Dearly departed, p.26
Dearly Departed, page 26
I wrapped myself around her. “I’ve always been all in. You’re the love of my life. So is Daisy. I don’t need to be psychic to know that.”
“Then it’s settled.”
“What is?”
“You’ll have to move in. Daisy loves the backyard and makes far too much mischief to have close neighbors.”
I laughed softly. “Yes. Let’s get through the trial first though. Too many changes, even good ones, will make you stress, and you’ve already fed the entire neighborhood.”
Her breath came out in a puff against my skin. “And then some. Okay, deal.”
I looked up at the pink tree and for the first time in so long, felt joy. “That tree really does make me smile. I’ll bring it back tomorrow.”
“I think it’s Daisy’s excuse to make sure we see you every day. We can move it back to my place on Christmas Eve, and you’ll just have to spend the holiday with us.”
“This is in no way a hardship.”
“Better stay through New Year’s, just in case.”
“Deal.”
She lifted her head and kissed me tenderly, her lips brushing mine over and over again. I kissed her back, softly, gently, and each kiss pieced my broken heart back together. A vision flashed in front of my eyes, of Eliza and I walking down an aisle holding hands with Daisy, of me slipping a ring onto Eliza’s finger and a bracelet around Daisy’s wrist, of us being pronounced an official family. My breath hitched, hope flickering to life.
“What?” Eliza asked.
“Just really, really happy.” I’d suffer through it all again if it ended with this moment.
“Finally.”
Epilogue
Mina
September, the next year
I really needed to get this crying thing under control. It was absolutely Carma’s fault. I never cried before I met her, and now I was literally crying in front of an entire room of people. Thankfully, my tux had pockets for tissues.
I could blame it on the pollen from the gorgeous hot house pink peonies which covered the arch, the glare of the thousands of twinkle lights that lit the room, or from the anxiety of wedding planning, but it would be a lie. And if we learned nothing else in the last year, it was there could be no more lies. Not after what we went through as a group.
“Mi Minita, you’ve got to stop crying!” Reggie whispered to me from the front row.
Sebastian nodded. “You don’t want to look like a nocturnal animal.”
“My dudes, it’s waterproof mascara and eyeliner,” I shot back.
Eliza turned to them. “We can fix it before photos.”
Paris held up her clutch. “I’ve got back-up everything.”
I shook my head. “I should’ve known better than to put you all in the front.”
“I’ll keep them in line,” Evie promised, glaring at Sebastian and Reggie.
“Get it the fuck together,” Belphegor called. “It’s not a funeral.”
“I can cry because I’m happy, too!” I shot back.
He grumbled, but ran a hand over his new sweater that read “Mina & Carma” across the chest with a rainbow heart beneath. Sienna smoothed the sweater down, and I knew without a doubt she’d made it for him. Who knew a demon and a werewolf could find love, through yarn of all things? Amber and George sat on Belphegor’s other side, beaming.
When Raine started playing our favorite Sorry Charlie song, I looked up to find Carma standing at the end of the aisle, with Jake beside her. My hand flew to my mouth as my vision blurred. We had agreed to not have anyone stand up with us, but if I did have someone, it would’ve been Jake. This surprise meant the world to me.
“Breathe, Mina,” Magnolia whispered from her place beside me as the officiant.
I blinked rapidly so I didn’t miss a single moment of Carma walking toward me. Her dark hair was down with soft curls, her pink peony bouquet with a black sequin spider on top, and her dress…
What were words? What was breathing?
I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
Her vintage-style black ballgown was hand-painted with pink flowers and black embroidered embracing skeletons that only appeared in certain light. I nearly dropped to my knees. She was the most beautiful person (or supernatural creature) I’d ever seen, and she was about to be mine.
I was living inside a fairy tale. Well, a fairy tale if Tim Burton directed it.
I don’t think I managed a single breath until Carma reached me and immediately pulled me in for a searing kiss. The room erupted in hoots and laughter. I chased her lips when she leaned back.
Jake touched my arm. “Hurry up and get married and you can keep doing that,” he teased.
We pulled him into a quick group hug before he went to sit next to Poppy, who was next to Hanelore and Elena, Carma’s best friends. Elena didn’t look like she wanted to murder me where I stood, so at least that was a slight improvement.
“You ready for this?” Carma whispered.
“From the moment I met you.”
I didn’t remember the ceremony, but to hear Jake tell the story, I was bouncing up and down in excitement the entire time. I cried again when I slipped the vintage pink sapphire band on her finger, and one more time when she slipped a ring she’d designed onto mine. It was a decorative gold band with a single teardrop-shaped ruby in the center, reminiscent of a drop of blood.
I started happy crying. “I love you so damn much,” I said, not caring that I was interrupting.
