“You . . . you what?”
I step forward, taking her hand in mine. “I love you, Ren, and I want to be with you.” I pull her to my chest. “You were right: the only curse I was facing was the fear and doubt I carried in my mind. I was too damn nervous to lose you, too afraid of anything happening to you, and I pushed you away when I should have held you closer.”
I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, watching as her eyes fill with tears, a smile pulling at her kissable lips.
“I should have known when I pulled you out of your car that you were going to rock my world. You’ve infiltrated my life in the best way possible. You’re so beautiful in every way, and brave. Brave enough to take on one of the infamous Knightly brothers.”
“A decision I was regretting a few minutes ago.” She chuckles and wipes away her tears.
“I might have taken a roundabout way to figure it out, but I want to be with you, Ren. I want you in my life, forever.”
She stands on her toes and cups my cheeks with both hands, her eyes fixed on mine. “I want you in my life forever as well, Griffin.”
I close the space left between us and take her lips with mine, relief washing over me as we deepen our connection. I walk her backward into the house and shut the door behind me with a kick of my leg. I don’t need this in the newspaper tomorrow.
I can see the headline now:
NEW GIRL BREAKS THE CURSE!
I’d rather hold this moment close to my heart, keeping it just between us. There is always tomorrow for everyone to find out; tonight is only for us.
How does the saying go? “’Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all”?
Losing Claire, losing Ren—they’re not comparable, and yet they felt the same. The heartache, the deep absence, the inability to function without thinking about them.
And I hate to admit it, but the old crone down in New Orleans was right: only when my mind had matured would the curse be cured.
Fuck if it didn’t take one hell of a road to mature, but with Ren in my arms, her lips on mine, I couldn’t be happier to have made it.
EPILOGUE
GRIFFIN
“This party is dope.” Reid grips me by the shoulders and shakes me.
“Will you keep your voice down? Jesus Christ, dude, how is it going to be a surprise if you keep shouting?” I whisper from between my teeth.
The backyard is scattered with all of our closest friends—a number that was difficult to pare down, so there are more people here than I would have wanted. I hope Ren isn’t overwhelmed. But then we’ve been dating solidly for two months, and we’ve been the newspaper headlines for at least five weeks out of those two months. I’m pretty sure she can’t be overwhelmed any more.
The weather has been unseasonably warm the last two weeks, so when I was planning this party, I gambled on the weather staying nice, and thankfully it has, because I couldn’t imagine not having the party outside, where Ren loves to listen to the ocean hit the rocks.
“She’s not here yet. I can be loud.”
“She’s a minute away, asshole, and our voices bounce off the woods.”
“Did you hear that?” Reid shouts. “Everyone be quiet—she’s a minute away.”
I grind my teeth together and slap my hand over Reid’s mouth, hissing in his ear. “I swear to God, man, you’re a second from being thrown into the ocean.” From under my hand he chuckles, driving me crazy all over again.
Brig tiptoes over to us, holding his drink out in front of him. “What’s happening?” he whispers. “Is she here?”
“No.” I push Reid toward him. “But keep your brother away from me before I blast him through the woods.”
“Don’t be a dick,” Brig chastises, pushing Reid into Rogan as he walks toward us. Rogan gives Reid a death glare, which actually seems to calm the asshole down, at least for now. Brig leans in close to me, a huge smile on his face. “Can I just say, this is super fucking romantic, this whole party.” He raises his eyebrows. “Are you dropping down on one knee tonight?”
“Fuck no,” I answer as quickly as possible. It’s not that I don’t want to marry Ren. In fact, the minute I know it’s right, I’m going to take the opportunity to fully make her mine. No, I’m not proposing tonight because there is no way in hell I would do it in front of half the town.
Nope.
When I propose, it’s going to be private and keep us out of the Port Snow headlines for as long as possible.
“You don’t have to be so blunt.”
“I’m not doing it in front of all of you fools.”
Brigs shakes my shoulder, surprise on his face. “But you’re going to do it?”
I drag my hand over my face. “Jesus Christ, go stand with your other brother. Please.”
“If I wasn’t so excited, I would be insulted that you’re putting me in the same box as Reid.”
“She’s here,” Jen whispers, making her way into the backyard from the front of the house. “Everyone quiet.”
Silence falls over the group as the first light in the house switches on.
A month ago, Ren moved into my house. It took some convincing, because she loved being so close to the beach, but I argued that living three houses farther from the water was still damn close. After two days of putting it off, she finally relented and moved in with me.
And even though she won’t admit it, I know she likes that my backyard backs up into woods, a nice change from the rental, whose backyard opened up to the house behind her, affording not much privacy at all. And boy, do we need the privacy.
“Griff?” Ren calls out, making her way to the kitchen, the room that connects with the deck.
