Epilogue

Inever wore a cheerleading outfit in high school. I didn't even bother trying out for the team. It was highly competitive, and usually, the most popular, prettiest girls were chosen.

But today, as I stood with six other women on the sidelines of the Friday night football game, I was filled with a sense of belonging. This was where I fit in. This was where I was meant to be.

It was the final game of the season for our local football teams. The Mavericks, our guys, were playing the Rosewood Ridge Riders, which was the motorcycle club in town. There were other locals on all the teams, but for the cheerleaders standing on the sidelines, our husbands were the ones we had our eyes on.

"Look at Jesse go," Sadie said, nudging me with her right elbow.

She and I had become best buddies while working together at the retreat center. Our daughters were born around the same time, and now they sat side by side in the bleachers, my mom and Sadie's mom on either side. Every now and then, I glanced back over my shoulder and smiled at my five-year-old, who seemed more interested in the animal balloon Jesse made for her than the actual game.

My mom had been a little weird about me marrying the guy I met here so many years ago until she got to know him. And now, for the first time ever, my parents approved of one of my boyfriends.

Then he became my fiancé, and now my husband. We'd been married six-and-a-half years and going strong. In fact, we'd celebrate our seventh wedding anniversary in the fall with a seven-day cruise to the Bahamas.

The crowd burst into cheers, but the cheerleaders to my left weren't cheering. They stood, staring in awe as Jesse ran with the ball to the goal line.

I was frozen in time, staring at my man, wondering how I'd ever walked away from him. I thought once again about the years we wasted not being together, but we'd made up for lost time since running into each other again. Tonight, we'd celebrate a win.

Along with the rest of the amateur squad, I jumped up and down, waving my pompoms, beaming with pride. Then all seven of us ran onto the field to congratulate our husbands on yet one more win.

My eyes met Jesse's over the crowd, and he squeezed through his teammates to get to me. Then he pulled me toward him in a long, celebratory kiss that had a few of his teammates letting out whistles and shouts.

"Congratulations," I said when finally he pulled away.

He had a huge smile as he looked back at me. "Couldn't have done it without my favorite cheerleader cheering me on."

"Hey, you two," Julian said, walking up to us, hand-in-hand with his wife Gwendolyn. "We're grabbing up the kids and heading back to Luke and Ally's cabin. You in?"

"Of course," Jesse said. "You know me. I never miss a party."

He wasn't exaggerating there. Jesse was the social one between the two of us. I preferred to snuggle under a blanket at home and watch a good movie. Part of that was because I was now on the retreat center's guest relations team, which meant working around people all day. On my days off, I liked my quiet time.

But I made an exception when it came to our friend group. I loved hanging out with the women from the retreat center and their husbands. We'd become family.

"Daddy!"

Avery was running toward us as fast as her little legs would carry her. She had both hands up, ready for a hug. Her daddy was her hero. And she always looked at him with awe when he wore his football uniform.

Like many of the other kids in this town, Avery would grow up watching these football games every Friday night in the summer. Maybe once they got old enough, the girls would even take over as cheerleaders.

Jesse scooped up our daughter and gave her a big hug, while my hand immediately went to my stomach. I was still in my first trimester, but this cheerleading costume was already a little snug. I'd have to upgrade to a bigger size soon, but I'd keep cheering all the way to the end. That's what we all did when we were pregnant. We just needed to take breaks when the heat got to be a little too much.

"Daddy, TJ said we were going to his house," Avery said.

"Yep." Jesse looked at me. "In fact, we'd better get over there before they eat up all the hamburgers and hotdogs."

Julian was grilling out, but he'd just headed toward the parking lot with his family, so I doubted very seriously he'd had time to fire up the grill yet. Still, I was all for getting this show on the road, so I grabbed my husband's hand. I had to stop to say goodbye to my mom, who was heading back to the cabin she and my dad had bought near where I'd met Jesse the first time around.

By the time I turned back to my husband and daughter, Avery was on the ground, holding Jesse's hand and waiting for me so she could take my hand on the other side. A smile settled over my face as I walked hand in hand with my daughter and husband, the three of us strolling together as a family.

I couldn't imagine my life if I hadn't made the decision to move to Rosewood Ridge. I might have never run into Jesse otherwise. He would have just been a memory—someone I'd thought about occasionally with a warm smile.

It had to be fate. How else would we have been brought together not once, but twice? In fact, I was starting to think there was something a little magical about this town in East Tennessee. It seemed every time someone visited, they couldn't leave without finding love.

And that, to me, made it the most amazing town on Earth.