leave time, but when Michelle had told her there was no way she was missing her engagement party, Cait had burst into tears. They’d had a good cry together via FaceTime and were closer now than they’d been in a long time.
“I guess I’ll make it until we get home,” Gavin said, his voice heavy with exaggerated sorrow. “And there is cake.”
“I know which bakery your mom ordered the cake from and, trust me, we want to stay.” She tugged at his hand. “Come on. Let’s go mingle before you talk me into doing something we’ll never live down.”
It wasn’t easy to keep track, but Cait did her best to make sure they talked to everybody at their party. Derek, who’d fit right into the Ladder 37 crew, was there with his kids. Grant was also there, of course, but this time he’d brought Wren with him. She was a pretty blonde who was reserved, but seemed friendly.
“Grant wanted her to meet everybody, but Kincaid’s isn’t really her thing,” Gavin whispered to her as they watched Grant handing Wren a soda.
“He looks happy.” It was harder to tell with his girlfriend.
“Not as happy as I am.”
She slapped his arm. “Not everything’s a competition.”
“Wrong,” Scott said as he walked by them carrying a plate of food. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about, but everything’s a competition.”
“And someday you’ll win one,” Aidan called from a few feet away.
“Cait!”
She heard her mom calling her name and finally spotted her on the back deck. She was sitting in a lawn chair next to Gavin’s mother and, if she had to guess, she’d say the two women had nailed down 70 or 80 percent of her wedding plans since setting out the fruit punch.
“I’ll be right back,” she said to Gavin, who was deeply involved in a six-way argument with the other guys about who’d done a better job of manning the grill.
As she walked, she watched the two women with their heads together, over-talking each other in their excitement. Yeah, she thought. Definitely wedding plans.
She didn’t mind. Her mom was happy. Carter had achieved average teenager attitude. They still had rough patches and Cait still got phone calls. But she’d learned she could talk them through things and rarely had to show up in person. Gavin encouraged them constantly and now that they only called her when they really needed her shoulder to lean on, he was a lot more patient about it.
She knew the family therapist was a huge help, but she also suspected Carter showing up to Saturday morning basketball had also made a difference as he and Gavin grew closer. Nobody could ever replace Duke, but having a solid brother-in-law in his life would help.
“What are you two whispering about up here?” she asked when she reached them. After pulling a chair up next to her mom’s, she sat.
“Okay, we know it’s a little early yet,” Gavin’s mom said, “but we were talking about wedding gowns and we might have been looking at them on our phones and...”
“We don’t know what kind of wedding you plan to have,” her mom finished. “I know you don’t like dressing up, but you’re not going to do the courthouse thing on us, are you?”
“I always thought I’d be happy to have a small wedding and maybe wear a skirt or something.” Cait laughed when their faces fell in unison, and then she looked across the yard to her future husband. He was looking back at her and he winked. “But I remember the look on his face when he saw me in that red dress on Valentine’s Day and I want to see that again. I want that look on his face when he sees me at the end of the aisle.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” Gavin’s mom said, while her own mother actually clapped her hands together.
“Mom, you know what suits me better than I do. You two can dress shop to your heart’s content and once you’ve narrowed it down to a few choices, we’ll have a girls’ day out—us and Jill, if she can make it, and maybe Michelle by FaceTime—and try them on before we splurge on desserts and wine.”
“You’re definitely going to be my favorite daughter-in-law,” his mom said, and they all laughed.
Tony’s kids went running by, screaming and waving water guns in the air, with Carter on their heels.
“Carter,” Cait called, stopping him in his tracks. “Tell me you didn’t put water in those.”
He just grinned and took off after the kids again, just in time to hear a high-pitched yelp from somewhere in the yard.
“It’s just water,” her mom said when Cait started to get out of her chair. “Let Carter be a kid with the little ones for a while. People will dry.”
Thirty minutes later, the moms decided it was time for cake. Gavin’s mom smiled at her, before holding up her hands in an I don’t know gesture. “When I said I ordered the cake, what I really meant was that I ensured that ordering the cake was checked off the list by giving the name of the bakery and the number of guests to Grant.”
“Oh, no.”
Sure enough, Grant was looking pretty smug as he and Aidan carried the huge sheet cake out to the table they’d set up for it in the yard. Cait met Gavin there, sliding her hand into his as she looked at the cake.
Grant—no doubt with urging, if not outright help from the other guys—had blown up the Snapchat photo of Gavin checking out Cait’s ass and had it printed on the surface of the cake. He’d removed Carter’s original caption, though, and now it read SHE SAID YES.
“This is why you never put a firehouse crew in charge of the cake,” Gavin said when the laughter had died down.
“I love it,” Cait said, pulling his face close enough for a kiss.
“Never mind,” he said when she broke it off. “Good job, crew.”
There was more laughter, and then cake and more laughter. Cait couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so happy, but she was ready for the party to start winding down. It had been a long day and unseasonably warm, and she was looking forward to a nice soak in their tub with her future husband. Or a quick shower and straight to bed. She was okay with either.
“What are you thinking about right now?” Gavin asked, turning his body so nobody could see the hand he ran down her back to cup her ass.
“Getting naked with you.”
His eyes lit up and he put his free hand on his stomach. “I don’t feel so good, so we should go. Right now.”
“I’m an EMT, so you’re in good hands.” When he laughed, she raised her eyebrow at him. “I’m pretty sure I can think of a way to make you feel better.”
“You think so?”
She cupped his face in her hands. “Do you trust me?”
Heat flared in his eyes and he grinned. “Oh, yeah.”
“You keeping smiling at me like that and people are going to think we’re up to no good.”
“I can’t help it. I’m the happiest fucking guy in Boston right now.”
She slid her hand behind his neck and kissed him until cheers and a few whistles broke out in the crowd around them. “And we’re just getting started.”
* * * * *
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