Epilogue
ARDEN
THREE WEEKS LATER
“You’re sure?” I asked, gaping up at Dr. Avery.
He smiled, the lines around his mouth deepening. “The test doesn’t lie.”
“I just—I—I’m supposed to be getting my stitches out,” I said dumbly.
Nora moved in next to me, her hand taking mine and squeezing. “And they’re out. This is just a bonus.”
A bonus.
The slightest flicker of fear lit something deep in the darkest parts of me. But then I remembered the light. Not the one that came from the sun or the bulbs over my head, but the one that lived inside me. The one that Linc and I had created together.
My hand went to my belly. And this little one was a part of it. A baby. A being that was me and Linc.
“What if I’m no good at this? What if?—?”
Nora cupped my face in her hands. “Arden. You were made for this. I’ve seen it more times than I can count. Your kindness. Your fierceness. It’s the perfect blend. And this baby is so lucky to have you.”
I gently pressed my hand against where the baby lay, growing. “I love him or her already.”
Nora’s eyes misted. “Me, too.”
I was glad she had come with me today. Linc had a meeting he couldn’t get out of—there’d been quite a few of those lately. He’d gotten everything back in order for the Sparks and had even managed to rescue a skate company in Minnesota that Philip had targeted because of him.
We were healing in all ways. But right now, I was thankful for Linc’s many distractions because it was Nora I needed most in this moment. Someone who’d been down this road in infinite ways. Someone who was everything I wanted to be.
My gaze flew to Dr. Avery. “What about the surgery? The shooting? Is the baby okay? How do we know? Are we?—?”
He cut me off with a small smile. “Everything we’ve gotten back from your labs looks great. But why don’t we take a peek and see how your little one is looking?”
“Now?” I squeaked.
“You can come back with Linc if you’d prefer,” Dr. Avery assured me.
I worried my bottom lip, going back and forth in my mind. “Could we do both?”
Dr. Avery chuckled. “Of course, we can.”
Nora helped me lay back as Dr. Avery rolled over a machine. Pulling up my shirt, I waited. Nora took my hand in reassurance as the doctor squirted on some gel and began moving the wand over my stomach. But all I could think about was everything I’d been through these past few weeks. All this baby had been through. I squeezed my eyes closed, hoping with everything I had that he or she was okay, safe.
And then I heard it.
A rapid whooshing. But I knew .
“It’s my baby,” I croaked, my eyes flying open as he moved the wand again.
Dr. Avery grinned so wide it looked like his face might split in two. “Babies. Plural . There are two in here. ”
Nora let out a strangled sound. “Twins?”
Dr. Avery nodded.
Nora chuckled. “Go big or go home. Isn’t that what the kids say?”
“Twins,” I whispered.
Nora squeezed my hand. “You okay?”
I looked at the doctor. “Are they okay? Both of them?”
“Everything looks great. We’ll get you in with a specialist to confirm, but they look like happy, healthy little ones to me. You’re around nine weeks.”
My head spun. “Linc did say he wanted a football team.”
Nora held the door for me, and I stepped out into the sunshine, my mind still reeling. I was leaving with a referral to an OB-GYN, two weeks’ worth of prenatal vitamins, and approximately eighty-two pamphlets on pregnancy.
“So much for birth control,” I muttered.
Nora chuckled as we headed down the sidewalk. “Sometimes, life just finds a way.”
“Are you comparing my babies to Jurassic Park ?”
She only laughed harder. “Hey, it’s a good movie.”
“You and Kye,” I muttered. They couldn’t watch it enough.
My steps faltered as I saw a familiar figure headed down the street. His attire was a little more subdued than normal—no feathers in his hair or hipster hat—but it was Denver all the same.
Nora touched my elbow. “Want me to run interference?”
I shook my head. “It’s time.”
Denver had sent flowers to the hospital and cookies to my house, but we hadn’t spoken. The truth was, I’d been putting him off, unsure of what to say.
