“I thought I wanted to leave this town. I was so desperate to go, I let myself believe I was in love with the wrong man and Dad paid the price.”
“Emma. None of this is your fault. None of it. Evan made a choice. The wrong one. You didn’t know what could happen, would happen. And I will always be here for you. My parents will be here for you. They love you as much as I do.”
My heart raced with the joy I needed to get me through. “It’s because of him, I know exactly what love isn’t. It’s because of you, I know exactly what love is. I love you, Aiden. I don’t care if people think it’s too soon.”
He entwined our fingers together. “I thought it was almost too late. When I came back, I was sure I had lost you for good. You’re going to marry me one day, Emma Hawkins. You can count on it.”
Epilogue
Weeks later
Coming to terms with the circumstance of my father’s death may never happen. Somewhere in the weeks that followed, Aiden had almost finished the house. He’d gotten help from Wyatt to replace old floorboards and other carpentry work. Sadie’s dad, Burt, who owned Plumbing Solutions, updated the plumbing. Aiden contracted other people in town with work he couldn’t do himself. However, I had a feeling he’d find projects to work on around the house.
I graduated from college with my business degree around the same time. Aiden, his parents, and my friends were there for support at the ceremony. It was such as good feeling to have them be there.
Meanwhile, Evan had his initial court hearing, and he wasn’t granted bail because the prosecutor claimed he was a flight risk. Though his lawyer was appealing that. I wasn’t sure how I felt about Evan facing the death penalty. What he’d done was morally wrong, but I could now agree with Aiden that his intent probably wasn’t murder after seeing the video footage inside the bar. He deserved time for sure. But I wasn’t a lawyer and would let the legal people worry about that.
I was doing my best to move past all the hurt and pain. Though I didn’t want to, I had to release my anger to move forward. It was a day-by-day thing. And tonight was a beautiful evening. The sun was low in the sky as Aiden and I sat in a clearing near the lake. He picked up dinner from the Italian restaurant in town and took me on picnic date.
“What do you think?” he asked, taking another bite of his pasta.
He hadn’t worn any hat tonight, and I brushed away a strand of hair covering his eye. “Good. I could have cooked for you,” I said.
“Tonight, I wanted you to just enjoy the evening.”
I smiled because I’d gotten lucky. I’d dodged a bullet and now I was with a man I adored and who adored me.
“I got the estimates back,” I said, enthusiastically. “Work can begin this week.”
The life insurance money had come through. I’d opened an account out of town because I really didn’t want anyone to know I was technically a millionaire. It didn’t feel right to profit from my father’s death either.
“He would be happy,” Aiden said. “You heard what Evan said.”
In interviews with the prosecution, Evan admitted during the argument with my father before he died, Dad had told Evan he’d taken his advice from a phone call they had prior to meeting and had gotten better life insurance so that I wouldn’t need Evan in the event of his death. Evan hadn’t wanted to be charged with killing my father to get access to the money I would get. Apparently, his family had cut him off. That had been the real reason behind the fake ring. Though his parents paid for his lawyer. They didn’t want their name tarnished.
“I know. But I’d rather have my father than the money,” I said. He squeezed my hand as I fought tears. “I’m not going to cry.”
“You can cry whenever you want. I’ll be here.”
I wiped my eyes as I nodded. “It’s a nice night. Let’s talk about something else.”
He changed the subject as I asked. “A friend of mine asked me for a favor.”
“Should I be worried?”
“It could be a good thing. There are two women who need to relocate. A mother and daughter. I thought maybe the mother would be a good fit to run your bed and breakfast unless you have someone else in mind.”
“I don’t. But if they’re in trouble…”
“Oh, they’re good people. The daughter is a registered nurse. I’m going to ask Miles if he needs a nurse in his office. Otherwise, I’m sure she would be willing to help at the B&B.”
“I trust you. If you trust this friend and them, we could do that.”
His smile warmed my insides and my mind drifted to the moment we’d get home. I was ready for him to show me all the ways he could love me.
