Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 96970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
One thing you could say about us Marians is that we were unapologetically in love with love.
I glanced at Judd, and the second our eyes met, he mouthed, “I love you.” My cheeks flushed, and my stomach went floaty.
Papa noticed because he nudged Judd in my direction. “Careful, Chief,” he said with a warm smile. “Once we start making Marians, there’s no telling who else might get swept up.”
Judd took my face in his hands before kissing me full on the lips in front of everyone. I threw my arms around him and held him tight. When he finally let go, everyone was staring, some in shock and some with zero visible surprise.
“Oh, right. Turns out I don’t hate him,” I announced with a shrug. “Surprise.”
The room broke out in laughter.
I slid my hand into Judd’s. “And… we’ve known each other longer than you think.”
Judd stood up straighter. “I met Alex online over five years ago. We became close, but then I was in an accident—”
“IndexEcho?” Ella’s eyes went comically wide, and Mattie’s jaw dropped.
He nodded once. “It’s a long story, but now we’re here and we’re together… and I can’t thank you enough for loving and supporting Alex during everything. I’m so glad he had you.”
Tavo leaned against Drew’s chest, smiling through his tears. “And I really thought you were at Alex’s apartment to inspect the smoke detector.”
Judd’s cheeks turned crimson, but before he could say anything, one of my cousins said, “He was there to inspect something, Tavo, but it wasn’t the smoke detector.”
Considering my grandparents were in the room, I was officially mortified.
“Alright, alright,” my uncle Derek said, waving everyone to calm down. “No one needs to hear about their child’s… or grandchild’s… inspections.”
Grandpa shot him a wink. “Promise? Because you’re one to talk, Derek Marian.”
As everyone began laughing and joking around tables filled with sandwiches and side dishes, I grabbed Judd’s hand again, and we went to check on Tavo.
“You okay?” I asked.
Tavo smiled. “God, yes. I can’t thank you enough for everything. After my parents left, I thought I was on my own. Then your family just… just appeared like a miracle.”
“No miracle. Just helping others and giving back,” I explained. “And I’m sure you’ll do the same to someone else someday.”
He nodded.
“Now that you can work legally without worrying about being tracked down,” I said, “I’d like to offer you an assistant manager job at Timber. But only if you’d like that. If you have another dream you’d rather pursue—”
Tavo’s eyes got wide. “Are you kidding?” he interrupted. “Working for you at Timber would be a dream. But you don’t need to do that for me.”
I glanced at Judd, squeezing his hand tighter. “I’m not just doing it for you. When Judd and I started seeing each other, we learned that it was really hard to find time together with our work schedules. I’d like more freedom to be home when Judd has time off. Being devoted to Timber for the past three years was necessary, but it’s time for me to dial back and find better balance.”
“Hear, hear,” Judd murmured. “I’ll try to do the same.”
I glanced at him. “I know it’s not as easy for you as it is for me.”
The determined look on Judd’s face suggested that easy didn’t matter. My grumpy fire chief would prioritize us, even over his work.
I’d already confronted him about Monroe’s suggestion that Legacy was just a temporary stop on his career trajectory, and he’d spent a significant amount of time in the shower this morning convincing me that he was here in Legacy to stay. “Or wherever you are, Firebug,” he’d added with whispered words against the back of my neck.
I’d been thoroughly convinced he’d meant it.
Judd slid his arm around me but turned to look at Tavo. “And maybe you want to rent Alex’s rabbit warren once the fire damage is fixed up because it’s going to be available. He’s staying with me from here on out.”
My chest was so full of contentment, I hardly knew what to do with it.
I could see domestic fantasies of living together swirling through both Tavo’s and Drew’s heads, but there would be plenty of time for that while Timber’s upstairs apartment went through the long process of insurance assessment and cleanup. In the meantime, Tavo was planning on staying with Lennon and Rosie out at the ranch.
The four of us found spots at the tables and sat down to lunch, and the rest of the day passed like a dream that was too good to be true.
It wasn’t until the following day that it sank in.
I was back at Timber, working behind the bar, when Maddox called. “I need you to make up an excuse to keep Adrian distracted today. Everyone’s been helping out, and now it’s your turn.”