“I’m going to pop into the bookstore,” Nora said softly. “Find me when you’re ready.”
I nodded, somewhat aware of her disappearing into the closest shop, but my gaze was on Denver. His pace slowed until he stopped in front of me. “God, it’s good to see you. How are you doing?”
“Just got my stitches out.” It was all I could muster.
Denver stared at my torso as if he could see where I’d been wounded. “I’m so damn sorry, Ardy. For everything. I just—I got caught up. And it wasn’t good. I didn’t treat you right. And I wasn’t there when you needed me because of it.”
“Den. This”—I gestured to my stomach—“isn’t on you. None of us saw it.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Isaiah’s really twisted up over it. The Hannah stuff has him tweaked. But Farah? That’s fucked.”
Denver wasn’t wrong, and his words had me realizing I needed to have Isaiah over to do a check-in. “We’ll get through it,” I promised.
“We will.” Denver’s gaze swept over my face. “Is there anything I can do for you? I know it’s too little too late, but if I can help with anything, just say the word.”
“Could you come back to work?” I asked.
I hadn’t planned on asking him, but it felt right. Maybe early pregnancy hormones were making me ooey-gooey, but I just wanted all the people I cared about close. And Denver might’ve messed up, but I cared about him and knew he cared about me.
Denver’s brown eyes widened. “Seriously?”
“We need to do things differently this time.”
He nodded quickly. “I know. There won’t be any pushing you to do things you don’t want to do. I’m taking your lead. And I actually have some ideas for the kids’ program. I think we should do a clay workshop with Isaiah. Kids love getting messy.”
I laughed. “I love that idea. Why don’t we meet next week? We can talk it out. I actually got some funding recently that will help.” I was finally going to put that trust my parents left me to use. And we were going to do a world of good with it.
“I’d like that,” Denver said quietly, then winced. “Did you see the article?”
I just smiled and shook my head. Sam Levine had gotten the scoop of the century. A reclusive artist, who turned out to be a young girl who’d been hidden away in witness protection. But I’d give him this, he still wrote about the kids’ program and gave ways to donate. He even connected my past with my need to give children that outlet. It had made the checks and online contributions pour in.
“It could’ve been worse,” I told him. “And honestly, it’s nice not to have to hide anymore.”
And that was true. There was a lightness to me I hadn’t had before. No looking over my shoulder. No wondering if someone was staring for too long. I was free.
Nora’s SUV pulled to a stop in front of my house. She put it in park and turned to me. “You going to be okay?”
My mouth curved. “I’m better than okay. But Linc might pass out when I tell him.”
Nora laughed. “That man’s made of stronger stuff. He’s going to be so happy.”
“You think?” I asked, the nerves setting in.
“I know ,” Nora said, giving my hand a squeeze. “I see the way he looks at you. There’s nothing he wants more than to build a life with you. This is just that.”
“Maybe just a little sooner than expected.”
“Time is relative. Pretty sure you’ve lived a lifetime these past few weeks.”
She wasn’t wrong there.
“Okay.” I said the word on an exhale and reached for the door handle. “Now or never.”
Nora released her hold on me. “Text me later. I need updates.”
“Love you, Mom.”
“More than all the stars in the sky.”
Holding that love tightly, I stepped out and crossed to the house. The sun cast it in a beautiful glow, and I heard Brutus’s happy bark from inside. I twisted the knob, eager to see my boy. We didn’t lock the door anymore. There was no need. And that felt like freedom, too.
Brutus bounded over to greet me, letting out more happy barks. I laughed as I gave him a good rubdown. “I’m sorry, but you’re not allowed in doctors’ offices. But I missed you, too.”
“How’d it go?” Linc called from down the hall.
I followed the sound of his voice deeper into the house. I found him perched at the kitchen island, which had become his part-time office. The sheers were pulled across all the back windows, which wasn’t typical, but maybe the sun had been causing a glare on his computer.
