EPILOGUE

IT WAS LATE.

The Poole-Partee wedding was beautiful from top to bottom, stem to stern, but the evening had to end at some point for fear of pissing off the lingering moon, and you don’t want to get on that dude’s dark side.

“Sorry again for ruining your wedding,” Scott said sheepishly, taking his leave.

Chris looked at Jonathan. “You didn’t,” Jonathan told him.

Scott walked away humbly. June flounced over.

“I’m glad I’m actually seeing you in person after all the emails you haven’t returned,” she said to Jonathan.

“Emails?” Jonathan was confused.

“Are you confused about what I just said, or the existence of emails in general?” June said impatiently.

“I didn’t know I had an email. Does it go to my work computer?” Jonathan was a little behind the times.

June continued, hoping that Chris would pick up the slack. “I need to correspond with the majority owner of the pool sometimes, you know, and you’ve been making that very difficult.”

Jonathan’s face was still as blank as the check in that ’90s movie about the kid with the blank check; you know, Rookie of the Year.

June shook her head. “You really don’t know what I’m talking about?”

He didn’t.

“You still own 51 percent of the pool—Bill left you the majority stake of the club in his will,” June exclaimed. Jonathan and Chris were shocked. June continued, “You couldn’t live on the pool grounds, but I can’t steal the pool away from you, as much as I’d like to.”

“I just assumed . . .” Jonathan began. “I don’t know what I assumed.”

“Well, you know what happens when you assume,” June said. “You make an ass out of you—rself.”

“Wow,” Chris said, looking around the pool.

“Board meetings are at the Yellow County Community Center on the second Tuesday of every month except November and December. That’s when basketball season begins, and the Yellow County Yellow Yellow Jackets have practices on Tuesdays. I expect you to start showing up.”

“To the Yellow Jackets’ practices?” Jonathan said. “I haven’t played in years, but I guess it’s true what they say, ball is life.”

June opened her mouth to respond when she realized that Jonathan was joking and flashing a sly grin.

“I’ll be at the meetings,” Jonathan assured June.

She harrumphed and walked away. Jonathan just looked at Chris and laughed. Chris shook her head.

Over yonder, Charlie, Jill, Roheed, Florence, and Judas sat in the gazebo. Jill sat on Charlie’s lap, Roheed and Florence were snuggled up, and Judas was lightly caressing his boo, a bottle of champagne.

“I couldn’t get Jerd on the phone,” Florence said.

“Typical,” Charlie scoffed.

“But I’ll be seeing him a ton once I’m out in Orange County,” Florence said hopefully.

“Tell him I hope he likes spending my money,” Charlie said caustically. The In Sheep’s Clothing premiere date was quickly approaching. Charlie was bummed. There was nothing he could do.

“You should go out there and confront him,” Jill said.

“What?” Charlie started, “No. . .”

“Yeah!” Jill said.

Florence was on board. “I can set it all up, it’ll be easy. And you have documents and emails and everything I’m sure.”

“I guess,” Charlie said cautiously.

“You should do it, bro,” Judas added.

“I guess I did just quit my job,” Charlie said, sort of to himself because he was the only person who still needed convincing at that point. Then he looked at Jill. “But what about us?” he asked earnestly.

Jill laughed. Charlie was confused. She saw his reaction and stopped laughing. “Oh, you’re serious?” she said. “I didn’t know we were an us, I mean, I did just have a very fun, wish fulfilling long-weekend fling with you, but us, I don’t know about all that.”

“Wow!” Charlie murmured.

“We can figure that stuff out later,” Jill said. “You need to go stop that movie before it comes out without your name on it.”

“Damn!” Charlie huffed. “I mean shoot, I don’t have anything holding me down here.”

Judas looked around excitedly. “Does this mean what I think it means?”

Charlie smiled. “I guess I’m going to LA?”

“Hell yeah!” Judas said.

Roheed was feeling frisky. “Hell yes!” he added.

Charlie laughed. Judas passed him the bottle of champagne and he took a big swig, wondering what he had just gotten himself into and hoping that he would have the nerve to follow through, even when the booze wore off the next day.

• • •

Chris and Jonathan finally made it back to Chris’s house eventually, which now, Jonathan guessed, was their house. He carried Chris over the threshold. He flicked the light on with his free hand.

“I’m excited to have some hot, steamy, post-marital intercourse,” Jonathan said, joking but serious.

“Me, too,” Chris smiled.

Jonathan hurried them to the bedroom. He set Chris’s legs down but didn’t let her go just yet. They kissed passionately.

“Jonathan?” Chris said through the kisses.

“Mhm,” he mumbled.

“Do you like the new furniture?” Chris said coyly.

Jonathan glanced around the room, his lips still locked to Chris’s, but then he noticed something and his eyes widened and his mouth stopped kissing.

“Jonathan,” Chris began, and Jonathan didn’t respond.

There was a brand-new crib sitting in the corner of the room.

“You’re going to be a daddy.”