Epilogue

My hand glided down the grand staircase banister rail as I kept my eyes glued to the doorway. He was here! I was able to jump down the steps, skipping every other one because I had slipped tennis shoes on under my dress, a compromise I made with Mother. I still wore the princess gowns for royal affairs, but in an effort to continue to practice making my own decisions, I refused to restrict myself to uncomfortable footwear. Mother and I adopted an out of sight, out of mind rule. If she couldn't see it, she couldn't make a rule about it. I committed to never letting a toe peep out from under my gowns. She committed to never pointing out how much shorter I had become.

I wouldn't say we've grown together. We also still don't really understand each other. However, we've formed a sort of mutual respect that I appreciated. Today, she and my whole family stood back against the great room wall, waiting for me to greet my guest first. I jumped the last two steps in one giant leap forward. So eager to get to the door first, I whipped it open without checking out the window to confirm who it was. I knew it was him!

Weston. Sweet Weston. His hair neatly trimmed, almost all the way to his scalp. My eyes practically bugged out of my head seeing him clean cut for the first time in his life. His eyes radiated all the emotions I felt thumping in my own chest. I didn't hesitate to fly into his arms, wrapping one arm around his neck as he bent down to hold me, and stretching the other hand up to rub his smooth head. "Where did your hair go?" I squealed out, my words falling into blissful giggles.

He playfully ducked away, removing my hand from his head, his lips in an open mouth smile. "Turns out I got used to it. I love not having it hanging in my eyes."

Still lingering in the astonishment of getting to hug Weston after so many nights of shedding tears of worry for him, I reached out to hug his neck again. This time, he didn"t duck away, but lifted me up, and twirled me in a circle. We fell into a laughter spell reminiscent of our childhood giggles. When he nearly dropped me on my feet, I had happy tears in my eyes. "I"m sorry farming didn"t work out but I"m so glad you are working at the palace again."

His shoulders rose all the way up and fell as he emitted an audible sigh. "Me too."

There was a pause as our eyes found each other's. "I have one request," I started slowly.

"I already know," he rushed out, tipping his head toward me. "You're upset I didn't tell you first."

"Yes!" My mouth dropped open, and my hand flew to my heart, as just the mere reference to his deployment made my heart twist. "Don't do that to me again!"

"Never." He was already shaking his head, physically shaming the past. "I understood how hard you would take it. I honestly knew you were going to be in safe hands. King Aswell has the strongest army, and you didn"t need me."

"But you had to know, you're more than just my security guy." I reached out, touching his forearm gently. "You're my best friend."

"I know. And you are mine." He covered my hand and squeezed it for a mere moment before dropping it. He tore his gaze from mine, scanning the room. "Before this reunion turns into a sappy movie, let's do something fun."

"Fun?" I sputtered out, laughter seeding my breath again. "What did you have in mind?"

His gaze focused on the window, beyond the front yard. "Let's walk through the forest."

"That sounds like a good idea." As soon as the word was out, I pulled in a big yawn. "I'm about ready for my nap."

Hours later, I sat on a hollow log, half grown over with moss. Of course, I sat on the half that wasn't furry. Weston stretched out below me on his side in a pile of dead leaves, propping his head up with his hand. "Today was the best day," I said through a wistful sigh, one of the first comments spoken between us in the last ten minutes. We'd spent the whole afternoon, and early evening filling each other in on all the things we missed, and I can't believe it happened, but we'd finally run out of words for each other. "Are you glad to be home?"

"Definitely." His eyes shifted to a narrow side trail we hardly ever used in the spring. It was the one that would get covered in prickly weeds that scratched my ankles. "I am very grateful to be home . . ."

Hearing hesitation in his tone, my brows dipped down. "But?"

"It's not a ‘but'," he rushed out, "It's a we have company."

"Company?" I checked behind me, following his gaze to the trail. Standing on the end of it was the person who made my heart melt. Reeves had his back leaned against a giant oak tree, arms crossed in front of him. He had on my favorite shirt, the blue one that matched his eyes. Both sleeves were rolled halfway up his forearm, revealing his all-year tan, and the end of his prosthetic. I found it funny how I no longer saw his prosthetic as a thing, it blended into the rest of his body. It was just who he was, and I loved him that way.

Just like I no longer saw us as two separate people from opposite worlds. I had argued with myself so much that one of the reasons we couldn't be together was because we lived two very different lives. It didn't take me long to see the fallacy in my prior thinking. Neither of us had to join the other person's life. Instead, we morphed together, creating our own world in the best way. He brought a somberness, and I held the free spirit. Together we blended perfectly, balanced. With a few minor discrepancies.

Maybe not a few.

One sort-of-an-issue thing.

I hated the sunflowers he planted in my field. I get it, it was a sentimental thing he did when he was trying not to think about me, and yes, it was epically sweet. But that was my field. I'd only ever known it to have wild grass with dandelions in the spring and way too much ragweed in the fall. I wasn't allergic to anything, so it didn't bother me. I loved the rolling prairie. So, other than the everyday bickerment we had about my field, we were a blissfully happy couple.

There was nobody on the planet who could make my heart pound the way it did just from the sight of him being near me. "How'd you find me?'

"Process of elimination." He strolled over the soft dirt, stopping in front of the log, and dropped to sit next to me. He wrapped his arms all the way around me, pulling me into a cozy side hug. "If you two are done," his gaze wafted to Weston before pacing back to me, "I have a surprise for you."

"Really." That piqued my interest, and I sat straight up, and jokingly waved to Weston. "You know I love you, right? But you need to go. I have a surprise."

Weston's lips spread into a wide grin, revealing his perfect row of teeth as he got up from the ground and brushed off his jeans. "I was waiting for it."

