Epilogue

Brayden

One Year Later

The kitchen smelled like bacon and coffee. As I poured pancake batter over a sizzling pan, Braxton hiccupped behind me. Smiling, I looked over my shoulder.

Rein was bouncing Braxton in her lap, and he was reaching for her with chubby, pinching fingers. There was a sunny smile on his face that stretched his plump cheeks. The powder blue onesie he wore was covered in cartoon drawings of elephants and mice. Bella had picked it out for him a couple weeks ago when we passed a baby section at the local thrift shop.

She had been an extraordinary big sister since the moment Braxton was born one year ago. She doted on him lovingly all the time, and her favorite pastime was sitting and watching cartoons while Braxton sat propped up in her lap, usually sucking his thumb or a pacifier.

Rein caught me watching them all at the kitchen table and smiled. “When is that breakfast going to be ready? I’m starving.”

I chuckled and flipped the pancakes over. “Another three minutes. Five tops.”

Rein nodded and stood so she could lean over and put Braxton in his booster seat across the table from Bella. He giggled and wiggled as he always did, and Rein bopped him playfully on the nose with her index finger. She moved around his chair and came up behind me to wrap her arms around my waist. “Thanks for cooking for us. This is a nice way to start the day.”

I closed my hands over hers as they rested on my stomach. “We needed a good meal before hopping on the plane.”

She nodded, her cheek warm against my back. “You still think you made the right call?”

She didn’t need to tell me what she was talking about. I already knew.

I had made the decision six weeks ago to sell my company back in Florida. I had offered it to Drew first, but he wasn’t interested in being married to his work. He wanted a family like I had, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to build one while he had his nose buried in files and emails. He declined, and I paid him a hefty severance to give him a head start toward his dream.

The sale of my business had been tricky. I wanted to make sure no employees lost their jobs, which meant I had to negotiate sale terms with dozens of potential buyers. Most of them had their own vision of what direction they wanted to take the company, and that vision didn’t align with my non-negotiable binding agreement to maintain all the same staff members.

Then I sat down with two brothers looking to run a corporation founded on a healthy, nurturing work environment. They wanted to challenge the status quo in the oil industry, and after sitting with them for just fifteen minutes, I knew they were the right fit for Hennie Enterprises.

Six weeks ago, we came to an agreement and the sale was final. Hennie Enterprises belonged to the Hutchins brothers now, and I didn’t feel an ounce of regret over it.

Today was another big day. My family and I were flying back to Florida so I could sign the final paperwork for the sale of my estate in Florida. Once that was done, there would be nothing tying me to that place anymore. I would be free of all obligations, and I wouldn’t feel like I was split between two places anymore.

“I know I made the right call,” I said to Rein, who was still hugging me from behind. “I haven’t had a single moment of doubt. Have you?”

I felt her shrug behind me. “A little. But I think it’s more because I’m afraid that I’m asking you to give up something that you love.”

I took the pancakes off the griddle and plated them before spinning in her arms to face her. I cupped her cheeks in my hands and kissed the tip of her nose. “It was just a job, baby. I love you and our munchkins. I’m ready to have more time with all of you. I don’t want to keep hopping back and forth between here and Florida. I want to settle down.”

She smiled up at me, and her cheeks flushed pink. “Me too.”

Rein and I carried the plates of pancakes to the table. Bella waited patiently for us as we laid out the syrup, and I set the bacon in the middle of the table. Braxton watched with wide eyes as we started eating. I cut up a piece of my pancake for him and put it on the empty plate I had brought over. I put it in front of him on the tray on his booster seat and laughed as he ate like the sloppy kid he was.

“So,” I said after swallowing a delicious piece of bacon. “Are you girls ready to go to Florida?”

Bella nodded eagerly. “I miss the beach.”

“We’ll have time to spend the day there,” Rein said. “I’m excited to lie in the sun and read my book.”

“We have to build sand castles,” Bella said.

“Well, of course, we do,” I agreed. “It wouldn’t be a beach day if we didn’t build sand castles.”

Bella giggled and dipped her bacon in her maple syrup.

“Have you both packed your bags?” I asked.

Bella nodded while Rein gave me a guilty look. “I haven’t completely finished packing. Just a few more last-minute things. Like shampoo and stuff.”

“Uh huh,” I said. “And if you have space left over, I’m sure you’ll find other things to bring.”

Rein looked down at her plate, but I caught the smile playing at the corners of her mouth. “Maybe. Or maybe I’ll leave space so I can bring new things home with me from Florida.”

