Stay With Me (The Montgomery Brothers) (17 page)

Epilogue

A light snow was beginning to fall and William Montgomery stood and stared out as the snow began to blanket the field of green.  “Well, Arthur, I think I would have made you proud,” he said out loud although he knew that he wouldn’t get a response.  “Don’t get me wrong, I’m a real pro at this matchmaking thing but Gina and Mac were a little more challenging than I had expected.”

The cemetery was quiet on this Friday morning and William was thankful that he could stand at his friend’s plot and talk to him privately.  “I wish you could see them; they’re so happy and I know that they have a good life ahead of them.  Gina is painting and taking pictures while they travel and she’s got some serious talent.  And Mac?  Well he’s finally learning to relax a little and enjoy life.  Gina’s good for him.  They’ve been traveling quite a bit and Monica and I look forward to the postcards that they send and hearing about all of the places they’ve seen.”

The cool air burned a little as he inhaled deeply but it was a welcome distraction.  “She misses you, you know.  Barb, I mean.  We’ve spent some time talking with her and she talks about how much she wishes she hadn’t been so stubborn.  It’s too late, I know, but I thought you should know.  Monica and I will look out for her so you don’t have to worry.”  William retrieved a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped at his eyes.

“Jason and Maggi
e are settled in the house now,” he said.  “They kept some of the furniture but they had a lot of their own stuff that they wanted to keep, too.  Maggie is just over the moon at the thought of them raising a family there and if my calculations are correct, they’ll be bringing their first child home there in about seven months.”  William smiled with pride.  “You always wanted to hear laughter in that house and you should know that now there finally is.”

“Lucas and Emma are doing well.  Emma’s had to hire more help at the bakery and she has a manager in place so that she doesn’t have to work so much now that they have Lily.  I’ll tell you what, that child has me wrapped around her little finger and she’s barely three months old!  I think I’ve gotten the hang of this grandfather thing an
d I can only hope that there will be plenty more coming my way.”

His voice clogged with emotion as he went on.  “We would have made awesome grandfathers together, Art.  When Gina and Mac have children, well…it’s going to be hard not having you there to share it with me.  How many years did we talk about growing old and having our kids get married and enjoying our grandchildren together?”  He wiped at his eyes again.  “I miss you.  Sometimes I just pick up the phone to call you and I’m just devastated when I remember that you’re not there to answer the phone anymore.”

“I want to thank you for the lifetime of friendship you blessed me with.  I don’t know how I could have gotten through some of the things that I did without you by my side.  I don’t know how I’ll get through some of the things that lie ahead of me without you, either.  I know that I have Monica and the boys but there’s nothing like a best friend.”

With one final sweep of his eyes, William put the handkerchief away.  “I’ll never forget you, Art.  And you can be sure that I’ll be sharing stories of the many good times we had together with our kids and our grandkids for years to come.  Thank you for being the best friend a guy could ever ask for.”
  He laid a hand on the cold marble headstone and gave it a pat.  “You were the best.”

William walked back to the car and let it warm up a bit before pulling away.  Mac and Gina were due back from London today and he was picking them up from the airport.  He looked forward to hearing about their trip and their plans for the future now that they were planning their wedding.  Mac had proposed in front of Abbey Road Studio in honor of Gina’s love of the Beatles. 

His son had come a long way from the reserved businessman that he was several months ago.  If anyone would have told him that Mac would spontaneously propose in such a fashion, William would have laughed them off.  But now he knew that it wasn’t impossible.  Gina had been a wonderful influence on him and he was for her too. 

There were many more couples out there, nieces and
nephews that could probably benefit from his gift of matchmaking but William felt like his work was done.  He had accomplished what he set out to do; his sons were each married to wonderful women and they were star
t
ing their own families.  He could only hope that he had served as a good example to his sons as the kind of father
s they should be.

Life was good for William Montgomery and he was more than happy to hang up his matchmaking cap.

For now.

About the Author

Contemporary romance writer Samantha Chase released her debut novel, “
Jordan's Return
”, in November 2011. Although she waited until she was in her 40's to publish for the first time, writing has been a lifelong passion. Her motivation to take that step was her students: teaching creative writing to elementary age students all the way up through high school and encouraging those students to follow their writing dreams gave Samantha the confidence to take that step as well.
   Her second book, a holiday novella titled "
The Christmas Cottage
" climbed the Amazon charts and peaked at number ten on the Best Sellers in Women’s Fiction on Christmas Eve 2012 in books and number 116 in Kindle books. Watching the numbers rise and fall was a daily roller coaster ride but definitely an exciting one!

The follow-up, “
Ever After
” was not a planned book; the response to “
The Christmas Cottage
” was so great that fans of it begged to know Ava’s story.  It was something that was planned for a future book but due to the many inquiries, it was moved up to be the next story written.

“The Montgomery Brothers” series is the story of brothers Lucas, Jason and Mac; three bachelors whose father is desperate to see them all married and happy.  His behind-the-scenes matchmaking has been fun to write and these three books will have you sighing with thoughts of happily ever afters.  “Wait for Me” is Lucas and Emma’s story and was released in May 2013;
“Trust in Me” was Jason and Maggie’s story and was released in July 2013 and I hope that you enjoyed Mac and Gina’s story with “Stay With Me”.

In August of 2013, Samantha’s book
“Catering to the CEO”
was part of a five-book collection entitled
“Loving the CEO”
where she collaborated with four other Indie authors.  The collection is currently on the
USA Today Bestseller List! 
It was a first-time entry from Samantha and it’s an exciting attachment to add to her title!

When she's not working on a new story or editing the ones that are in progress, she spends her time reading contemporary romances, blogging, playing way too many games of Scrabble on Facebook and spending time with her husband of 23 years and their two sons in Wake Forest, North Carolina.

Where to Find Samantha Chase

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https://twitter.com/SamanthaChase3

Website:                            
http://samanthachaseauthor.com/

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http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B006CZWRGC

Blog:                             
http://allstace.blogspot.com/

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