In Your Dreams, Holden Rhodes: Epilogue

“IT’S TOO QUIET,” I said to Holden, pressing my ear to the door of the inn on New Year’s Eve the next year.

He stood behind me and put his hand on my lower back. Even through the thin silk of my dress, his hand warmed me.

“Go on in.” His voice was low.

I glanced over my shoulder at him in his suit and sighed. “Holden, you wear that suit well.”

The corner of his mouth hitched and his gaze heated. “You’ve mentioned that once or twice.”

I turned and rested my hands on his chest, running my thumbs over his lapels. “If I knew how good you looked in a suit, I might have agreed to marry you sooner.”

He huffed a laugh and his eyes warmed me down to my toes. “No, you wouldn’t have.”

I shook my head. “No, I wouldn’t have.”

“Come here.”

I looped my arms around his neck and he pulled me to him, lowering his mouth to mine and kissing me soft and sweet. His stubble brushed my chin and I sucked in a breath. My head swam as Holden kissed me. As my husband kissed me. The word felt funny in my mouth, but not bad funny. Good funny. New and interesting and curious. Something I was excited to explore more of.

“Fuck, I love my wife,” Holden growled, pressing me back against the door and kissing down my neck. “Can’t wait to fuck you senseless later.”

My eyes closed and I gasped as he sucked the sensitive skin beneath my ear. “Holden.”

A shiver ran down my spine. I sure liked the way he said wife. All possessive and demanding. I couldn’t wait until he said it again.

“Do you feel any different?” I asked him.

He tilted his head. “Nope.” A playful smile pulled at his mouth while his hand rubbed slow, intoxicating circles on my bare back. “We probably didn’t even need to do that.”

I shook my head at him with exasperation. “Oh my god. I’m going to kill you.”

He laughed and kissed my cheek.

We had married at town hall. During the ceremony, Holden watched me with a small, focused smile, like nothing else existed but us. Like I was everything he wanted. Like he couldn’t believe it was real. Like he’d do anything for me.

I’d never made a better decision in my life than saying yes to Holden Rhodes.

The ceremony went fast. I didn’t even remember repeating the words Emmett said, but I remembered Holden and I staring at each other with funny little smiles, like we were in on a private joke. He slipped his family ring on my finger and my breath caught.

I loved it. It made me think of Holden.

And like that, we were married.

If I had known how easy it would be with the right person, I never would have been so adamant against it.

“Forget about the wedding,” Holden rasped against my mouth on the porch. “Let’s go home.”

I laughed and nipped his bottom lip. He groaned.

The door whipped open behind me and I would have fallen over if Holden hadn’t been holding me against him.

“Surprise!” everyone yelled from the foyer of the inn.

Holden’s hand tightened around my waist and he sighed. “I already regret this.”

I laughed at him and poked the corner of his mouth. It popped up and my heart somersaulted. “You’ll have fun. I promise.”

Emmett pulled us inside the inn and everyone surrounded us with a chorus of congratulations and hugs. We had booked the entire inn out for the party, and the place was packed. Someone turned the music up and the bartender mixed drinks in the corner of the sitting room while servers circled with hors d’oeurvres. Everyone we knew and loved was here, chatting and laughing and all dressed up. Don circled with his camera, snapping photos of people in the middle of laughter or stories or hugs. Wyatt pulled Hannah to the makeshift dance floor in the sitting room while Elizabeth and Sam cooed over their adorable baby granddaughter, Cora Nielsen Rhodes. Emmett, Avery, and Finn explored the secret library while Willa and Olivia chatted on the window seat. Willa had visited for a few weeks last summer and the two had become friends.

Shortly after I returned to Queen’s Cove last January, Holden and I finished the renovations before we had hired a manager who would live on the premises in Katherine’s room and run the inn. Amelia was a recently divorced woman in her mid-thirties and had moved here from Nelson, another small town in British Columbia. The second she had stepped into the inn for her interview, her eyes lit up and I knew in my heart she was the right person for the job. With her extensive experience in hospitality, we trusted her to hold down the fort.

Last May, Grant was arrested while trying to cross the border into California. He had spent about half of what he stole from me, and a couple months ago, I had received the remainder in my bank account.

I should have sent that guy a thank you note for what he did for me. If it wasn’t for Grant, I never would have gotten to know Holden.

After the inn renovation was complete, Holden and I started our own company, Waters-Rhodes Design. He had promoted Aiden to partner and hired another person to run the business side. He and Emmett sat on the board but weren’t involved in the day to day. Besides, he was busy with a home renovation nearby. They had seen our secret library and wanted one of their own.

