EPILOGUE
ONE YEAR LATER . . .
“Oh my god, I’m starving,” I groaned, leaning against Jason and pretending to wilt into a faint.
He circled an arm around my waist to prop me up. “I’ve got a solution for that,” he said confidently.
I glanced up at him. “Are you talking dirty?”
“No, I’m talking about pizza. Dominic said we should come down and celebrate when we’re done here.”
I eyed the collection of sweaty, overdressed people who were still milling around in the shadows of the newly completed courthouse. “Are we done shaking hands with half of Phoenix?”
“I hope so. That was exhausting—I don’t know who the fuck half of these people are.”
“County officials, local businessmen, and a lot of local politicians pretending to be eager about meeting the team responsible for the new courthouse.”
“In that case I’m glad I pretended to be eager to meet them back,” Jason said.
“Yes, although we should probably make it a point to locate some hand sanitizer before eating lunch.”
“Good idea,” Jason mused. “Davis Brown’s handshake felt a little wet. I don’t really want to think too hard about why.”
I gagged.
The Man approached with a big smile and an orange hard hat above it.
“There’s my dynamic duo,” he crowed, pumping our hands for about the tenth time today.
I couldn’t blame our boss for being pleased. The largest construction project in the company’s history had been completed on schedule and within budget. In this industry, that counted as an astounding victory.
“I don’t think you need this anymore,” Jason said good-naturedly, pointing to the hard hat. The courthouse was no longer an active construction zone and precautionary measures were not necessary, but The Man’s eccentricities were well known. He was the only person in sight wearing a safety hat.
The Man removed the hard hat with some reluctance. “Can never be too careful,” he said, scanning the sky in case a rogue crane was about to drop a brick on his head. In the next instant his name was called by a trio of men who looked like members of the aforementioned political class. The Man wordlessly handed his hard hat to Jason and scurried over to the men who had summoned him.
Jason held the thing aloft. “What am I supposed to do with this?”
I considered. “Let’s keep it as a souvenir.”
He nodded. “I can stick it in the garden to scare away the crows.”
“Jason, we don’t have a garden.”
“Then what’s all that green shit in the backyard?”
“Weeds.”
He laughed and tried to lead me away. “Let’s get out of here, gorgeous. Ceremony’s over. Courthouse is open. We’re no longer needed.”
Just before Jason and I walked away hand in hand, I glanced up to see a familiar tall blond head. The man attached to it saw me at the same time. Of course it made sense that he would be present for the ribbon-cutting ceremony since he was the chief architect. Jason and I waved, and Lukas Lund smiled at us before waving back.
“Want to walk or drive?” Jason asked.
“Drive,” I said immediately, fanning myself with a program that had been handed out for the ceremony. “It’s too damn hot to walk.”
“It’s Phoenix, Audrey. It’s always hot.”
“Then we should always drive.”
Jason’s car was on the first floor of the new parking structure beside the courthouse. He opened the door for me with a gallant flourish and I paused to kiss him before ducking inside.
“You hear from William this week?” he asked on the short drive over to the quaint old downtown neighborhood where Esposito’s Pizzeria was located.
“He’s having a blast at the beach with the boys. And you know my folks flew in yesterday. They’re all excited that we’re coming to visit next week.”
William was in the middle of a long-term sabbatical from the court. Working as a legal consultant gave him the flexibility to do things like take Leo and Isaac on a one-month vacation to the beach house on the Oregon coast. He knew Jennifer would have wanted him to bring the boys there to spend time with her side of the family.
“That’s going to be one crowded house next week,” Jason commented.
“Yes, crowded,” I agreed, “but fun. Full of family and love.”
At the mention of family, I thought Jason looked a little wistful. Christian Roma had died in his sleep only a month ago. Jason’s father never did remember us from one visit to the next, but he always seemed thrilled whenever we came by, believing we were friends he was just meeting for the first time. His grin spread a mile wide during our small, intimate wedding three months earlier, and I knew Jason had been glad to have his father there. The fact that he was no longer himself had been what made it possible for Jason to absolve him in the first place. The terrible father Christian Roma had been was dead long before his body gave out.
“Hey.” I put my hand on Jason’s knee.