“I also hear that Blake Walker and Jack Torres are coming back to town,” he said.
“Really? Maybe we should throw them a welcome home party at the bar?”
“You have the kindest heart. I think that’s a good thing. We should let them know they’re our heroes.”
My head spun with ideas. I’d see if the mayor wanted to get involved if they didn’t have anything else planned.
When we finished eating, Aiden took my hand and led me into the trees.
“Where are we going?” I asked. “I was hoping to go home.” I winked at him.
“Walk with me,” he said. “I’ll make up for it later.”
I bit my lip because I knew he would. “Where are you taking me?” I asked as we were crossing into private property.
He just smiled. Not long after we reached the creek where the most beautiful bridge stood. A man named Henry Davis had built it for his then girlfriend, now wife. Lore had it, he built it to propose to her on it. My heart galloped like wild horses.
I followed him onto the bridge treading lightly. He stopped us at the middle.
Aiden
It felt like I’d waited a lifetime for this moment. Though I could see that she understood why I’d brought her here, I had no idea about what I was going to say next.
“Do you remember when I told you that I got some advice once?”
She bobbed her head.
“Your dad gave me that advice.”
As her eyes widened, I thought back to that day.
“Aiden,” Mr. Hawkins said when I walked into the bar. “Back from school?”
I’d gotten back into town earlier that day from college and my first thought was to come here. “Yes, sir.”
“You’re still not old enough to drink.” He eyed me suspiciously.
Emma walked into view and she’d only gotten prettier since the last time I’d seen her. She hadn’t looked in my direction, so I got my fill.
“You’re here for Emma, are you?”
I snapped my head back in his direction. I wasn’t sure what to say. Emma’s dad was famous for busting the balls of any guy he didn’t think deserved any of her attention. “Yes, sir,” I admitted because it was better than lying.
He nodded. “Well, at least your eyes weren’t on her ass,” he muttered.
I shook my head, nerves getting the better of me. “No, sir.”
“Joe and Mary raised a good boy. You have my permission to ask her out.”
I’d heard she wasn’t dating which was why I came. Every time I’d wanted to ask her out in the past, she had a boyfriend, or I had a girlfriend.
“However,” he began. “Let me give you some advice.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You’re going back to college when summer is over, right?”
I agreed.
“I like you. When I saw you looking at my daughter, it reminded me of how I looked at my wife. I want the man that marries my daughter to love her the way I loved her mother.”
“Uhhh.”
He grinned. “What I’m saying, Aiden, is do you want a summer with my daughter or maybe a lifetime? If you date her over the summer, it will end when you go back to school.”
“Sir—”
“You will be far apart and we both know that there will be temptations at school. If you break her heart
now, you may not get a second chance.”
I got what he was saying. Even though I’d broken things off with Darcy before my freshman year thinking I was doing the right thing, she’d still been upset.
“You need to decide if you want Emma’s heart for a summer or for lifetime.”
When I finished recounting the past, I blinked away the memory and saw Emma crying. Since I thought they were happy tears, I knelt before her, pulling out the box with the ring I’d gotten a few weeks ago from Ryder’s jewelry store.
“I know how important it would be for you to have your Dad’s approval. I hope maybe that’s what he gave me.” I took a breath. “I’m asking, will you give me a lifetime and do me the honor of being my wife?”
Emma
I wasn’t sure I could speak, but there was so much I had to say. I tugged him to his feet and his expression showed signs of alarm. I smiled. “I need to tell you some things before I answer, and I didn’t want you kneeling there that long.”
His frown flipped and he graced me with a beautiful smile.
“Thank you for sharing that memory about my dad. It does help, but I would have said yes anyway. But now it makes sense what Dad told me.” His brow rose in question. “When I told him I was engaged to Evan, his immediate response was I thought you were going to marry that Faulkner boy you had a crush on.”
Aiden’s grin widened.