"What do you mean?" I arched my chin, peering up at him and then back to Reeves. "Does Weston know about it?"

"Let's just say." He waved his hand like he was wagering a bet. "I may have asked him to keep you distracted."

"For real?" Now, I was completely invested in whatever this surprise was, and I jumped to my feet. "Come on." I took a step toward the narrow path Reeves had arrived on. "What are you waiting for. Lead me to your surprise."

"Don't be so pushy." Reeves sprang up, and followed in tow, a full smile remaining on his face.

I turned to wave back to Weston, but he was already heading back on the trail to the palace. "When are you coming back?" I called.

"Reeves said two hours." His voice was already fading into the bushes.

"Oh, two hours." I tapped my chin, pretending to mull over the timeline. "What can we do in two hours? I'm not really in the mood to rock climb."

"No." He shook his head from his place near my side, as we strolled back through the path. "I don't think I'd want to do that today either. It's something else very special."

"You didn't plant more sunflowers in my field, did you?" My jaw dropped from that scary thought. "You know I wanted to keep it bare."

"It is about your spot." His lips pulled together tightly, sealing off any more words from slipping out, and my stomach dropped all the way down. I couldn't fathom why he didn't just automatically understand why I wanted this spot to be bare. After sunflower harvest, I begged him not to fill it back with seeds, but he never promised me he wouldn't. He said the price of flowers was decent, and it turned out to be one of the best investments he had made. The argument was always the same. I'd say, "I didn't care about the money." He'd say, "Of course, you don't. You're a princess." Then I'd quip back, "Yeah, a princess of a bankrupt country."

We'd go back and forth for several minutes, until usually we just decided to drop it. Part of me felt like he understood what that meant to me. The other part wasn't so sure because he would never promise me not to plant flowers there again. He wasn't exactly a stubborn person either. Every other thing we had a minor issue over, he usually gave in just to see me smile. My blood pressure started to race just from thinking about our land arguments. "If you are taking me to my spot just so you can show me your neat little rows of seeds you just planted, don't bother." I hmphed, and tucked my bottom lip in.

He looked over at me, shook his head, and returned to a neutral stance as we hiked the rest of the short trail. It was just getting dark, and the first few stars of the evening peeked out from a cloudless sky. The breeze hadn't even made an appearance today. It had been a long time since I had looked up at the night sky with ease and didn't have to pray not to see a flash of unnatural light, and flickers of bombs from neighboring towns. I wasn't sure if either one of us would ever get over that anxiety.

We slowed our steps as we gazed up at the effervescent stars. Reeves linked my hand into his and we crossed the path that led to my field. I tried to study the ground in the dim night light. It didn't look as if a tractor had driven over it recently. There were not even truck tire tracks in the soft spring earth. It was exactly how I had left it yesterday after my nap.

With my head to the ground, I kept searching the soil for signs of fresh movement, but there wasn't anything until we came over the last little hill, and I saw his truck parked next to my spot. My heart stopped.

Everything fell dead silent but my beating heart.

Reeves had created a romantic prairie picnic with a red and white checkered tablecloth lazily draped inside his pickup bed. White and red throw pillows were lined along the edges, perfectly placed to look as if they had just been tossed in. A lantern with a flameless candle glowed from the center, highlighting a covered snack tray and a stainless-steel wine bucket. It was easily the most romantic thing I had ever personally experienced. Although I wasn't one to swoon for all that romance stuff, just looking at it made my toes curl under.

"Come on." He pulled my hand, propelling me forward, but I didn't want to rush. Something inside of me called, demanding I slow my steps and take it all in. I inhaled the prairie-fresh air and flashed another look to the stars. Everything was beautiful, perfect and peaceful.

We stopped right by the open tailgate. Reeve paused, and I had assumed he was going to jump up and help me up too, but when he didn't move after a few moments, I turned to see what his deal was. He was looking at me with the sweetest expression. One that made all my insides melt, and my breath hitched in my chest. Suddenly I understood this wasn't about the picnic, as that wasn't my surprise.

Reeves had a ring. A simple gold band. It was the plainest piece of jewelry I'd ever seen, but it held all the power to make my gut swirl. We'd talked about this a little. I didn't really think he was serious, as we'd only been official for a month. Even though we both knew from our first kiss in this spot, I had no idea this would come so soon. We needed this moment to steal our commitment to each other.

But I was ready. Tears pricked my eyes as soon as Reeves dropped to one knee.

He held out the ring, pinched in his fingers, pulled his lips into that crooked smile I love, and said the words fairytales are made of, "Will you marry me?"

I didn't keep him waiting. My simple nod opened the floodgates, I flew into his arms. I couldn't wait to kiss him. Right before our lips met, I managed to whisper, "Yes. I will marry you."

I didn't have a single doubt that this was my perfect person.

He was someone who I loved more than anything.

He was the very person I had been waiting for.

He was someone who loved me for me.

Reeves broke our lip lock and showered little kisses up the side of my cheek as he created a trail to my neck. I relaxed, raising my chin and out of my peripheral vision, a cobalt bird I"d never seen before took off from his spot in the sunflower field and set off soaring higher and higher. Quiet, and strong, he appeared to take his journey with determination as he flapped his wings until he was so high, he was but a mere speck before he disappeared into the muted sky.

The beaming smile I had momentarily swapped to one of contemplation as I saw it all too clearly as a symbol.

I had been caged bird before, living under Father"s dynasty, but loving Reeves and choosing to marry the person I loved had finally set me free.

Dear Reader, Thank YOU for reading Royally Rugged. Guess what? Weston is getting his own book next! It"s called Royally Guarded and is on track to be released early 2025.

X.O. J.P.