We stop and I pull her off to the side, my arm around her tightening.Her head fits against my chest like it was made to be there, always has and always will.
Flurries drift down, light enough to feel like a blessing instead of a warning, and Grace tilts her face up to me.“You happy, Coach?”
“Hell yeah.”
She smiles, and I’m loving every single one she’s had for me tonight, all of them feeling like a promise.
We stand there, wrapped in each other, surrounded by a town that knows us, by a future that finally feels open with possibility.And for the first time in a long time, I don’t feel like I have to carry everything alone.Not anymore.
Epilogue
Maddox
Grace’s flight from Los Angeles lands while I’m still at practice.I wanted to pick her up, be the first thing she saw after nearly three weeks of distance, video calls, and late-night texts that never quite filled the space she left behind.But she shut that down fast.
“Coach, think of your team.”She knew where to poke to make her point.“Do what you do best, they need you, and we’ll see each other at home.”
Home.
The word settles deep, solid, and right.She’ll be home any minute now.
I arrived about forty minutes ago and have been working hard with Percy to get everything ready before she arrives.Our friends are coming for dinner in about an hour.Mom, Katie, Wren, Oliver, half the town if they could swing it, wanted to be here.They missed her.Of course they did.
I missed her most.
Mom wanted to be here when Grace arrived, but I put an end to that.I needed her to myself, if only for an hour, before the house filled up and I had to share her again.
“I think we’re done.Let me just set the timer on the oven for the appetizers, and then I’ll get out of here.”Percy places the last glass on the table and spins on her heel toward the kitchen.
The dining room looks spectacular—balloons, streamers, and a ‘welcome home’ banner strung across the far wall.It might be a lot for only three weeks apart, but I wanted to mark the occasion properly.
I wanted to give Grace something that said this is real, you live here now.This party is both a welcome to town and a homecoming, and I make no apologies for it.
“It’s too bad you can’t stay tonight.Thanks for everything, Perce.”
“I’ll see Grace soon enough.”She wipes her hands on a dishtowel and turns to face me.“Besides, Pop wanted to be here, and someone’s got to hold down the fort at the Grill.That’s the goal.”A small smile crosses her face.“Grace has been giving me pointers, actually—how to make Pop feel like he’s in control while I quietly shape the way things run.”
That doesn’t surprise me in the least.Grace has a gift for finding the person in the room who needs a hand and figuring out exactly how to extend one without making them feel small for needing it.Pop’s a good man, but he’s been dangling that carrot in front of his daughter for far too long, and Percy is more than qualified to take the reins.
The front door opens, and my heart stutters—hard—and then a thud echoes through the entryway, the unmistakable sound of a bag hitting the floor.
“Honey, I’m home.”
I can hear her smile in the words, and mine is already forming before I’ve taken a single step.
I move before the door even clicks shut, crossing the kitchen and down the hallway to the front.My hands find her coat and my mouth finds hers, the kiss landing hard.Everything about me has been holding its breath for three weeks, and finally, gratefully, I exhale.
Grace makes a soft sound against my lips, surprise giving way to heat.I chase it without hesitation, angling closer until we’re pressed flush against each other in the entryway.
“I missed you.”The words break apart in her mouth as I say them, barely coherent.I rest my forehead against hers for one long beat, just breathing her in.“I need you.”
The truth of it hums under my skin, low and steady and absolute.
Her fingers curl into the waist of my jeans.“Me, too.”
Her hands go for my button, and I reach for the silk of her blouse, working through each small fastening with more patience than I currently possess.The sight of her breasts in a sheer white bra evaporates whatever is left of my restraint.Behind us, a throat clears—leisurely and deeply amused.
We freeze.