Epilogue

New Year’s Eve

“Candlelit out there. How perfect.”

Mike Paul turned as his mother entered the room. Her eyes, full of concern, moved over him, head to toe.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“I’m good.” His pain was sitting around four, and four he could more than handle.

She ran her hands over his lapel and moved his jacket a bit. It was a bitch with his shoulder in a sling and constantly falling out of place.

“Maybe I should just leave it off.”

“Do what you need to feel comfortable.” His mother stood back. “My handsome boy.” Tears shimmered in her eyes, which made Mike Paul feel like shit. She’d been crying for a week, ever since Clappison had taken that shot.

“Mom. I’m good.”

“I know,” she said lightly. “These are happy tears.” She winked. “Big Bend’s most eligible bachelor is settling down.”

It was strange knowing that he and Ivy would be a team. She’s already moved most of her stuff into his house. He smiled at that. Hadn’t taken her long at all.

The door opened, and Cal Bridgestone walked inside. “We’re almost ready,” he said with a grin before dropping a kiss onto Melody Darlington’s cheek. “I’ll make sure he gets down the aisle.”

“I’ll see you out there,” his mother said before leaving him with his best friend.

Cal cleared his throat and shoved his hands into his pockets. They were at an old church on the Bridgestone ranch, one that hadn’t been used for church service in nearly seventy years. Small, charming, and a bit on the cold side, it was the perfect setting for his and Ivy’s wedding. With only a handful of guests, it would be an intimate ceremony.

“Have you seen her?” Mike Paul asked, his nerves finally getting the better of him.

“She’s beautiful.”

“Yeah.” He cracked a smile. “Who would have thought all those years ago that you and I would end up with the only girls in Big Bend who could kick our asses if they wanted to?”

“Kind of what makes them special.”

Mike Paul nodded, then exhaled. “How’s Jacob?”

“He’s good. Sitting with Cobi.”

“He’ll be living with us.”

“Ivy told me.” Cal’s expression darkened. “I was told his old man was released because of a clerical error.”

“That’s what we were told.”

“At least he’ll be behind bars for years to come. No way is he getting out after what he pulled.”

“I don’t want to think about that shit now.” Mike Paul grinned. “I promised Ivy I’d make an honest woman out of her.”

“Let’s go.”

Mike Paul followed his friend out of the room, and they walked to the front of the church. There were heaters set up in the corners, and the candles threw shadows. Pastor Newsome waited for him, a smile on his kind face, and he and Cal turned to stand beside him. Mike Paul focused on the small alcove where Ivy was holed up, then looked out at his family and friends. Some he’d known his entire life, and a couple were new. He cleared his throat and waited.

Millie Sue began to play a beautiful acoustic song on her guitar, and slowly, the doors opened.

Ivy appeared, Kip Lafferty at her side. She was dressed in a cream silk gown with simple lines. There were no big skirts or embroidery or beads. Her hair hung in loose waves, just the way he liked, and as she walked toward him, her big, beautiful eyes shone from the candlelight.

She took his breath away, and damn, but there were hot tears in the corners of his eyes. He didn’t want to bawl like a baby, so he exhaled and did his best not to.

“Stay steady, brother.” Cal grinned and stepped back.

Mike Paul shook Kip’s hand, and then Ivy joined him.

“Hey,” she said, taking his hand. “You came.”

“You said you needed a date for New Year’s Eve.”

“Just so you know,” she whispered, leaning so close he could count the freckles that spilled across her nose. “This date doesn’t have an expiration. It’s the forever kind, so it’s your last chance to bail if that’s not what you want.”

He swept his mouth across hers and then glanced at the pastor. “Let’s do this.”

And there, on a night that signaled new beginnings, surrounded by the people that mattered, Mike Paul and Ivy took their first step together. It was their first and last date. He’d found his forever girl in the spot she’d been all along. And he wasn’t letting her go.

When the pastor pronounced them man and wife, he looked down at her smiling face and felt his heart shift. Hell, his whole body moved.

“We’ll have to wait for Spring,” he whispered.

When her eyebrow rose questioningly, he smiled.

“The white picket fence.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

His smile widened. “That’s what I was hoping to hear.” He nodded at their friends and family. “Shall we?

Ivy took his hand and their forever officially began, there under a sky so big the world seemed endless.