“Out here, baby.” She steps outside just as my dad flips on the outdoor lights we set up.
In unison, we all shout, “Surprise!” and scare my girl right out of her shoes.
Hand to her heart, a look of utter shock on her face, she nervously laughs as I hop up on the deck and pull her into my arms.
“Happy birthday, babe,” I murmur into her ear, my arms circling her waist. “Are you surprised?”
“You could say that.” She chuckles and pulls away just enough to look me in the eyes. “Did you plan this all on your own?”
I glance around the backyard filled with our family and friends. “I wish I could say I did, but it was a town effort. They love you, and I can’t blame them.” I place a soft kiss on her lips right before everyone approaches, giving Ren hugs and asking if she was surprised.
With my hand in her back pocket, keeping her as close as possible, I watch as she beams with joy, hugs every single person, thanking them for coming, and jokes around with my brothers, throwing in her jabs whenever she gets a chance.
Fuck, I couldn’t love this woman any more.
After a good ten minutes of people greeting her and Ren taking in the strung lights, the wood benches surrounding a firepit, and the copious amounts of food my parents prepared, she finally makes her way to the gigantic box that’s been sitting in the grass, off to the right, waiting to be opened.
When she examines the wrapping, she quirks an eyebrow at me. “Are those little moose all over that box?”
“Did you not take in the theme?” I motion to the party. “Moose napkins, moose antlers, moose hats.”
She blinks a few times and chuckles. “I was so consumed by thanking people and scoping out the food that I didn’t even notice. Did you throw me a moose-themed birthday party?”
“I thought it was only fitting.” I kiss the side of her head. “Now open your present.”
She eyes the huge box, defeat already in her eyes. “How do you expect me to unwrap this monster?”
I lean down and hold up two giant ribbons attached to the box. “Just pull on these.”
Skeptically, she gives me a once-over. “What are you hiding under here, Griffin Knightly? Another house?”
“Just open it and find out.”
Everyone surrounds us as Ren
pulls on the thick ribbons, yanking with all her might to reveal her birthday present.
The sides of the box collapse, and she gasps as she takes in what’s been hiding all this time.
“My car!” She runs up to it and starts taking it all in. “Oh my gosh, my car is finally done.”
“Sorry about the wait.” Brig steps in. “Griff wanted to surprise you, so we spent a little bit longer with it. But we polished her up nice, put in a new airbag and radiator. She’s a well-oiled machine, ready to take on another moose.”
“This is wonderful, thank you.” Ren throws her arms around Brig’s neck and gives him a giant hug. He smiles wickedly at me as he squeezes her tight.
I don’t take too long in breaking them up. “All right, all right. It was my idea after all. If it were up to Brig, your car would still be in the shop.”
“Lies,” he spouts off. “We have impeccable service at the shop. Sorry that I was playing matchmaker trying to get you two together.”
I roll my eyes and link my hand with Ren’s, bringing her closer to the car, where she can get a better look.
“It’s perfect. Thank you so much, Griffin. This must have cost a fortune.”
“Not when my brother is the owner.” I wink. It was a lot, but she’s worth it. “Did you catch the license plate?”
“No.” She smiles and then goes to the hood of the car, where she reads the license plate out loud. “Moose Me.” She chuckles and shakes her head. “Please, I don’t want any moose to ‘moose’ me anytime soon.”
I pull her in close, the scent of her perfume like a beautiful summer day. “Don’t worry, babe. If a moose went suicidal on you again, I would save you, your bloody-head, bra-wearing self.”
She cups my cheek. “I think that’s the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me.” She presses her lips against mine, and I show no shame in slipping my tongue into her mouth in front of everyone.
And neither does she.
Because if we’re going to show up in the headlines again, might as well make it a good one.
PORT SNOW’S IT COUPLE TONGUES EACH OTHER AT PARTY.
Hell, I would read that story.
“Having a good time?” I whisper into Ren’s ear. We’re sitting by the backyard firepit as the party dies down. Ren’s back is to my chest, and I have my arms wrapped around her, holding her close. Once the sun set, a chill fell over the party, reminding us of the fall season.
She nods. “An amazing time. Thank you so much for putting this together. Did your dad really make that chocolate-black-cherry cake from scratch?”
“He did. It’s his go-to for birthdays.”
“It was incredibly good. He should think about selling that at the Landing.”
I shush her quickly before my dad—who’s sitting about ten feet away—can hear her. “Watch it,” I warn her. “He’s been wanting to sell cakes for a while, but it’s just one more thing to add to the list.”
“I bet they would sell.”
“Ren.”
“What?” She giggles and shifts to the left, giving me a beautiful view of her face lit up by the campfire. “You don’t want me telling him I think his cakes could be a hit?”
“Not if you want to sleep in the same bed as me.”