The entire world stopped when Carma kissed me as if I were the most precious thing in the universe. Her strawberry scent wrapped around us, and I fell in love with her even more. It could have been an hour, a week, a year, but I didn’t care. It was the best kiss of my entire life, and I was happy to live in this moment forever.
Eventually, Carma pulled away, wiped her lipstick off my mouth, and whispered, “We’re married!”
I scooped her up into my arms and carried her down the aisle to thunderous applause. “Let’s celebrate my awesome wife!” I called.
In the ten months since the venom case closed, the bed and breakfast launched and was now booked out six months in advance. Sebastian retired from SHAP and had moved from Jake and Poppy’s place to join us, so he could be with Evie. With Reggie and Clint visiting as often as possible, we had four in-house ghosts most nights. When things became too busy for Carma, Poppy, and me to handle, I reached out to Maggie, my old manager when I was undercover at Thinner, who was our new assistant. She may not be able to see ghosts, but she could sense shenanigans, and things had been smooth sailing ever since she came on board.
Jake and Poppy had eloped in April and showed up to family dinner with rings on their fingers. “Life’s short. We didn’t want to wait any longer,” Poppy explained. They did throw a big reception at the bed and breakfast, which appeased both Poppy’s love of planning weddings and Magnolia (who’d cried for an unprecedented hour after she found out they’d eloped).
As a wedding gift, Jake had given a year of his life so Poppy could write a letter to her sister to tell her the news. Poppy tried to argue, but in the end, it was the most generous gift he could give her. With Reggie translating, Sylvia and Poppy spent the entire day together catching up. She was even able to take Poppy’s journals back to share with the rest of their family.
Lucinda’s, Dallas’s, and Ben’s trials had finished in July, each of them landing significant time behind bars for their crimes, but everyone involved with weapons development had been incarcerated and finally, our group was safe. The sentencing hit Carma, Eliza, Daisy, and Paris hard. We went on a girls’ trip to Hayvenwood soon after. Daisy had the time of her life and still talked about how her new aunts were also witches, or in Raine’s case, a former witch. Life was complicated, but our found family was more than we could have ever asked for, and we were all in this together.
Paris had moved in with Eliza right before Daisy went back to school in August. They had decided to allow Daisy to write supervised letters to her father but wouldn’t open other lines of communication until she was older. Daisy had been through significant trauma this year and safeguarding her was the number one priority. Daisy, Paris, and Eliza had become a beautiful family so easily, it was hard to remember a time they weren’t together. Eliza promised to let Carma and me help pick out Paris’s engagement ring after we returned from our honeymoon. Little did Eliza know, we’d promised Paris the same thing.
Sienna moved from interim to official Territory Director of SHAP in February and started major restructuring. Paris, acting as her assistant, had uncovered the Dead Letter Department was using the blood of unwilling prisoners to send SHAP sanctioned letters. They immediately stopped the practice. SHAP was on a mission to find alternatives. For now, only the most essential contact, or personal appointments, were carried out.
The research and development department was completely revamped, with Paris overseeing all projects. The security system was also upgraded, to prevent anyone else from discovering backdoor access points. The international office had been so impressed, Sienna’s and Paris’s project was implemented at all locations and hefty bonuses were given.
My dad turned into a different person after he left SHAP. He retired, his savings and investments enough to keep him comfortable. He bought a van, converted it into a camper, and took off to visit anywhere he could drive. He was making up for decades of skipped vacations.
While we were still working on our relationship, he did send me a postcard from every new place he visited, and I’d pinned them all up in my office. I hadn’t fully forgiven him for the role he played by turning the other way as Dallas and Ben tried to destroy SHAP, but I was working on it. We decided it was best if he skipped the wedding but promised to get dinner after Carma and I returned from our honeymoon.
Carma wrapped her arm around my waist and held a plate in front of me with a grilled fruit kabob. “Fenton did an amazing job with the food.” She leaned in and whispered, “Describe it to me.”
Keeping my eyes locked on hers, I popped a pineapple chunk in my mouth. I chewed slowly, then licked my lips, building anticipation. “Sweet and tangy, heaven on my lips. Like you after your third orgasm,” I whispered back.
“We better do a comparison test really quick,” she teased.
I grabbed her hand and pulled her down the hall to our bedroom and did just that. We were a half an hour late for dinner and had to get Eliza and Paris to help us fix our hair and makeup, but it was totally worth it.
After our first dance, the floor opened for everyone. Sebastian turned to Evie and held out his hand. “My lady, I am a century and a half overdue for this, but may I have this dance?”
“You may,” Evie said, beaming.
They danced around in a waltz, completely lost in each other.
“Did you ever think we’d see the day Sebastian was in love?” my wife asked.
“Nope,” I replied, “and I will tease him about this for the rest of my life.”
She kissed the back of my hand. “That’s why I love you.”
“My pettiness?”
“And your perseverance.”
Jake walked over and held out his hand to Carma. “Can I take my new sis-in-law around the floor?”
