Epilogue - Deirdre

EPILOGUE - DEIRDRE

Six years later

D eirdre slid onto the chair next to Dean. It was early in the year for an outdoor wedding, but Dean hadn't wanted to play favorites with the churches and he and Shelley had decided to hold it in Tawny and Damien's backyard. Frost still glittered in the shadows, but the sun was warm over the flowers being put out.

"Juan told me about the bachelor party," Deirdre said, elbowing Dean in the side. "I'm surprised you made it to the wedding!"

"Shelley told me about the bachelorette party," Dean countered. "I'm surprised you're not wearing dark glasses!"

"Not getting hangovers is the very best part of being a shifter," Deirdre said breezily, making sure there was no one in earshot.

"Not the very best part," Dean countered, and they exchanged knowing grins.

Mates.

"Do you miss the store and the shop?" Deirdre asked .

"Not even slightly," Dean said. Deirdre had to believe him; he was deeply content as she'd never seen before, and the way he looked at Shelley put every shred of Deirdre's last doubts and guilt to rest. Everything had happened exactly as it had to, she thought, even when it was hard and heartbreaking. "Jamie and Devon will do a fine job of keeping the tradition alive, and they've already got it turning a profit. I've started correspondence classes and calculus is keeping me plenty busy, thank you. How's nursing going?"

"It is messy and hard and heart-stopping…and I've never been so happy," Deirdre admitted. "I thought I'd be getting away from nosy old biddies when I left Green Valley, but I really enjoy working at the retirement home." She lowered her voice. "The place is just for shifters and those who know about them, so we have a lot of rather unique challenges, but I wouldn't trade my work for anything."

"Funny how we ended up exactly where we'd planned, even if it wasn't anything close to the way we thought we'd get there," Dean said, slinging an arm around her. "Any regrets, Deer-deer?"

"Not one, Dean-bear," she said, squeezing him back. "Congratulations."

"Moooooommmmm!" Deirdre turned in her seat at Aaron's call to find him pelting down the aisle from inside the house. "Shelley wants to see you!"

Dean and Deirdre both stood. "Is there a problem?" Dean asked with adorable nervousness.

Aaron shrugged. "I don't know. She wants Mom!"

"Your bride summons me," Deirdre said, letting Aaron take her hand and tug her towards the house. Aaron was clear that he was too old to hold hands now at the ancient age of eight, so she enjoyed the novelty as they hurried in and went upstairs to the room set aside for the bride.

Shelley Powell looked like she had stepped out of the pages of a bridal magazine, dressed in a slinky white satin dress with her hair piled perfectly on her head.

"Thank you, Aaron," she said. "Go get into trouble with Trevor, okay?" Aaron was eager to obey, falling out of the room without a backwards look. "But stay close, because the ceremony is soon!" Shelley called after him.

"You look amazing !" Deirdre gushed.

"It isn't too much?" Shelley touched the age-yellowed pearls at her throat. "Tawny wanted me to wear these because of the whole borrowed thing, but I'm not sure they really match the rest. And I don't want to insult her, but I was hoping for something more…personally sentimental."

It was novel to see Shelley looking uncertain. In the months that Deirdre had determinedly gotten to know her, she was always in complete control, with a practiced air of serenity that Deirdre knew was just a front for a surprisingly warm heart.

"I know exactly what you need," she said impulsively. "Hang on, I've got it in my luggage."

Tawny's new house had an entire wing that they weren't using, and Deirdre and Juan had accepted a room at the far end for the festivities. Deirdre dashed the length of the hallways and dove into her suitcase, digging down to the very bottom. At last, she found what she was looking for and trotted back to find Shelley fixing an imaginary lock of hair. She had already taken the pearls off.

"What's that?"

Deirdre held it up. "It definitely doesn't match, but somehow, it feels perfect." It was Dean's class ring, still on the silver chain that Deirdre had worn so long ago. "I found it when I was doing spring cleaning. I was going to give it back to Dean, but I think this is even better. When he gave this to me, it was just supposed to be a loan, until we did rings, but I lost it. You can't get more borrowed than this."

