Page 93 of Good at Being Bad (Rock Canyon, Idaho 8)

Suddenly, the door to the garage swung open and both of then turned to find Jenny standing in the doorway, an expression of horror on her face.

“Oh, my God, on my car?”

Epilogue

Five Years later

Ellie sat on the couch playing Hungry Hungry Hippos with her three-year-old daughter, Alisa. Mike hadn’t been kidding about marrying her as soon as she figured out what she wanted to do with her life, and while she was making that dream a reality, he’d been busy trying to create something else. She’d had Alisa a year and a day from their wedding, and she’d been terrified of screwing it up. There had been a lot of tears, a lot of worry and doubt, but through it all her amazing husband had stood by her, cheering her on.

In a million years, she never envisioned her life could be this great.

“I’m going to destroy you, Mommy!” Alisa cackled.

“You’ve been hanging around Aunt Gracie too much. No one can defeat the mama!”

The lock turned in the door and Smalls jumped to his feet with an excited bark.

“Daddy!” Alisa cried as she abandoned their game to meet her father at the door.

Mike stepped inside and dropped his tool bag just before Alisa launched herself at him.

Ellie’s whole world stood in a halo of the setting sun, hugging each other tightly and it brought a sting of tears to her eyes.

That could all be the pregnancy hormones. She was eight weeks along, after all.

Mike set Alisa down with a smacking kiss. “How are the most beautiful girls in the world doing?”

“I was beating Mom at Hungry Hippos.”

Mike grinned at Ellie who rolled her eyes. “You ran away, so technically, I won.”

“Do over!” Alisa said.

“I can’t right now, sweetie. Mom has to get to work.”

Alisa started to pout, until Mike said, “Why don’t you help me cook dinner and then you can beat Daddy?”

“Yes!”

Ellie climbed to her feet and greeted her husband with a kiss. “And how was work?”

“Fantastic, actually. I landed the CSI account.”

“That is wonderful!” Mike had been taking on computer jobs for large outfits, starting with the local high school and some of the larger businesses. His business had expanded to include three more techs, and she couldn’t be happier.

Mike gave her a gentle nudge. “Go to work, honey. I’ve got big plans for you later.”

Ellie grinned at her insatiable husband, putting an extra swing in her hips before disappearing down the hall and into her office.

She sat down in her black leather chair in front of the city scene on the wall with bright pink sky. She booted up her laptop and camera, and while she waited, she put her Bluetooth on.

Ellie had started her vlog, “What Is She Thinking,” right before her wedding to Mike. It was an advice show for men trying to land women and she’d built a massive audience on YouTube, even scoring her a couple of movie roles. Her podcast was one of the most popular on iTunes and a prestigious publisher had approached her regarding writing a book.

And all of it was done from her tiny office at home.

She set the video to record, and jumped in. “Hey, it’s Ellie and this is What Is She Thinking. This show is all about marriage, so all of you guys out there who are engaged, married, or even think someday you might tie the knot, listen up…”

Ellie finished the show an hour later and headed to the kitchen to find her family sitting down to eat. Both of their heads were bowed over their folded hands and Ellie leaned against the wall, watching them.