long shot

last shot series

BONUS CONTENT

EPILOGUE

Cade

Why am I the only one at this meeting?

Jesus, this is important.

After Guy Fieri’s episode about Conquistadors aired on TV about six months ago, we’ve been busier than a one-legged man in an ass kicking contest. It’s been fantastic, but also staggering. We just can’t keep going like this.

So we’re going to talk about opening another location.

Tres Amigos Cantina.

I’ve already identified the perfect location—in the Gaslamp Quarter, a former brewpub that closed down. It’s not cheap, and Danny’s hesitant about that, but I think we can do it without too much risk. We’ve run the numbers. Reese’s input has been invaluable, and between Danny and me, we have spreadsheets with all kinds of scenarios laid out.

And nobody’s here to go over it all. What the hell?

“Carrie’s in labor!”

I look up at Reese as she skids into my office shrieking, eyes wild, cheeks flushed.

“Holy shit. Already?”

“Yes! We have to go stay with Allie and Lucy. Carrie and Marco need to go to the hospital. Come on!”

I blow out a breath. “Okay, okay. So much for our meeting.”

She arches a brow and lowers her chin.

I grin. “I know, it’s just business.” Obviously delivering a baby is more important than a business meeting.

“We’ll have time to talk about all that later. Well, maybe in a few days. Let’s go!”

We head out and make the drive to Marco and Carrie’s home in La Jolla. They moved to a bigger house when Carrie was pregnant with their first kid, Allie. Good thing, because they’re about to become parents of three.

Reese rushes into the house, clearly excited. “We’re here, we’re here!”

I follow her and meet Marco’s eyes. He smiles. “Great. Contractions are coming faster.”

Carrie’s pacing the living room, hand on her belly. “We have lots of time.”

“You’ve been having contractions five minutes apart for nearly two hours,” Marco says calmly. “We need to go.”

Carrie grimaces. “I hate hospitals.”

“I know.” He sets his hand on her lower back and rubs, then leads her to the front door.

Marco’s pretty chill this time around. He was hilarious when Allie was born, completely freaked the fuck out. Now this is old hat for him.

“Auntie Reese!” Two little blond girls bounce toward Reese and throw their arms around her legs.

She smiles and bends to hug them. “Hey! I’m here to babysit you.”

“We are not babies,” pouts Allie, five.

“Right, right. I’m here to hang out with you.”

I love watching her with the kids. She may not be their aunt by blood, but they love her.

“Uncle Cade! We’re playing house. Will you play, too?”

“You bet.” I look back to Marco. “Keep us posted.”

“Hell yeah. Keep an eye on the group chat. And Alejandro’s coming, we let her know.”

“Oh, great. Good luck.”

Carrie moans. “Oh, fuck.”

They disappear out the door.

“Where are Hayden and Beck?” I ask Carrie as we move to the family room with Allie and Lucy

“They’re at the hospital, too. Along with Carrie’s parents. She had to put her foot down and tell the rest of her family to stay home.”

I laugh. “Unless they’re going to deliver the baby, there’s no need for them to be there. We’ll get to see our new niece soon enough.”

They know they’re having another girl. They tried one more time after two girls, trying for a boy for Marco. That didn’t exactly work out. Oh well. But he’s a great girl dad. I’ve seen him having tea parties and fixing hair and taking Allie to ballet class.

The estrogen in that home is going to be through the roof in a few years. Good luck to him.

A while later, when we’re lying on the couch watching the girls feed their dolls, Reese says, “Is it crazy that I’m worried?” She gives me a look through her eyelashes, eyebrows sloping down.

“Not at all. Are you okay?”

Reese has come a long way in the last few years but being worried about the safety of someone she cares about can still be a trigger for her. She was also a mess with Carried went into labor with Allie.

She squeezes her eyes shut briefly. “I think so. But my stomach is in knots. What if . . . “

“It’ll be fine.” I rub her back.

She settles against me, tucking her nose into the side of my neck. “Okay.”

“Reese . . . “

“Mmmm?”

“We haven’t talked about kids.”

She goes very still. “No. We haven’t.”

We’ve lived together for just over two years. I haven’t proposed, but we both talk like we’re going to be together forever.

“What do you think?” I cradle the back of her head.

“Honestly? I don’t know.”

“I like honesty. And the truth is, I don’t know either.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

She lifts her head and meets my eyes. “Could you see never having kids?”

I nod slowly. “I could.”

“Me too. I think. I like having a dog.”

I huff out a laugh. “Yeah, me too.” We adopted Dixie from a shelter soon after Reese moved in with me and both of us are totally in love with her. “She’s either preparing us for kids or she’ll be our kid.”