Outside of our company, I had been working on a collection of pieces for an exhibit at the Queen’s Cove art gallery in April. The painting Holden refused to sell to the gallery? It now hung next to its other half, donated last January. He had said he didn’t need it anymore.

At the inn, Holden’s hand slipped into mine and he held a plate up with a samosa on it. “You should eat, honey.” I nodded and took a bite. Someone tried to approach and he shook his head at them with a frown. “She’s eating,” he told them.

I laughed and rolled my eyes at him. “So grouchy.”

He cut me a glance, the corner of his mouth twitching like I loved. “I want you all to myself for a minute.”

“You’ll have me all to yourself until we die peacefully in our sleep at the age of a hundred and thirty.”

He smiled and his arm came back around my waist. He dropped a kiss on my cheek.

Around us, all the people we loved were having the best time. Life and laughter filled Katherine’s inn to the brim. The fairy lights cast a soft glow on everyone but the warm energy wasn’t from the lights, it was from the people and the inn itself. Love saturated the inn. Katherine had put her life into it and Holden and I had fallen in love under this roof.

Something struck my heart and I placed my hand over my chest.

“What’s wrong?” Holden asked.

“I feel her here.” A soft, wistful smile grew on my face. “I know it’s woo-woo and I can’t explain it but…” I shrugged, smiling to myself. My chest squeezed, buzzing with pressure. “It’s the strangest thing.”

Holden nodded. “I feel it too.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “It’s like she knew.”

He watched me for a long moment before he nodded. “I think she did.”

Katherine knew something we didn’t. She knew we’d be perfect for each other, complete opposites and thus the perfect fit.

“Sadie.” Elizabeth found me and hugged me until I couldn’t breathe, whispering in my ear about how proud she was of me, how happy she was that Holden and I had found each other, and how I was perfect as I was. She covered my cheeks with enthusiastic kisses like I was a child and my heart flip-flopped in my chest.

“Mom, are you drunk?” Finn asked.

She swatted his arm. “I’m happy.”

He smirked and took a sip of his beer before he nodded to the two of us. “Congratulations, you two.” His tattoos were visible, poking out from the sleeve of his shirt.

“Thank you for being here,” I told him. “I know it’s a long way from Whistler.”

He had decided to spend another ski season there. When Olivia had found out Finn would be here, it took serious convincing on my part to get her to the wedding. She didn’t want anything to do with the guy and wouldn’t step a foot in the same building as him. I had to agree to working at the bar one night a week for the next year to get her to say yes.

As if that was a fair deal. I loved chatting with everyone there, talking and laughing, and I loved the way Holden’s eyes followed me around.

“Would you like another drink?” Holden took my empty champagne glass and I nodded. He dropped a kiss on my cheek. “Be right back,” he whispered in my ear.

“Sadie, I saw your masterpiece of Holden.”

“Oh.” My eyebrows rose. “Which one?”

Finn’s mouth hitched in a roguish smile. “All of them. I need a crying painting, Sadie. Everyone else has one and they won’t sell me theirs.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ll paint you one.”

His face lit up with a warm grin. “You’re the best.”

“I’m beginning to see why some people call you the devil.”

He nodded and narrowed his eyes. “And how is Olivia?” His expression was so casual but he couldn’t keep the interest out of his eyes.

“She’s good.”

“Yeah? How good.”

“Finn, are you snooping on her?”

He adopted an innocent expression. “I’m making pleasant conversation.”

“I shouldn’t be talking about her to you.”

“I promise you, I have only her best interests at heart.”

Something in Finn’s eyes, so sad and serious but determined, made me open my mouth again. “She isn’t going back to school.”

“She took a job in Vancouver?”

I shook my head. “As far as I know, she’s staying here for the foreseeable future. She wants to take over the bar from her dad.”

His jaw ticked, clenched tight and he reminded me of Holden. He tipped his beer bottle back and took a long pull. He let out a sigh and gave a slight shake of his head.

He stared into his beer for a long moment. “I’m coming home this summer.”

My eyebrows shot up and his gaze met mine for a brief moment.

“And you can tell her that,” he said quietly.

Olivia was not going to like this.

Miri strode past but stopped when she spotted me. “Hello, lovely! Oh my goodness.” She gestured at my dress. “Look at you.”

“Hi, Miri.” I gave her a bright smile. “Thanks for setting up the decorations.”

