were laughing when he did.
“Eden, this is Eliza. Eliza, my baby sister Eden.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” I greeted her with a smile.
“Come in for a hug, sweetheart! Anyone who puts up with him needs one!”
◆◆◆
“Look at what you’ve done,” Eden whispered close to my ear. She sat down on the step between my dad and I and leaned in to watch what was going on at a table Dad had set up in the yard. “You’ve finally given her the daughter she’s always dreamed of having.”
“Your mother loves you more than the air she breathes, Eden,” my dad reassured her.
“I know. I know she does. I’m just saying that Rason finally gave Mom a daughter who wants to learn all the old ways. I was never interested in all that stuff. I’ve got table manners and I know how to behave when I’m home, but it’s all out of habit, not pride. I think Eliza is loving this.”
“Oh, she is,” I said as I watched my grandmother hold Eliza’s hand to correct how she was eating with her chopsticks. “She’s studied up about it. She can tell us more about Vietnamese etiquette and tradition than even Mom.”
“You’ve got a good one there,” Dad said warmly. “I like her.”
“I like her too,” Eden agreed.
“I love her.”
EPILOGUE
RASON
I stepped over my nephew who was on his stomach in the hallway flinging Hot Wheel cars down to his brother who was at the other end and then I dodged my niece who was running to join them. My parents’ house was full of people, and I needed a minute of solitude.
I’d probably have to go over to the next county to get it.
“Are you leaving me in here?” I heard Eliza hiss from behind me.
“Nope! I would never!” I lied straight to her face and didn’t feel a second’s remorse about it.
“Whatever. Run while no one’s watching!” Eliza and I darted out the front door and ran down the steps. I grabbed her hand and dragged her toward the far side of the house. She got ahead of me and when I rounded the corner she had her back up against the wall and she was crouched low, peeking around the corner to see if we’d been followed. “How do six kids and one baby make that much noise?”
“I don’t know,” I said as I shook my head. “I think my dad locked himself in the garage an hour ago, and I’m pretty sure Hank went with him.”
“Assholes,” Eliza whispered. “I thought a big brother was supposed to protect the baby sister.”
“When they disappeared, you were in the kitchen having a hen party watching Mesha and Jayla teach my grandma how to play poker.”
“That was funny.” Eliza laughed. “She wiped them both out.”
“What do you think they do over there with no electricity, Eliza? Don’t ever get her started on dominoes. She’ll take your car and your house.”
I pulled Eliza into my arms and stared down into her beautiful face for a second before I kissed her softly.
“I love that you love my family.”
“I love that your family wanted mine to join theirs.”
“The fruit went over well,” I mused. “I think my mom loves you more than me now.”
We’d barely been able to harvest the gấc fruit in time to bring it to my parents for the Tet celebration. We’d picked two boxes full of the fruit this morning, and we'd made plans with Dad to bring the vines here to their house and get them set up in the greenhouse for Mom and Grandma to take care of them.
My mom had been beside herself when Eliza offered her the boxes of fruit. Mom had loved Eliza before, but when she heard that the plants were the reason Eliza and I met and then heard all Eliza had done to save them after the bomb destroyed my house, Mom got really emotional. She wasn’t one to show much in the way of public displays of affection, but she’d pulled Eliza in for a long hug and cried happy tears on her shoulder.
She’d had me take the boxes to the kitchen where she and Grandma had taught Eliza and the other women how to open the fruit and get the meat and then clean the seeds.
“I didn’t get a chance to ask you earlier. What did you think about the gấc and rice y’all made with the seeds?”
“It was different,” Eliza hedged. “Maybe it’s an acquired taste?”
“That shit was gross.”
“Rason! Your mom cooked it special just for us! You can’t say that!”
“I can. I’ll eat it every year to make Mom happy, but that’s it. You better not cook that shit at home.”
“I’ll cook what I want,” Eliza huffed.
“When are you going to marry me?”
“When are you going to ask?”
“I already did! You’re wearing my ring.” I picked her left hand up and kissed the back of it while I fiddled with the diamond.
“I told you the tradition, Rason. You have to ask me in front of our parents and then we have to offer a gift of fruit to your ancestors.”
“What would you have done if I was from some reclusive native mountain tribe that required blood sacrifices or something?”
“I guess I’d have studied phlebotomy.”
I started to laugh but Eliza reached up and shushed me with her hand over my mouth.
“If you do that, they’ll find us!”
“Are you planning on staying out here for a while?”
“Well, I was thinking.” Eliza slowly moved her hand down my chest to cover the zipper of my pants. “You and I seem to do well out in the grass under the stars, so I thought that maybe we should go hide in that field over there so I can lift my skirt and ride you like you’re my favorite pony.”
“Giddy up, cowgirl.” I swept Eliza up in my arms and took off for the neighboring field. “God, I love you!”
THE END
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COMING SOON
Look for Ronan, the fourth book in the Conner Brother Construction series, coming in January 2021.
RONAN
When payback goes wrong, Ronan Conner finds himself on the auction block and there’s no way to get out of it. Try as he might, he can’t force the woman who put him there to help him out, but he might just be able to convince her to let him take her to dinner.
An event planner who is damn good at her job, Thea enjoys order. She has her life planned out down to the very last detail. Surrounded by love from her family and her best friend, she longs for a child of her own. Never really one to follow convention, Thea approaches parenthood like she does everything else in life: fearlessly head-on.
An irritated construction worker stomps in and throws all her well-laid plans in the air. Now she needs to figure out how to get everything back in order and follow the path she’s chosen. But she can have just a little fun first, can’t she?
An unconventional start to an unconventional life - who would ever want boring and normal again? Thea certainly doesn’t and lucky for her, Ronan Conner wants to come along for the ride.
Check out Cee Bowerman on Facebook. You can also find information about the author and her books on www.ceebowermanbooks.com.
About the Author
Cee Bowerman is proud, lifelong resident of Texas. She is married to her own long-haired, tattooed biker and is the proud mom to three mostly adult kids - a daughter and two sons. She believes in love, second chances, rescue dogs, and happily ever after.
Cee received her first romance novel along with a bag of other books from her granny when she was recovering from surgery at 15. She has been hooked on reading romances ever since. For years, she had a dream of writing her own series of stories, but motherhood and all the other grown up responsibilities kept getting in the way. Luckily, with the support of her family and the encouragement of her son, she purchased a computer and let her dreams become a reality.
You can find her on Facebook @ceebowerman or online at www.ceebowermanbooks.com.
Look for more fun romances in this series in the coming months and get updates on the Facebook page for more information on characters and stories that are in progress.