“Right.” Reese smiles at me.

Marco

It’s been a steady flow of visitors through the hospital room where Carrie rests in bed and Camila lounges in a bassinette after a relatively quick labor and delivery. She arrived a little early, but still weighed in at eight pounds and is bright-eyed and beautiful. And blonde.

I sigh. Three blond girls like, their mom. Lord help me.

I fucking love it.

And now Alejandro walks in.

My heart bumps at seeing my little sister.

Shortly after we got married, Carrie got the idea of trying to find Alejandro.. She was going to surprise me, but Beck and Cade convinced her to discuss it with me first. I’m not sure how I would have reacted to that kind of surprise. On the other hand, it would have been tough getting my hopes up and then not being able to locate her.

As a teenager, I’d made some efforts to find my sister, but was told the records were sealed and I’d never be able to. But hiring a private detective helped immensely. She actually grew up in Temecula, not far away, and still lives there with her husband. And she’s pregnant.

“Hi,” she says with a smile, opening her arms.

I hug her and she turns to Carrie and bends to hug her, too. “Hi, Mama. How are you?’

“I’m good.” Carrie beams. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired.” Alejandro pats her belly. “Where’s my newest niece?” She moves over to admire Camila.

“She’s out,” Carrie says. “I just fed her.”

“Hello, beautiful girl! Welcome.” She touches one cheek with her fingertip gently enough not to wake her. She looks up at me. “Everyone’s fine?”

“Yep. Cade and Reese are bringing the girls by any time to meet her.”

“They’re going to go crazy. Their very own living baby doll.”

I wince. “I’m afraid of that, yeah.”

It’s been so much fun getting to know Alejandro. The years we missed together are painful if I think too much about it, but it’s easy to focus on now and enjoy having her in my life again.

Family. The most important thing to me. What I’ve always wanted. It’s been a wild ride, but like Carrie said in her poem to me when she told me she was pregnant with Allie, we’ve walked this path, hand in hand. It’s not always easy and we don’t always agree, but we love our kids and we love each other.

Beck

There’s something about a new baby that brings out a lot of emotion.

We’re all at Carrie and Marco’s home. Baby Camila is here. Marco’s sister Alejandro is here. Carrie’s parents are here. Reese and Cade are here. Looking around at everyone, and most especially my wife, make my heart grow three sizes in my chest.

What a life we’ve created here.

From a bunch of vets with no idea what to do with our lives, to this—a successful business, family, and love. We had what matters, though. Determination. Loyalty. Courage. Maybe a little dumb luck. Running into Hayden that day on the sidewalk while she absent-mindedly checked her phone like the absent-minded professor she can sometimes be.

She and her team have made big advances in their research. The FDA recently completed a review of a new drug and determined that it’s safe and effective for treating ovarian cancer. Hayden’s now working with the FDA on labeling the drug, describing the basis for the approval and how the drug will be used. It’s huge.

And if I hadn’t met Hayden, would Carrie and Marco have ever crossed paths? Who knows? At first they hated each other, so even if they’d met some other way, they might not have gotten past that. But they were stuck with each other because of being our friends.

I smile.

And then Reese walking into our bar looking for a job. Cade hired her and it was the best decision he ever made. She’s become such an important part of our “family,” and a lot of our success is due to her and her amazing culinary talents.

These three women have made us so happy. They’ve given us things we didn’t know we needed or wanted.

Hayden walks toward me with Camila in her arms. She smiles tenderly at the tiny bundle. “Do you want to hold her?”

I’ve never been fond of babies, but they’ve grown on me since Marco and Carrie have been so fertile. I may not be fond of babies in general, but I fucking love these kids like they’re my own. Hayden and I have talked about kids, and we haven’t closed the door on it, but we’re pretty damn happy with our life the way it is, and we get lots of kid time.

I take Camila, wrapped up tight, her pretty little face placid. She gazes up at me with blue eyes that seem like they know everything. “You seem like a smart girl,” I tell her. “You and Allie and Lucy are going to be running our lives soon.”

Hayden laughs softly. “I think they already are.”

I smile at her. “I’m not mad about it.”

Her eyes crinkle up. “Me either. Look at this precious angel.”

This is it. This is what it’s all about. And though we all believe in the saying, “those who drink from the agave will live happily ever after,” happily ever afters don’t just happen. You have to work for them. You have to learn to trust, even when it’s hard. You have to learn to forgive. You have to learn that it’s okay to disagree. And you have to be thankful for each other every damn day.

And we are. All of us.