XOXO: A Bundle of Cozy Novellas

Epilogue

Milo—Six months later

“Good boy, Elvis!” Milo glanced down at his dog sitting calmly and politely at his side. Elvis ignored the people crowding around them and, Milo would later swear, instead was keeping his eye out for Davey and Brewski. He was much improved since Milo and Davey had built the agility course in Davey’s—in their—backyard. They worked with Elvis almost everyday and it showed.

Today was the annual 4th of July parade in Hollyridge. The parade was a big deal in Hollyridge. Town leaders had been working behind the scenes for months and it seemed like everyone Milo was friends with had some part in it. Even Davey. He and Brewski were pulling a hay wagon filled with teens that Davey unofficially worked with by letting them come out to the ranch and help him with hop harvest and whatever else Davey came up with.

Milo hadn’t seen Davey yet, but he had seen more John Deere tractors, balers, hay tenders, mowers, and other farm equipment, then he remembered seeing in his life. There were floats for 4H, kids were dressed up in checkered flannel shirts with their goats and rabbits on board. The Spanish club for the high school had a float. The cheer squad and drill teams from Hollyridge and surrounding small towns tossed batons in the air and caught them with deceptive ease. Clowns and pirates ran up and down the sidelines tossing candy out for spectators to snatch up. Milo was having a surprisingly good time.

Jaime and Dag passed his viewing spot, waving madly from their Greek Demeter-inspired float. Even Brett had a float. Rory had spent ages designing a huge book, and Brett sat at the top of the gold-gilded pages waving to everyone. Milo was pleasantly surprised when a float festooned in rainbows, sporting a sign declaring it as being from the high school’s LGBTQA and Allies Club, crept by. Probably not everyone was thrilled to see it, but Hollyridge had come a long way in the past decade. He didn’t hear any boos, and the teens sailed on by.

Milo glanced at his watch. The parade had to be getting close to the end. Davey had told Milo that he and Brewski were almost last and not to get impatient. But honestly, Elvis was being more patient than Milo today. Davey had been so busy the last few weeks running around to get everything ready, and now all Milo wanted was to take Davey home and do all the things. Naughty, sexy things.

The spring had been incredibly busy with Milo supervising the work on his house. After thinking about it for a few weeks, Milo had floated the idea of turning Hachette House into a bed and breakfast, or Airbnb, instead of a full-time residence. What was Milo going to do with seven bedrooms? Davey had jumped on the idea, and, with an inordinate amount of luck, they’d be opening Hollyridge’s newest bed and breakfast for reservations during the yearly First-Barrel Tasting of the year, in December.

“We can offer hayrides to guests with kids!” Davey’s eyes had been so wide with excitement, he been practically shaking. “I bet Jamie and Dag or Zach, or maybe both, would give us a case discount on their wine. We could build a gazebo out back and maybe add a hot tub. If we plant hops around it, the vines will provide shade in the summer.” There’d been more but Milo had tuned him out and instead dragged Davey into their bedroom.

Skylar pushed up next to him, looking over Milo noticed Rory had joined them as well. “Has Davey come by yet?” Skylar asked.

“What are you doing here? No, not yet. Soon, I think.”

“Good.”

As usual Skylar was dressed for the occasion. Today he wore blue jeans, a snap button shirt, and a pair of fully broken-in cowboy boots. He should have looked ridiculous, but instead he looked fantastic.

“Skylar, I thought you said you had to work? Hey, Rory, Brett already went by. Cool float, by the way.”

“Thanks, I had fun making it. I have no clue where we’ll store it for next year’s parade, but I’m not worrying about that today.”

They all peered down the street to watch the Rodeo Royalty approach. Milo was impressed by them, who wouldn’t be? But where were Davey and Brewski?

“There they are!” Rory pointed.

Squinting into the sunshine, Milo spotted Brewski first, then Davey behind him up on the bench seat. Brewski was smiling like he always did when he got to pull stuff around.