“So?” Linc pressed, sliding off the stool and crossing to me.
“Picture of health,” I said, a nervous smile taking root on my face.
Linc stilled just before he reached me, his eyes narrowing. “Something’s wrong. Was it the blood test? Do you have an infection? Are there additional internal injuries? Do you?—?”
“I’m pregnant.” I blurted the two words, and Linc went stock-still. Well, everything other than his eyes widening to saucers.
“What?” he rasped.
“Pregnant. Preggers. Knocked up. Bun in the oven. Eating for two.” More than two.
Linc moved into my space then, into me. One hand slid along my jaw and into my hair, tipping my head back. “Tell me again.”
“I’m pregnant,” I whispered. “Twins.”
Those beautiful hazel eyes flared wide again. “Twins?”
A giggle slipped free. “It’s honestly your fault. You must have super sperm to make this happen.”
A grin spread across Linc’s face; the kind that made the whole world stop. “We’re having babies.”
“You okay with that?” The nervousness slid back in. “We weren’t planning?—”
“Vicious.” His hand slid to my belly, and he lightly pressed his palm there. “There’s nothing I want more than to make a family with you.”
My eyes misted at his words. “Mom said you’d say something like that. ”
“She’s a smart woman. I love you, Arden. You changed me. From the moment you walked into my life, nothing was the same.”
“Because I almost killed you?” I asked, tears mixing with my smile.
Linc barked out a laugh. “You do know how to make an entrance.”
“I love you,” I whispered.
“More than anything in this life and the next. Even if you steal my thunder.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
Linc took my hand and led me toward the back doors, Brutus following behind us. Pulling back the gauzy curtains, he opened the door and guided us out.
I came up short. It was my back patio, but also…not. Because the entire space had been filled with wildflowers. Rustic bins and vases filled to bursting with every color under the sun. It was like stepping out into a sea of blooms.
“Linc,” I rasped.
He tugged me forward to a small cocktail table also covered with wildflowers. But there was something else on its surface. Drawings. No, plans.
Linc squeezed my hand. “Shep finalized the plans. I wanted you to be the first to see. We can change anything you don’t like. But?—”
“It’s a studio,” I croaked.
“Of course, it is.” Linc’s finger traced the outline. “These three walls will be glass. And I had him put skylights here and here.”
“A barn.”
“Gotta look after my girls,” Linc said with a smile. “And there’s enough room to get a few more horses if you want. Plenty of grazing space.”
“The house…is massive.”
Linc frowned. “Now that we know we’ve got two coming, I think we might need to add?—”
“Cowboy,” I chastised.
A grin tugged at his lips. “I want it to be you and me. Us blending our lives. Making something more beautiful together. ”
“We already are,” I whispered.
“Marry me.”
The two words weren’t a question or a demand. They were a simple truth.
Tears filled my eyes. “I’ll bind myself to you in every way I can.”
Linc’s hand slipped into his pocket. “You told me once that you sometimes have to bleed to bloom. You showed me that the deepest beauty can come through the worst pain. You saw me through the dark. You gave me beauty from hardship. You showed me how to create that.”
He slid a wide gold band onto my finger. The ring was breathtakingly unique—like my art come to life. There was no massive center stone, but an array of tiny ones. Inset red diamonds encircled by glittering white ones. It looked like a trailing vine of flowers. Almost like that first painting he’d influenced.
“Linc,” I breathed.
“I knew it couldn’t be bulky with your work. And I wanted it to be you. Wanted it to be what you gave me, too.”
I looked up into those hazel eyes that had become my home. “It’s us.”
“One more thing.”
“Anything,” I whispered.
Linc’s callused fingers teased around the ring. “When we get married, I think we should both change our last names.”
“What did you have in mind?”
The gold in his eyes blazed brighter. “Colson.”
Nothing could’ve been more perfect.