She put her hand in his. “Only if you tell me more embarrassing stories about Mina.”
“Hope you’re ready to dance for the next hour, then.” He smiled at me, then handed me his cane. “I’ll be okay for a dance,” he promised.
As I watched Carma dance with Jake, laughing at whatever story he was sharing, Sebastian appeared at my side.
He crossed his arms and smiled. “I was correct.”
“About what?”
“Everything.”
I rolled my eyes but smiled. “Just so.”
He laughed then disappeared as my wife walked up to me, a silly smile on her face. “I’ve heard a story about shaving cream and an alpaca that I’m going to need details about.”
I groaned. “Just you wait, Jacob Robinson!” I called. “Payback’s a bitch!”
Magnolia and my mom yelled “Language!” at the same time.
“That’s why I eloped!” Jake returned.
Magnolia turned to Eliza and Paris. “If you elope, I will make your lives a living hell.”
Paris held up her hands in surrender. “Promise we won’t.”
Eliza nodded swiftly. “Yeah, Mom. We will make sure to have an actual ceremony.”
I lowered my voice. “Welcome to the family, officially,” I told Carma. “We’re all mad here. You should’ve run while you had the chance.”
Carma kissed my nose. “No way. You’re stuck with me.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Forever.”
I pretended to think it over for a moment, then kissed her softly. “I was yours the moment you smiled at me.”
“I didn’t know you were such a hopeless romantic.”
“No. I’m a hopeful romantic. After all, I get to keep you.”
“Yeah. You do.” She sealed her promise with a kiss.
The End
Want more? Check out Mina and Carma’s story in Blood Thinners!
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Acknowledgements
I don’t even know how to start these acknowledgements except to say thank you! Yes, to you, dear reader. The messages of love and support I’ve received since starting this series, especially stories of how my books have helped people come out to loved ones, speak up about their own disabilities, made them feel seen, or comforted them in their grief have humbled me. It’s more than I could have wished for.
Next, I’d be nowhere without my Tule team! Thank you to my editor Sinclair, and to Nikki, Meghan, Cyndi, Jane, Lee, Voule, and everyone who had a hand in creating this series: Thanks for all you do. This is truly a dream come true.
Shout out to Mr. Heather, who believes in me more than I believe in myself somedays.
I would be nowhere without my support staff: My alpha readers Janna Bonikowski, Elyssa Mann, and Sarah Estep, translator Andrea Véliz García, assistant Joanne Machin, sensitivity readers Jenna Walsh and Amber Young, my sister Kate who can spot a typo from fifty paces, and my Tule sisters who provide so many strong shoulders to lean on. Special nod to Dana Nussio, Thien-Kim Lam, Liz Zerkel, Elaine Reed, and Eric Aech for rallying behind this series—and me!
Love always to the wind beneath my wings: my Tacos, Intellectual Hotties, Sister Wives, Dolls (especially Mel and Cheryl), my hypopara sisters, and my Fantoms. Shout out to the people who keep me running (my family, my besties, my medical team, my cleaners).
As always, Katie V, Eliza, Ci, Jen T, Erika C, Jen M, and Keara. And of course, my guys from Nicotine Dolls, for all the inspiration.
If I haven’t mentioned you by name, know it is just a side effect of my brain fog and not because I don’t treasure you—you’re forever in my heart. Can’t wait for my next adventure with you all!
Wishing You Laughter & Good Books,
-H
If you enjoyed Dearly Departed, you’ll love the other books in the…
Love Me Dead series
Book 1: Blood Thinners
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Book 2: Grim and Bear It
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Book 3: Dearly Departed
View the series here!
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About the Author
Bold, Breathtaking, Badass Romance.
When she’s not pretending to be a rock star with purple hair, award-winning author Heather Novak is crafting sex positive romance novels to make you swoon! After her rare disease tried to kill her, Heather mutated into a superhero whose greatest power is writing stories that you can’t put down.
Heather tries to save the world (like her late mama taught her) from her home near Detroit, Michigan, where she lives with Mr. Heather and a collection of musical instruments. She is part of the LGBTQ+ community and believes Black Lives Matter.
Follow her at www.HeatherNovak.Net
You can learn more about Heather’s rare disease at: www.HeatherNovak.net/Hypopara
AWARDS:
2021 BEQ Pride Magazine’s 40 LGBTQ Leaders Under 40
2019 Writer’s Digest Self Published E-Book Awards, Honorable Mention (Romance)
2019 Chanticleer International Book Awards: Chatelaine Book Award, First Place (Romantic Fiction)
2019 Write Touch Readers’ Award Winner (Wisconsin, Romance Writers of America)
2019 New England Readers’ Choice Winner (New England Chapter, Romance Writers of America)
Like Heather on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @authorheathern
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Heather Novak, Dearly Departed
