SWNOVELS Chapter Snapshot: Epilogue
Two Years Later
Miami
Lennox holds up the old, taped-together Polaroid, lining up the dock in the picture perfectly. Grandma and Jacob are sitting side by side in the photo, a few inches between them. Grandma’s hand is planted flat on the dock, and his is draped over hers. Jacob’s staring at her, his profile clear while Grandma looks out ahead at the water.
“Right here,” she says. “This is exactly where they must’ve taken the picture.” Lennox points to the rickety gazebo behind us. “Whoever took the photo must’ve been standing there. I bet there are more pictures lost out in the world. No way they would’ve just taken one. Look at this view.”
You can’t buy property like this anymore. It’s all been snapped up by real estate developers. This might be the last quiet marina in Miami. The water is still, undisturbed by boats. The neighbors are far away, their homes veiled by the thick foliage. This is as close to a private retreat anyone can get.
After some heavy investigative research, we learned that this residence belonged to Jacob’s employer long ago—a ship captain from a revered family line. They owned an entire acre right along the marina and let a few of the ship’s crew members stay in the guest houses from time to time. This gazebo is apparently where Grandma and Jacob would sneak away to be together. Fifty years later, the property is all but abandoned, the family now living in Europe somewhere, or so our real estate agent tells us.
I stomp my foot against the dock. The unsteady board bends underneath my feet. “Needs some maintenance,” I say. “This whole dock has to be rebuilt, and that thing”—I point my thumb over my shoulder—“is a safety hazard. The wood is well beyond rotted. It has to come down.”
Lennox’s eyes bulge. “Mr. Hessler, have you no magic in your soul? You can’t rip this place apart. This is your legacy.” She steps out of her sandals and sits down carefully at the edge of the dock, dangling her feet so the very tips of her toes touch the water line.
“Please be careful, Len,” I say.
“Sit with me,” she instructs, patting beside her. Len seems completely unbothered by the splintering wood. She plants her hands behind her and leans backward. Her flowy tank top catches the breeze, and it melds to the obvious curve of her stomach.
“You’re finally starting to show.” I sit down next to her so carefully, as if my weight could snap the boards and send my five-month-pregnant wife right into the water below.
Lennox cradles her stomach affectionately with one hand. “He’s getting pretty big. But the reason my stomach looks like it’s about to pop is that footlong I just wolfed down.”
I cackle. “Baby, I think that’s my favorite thing about you.”
“What is?” She tents her hand over her forehead, protecting her eyes from the sun as she turns to look at me.
“Two years of being a billionaire, and you still ask for Subway every time we’re on the road.” Lennox craves a sandwich at least three times a week. She’s enjoyed her Italian B.M.T.s all throughout the pregnancy thus far. Just these days she has them nuke the deli meat in the microwave first.
She laughs. “Honestly, I’ve grown to appreciate the fancy shoes, but you will never ever convince me to eat caviar and pâté again.”
“Fair enough,” I respond with a chuckle.
A dreamy smile on her face, Lennox takes in a panoramic view of the entire dock. “Hmm,” she murmurs.
“What’s on your mind?”
“I feel really close to Dottie right now.” She picks up the picture she set beside her, then scoots closer to my side. I wrap my arm around her shoulder, and she cuddles in next to me. “We both sat here, pregnant…in love.” She hands me the Polaroid.
“You can’t know she was pregnant in this picture.”
“Yes, I can. See the way he’s looking at her? Like it hurts… I bet you this was the night they said goodbye. They must’ve taken a picture to mark a memory. She was pregnant and walking away from the love of her life. And it broke him to let them go.”
I stare at the picture, trying to make sense of the situation. “If they were that in love, he shouldn’t have let her go. He should’ve fought harder to make something of himself and take care of his family.”
Lennox turns down her lips and shakes her head. “I guess that’s one way to look at it. You were born into privilege. But when you have nothing and your family’s wellbeing is at stake…that is love. Wanting what’s best for them even if that means saying goodbye.”
I put my hand over Lennox’s stomach. “That’s not my kind of love. There’s no goodbye for us, Len. You’re stuck with me forever.” I wink. “Make your peace with it.”
Lennox
I tuck the Polaroid carefully into the back of my jean shorts pocket. For a while, Dex and I sit quietly, enjoying the tranquility as the sun starts to set. We came back to Miami this week for the big annual board meeting. Over the past year, I’ve been watching and learning for the most part. I never thought I’d have an interest in corporate business. Actually, I still don’t. But I am very interested in people.
I like to understand what motivates people. What makes employees loyal and determined, or what makes them give up. Spencer is my eyes in the corporate office. We offered her a spot on the marketing team, but she really hit her stride as Hank’s executive assistant. She’s loyal and smart, so Hank is attached. Spencer likes that Hank calls her Ms. Brenner, and never asks her to fetch his coffee. It was a good match. Not to mention, now Spencer gets first dibs on all the juicy office gossip and keeps me well-informed on the morale of the company.
That’s my dream for Hessler Group. Dex is busy building a rich empire, while I want to make sure that the people building the empire are never put on visual leadership boards for comparison purposes. They should never have to endure customers calling them profane names as they bite their tongues or face being fired for standing up for themselves. I’m not a numbers girl, but I know this company needs me. It needs a pulse and a heart. I have a voice…a powerful one. I’m learning to use it.
