our nieces and nephews here to learn, too. And between us and our new friends, I thought it would be a nice challenge for us in the next few years when we don’t have to be in Houston. While you get this place up and running, I’ll work on the ski resort. I thought we might make an attractive offer to Sam to come help us. What do you think? Want to bring the alpine industry back to Aster Valley?”
I thought of this gorgeous and cozy lodge, the impeccable commercial kitchen, the new friends who’d already welcomed us with open arms, and the old friend who’d jump into this with us in a heartbeat. I thought of being closer to Moose and Jill and having Steph and Mark’s family in our lives. I thought of keeping the house in Houston and still being able to have Tiller’s teammates over for dinner during the season.
I clapped a hand in front of my mouth to keep from squealing in excitement. Happy tears slid out of the edges of my eyes.
“Oh hell yes,” I whispered. “So much.”
Tiller’s hands cupped my face, and the expression of love on his face overwhelmed me. “We’re going to have an amazing life together, Michael Vining. You with me?”
I remembered the night we first got together in this house. The night we finally crossed the boundaries we’d tried to keep between us. “Mm-hm. Yeah. Yep. Yes. That,” I said, teasing him with my silly babbled words from that night. “I would like that. Please. Yes, please.”
Epilogue
Truman - Six Months Later
I watched Tiller throw bean bags toward a row of buckets while Mikey egged him on.
“Thankfully, you catch better than you throw,” Mikey teased. “Your contract would be worth about a buck fifty if you were a quarterback instead of wide receiver.”
Tiller shot him a look and resumed his laser focus on the festival game. I could tell the person manning the booth was less than impressed. Barney was already annoyed at having been suckered into running the bean bag toss booth in the first place, but dealing with the man Barney referred to as “Mister Moneybags” was probably pushing all of his buttons past the red zone.
I made a mental note to have a “headache” tonight. The last thing I needed was Barney Balderson pressuring me for personal intimacies when he was already in a mood. I wasn’t the personal intimacies type on the best of days, but if Barney was in a certain funk, I’d learned early on to stay away.
“If you’d let me have a second helping of egg surprise for breakfast,” Tiller complained, “I would have made the shot.”
Mikey let out a bark of laughter and pinched Tiller’s ass right as he let loose another bean bag. The missile sailed past Barney’s head, nearly knocking his driving cap off.
“Mother of pearl!” Barney shouted in disgust.
Winter Waites walked up and handed me a raspberry slushy from one of the other booths. “What’d I miss? Mr. Balderson looks like he’s about to blow a gasket.”
I sighed and turned away. “Tiller and Mikey are so perfect for each other. Don’t you think?”
Winter’s forehead crinkled. “I do. They’re very different, though. I know they spend a lot of effort making it work.”
Gentry walked up and put a soft cotton hoodie over Winter’s shoulders. “There. But if you need anything else out of the car, you’re on your own. I had to pass the entire cheerleading squad on the way to and from, and every single one of them asked me to sign their phone cases. What even is that? I wish there was still such a thing as CDs.”
Winter shrugged into the jacket before zipping it up and kissing his famous husband on the cheek. “I’d say I owed you one, but I had to help your uncle Doran do groin stretches last week. We’re still so far away from being even, it’s not even funny.”
Gent let out a deep belly laugh and wrapped his arm around Winter’s shoulders. “Point taken. Maybe I’ll cook you dinner tonight to help make up for it.”
Winter rubbed his stomach. “After all this fair food? No way. Besides, we’re headed up to the lodge tomorrow night for Mikey’s big cookbook party, remember? I’m fasting until then to make room for everything he’s making.”
Tiller botched his final bean bag before the two of them turned to join us. Barney shot me a look of stark disapproval. He didn’t like it when I “consorted with