Epilogue

5 months later

Tamsen peeked out from behind the black curtain for the fifth time in the last ten minutes. A soft chuckle sounded from nearby.

“Sure you don’t want to go out there yet, sweetheart?”

She shook her head. “It’s not time. The show’s only been open for half an hour. Usually, I tell the artist to wait at least forty-five minutes. It adds to the air of mystery.”

But she’d never been the artist before. She never knew how nerve wracking it was to stand in the back of the gallery, knowing people were just a few steps away looking at your work, judging your work, hopefully buying your work.

Parker’s strong, warm arms wrapped around her waist. “It’s going to be great.”

“Easy for you to say. It’s not your soul out there on display for the masses to scorn. Why did I want to do a gallery showing again? Maybe it’s not too late to make a career out of the service industry. I’ve got the day manager job at work. I could move onto night manager, franchise manager, maybe even buy my own restaurant. I could—”

“Except you don’t want to work in restaurants forever,” he said, ending her rambling and turning her in his arms so she faced him. “You are an artist. You’re meant to create joy, inspire hope, challenge ways of thought. And you’re damn good at it.”

She smiled. He was right. Working at the restaurant didn’t fulfill her the way her art did, the way being with him did. She still couldn’t believe how quickly these past five months had flown by. So much had changed. Their parents had gotten married in a beautiful ceremony that left no dry eyes in the venue. She’d moved in with Parker about four months ago. While she missed Cora, she loved that she got to wake up next to the man she loved every day.

Almost every day.

She worried like mad whenever he was on shift, but she knew he was doing important work. Other than her intense anxiety over everyone out there hating her show, things were good.

“Tamsen.” Winston poked his head through the curtain. “We’re ready for you.”

She took a deep breath. “Okay, here goes.”

Parker kissed her softly. “It’s going to be amazing, sweetheart.”

She wished she had his confidence, but she was grateful she had his love and support. She stepped out from behind the curtain, Parker slipping out after her and melding into the mingling crowd. Winston called attention and introduced her, garnering a soft round of applause. And then it was room-circling time.

It did go surprisingly well. Better than she could have hoped for. Her friends were in attendance, including a number of Parker’s firefighter buddies. Her dad and Victoria were there with a few friends. Tamsen told Victoria not to make a big deal of this, but she insisted that she knew some art connoisseur who would be absolutely devastated if they weren’t on the ground floor on new budding talent.

Everything seemed to be going well, and by the end of the night, every single piece of work had a red sale dot.

“I can’t believe it,” she said to Parker once they arrived back home. “Every piece sold. Like, every single piece!”

Her cheeks hurt from smiling so much, but she couldn’t stop. She’d expected four or five things to sell. Not every. Single. Piece. Even the broken chunks of her chest cast that she’d arranged into a piece called When Failure Meets Fate.

“You’re amazing, sweetheart. I keep telling you that.”

He did, and she usually believed him, but the hallmark of any artist was the self-doubt that came along with creation.

She tossed a smile over her shoulder as they walked down the hallway to their bedroom. The fancy silk dress she wore for tonight’s show was nice, but she couldn’t wait to get out of it and into some comfy leggings.

She entered the bedroom, smiling at the one piece of work not included in tonight’s exhibit. The large passion painting hung on the wall across from the bed.

“I still can’t believe you bought that.”

He tossed his suit jacket on the chair in the corner. “I wanted to be the first person to have a Tamsen Hayes original.”

“I would have just given it to you.”

He wagged a finger. “No way. No special treatment just because you love me.”

“I do love you.” She smiled, stepping closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “You make me happier than I ever thought possible.”

He placed his hands on her waist, smiling down at her. “Bet I can make you even happier.”

“Oh really? What are the stakes?”

“Same as always.”

Since their bets almost always included sex, she nodded.

“Well then, I have to inform you the greatest work of art tonight was you.”

She snorted out a laugh. “Cheesy, way too cheesy.”

He gave her a mock scowl. “I was going for romantic. Now zip it.”

She mimed zipping her lips. Parker nodded, pulling away and moving to his dresser. He shuffled around in the top drawer for a bit before turning and heading back to her, hands behind his back. What had he grabbed out of there? She hoped it was a fun new toy for them to experiment with.

“There’s another piece of art tonight, but you didn’t make it. It was made a long time ago, and it’s been in my family for years. And now I want to give it to you, if you’ll have it.” He started to go down on one knee, pulling a black box out from behind his back. “If you’ll have me.”

She gasped. Tears filling her eyes as her heart leaped for joy at what she now knew was coming.

“Tamsen Hayes, you are the most talented, funniest, kindest, most beautiful person I have ever met inside and out, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Not just because of who you are, but because of who you make me. You make me want to be the best version of myself. You make me want to try harder, love deeper, and always see the good in those around me. It would make me the happiest person in the universe if you would marry me and let me love you for the rest of our lives.”

The beautiful antique ring nestled in the box shined, but nothing could be brighter than her love for this man. She nodded, unable to get the word past her clogged throat.

“That’s a yes?”

Finally, she managed to find her voice. “Yes! Yes, of course, I’ll marry you.”

He stood, lifting her into his arms and spinning them around. Her lips found his, this kiss filled with joy, love, and the salty taste of her happy tears.

“I love you, Tamsen,” he said as he laid her on their bed.

“I love you, too.”

He grinned. “Hey, do you think we could get a deal if we use the same venue our parents did? Like a family discount or something?”

She smacked his shoulder. “Ew, stop being weird.”

He laughed, his chuckles soon turning to moans as she pressed herself against him.

Life had a funny way of bringing people together. She never would have guessed that the handsome firefighter who rescued her all those months ago would turn out to be her stepbrother, turn into her lover, and eventually end up her husband. But, as they said, life was stranger than art. And she, for one, couldn’t wait to see the plans life had in store for her and Parker.

As long as they were side by side, with love and trust, she knew life would be beautiful.

Discover the next book in the Mile High Firefighters series that is hot, hot, hot. Turn the page to start reading The Dating Dilemma by Mariah Ankenman.

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