I know Dottie’s end goal was to help Dex find love. But even if it’s just a hunch, I like to think that she had me in mind for bigger things, too. That I was always a part of the picture. Love, loyalty, and family—all the things Dottie wanted for her grandson and her company. Who knows…maybe I was the key.
“Are you ready to go, baby? It’s about a thirty-minute drive back to our hotel,” Dex says. He squeezes my shoulders before hoisting himself up and holding his hand out for me.
“What’s going to happen to this place?” I grunt as Dex tugs me to my feet.
“I have no idea.” He collects my sandals and slips them back on my feet one by one.
A little off balance with my belly getting bigger, I have to brace myself with my hand on his shoulder. Dex rises and then scours my face as I flutter my eyelashes at him.
“Oh, no,” he murmurs as if he can read my mind.
I nod. “Oh, yeah.”
“Baby…no. The renovations would be worth more than the property itself. We can find a much nicer place closer to the office.”
When we first moved back to Las Vegas, I insisted we keep Dex’s old home. Yes, we could’ve purchased something far more extravagant, but I didn’t want luxury. I wanted happiness. We have dinner with Avery and Finn at least twice a week. My parents come over, and Dex fires up the grill almost every single weekend. We conceived our son on the very bed where I tried to kiss Dex for the first time…and he turned me down. I still like to remind him of that from time to time.
“No, Dex, this place. We have to. Yes, the renovations will cost a small fortune, but we have it. They may take years, but that just means it’ll be ready when we have to come back. This is where we’re going to raise our family. Where Dottie and Jacob started everything.” With a pleading look in my eyes, I cradle my sweet baby boy. My son would love this view, I’m sure of it.
Dex looks around, a pained expression on his face. “It’s thirty minutes from the office, Len. Maybe an hour with traffic.”
“We’ll build at-home offices and work from here half the week. We can do everything virtually these days.”
He squints one eye. “Being right on the marina isn’t safe for the kids.”
I point to the edge of the property line. “We can build a fence and a safety rail behind it. We’ll install cameras with security notifications anytime someone’s on the dock, and most importantly, we will teach our kids to swim early. We might not even need to teach them.” I pump my brows at him. “You’re half-dolphin, I swear. It’s in their DNA.”
“The nearest Subway is over half an hour away.”
“That’s DoorDash’s problem,” I sass.
He laughs. “You’re serious? This’ll be a huge undertaking. We’re going to have to build our home from the ground up. You want to take on a construction project like this when you’re pregnant and then finish it with a newborn? I’m telling you, baby, this stuff always gets more complicated than you originally intend. You never know what you’re getting into.’
“I’m good with complicated.” I wink at him. “And not knowing what I’m getting into.”
He laughs, understanding the irony of my statement. “It’s a sweet idea, and I hate to say no, but I really don’t think it’s going to work for us. Just on safety alone.”
“Fine,” I huff out. He has a point. Everything is rotting and the property is so overgrown it looks like a jungle. It’d take a forest fire to clear out the foliage and make this place livable.
Grabbing Dex’s shoulders, I rise to my tiptoes and find his warm lips. I kiss him sweetly…at first. He wraps his arms around me, pulling me tightly against his body. I slide my tongue into his mouth, and almost instantly, I feel the bulge through his jeans growing against my belly. He tries to step away, but I lock my hands around his neck, keeping him close.
“Are you trying to seduce me?” he asks, finally breaking our kiss.
“A little.” I smile at him innocently. “Is it working?”
He rubs his hand behind his neck. “Yeah…kind of. It’s been a while.” He laughs.
I’ve been toggling from sleepy to nauseous for the past few months, and it hasn’t been the sexiest start to my pregnancy. Dex hasn’t been pushy in the slightest. Instead, he rubs my back, brings me soup in bed, and presses cool compresses against my forehead.
“We’re parked right out front. Can you wait thirty whole minutes, or want to go get into some trouble?”
“Really, Mrs. Hessler?” he asks in surprise. There’s a boyish look of glee on his face. “There’s my old firecracker of a girl. You sure you’re up for car sex?”
“Sure am.” I remind myself the third row flattens, making a flatbed to lie on. I am in no condition for bouncy maneuvers with my belly this round.
Feeling the familiar excitement and stirring between my thighs, I grab Dex’s hand and try to lead him off the dock, but my hand slips from his. I turn around to see my husband’s feet planted, staring at the property, then pivoting to stare out at the water behind him. He pulls out his phone, and I pout.
“What’re you doing?” I step back toward him, a little perturbed that he got me all worked up, and now he’s stalling.
“Making a call.”
“For what?”
“To buy my wife our dream home.”
I drop my jaw. “Just because I offered you car sex?” I chuckle.
He shakes his head. “No, I forgot for a moment. When I couldn’t see clearly, you could. The smartest thing I can do is trust you, Lennox Hessler. If you say this is where we should raise our family, then that’s what we’re going to do.” He surveys the land again. “But we’ll be building a really big fence, just so you know.”
I place my hands against his cheeks. “Dex, thank you. That means more to me than you could ever know. I love you so much.”
“I love you too.” He pulls my hand from his cheek and kisses my palm.
I smirk at him. “And I’m about to give you the best car blowjob you’ve ever had in your life.”
He bursts out laughing and tucks his phone back into his pocket. Dex weaves his fingers in mine, leading us with haste toward the car. “Okay, Trouble. I’ll make the call later. We’re not wasting any more time.”