He looked at me.
“I love you.”
My stunning husband smiled. “I love you too, baby.”
I squeezed his knee. “Then feed me some pizza.”
Dominic and Melanie were full of hugs the second we entered the restaurant. Since we’d gotten into the habit of hanging out with them often, Melanie and I had become quite close. It was nice to have a girlfriend outside of work, and Melanie, a little spitfire, always made me laugh.
As the pair of them watched us bite into the custom pizzas they’d prepared in anticipation of our arrival, Dominic stood behind his wife with a protective arm across her petite shoulders. Melanie absently rubbed her growing belly with a small smile on her face.
“Sit down,” I said, scooting over.
“Can’t,” said Dominic. “Got to return to the kitchen.”
“The lunch crowd will be descending any minute,” Melanie agreed.
“I’m proud of you guys, though,” Dominic said. “I passed the courthouse this morning. The place kind of gives new meaning to the word impressive. And now every time I hear that a crime has been committed, I’ll think of you.”
Jason snorted. “Thanks, buddy. That’s a hell of a tribute.”
Dominic shrugged. “I do what I can,” he said before he retreated to the kitchen, where he would happily slave away in front of the giant brick ovens hour after hour.
“I’m proud of you too,” Melanie said, and pecked each of us on the cheek before heading over to help at the takeout counter, which was already starting to get busy.
I finished off a slice of pizza and reached across the table to take Jason’s left hand in mine.
“You were right to pick the platinum bands,” I said. “I like the way they look together.”
He picked up my hand and kissed the knuckle beneath the ring. “I like the way we look together.” He set my hand down on the table and lightly ran his fingertips across the back. “You ready to embark on our next adventure, Audrey Roma?”
“I thought you promised me a lifetime of adventures.”
“And I plan to deliver. But I was specifically talking about the business side of our relationship.”
“Oh, that.” I smiled at him. “I’m ready. I think it’s high time to stop working for someone else.”
He nodded with approval. “Time to call all our own shots.”
Jason and I had decided our days at Lester & Brown were numbered. Just this week we’d filed the necessary paperwork to incorporate Gordon Roma Construction. Jason had always dreamed of having his own construction firm, and even though I’d never thought about it much, with Jason at my side I wasn’t short on optimism. We planned to start small, bidding for projects out in the East Valley where construction was booming. My father heard about our plans and pledged to offer any additional financial support we might require. Although I was grateful, I told him we really didn’t need any favors. Aaron Gordon frowned and told me it was no favor. He believed in me. Moreover, he believed Jason and I made a hell of a team. That was about as remarkable an endorsement as we could ask for.
“The Man’s liable to shit bricks when we tell him we’re both leaving,” I said, cheerfully taking a bite of pizza.
Jason waved a hand. “Might be good for the guy to shit bricks. He’s always been bunched up too tight. All that pressure has to crack sometime.”
I snorted into my iced tea glass over the imagery. “You’re nasty.”
He winked at me. “I could be nastier.”
“Don’t I know it.”
A few minutes later I noticed Jason was looking me up and down in a very familiar way.
“What?” I teased.
“Are you finished eating?”
“Are you in that much of a hurry to get back to the office?”
“To hell with the office. They’re not even expecting us back this afternoon.”
“How do you know that?”
He leaned forward. “Because this morning before the ceremony I called and ordered Marnie to inform everyone we’d be at a meeting and unavailable for the rest of the day.”
“What meeting? With whom?”
Jason’s hand touched my knee under the table, slowly creeping higher under my skirt. “With each other,” he said in that slow, sexy voice that left no doubt about exactly what he had in mind.
I held up one finger. “Check, please.”
“Get out of here, you guys,” Melanie scolded as she walked by carrying a basket of garlic bread. “You know your money is no good in this establishment.”
Jason took two twenties and tossed them on the table anyway.
“Let’s get the hell out of here before Dom comes roaring out and yells at me for paying,” he said, pulling me to my feet.
I laughed and held on to him as we stepped outside into the brilliant sun. We had to pause at the corner and wait for the light to turn green. When it did, Jason glanced my way, raised an eyebrow, and we crossed to the other side hand in hand.