She waved a hand. “I loved it.” Her mouth dropped open when she saw Finn standing beside me. “Well, if it isn’t the devil himself.”

“Hi, Miri. How are your roses doing?”

“They never recovered after you rode your bike through them fifteen years ago.” She crossed her arms but she was smiling.

Olivia appeared in the doorway and froze as she met Finn’s gaze. His mischievous expression dropped and he looked strangely stricken. Olivia unfroze and disappeared back the way she came.

Miri’s eyebrows were at her hairline before she gasped. She peered at Finn, then at Holden, approaching with my champagne. Then at Emmett, his arm around Avery, and Wyatt, beaming at his daughter as Hannah wiped her face with a big, loving smile.

“Four brothers,” Miri whispered, frowning to herself, eyes blazing. “Four weddings.”

Finn froze. “No.”

Miri’s gaze lifted to his and a strange smile grew on her face. “Yes,” she whispered, nodding.

“Not likely.” Finn rolled his shoulders. “I need another drink.”

Holden appeared with a champagne glass for me. “Dinner will be served in a few minutes,” he told Finn. “Go sit down in the library.” He handed me the champagne and leaned down to kiss me like he hadn’t seen me in a year. A flash went off and we turned to see Miri snapping a picture. She winked at us and disappeared the way Finn had gone.

Holden led me by the hand to the library and my hand came to my heart. Candles enclosed in deep glass vases sat around the room on every shelf and window sill, and fairy lights hung above the long table that spanned the length of the room. Dark flowers, a deep burgundy red, with greenery decorated the table runner and guests took their seats.

“You like it?” Holden asked.

I gave him a long look. “I love it,” I whispered. “It’s perfect.”

“Come on. Let’s sit.”

He pulled me to a seat in the middle of the table and he took the one beside me. Servers circled with wine in between courses. Laughter and conversation filled the room, and my heart twisted at the sight.

Holden caught my eye and I smiled.

“Just trying to remember this moment forever.”

His gaze warmed me. “We’re going to have lots of these moments.”

My heart flipped over. “I know.”

Emmett appeared behind me and tapped me on the shoulder. “Sadie,” he whispered. “Are you changing your name, or no? I want to get it right in my speech.”

Holden and I smiled at each other. He was behind whatever decision I made, but when I had explained my reasoning, he was even more supportive.

First, I had wanted to be part of Holden’s family. I wanted to be a Rhodes.

Then, I remembered Katherine. She was a Waters, too, and she had given us this inn. She had cared about us.

I wanted to honor her, and having her last name was keeping a part of her with me.

I smiled at Emmett. “I’m still Sadie Waters.”

After our meal was over, Holden took a deep breath, glanced at me, and stood up with his champagne class. He cleared his throat and everyone quieted down. I shot him a curious glance. We hadn’t talked about him making a speech.

He nodded once at everyone. “Hi.”

I snorted and a couple other people laughed. He glanced at me and his mouth twitched.

“Thanks for coming to our wedding. If you can believe it, I’m the one who wanted to have a big party.”

A few people laughed and he nodded.

“Yeah. I’m not really a party guy but Sadie makes me want to share my life with people I love.”

In a split second, the air in the room changed from humorous to heartfelt.

“Sadie Waters,” he said, gazing at me with warmth and love, “you are the most stubborn person I’ve ever met.”

“What?” I shrieked and the table burst out laughing. “You’re the stubborn one.”

“Oh my god,” someone groaned.

“Holden is way more stubborn than Sadie,” Emmett called.

Holden shook his head at him. “I’m trying to make a speech here.”

“Sadie gives as good as she gets,” Elizabeth called down the table. “And we have the paintings to prove it.”

Laughter rang out.

“Okay, okay. Do you want to hear about how much I love Sadie or what?” Holden looked up and down the table with raised eyebrows.

A chorus of yes’s rose up.

“Sadie Waters, you’re everything to me. You’re the most spectacular artist I’ve ever met. You’re the bravest, most determined person I know. You live with your heart open and vulnerable and you let kindness and love lead you in this world and from the moment I met you, I was terrified of you. I avoided you for a whole summer because I was afraid of how much I liked you.” His gaze rested on me, and my heart clutched. “I’m the luckiest person in the world because I got everything I wanted when I met you. I love you.”

He leaned down to kiss me and the table burst out into aww’s and a few sniffles.

When he sat back down, I leaned my head on his shoulder, slipping my hand into his.

I couldn’t wait to spend forever with Holden Rhodes.

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