Waving wildly, Milo yelled, “Davey!” He knew the moment Davey spotted him because Davey’s gorgeous smile grew even larger. Milo loved Davey’s smile, he could light rooms with it.

Inch by inch, the cart drew closer to where Milo waited, the kids in the back were standing and waving at the crowd. Milo didn’t actually know that there was a theme to their wagon slash float, but they seemed to be having fun.

When the wagon was directly in front of Milo, Davey commanded Brewski to stop. Handing the reins to the oldest passenger, Milo thought his name was Remmie, Davey hopped down and started to cross the pavement to where Milo waited. The music changed from Melissa Etheridge’s “I Want to Come Over”, to the first chords of “This Must be the Place” by The Talking Heads. Milo smiled harder–the kids were feeling eclectic today. Since they’d found out who Milo was—his arrival in town did not stay a secret for long—the kids were always playing stuff to see what he liked. One of them was actually pretty good on the guitar, and Milo’d ended up giving them lessons.

“Why’d you stop?”

Instead of answering him, Davey turned to give a thumbs-up to the kids in the wagon. To Milo, he said, “I hope you weren’t waiting too long.”

“Um, no? You said you’d be at the end.”

The first few words of This Must Be the Place reached Milo’s ears.

“My dad loved this song,” Davey said. “I pretty much grew up listening to it.”

“He did? I love it, too, I’m sorry I never got to meet him.”

“He would’ve loved you.”

“Hurry it up, Davey,” Skylar interjected, “the back of the line is getting impatient.”

Davey glanced desperately over his shoulder at the crowd of tiny clowns waiting for their turn before returning his attention to Milo and dropping to one knee.

“Holy fuck,” Milo whispered, earning himself one of Davey’s grins.

“Maybe,” the tension left Davey’s face and he waggled his eyebrows, “but that’s just between me and you.”

David Byrne was still singing. Milo couldn’t hear the words, but he knew them by heart anyway. His mom loved this song, too. Davey looked up at him. “Milo Zajac, will you marry me? I know I’m a little over-the-top and I hate doing laundry, but I make great heart pancakes.”

Heart pancakes had turned into a code for sheet-burning sex but. No one here needed to know that.

“Yes, Davey Childs,” he answered, his voice tight with emotion, “I will marry you.”

Milo was pretty sure he heard Skylar squeal at his response, but that could’ve been the rushing sound in his ears. One of the kids jumped down and handed Davey a box. He opened it, saying, “I hope this fits, but we can get it sized if it doesn’t, or a whole different ring. But I thought you’d be a plain band kind of guy.” He slipped the ring on Milo’s finger. It felt perfect, a weight on his hand he wanted forever.

“Come for a ride in my wagon? Come on, Elvis.” Davey patted his thigh and pointed at Brewski. “You too.”

Elvis was thrilled to reunite with his brother-from-another-mother and jumped up into the wagon to sit on the bench. Milo followed and Davey climbed in after him.

“I’ll ride in your wagon, baby, any time you ask. I’ll go wherever life takes us.”

“That’s the best a man can ask. Walk, Brewski.”

Rory and Skylar waved from where they were still standing a the front of the crowd, Milo thought maybe Skylar brushed a tear away but maybe he’d just gotten dust in his eye.

The wagon began moving and the crowd started to cheer. Milo wasn’t sure if it was because of the proposal or because the parade was moving again, or some other random reason. Maybe people proposed at the 4th of July parade all the time? He didn’t remember this from when he was a kid, but things had changed.

“We get to turn off in a block. And Ricardo’s dad will be there to pick these guys up.”

“Congratulations, Misters!” one of the kids called out.

“Thank you, Marin,” Davey acknowledged, to Milo he said, “once the kids are gone we can load Brewski up in the trailer and head home.”

“Home.” Milo bumped Davey’s arm. “I love the sound of that word when it comes from your mouth.”

“Me too,” Davey’s smile widened, “but from yours.”

Read In Tune today for more Lost Apostles and Husky dogs (and love of course). In Tune follows Dean, the lead signer, as he figures out himself.

Happy Holidays!