Sweet Sinful Nights(90)
Brent caught Shannon’s gaze as she brought her mug to her lips and drank some coffee. Her eyes were full of mischief.
“What did my wife’s note say?”
Tanner cleared his throat. “It said, and I quote. ‘Please accept my apologies that my husband was unable to attend your picnic. I was very much looking forward to joining him and meeting you as well. I had an urgent family matter to attend to here in Nevada, and needed to visit my mother. My husband wanted to be by my side, so he chose to come with me. I hope this video I made of his work, and his friends, colleagues, and family will show you that he’s not only the man on stage telling dirty jokes. He’s a man with a heart of gold.’”
Brent’s heart raced. It tripped out of his chest and leapt into Shannon’s hands. “She did that?”
“She did. She’s a keeper. Hey, I’m here with Alan. He’ll tell you officially.”
Alan took the phone, and spoke. “The neighborhood association is firmly behind you.”
After the call ended, Brent switched sides and moved in next to Shannon on the sky blue, cracked vinyl booth. “Seems like you were up to something,” he said with a smile. “Want to show me the video of this guy with the heart of gold?”
She rustled through her bag for her phone, opened a video file and hit play. He watched, filled with awe and astonishment that she’d found all his friends and family and asked them to say a few words. Nate appeared on screen to talk about Brent’s business skills, then Travis said some kind words about how long they’d been friends, and how he’d trust him like he did his firefighter buddies. Mindy batted next, his dear, sweet friend saying, “Brent is the one of the greatest guys I’ve ever known. We help each other. He’s helped me through some sad times, and I’ve helped him, too. He’s like a brother.” Brent parked his chin in his hand as he watched his brother talk about how he’d helped him plan a proposal for his wife, then Julia shared a story about how Brent had helped her out when she’d run into some trouble. Even Bob at the Comedy Club talked about how Brent had done everything he could to find a job for him when his had ended.
Finally, Shannon showed him the note she’d written to Alan. This time she read it out loud to him, and he loved the sound of it in her voice, especially the final words.
“Do you like it?”
“I love it. Madly,” he said. “You didn’t have to do that at all. But I’m thrilled you did.”
“You once made a video hoping I’d see it and know you were still thinking of me. It seemed only fitting that I should make this for you, and help you get what you wanted.”
“Babe,” he said, cupping her cheeks and moving in for a kiss. “I already have everything I’ve ever wanted.”
EPILOGUE
The delicious scent of barbecue wafted through the summer air. Shannon’s brothers manned the grill, flipping burgers and chicken breasts, and turning cobs of corn.
Music played from an outdoor speaker. A string of red pepper lights hung along the wooden posts of the fence. Her grandparents had insisted on a wedding celebration, and everyone was there—his parents; his brother and his wife, and their daughter; Mindy; Ally; Nate and his wife; James and his family; Shannon’s brothers; and her grandmother’s daughter and her kids.
Everyone who mattered deeply to the bride and groom.
The first three weeks of marriage had been bliss, and Brent was confident the next thirty, forty, fifty years and then some would be too.
As he took a long swallow from a bottle of beer, his eyes found his wife. She relaxed in an Adirondack chair on the deck, bouncing Carly on her knee and making cooing sounds to his niece while chatting with Julia. The sight of his Mrs. Nichols holding a baby tugged on all his heartstrings, reminding him both of the loss in the past but also of a bright, possible future. They’d need to get working on that soon.
Very soon.
He felt a hand on his arm and turned to see Mindy. “You checking out Shannon’s brothers?” he teased.
She rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah. Totally. Just standing around, staring at the eye candy.”
He laughed, then lowered his voice. “Did you ever find out anything about that guy? The pics I showed you?”
“Brent,” she chided. “We’re at your wedding celebration.”
“This is important, though,” he said. He’d given Mindy the pictures he’d taken of the guy in the Buick a few weeks ago, and she’d agreed to show them to some of her friends on the force to see if the plates or the car or the tattoos revealed anything. He couldn’t dismiss the notion in the back of his mind that the ink meant something.
“Truth be told, I don’t have anything yet. They’re pretty swamped, and can’t really do license plate checks anymore for privacy reasons. But one of my guys said he’d take a close look and see if the ink looks familiar. I promise to let you know as soon as I hear.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Shannon handing the baby to Julia, then blowing him a kiss. He returned it, and watched as she headed inside the house, her brothers in tow. They’d told him they had a special gift for Shannon, and he suspected they were giving it to her now.
He lifted his beer and tapped it to Mindy’s. “Thank you.”
“Anytime. Now celebrate. Don’t worry about the pictures. Have a great time with everyone here.”