Epilogue

RIDLEY

ONE YEAR LATER

I didn’t want to brag, but I had the best view in the house. This massive three-paned window in Emerson’s art studio looked out on her backyard, one that Trey had tended for her all the years she couldn’t do it herself, which they were now tending together. Because Emerson was getting braver and braver when it came to living a life outside of these four walls.

But today would be a stretch of that bravery. Because all my and Colt’s loved ones were filling the back garden. When Colt had asked me to marry him, there were only two places I considered: by our cabin on the lake or here, the first place I’d told Colt I loved him.

He’d wanted me to be sure. Certain that nothing from my attack would taint this day for me. But how could it when we were surrounded by so much love?

I grinned as I saw Dean in a black-on-black suit, complete with black nail polish. He was giving Ace the hard press. Ace was Dean's mentor, and I knew Dean had his heart set on covering the Devils motorcycle club in his next podcast season. Thankfully, Ace found him amusing instead of thinking him a threat. And I had to say he looked quite dapper in a black dress shirt with tiny skull buttons.

But he didn’t have anything on my Sam. My surrogate grandfather, who’d taken it upon himself to teach me chess, was wearing his usual snazzy suspenders adorned with chess pieces and a red bow tie. He chatted with Mira, who was a vision in a sundress covered in delicate flowers. Maybe they would be the next two to pair up.

Norm and Celia had shocked the hell out of us when they’d eloped to Vegas and come back hitched. They still fought like cats and dogs, leaving Norm on the couch half the time. But Celia said it kept them young.

Movement caught my attention. Trey and Emerson on the edge of the grass. His head was bent, and even from this distance, I could tell he spoke gentle words to her. It wasn’t a gentleness borne of thinking she was weak. It was one that came because of her importance to him.

Trey’s hand lifted, brushing a stray strand of hair back from Emerson’s face. I grinned so widely I thought my face might crack in two.

“What’s got you grinning like a fool?” my mom asked as she slipped inside the studio.

I motioned her over to me, wrapping an arm around her waist. She’d put on healthy weight in the past sixteen months and gained back the muscle she’d lost by staying locked up inside for so long. But her body wasn’t the only thing that was healing—her heart was too. And our relationship had mended with it.

I tipped my head against hers as I pointed to Trey and Emerson. She let out a soft squeal, the sound more befitting a young teen than a woman in her late sixties. “Are they…?”

“I’m not sure,” I told her honestly. “But they watch each other. Sometimes I swear they orbit one another as if the other is the sun.”

My mom sighed. “That kind of love.”

“It’s a beautiful thing.”

She turned to me then, brushing my hair away from my face. I’d left it wild because Colt liked it that way. There’d be no fancy updos or makeup artists on hand. It simply wasn’t me. But I was wearing lace.

I’d found the dress in a secondhand shop while on location for a case. Something about the little store in Biloxi had called to me, and I’d wandered inside. I’d found the rack of wedding dresses in the back corner, and this one had nearly jumped into my hands.

The cream lace was almost a soft peach, and it had a bohemian vibe that matched me perfectly. It was fitting—giving something a second life spoke to me on so many levels.

“You’re beautiful. The home you’ve built is beautiful. And so is the family,” my mom whispered.

My eyes welled. “I wish she were here.”

God, did I ever want that. More than anything. To have Avery join me at the end of the aisle, holding my bouquet of wildflowers for me. To have her as a part of this family.

“Oh, baby.” My mom pulled me into her arms. “She is here. You taught me that.”

She was. I knew that. She’d been the one who’d gotten me through my darkest moments, and I felt her in all the best ones. She was here today too. Just like she’d be with me every moment after.

A soft knock sounded on the door, and Mom released me, crossing to it. She opened it a fraction. “Colter Brooks, you can’t be here. It’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Watch out, Law Man; she’s full-naming you.”

I heard his answering chuckle from the other side of the door. “I’m going to go ahead and say we’ve already gotten through our dose of bad luck. And I need to give Chaos her wedding present.”

My mom frowned but nodded. “Oh, all right. But not too long; we’re about to start.”

She hurried out of the room, leaving Colt to come inside. The moment I saw him in his dark-blue suit, I nearly died on the spot. He’d never looked more gorgeous. His dark hair was tamed but had dried with that slight wave I loved. And he’d left just a little scruff at my begging.

“Have I ever told you that you have great shoulders, Law Man?”

“Ridley,” he growled. “I do not have time to fuck you before this ceremony.”

A laugh bubbled out of me. “Fair enough.”

He came to a stop a few steps from me, those storm eyes roaming over me. “Never seen a more beautiful sight. Not once. I’m the luckiest bastard alive.”

My mouth curved. “Come here.”

Colt listened to me for once in his life and closed the distance. His fingers tangled in my locks, and his mouth took mine with comfortable ease. A mix of heart and heat, and everything I needed to remember exactly what we were building.

When he eased back, those dark eyes searched mine. “Got you something I thought you might want to carry with your bouquet.”

My brows pulled together in puzzlement. I already had my borrowed and blue thanks to Mom, and my new were the cowboy boots on my feet. So I had no idea what he might be adding to the array.

Colt slipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out something I’d palmed in my hand too many times to count. Something I’d traced as often as I breathed. Something I'd thought I would never get back.

“The FBI said I couldn’t have it,” I croaked, taking in the key chain that had once been Avery’s, the same key chain that had set me free.

“They made an exception,” he rasped.

“Colter Brooks, did you threaten to kill someone to get this?”

“Full-naming me, baby?” he asked, amusement clear in his voice.

“Yes, because I don’t want the FBI busting into my wedding to take you down.”

Colt grinned and lifted my hand, sliding the key ring onto the same finger as the diamond he’d put there. “I wanted you to have her, today of all days.”

The tears crested, a couple spilling down my cheeks. “Colt.”

“She’s with us. Had a talk with her this morning. Thanked her for bringing you to me. For giving me back a life with light and joy and belief in the good.”

More tears fell. “Colt, you helped me find all the missing pieces. Even the ones I didn’t realize I needed.”

He brushed his lips against mine, taking my tears with him. “Love you, Chaos.”

“Love you, Law Man.”

He searched my eyes. “Want to go make that permanent?”

“Never been more ready for anything.”

Thank you so much for reading All the Missing Pieces!