I laughed. “A strategist, I see.”

Rein gave me a smug look.

“Don’t be so impressed with yourself,” I said.

She shrugged and pushed a piece of pancake around her plate. “I’m always impressed with myself. I married you, after all.”

Braxton slapped his hands playfully on his tray and distracted us. We all looked at him, and he smiled gleefully. Then the silliness started, and we were all making faces at him. Bella always managed to get the biggest laughs out of him when she opened her eyes real wide and stuck her tongue out. He would burst out in hysterical fits that would leave us all clutching our sides with aching ribs from laughing so hard.

This time was no different. Bella amused him to no end. She was a great help. She kept him preoccupied as Rein and I began cleaning up the kitchen.

“Why don’t you girls go and make sure you packed everything? I’ll get the kitchen cleaned up, and we can head out in forty-five minutes. The plane will be waiting for us.”

Rein went to the tips of her toes and kissed my cheek. “All right. We’ll be fast.”

She went and lifted Braxton out of his booster seat. She cooed to him as she took Bella’s hand, and the three of them left me in the kitchen and made their way to the bedrooms upstairs.

I had purchased a new home on the outskirts of Valdez shortly after proposing to Rein. I wanted us to have a real, fresh start, and I wanted her to live in the type of luxury she deserved. The home was perfect for what we needed. We had a patio out back that was nice to entertain during the brief summer months. A hot tub sat in one corner, which Rein and I used diligently all year round. Eventually, I wanted to put a heated in-ground pool in the backyard for the kids, but with everything going on back in Florida, I decided not to spread myself too thin just yet. After the dust settled and everything was sold, I could focus on completing our first family home.

For now, I was going to try to enjoy myself in Florida. I was excited to go as a family and spend time in the sun with my children and my wife.

It took Rein and Bella almost an hour to finish packing. In the meantime, I changed Braxton’s diaper and made sure we had everything he would need for the week. I started loading up the truck, and by the time it was filled with everyone’s suitcases, we were ready to hit the road.

We listened to upbeat pop songs on the way, as per Bella’s request. Both she and Rein serenaded Braxton and me until I parked the truck on the tarmac and turned the ignition off. I took Braxton’s carrier off the base of his car seat, and Rein helped Bella out of the truck. Then the four of us climbed the stairs to the private jet as the attendants loaded our luggage.

We sat down in plush leather seats that all faced each other, and I set Braxton’s carrier down between my legs. The flight attendant on shift was named Sherry, and she appeared with a glass of champagne for Rein and me and a glass of orange juice for Bella. She served my daughter’s juice in a champagne flute to match mine and Rein’s.

We toasted to our first vacation as a family together, and to new beginnings.

After our drinks were finished, the plane was in the air and we were bound for Florida.

Bella fell asleep forty minutes into the flight. Braxton was dozing in his carrier. Rein stood and took the open seat beside me. I held out my hand to her, and she took it.

“You’re sure that moving to Alaska is what you want?” she asked, her face turned away from me as she watched the clouds pass out the window.

I nodded, even though she wasn’t looking at me. “I’m sure. I’ve never been happier than I am with you, and my home is wherever you are. Valdez is the perfect place for us to raise our family.”

She rolled her head to look at me. The smile she wore was beautiful. I would never get tired of admiring her. “You won’t resent me in ten years for making you leave a city you loved?”

I rubbed my thumb across the back of her hand. “Florida pales in comparison to you.”

“I love you,” she whispered.

“I love you, too.”

This was a conversation we had many times over the last few months. I knew Rein felt guilty; she felt like she was forcing me to choose between my old life and my new life. No matter how I tried to explain it to her, I couldn’t seem to get her to believe that all I wanted was to be with her and my kids. I was happy, happier than I had ever been in my entire life. I wanted to give her that same happiness every day until I died.

I was going to start by helping her get her painting business up and running. She didn’t know it yet, but I had plans that would help her spend more time in the gallery, which I knew she missed dearly. Having a toddler didn’t make it easy to step away. She needed time, and I had a way to grant her that.

Couple that with my business savvy experience, and I knew we could create something great for her. Something bigger than she had ever even dreamed.

I squeezed her hand as clearer skies began to appear outside. We were getting close. Soon, she would be able to look down and see bright blue ocean sprawling beneath us.

I waved Sherry back over and ordered us more champagne. There was much for us to celebrate. Why not start early?