My heart was full as I strummed the final notes. Callie smiled at me so big and so bright, I thought she just might light up the whole place. Distantly, I was aware of the crowd cheering. More clapping and whistling. Hooting and hollering.
I waited, a sudden kick of adrenaline running through my veins. Smiled at my girl and tried not to let my nerves get the better of me.
The noise finally died down and I leaned closer to the mic. “Thanks, y’all. And thanks for coming out tonight. I think most of y’all know, Callie and I were friends back in the day because of a guitar and a song. She wandered over to a log I was sittin’ on while I strummed my guitar and she sat herself down like she knew she belonged there.”
I adjusted the guitar in my lap while the crowed oohed and ahhed.
“And it was a song that brought her back home,” I said. “So I thought it fitting that I do this here, tonight, after singing our song.”
The bar went silent while I stood and lifted the guitar strap from my shoulders. Callie watched me hand my guitar to Hung, her eyes wide and hopeful. My heart beat so hard I was surprised the mic didn’t pick up the sound.
But I looked into her beautiful eyes and I knew this was right. I’d known it almost from the moment she’d walked back into my life.
“Callie, my mama made me promise I’d never get married, except for one reason. Only if I was stupid in love.”
She laughed softly.
“I’m happy to say, I’m stupid in love with you. And if being stupid in love means I get to spend the rest of my life with you, I reckon it’s the smartest thing I’ll ever do.”
I lowered myself to one knee and she clapped her hands over her mouth. The crowded bar probably reacted, but I wasn’t paying attention to them anymore. Just her. Just us.
I pulled the ring out of my pocket. A simple solitaire, just like I already knew she wanted.
“Callie, will you marry me?”
“Yes,” she said, her answer muffled by her hand. She nodded, her hair falling into her face. Her eyes welled with tears. “Yes, Gibson.”
With the biggest smile of my life, I took her hand, and slid my ring on her pretty finger.
Standing, I scooped her into my arms and held her tight. Rocked back and forth with her while everyone in the Lookout—our neighbors, friends, and family—all cheered for us.
It was funny how life had a way of coming full circle. Callie’s disappearance had been like dropping a rock into still water. The ripples had started small, but widened as they went. Her life and her story had touched a lot of people. Even changed some lives.
Mine was sure one of them.
A guitar and a song. That was why we’d become friends. And a guitar and a song had brought her home. Now she was here, in my arms, where she was always going to stay. Here, in my hometown, surrounded by our family and friends. It was a fresh start. A new life. One we were going to live together, and live good.
For us—for all of us—Bootleg Springs was our happily ever after.
Need more Bootleg Springs in your life? How about a special bonus epilogue, plus where are they now updates, and a look behind the scenes into the making of Bootleg Springs!
GIMME THE ALL THE BONUS MATERIAL!
If you loved Bootleg Springs and want more small-town romance, check out:
The Blue Moon series by Lucy Score
And
The Miles Family series by Claire Kingsley
Afterword
Dear reader,
Here we are, at the end of the journey. The Bodines have found their happily ever afters. Callie Kendall is home.
I’ve never experienced anything in my career quite like the anticipation, expectations, and reader theories surrounding this book. Don’t get me wrong, those things were fun and amazing. But they did make writing this book uniquely challenging.
From the very beginning, Lucy and I knew Callie Kendall would be Gibson’s heroine. Early in our brainstorming, we came up with the idea to have a town mystery. And once we decided it would be a missing girl, we knew we’d bring her back in the last book. It’s where the series was leading the whole time.
For those of you on #teamcallie from the beginning - yay! I hope you made it through the first Maya chapter. I suppose if you’re reading this note, you did.
If you weren’t so sure about Callie as the heroine before reading, I hope she won you over. All I can say is, it had to be her. There was no one else for our Gibs.
Grumpy heroes with a hidden heart of gold are one of my favorite types of character to write. When Lucy and I were brainstorming characters, I’m pretty sure I said, “I want him, and he’s going to be an asshole.”
There’s something wonderfully satisfying about the broody guy who doesn’t think he’s cut out for love. They have such a fantastic character arc as they learn how to open themselves up to love.
Poor Gibson doesn’t think love is worth it. He figures being alone is better. At least he won’t get hurt.
But he does hurt. A lot. And it takes someone special to help him through those hurts. To help him find it within himself to forgive. And to decide he’s going to move on from his past and embrace the love in his life.
And once he does, Gibson loves big.
Callie is a name you hear from the beginning of the series. For some in Bootleg, she’s a curiosity. A story. The girl who disappeared.
For the Bodines, she becomes much more once they find her sweater among their parents’ belongings. Callie’s disappearance is pivotal in each of the first five books. In Whiskey Chaser, the scandal poses a threat to Scarlett and Devlin’s brand new relationship. In Sidecar Crush, we find out it was the reason Leah Mae stopped spending her summers in Bootleg Springs, and lost touch with Jameson. And the re-opening of the case puts a very unwanted spotlight on quiet Jameson.
The investigation comes between Bowie and Cassidy in a big way in Moonshine Kiss. In Bourbon Bliss, the case captures June’s attention. The town’s response to the media coverage brings Shelby to Bootleg Springs, which is how George hears about the town. And in Gin Fling, Jonah and Shelby are swept up in the mystery, as well as caught in the crosshairs of the Kendalls.
But Callie herself is a woman, not a story. Not a mystery. She’s a woman who took on a new identity. Who, after a childhood of abuse, refused to live her life as a victim. She grew into a confident, badass record producer who isn’t afraid to put broody rock stars in their place.
I knew that in order for her to be a match for Gibson, Callie couldn’t be timid or weak. She had to already have found her power and owned it. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t have her struggles, nor that she’s immune to fear. But by the time we meet her, she’s been standing on her own two feet for years. And while her life isn’t complete (after all, she didn’t have Gibson), she’s more than capable of handling him.
They’re everything the other person needed. She can roll with his moods and stand up for herself when it’s necessary. He can protect her without smothering or demanding she change who she is to fit his whims. They not only love each other, they respect and care for each other deeply.
I hope this book was everything you wanted it to be. It’s so bittersweet to say goodbye to this town and these characters. Writing this series with Lucy has been one of the biggest highlights of my career. I love this series with all my heart (almost as much as I love Lucy) and I’m both so happy to bring it to its final conclusion, and so sad to see it go.