“He shocked me with that. I just assumed he was saying that because he’d figured out that I did in fact have a crush on you. Then, I told him even if I wanted to, you were living in LA and wouldn’t be back. He said that you’d be back. And here you are.”
His thumb came up and swiped a tear away. “Here I am.”
“There’s something else you need to know. I was planning to tell you later after all the fun stuff,” I paused. “I’m—um—I’m pregnant.”
His eyes grew the size of saucers and I waited on bated breath for his reaction because we hadn’t talked about starting a family. I didn’t know if he wanted kids.
“Emma.” He reached down and placed his hands on either side of my belly. “You’re carrying our child.”
I nodded and murmured an assent. “Are you okay with that?” I babbled.
“Of course. Now you have to marry me.”
“That’s all I needed to hear. Yes, Aiden, I’ll marry you.”
What had started off as a beautiful evening was capped off as the perfect night. Aiden did all kinds of crazy and wonderful things to me when we got home. Our home.
Did that ending leave you with questions about Liam?
Grab’s Liam’s story, King Me — HERE.
THE NEXT BOOK IN THE MASON CREEK SERIES IS
PERFECT TRAGEDY. Grab it HERE!
Love Small Town Romances
Check out others of mine.
HONEY - curvy woman + hot rancher. Yum!
MARRIED IN VEGAS - Best Friend’s Brother romance
UNFORGETTABLE - Small Town Doctor romance coming soon.
Thank You
I’d like to thank you for taking the time out of your busy life to read my novel. Above all, I hope you loved it. If you did, I would love it if you could spare just a few more minutes to leave a review on your favorite e-tailer. If you do, could you be so kind and not leave any spoilers about the story? Thanks so much!
Acknowledgments
A special thank you for the Mason Creek series readers. You guys totally rock.
Special Thank You to our fearless leader C.A. Harms for organizing. And thanks to Lydia and Megan at HEA Book Tours for organizing our releases.
Thanks to Sarah Paige @ Opium House Creative, who made this gorgeous cover for me and the series.
To Kate & Kelly at Joy editing— Thanks for all your comments, change suggestions and feedback.
A HUGE Thank you to my book wifey, A.M. Hargrove, who saved the day again. Thanks for picking up errors missed in editing.
A special thanks to a group of authors who helped me get through a writing slump due to COVID fatigue. No I didn’t have COVID, but I couldn’t read or write a thing for the longest time. Thanks Jana for organizing the writing zoom group. It’s because of Jana along with LIV and Anne that I was able to finish not one but two books in record time. And I’m still going strong.
About the Author
Terri E. Laine, USA Today bestselling author, left a lucrative career as a CPA to pursue her love for writing. Outside of her roles as a wife and mother of three, she’s always been a dreamer and as such became an avid reader at a young age.
Many years later, she got a crazy idea to write a novel and set out to try to publish it. With over a dozen titles published under various pen names, the rest is history. Her journey has been a blessing, and a dream realized. She looks forward to many more memories to come.
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Also by Terri E. Laine
King Maker Trilogy
Money Man
Queen of Men
King Maker
Kingdom Come Duet
Kingdom Come
Kingdom Fall
King Me Duet
King Me
Queen Her
All the Kings Sons Standalone Spinoffs
Arrogant Savior
Rook to Ruin
Bishop to King
Pawn to Knight
King Me Duet
King Me
Queen Her
Him standalone series
Because Of Him
Captivated by Him
Chasing Butterflies standalone series
Chasing Butterflies
Catching Fireflies
Changing Hearts
Craving Dragonflies
Songs for Cricket
Blinded by You Duet
Honey
Sugar
Married in Vegas standalone series
Married in Vegas: In His Arms
Absolutely Mine
Other standalone books
Ride or Die
Thirty-Five and Single
Perfect Night
Unforgettable
other books co-authored
by Terri E. Laine
Cruel and Beautiful
A Mess of A Man
One Wrong Choice
A Beautiful Sin
Sidelined
Fastball
Hooked
Worth Every Risk
A Beautiful Sin
Perfect Night Page 18