Her mouth drops open. “You wouldn’t.”
I slowly nod. “Yes, I would, and I wouldn’t feel bad about it.”
“You’re a gutsy man, Knightly, to even think about taking away bedroom privileges.”
“Oh, I would make you sleep on that couch so fast.”
“You would not.” She tickles my side.
I capture her hands in mine and quickly lower my mouth to hers. Just like ice cream on a hot day, she melts into my hold, opening her mouth ever so slightly to tease me with her tongue. I groan and pull back, glancing around the diminishing party. “Maybe we call it a night, and I give you your other birthday gift.” I wiggle my eyebrows, which she quickly stops with her hand to my forehead.
“Don’t be lame, Griffin.”
“That’s lame?”
“It’s a lame line; you know you can do better than that.”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to.” I lean down and nuzzle her neck. “What do you say? Call it a night with me?”
She scans the backyard and shakes her head. “There are too many people here still; it would be obvious why we’re calling it a night.”
“Ah, come on. Where’s your adventurous spirit? We did have sex for the first time on the beach for anyone to see.”
“Griffin.” She hushes me. “We’re trying to tamp down that rumor.”
I chuckle in her ear. “Still can’t believe someone saw us.”
“We’re not talking about it.” She leans back against me and rests her head on my shoulder. “Do you know what I want to talk about?”
“What’s that?” I kiss the side of her head.
“Who that girl is over there with the red hair and killer legs.”
I know exactly who she’s talking about; I don’t need to look up to confirm. Only a week ago, she came crashing into Port Snow, flipping one person’s life upside down.
“Harper Sanders.”
“Do you know her?”
I nod. “Yup, she grew up here. I heard she had a bad breakup and decided to move back. Her dad is the lighthouse keeper, so she’s helping him take care of the three we have here in town.”
“Is she nice?”
“She was back in high school.” I watch Harper talk quietly with Rylee out by the trees. “I’m not sure now. She hasn’t spoken to our family at all, but I don’t blame her.”
“Why?” Ren holds my hands as she studies Harper.
“Because she was supposed to marry Rogan.”
Stunned, Ren turns around and faces me. “What do you mean?”
“High school sweethearts like me and Claire, engaged in college, and then after Rogan’s accident, everything went sour. Rogan was unbearable, a ruthless asshole, and he took it out on her. He broke up their engagement and dropped out of college. He moved back to Port Snow and built his life here, without her.”
“That’s . . . so sad. Is that why he left the party early?”
“Yup. He can’t be around her.”
“Is it that bad?”
I nod. “Yeah, and it doesn’t help that he’s still in love with her.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Sitting on the slate rocks of a random seaside cliff in Maine, I remember turning to my wife, watching how fascinated she was with the powerful waves that came crashing into the shore, and thinking, I’ve got it, this little town I’ve been dreaming of—it’s finally come into focus, and I can’t wait to share it with my readers.
But I couldn’t have done it without a gang of well-wishers and vastly intelligent women behind me, fueling my need to produce this story.
Kimberly Brower and Aimee Ashcroft, my agents, thank you for having faith in me as an author as I threw idea after idea at you, and thank you for helping me shape those ideas into an actual story. Aimee, huge thanks to you for holding my hand when my face blanched and my mind went blank at the mention of a “family legend” twist. I couldn’t have done it without you.
Huge thank-you to Lauren Plude for having the confidence in me to take me on as a Montlake author. My dream was to be a part of the Montlake family, and you made that come true with a wonderful friendship and the utmost love for my stories. Thank you.
Lindsay Farber, I’m pretty sure you told me I was amazing at least twenty times on our first conference call. Guess what? You’re amazing. Thank you for helping me dig deeper.
Dani Sanchez, I don’t know why you put up with me, but thank you for always answering my crazy messages and going above and beyond your publicist duties.
To the bloggers and readers, I don’t even know how to express my deepest love for you. You take a chance on my books every time I release; that is something I could never show enough gratitude for. Thank you for being the best fans a girl could
ask for. You make this job so much fun!
I would be remiss not to mention my best friend in all of this. Thank you, Jenny, for handling everything behind the scenes, encouraging me, and being excited whenever I tell you about a new idea. Number one fan for life!
And lastly, thank you to my wife, Steph, for being my backbone, the girl behind the girl, and the best mother/wife a lady could ask for. Without you taking care of our son and supporting me in so many ways, I would never be able to do what I do. You are the reason I’ve been able to accomplish my dreams. Thank you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo © 2019 Milana Schaffer
USA Today bestselling author, wife, adoptive mother, and peanut butter lover. An author of romantic comedies and contemporary romance, Meghan Quinn brings readers the perfect combination of heart, humor, and heat in every book.
Text “READ” to 474747 to never miss another one of Quinn’s releases.
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