Shelley's face was perfectly cool. "It isn't weird to wear this?" she asked carefully, touching the blocky ring.

"What about any of this isn't slightly weird?" Deirdre asked wryly. "You don't have to, but I like the symmetry of it."

Shelley's mouth crooked into a smile. "I do, too." She turned to let Deirdre clasp it around her neck. "Sometimes, journeys aren't straight paths."

"But you always end up where you need to be," Deidre said, stepping back to see the result.

The ring was clunky compared to the rest of the stark ensemble, but somehow still perfect. "I'd like the chain back," Deirdre said practically.

"Of course," Shelley said. "I'm only borrowing it."

There was a knock at the open door. "You ready, Shelley?"

If Shelley was intimidating, it was nothing to her father Damien's scowling face. Deirdre reminded herself that weddings came with complicated feelings and that Damien's glare was not personal.

"Got your borrowed, blue, old, and new, kitten?"

Shelley nodded and lifted her chin. "I'm ready. "

Walking down the aisle in front of her, Deirdre was glad to see Dean beaming in joy, all his nervousness swept away by happiness, and she caught Juan's besotted gaze from his side.

"Want to do this, too?" he asked her quietly when she went to stand at his side. The two of them had gotten married at the courthouse days after the divorce, in a simple ceremony with no witnesses but the county clerks.

"Not on your life," Deirdre said. "Did you hear about Patricia's wedding? Loose goats, ruined cupcakes, and the rings in the deep end of the swimming pool? Hard pass, handsome."

Shelley and Dean's wedding went considerably smoother, and if Dean was surprised to see his class ring at Shelley's neck, he only spared Deirdre a quick grin before he was back to gazing into Shelley's eyes and saying his vows.

Tawny didn't seem the slightest bit put out by Shelley's last-minute necklace swap, but Deirdre was not shocked when Dean drew her aside during the dancing.

"My class ring? Really? You were supposed to give that back to me seven years ago, when we got married."

"I just gave it back a little circuitously," Deirdre said. "I found it in a box of high school yearbooks and science fair ribbons. You aren't mad, are you?"

"I just married my mate," Dean pointed out. "I could not be mad if I wanted to be. I thought it was really touching. Shelley says it was her something borrowed."

"Seven years, borrowed."

"I'm not sorry," Dean said softly. "For the time we borrowed."

Deirdre wrapped her arms around him and leaned into his familiar form. "Me neither." She squeezed him and then released him. "Now go trot around with her while I figure out where Aaron and Trevor have gotten off to, hopefully before goats are involved."

Juan found the boys before she did, and whatever mischief they'd been involved in had already been deftly covered up. "Nothing happening here, love," Juan told her with a kiss to the forehead .

"I don't entirely believe you," Deirdre said, looking between the two guilty-looking boys, "but I'll let it slide because we're here to celebrate. I saw Clara by the buffet, and they are already running low on chicken fingers."

Both boys took off like a shot, and Juan drew Deirdre back into the dancing. "Are you sure you don't miss having a wedding?" he asked earnestly. "We could do a renewal, if you wanted. Actually invite people, serve food."

"Get my feet trod on?" Deirdre scoffed, though Juan was a skilled dancer and hadn't once squashed a toe. "Go into debt for a frilly dress and a lot of frosting on a round stack of sponges? No, this has all worked out perfectly."

Juan heaved a relieved sigh. "Oh, good. Being a best man was hard enough. I could not imagine the stress of being a groom."

"I just want you to be mine," Deirdre said, letting him spin her around another couple who were doing a chicken dance. "Mine, forever."

Juan stopped, right in the middle of the dance floor, and took her face in both of his big hands. "I am yours, Deirdre. Forever."

Deirdre didn't care who saw her kiss him back this time. All of Green Valley could stare forever, as long as she had her mate and Dean had his. Happy ever after was hers, completely.