Epilogue
Daisy
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Jonny and Cassidy.”
Cruz handed me a tissue as I dabbed at my eyes. Who knew weddings made me cry? Until my own, I’d never been to one and didn’t understand the hype or emotions behind it.
After my tour ended, I hit pause on my next one. I’d been on tour constantly with Ronnie for years, sometimes leaving one or two weeks in between tour rounds for a small break but nothing more. Things were going to look a lot different going forward.
Since Cruz and I mated, he’s barely left my side for even a moment. That happened a month ago, but we were still very much in the honeymoon stage.
He finished the tour with me, and then we took a detour to Las Vegas where we officially married in a little chapel with two witnesses we picked up in a casino. It was perfect, but not as perfect as our actual mating had been.
People still noticed me out in public, but mostly they noticed Cruz. He seemed to stand out like a sore thumb everywhere we went. But with him by my side, people were a lot less intrusive. Or maybe it was because Ronnie wasn’t around to call the tabloids every time I tried to live a normal life.
After the wedding, we’d flown down to the Florida Keys for a much-needed reprieve on a private island just off the coast. That was an interesting adventure.
I learned that my cowboy is not a fan of planes or relaxing.
I’m not even sure he knows how to. While on the island, he started every day finding something to fix around the place.
He likes to stay busy, though I found out quickly that being naked distracts him quickly.
Who needs bathing suits anyway when you’re alone on a private island?
That may sound overly extravagant, but Knox is always reminding me that I worked my ass off for what I have and it’s okay to enjoy it sometimes. But I don’t think Cruz will let me make a habit of it even if I wanted to.
Since we returned from our honeymoon, we’ve been finding what works—and what doesn’t—for us.
It’s the everyday stuff that matters most, but it takes compromise.
Currently, our only regular time apart is when he hangs out with the guys at the tavern while I head to Peyton’s for some girl time once a week.
I’ve never had friends like this before, so that too has been an adjustment.
And true to their word, my parents and sister have been much more present in my life. Maybe not in person, but we talk on the phone—because Cruz insisted I get one of my own—several times a week.
I never knew this could be my life, never even let myself dream it.
And even though I lost Ronnie, it turns out he wasn’t the one holding my career together—I was.
My new manager was working out great. She listens and knows even more people in the industry.
She encouraged me to get my ass onto social media and that thing has been blowing up like crazy.
I guess no one but me was surprised by that after Cruise on Home and then Holding the Pieces Together both went viral, not to mention there were several versions of Cruz proposing to me floating around that hit even higher than the songs. It was crazy.
I wasn’t hidden away from the public anymore. I was living life on my terms, well, mostly. The new boss lady could be very persistent when she wanted to be.
I glanced down the row at her, and we shared a warm smile.
“If there is any reason why these two should not be bound in holy matrimony, please speak up now or forever hold your peace.”
Knox, Jed, and Cash were right up front standing as Jonny’s best men, but when Cash started to step forward, the other two quickly pulled him back and quieted him down.
“Did you have something to say?” the minister asked.
Knox clamped a hand over Cash’s mouth.
“Nope, he’s good.”
This caused a chuckle from the entire church. And fortunately, Cassidy laughed too. I didn’t really know her well yet, but I did know enough to know she would fit in just fine.
They made a beautiful couple.
I sighed and rested my head on Cruz’s shoulder.
He turned, kissed the top of my head, and whispered, “Do we have to go to the reception?”
“Yes, we do,” I reminded him in an equally hushed response.
Knox, Jonny, Cash, and Jed had become family to me. It wasn’t that long ago I felt as if I had no one, and now I had Cruz, the guys, my parents, my sister, my friends, and a Pack to call home.
People look at my life and think I have it all because I’m a country music star who gets to live out her dream and be the envy of everyone.
But what they don’t realize is that my stardom isn’t something to be envious of.
Stars come and go and all of that could be over in the blink of an eye, but family and friends are everything to be envious of.
Fresh tears flowed from my eyes as the minister said, “You may kiss your bride.”
We stood as they marched out.
Cruz wrapped his arms around me and kissed the spot on my neck where he had claimed me in a dressing room after the best concert of my life.
“We’ll just make an appearance at the reception.”
“We stay until after cake,” I reminded him.
“Cake’s overrated.”
“I didn’t get cake at my wedding, but I damn well will at this one.”
“But ours was better. We had a banana split bar with a chocolate fountain, naked in our hotel room.”
“But I like cake.”
“Highly overrated,” he argued. Then he leaned over and whispered in my ear low enough to ensure no human would hear. “Besides, I’d much rather eat you than cake.”
I gasped, but he kissed me silent.
People were watching us, and I couldn’t bother to care.
What they saw was a couple madly in love, and I don’t see anything wrong with that.
Yes, I was blushing, but more from being turned on than from embarrassment.
And while I couldn’t wait to get back to our hotel room for some alone time, I had a job to do first at the reception.
It took another hour for all the pictures to be taken, the wedding party introductions to be made, the DJ to fire up the music, and the buffet to open—which was a good thing because if I had to hear Cruz whine about being hungry one more time, I was going to scream.
The second he was done eating, Cruz’s hand slowly slipped under my dress. “Is it time to go yet?” he asked in a deep, sexy voice.
I laughed and pushed his hand away as discreetly as I could.
“We can’t leave yet.”
“Cake. I remember.” He rolled his eyes then tugged at his shirt collar. He’d been a good sport about letting me dress him a full suit, but there had been not-so-subtle signs that he was uncomfortable in it the whole time.
For our wedding, he wore his favorite blue jeans, a new flannel shirt, and his cowboy boots and hat.
It had been perfect. But Jonny’s wedding was not as casual, so we compromised on the suit and no cowboy boots, but I did concede to letting him wear the hat.
Man, was he sexy in that hat, especially when that was all he was wearing.
It was crazy how he managed to get my thoughts to go in that direction so easily even at inappropriate times. I swear he was turning me into a sex-maniac and even though I knew we were very much in the honeymoon phase still, I prayed my need for him never changed.
“Looks like Cash is about to give his speech and then I’m up.”
“What? You’re performing at the wedding?”
“Kind of. Just one song.”
“And then?”
“Cake,” I whispered on his lips while stealing a kiss.
Cash tapped on the microphone to get everyone’s attention.
I grimaced.
He grinned. “I think most of you here have probably heard of Daisy Brooks. She hates it when I do that.”
I groaned and rolled my eyes at him.
“Actually, if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be standing here today.”
“I thought this was my wedding,” Jonny teased him.
“I’m getting to that. Settle down.” This earned him a chuckle. “Jonny and I met on tour with Daisy. And somewhere along the way he grew to become the brother I never had. Knox and Jed are okay, too, I guess.”
I laughed. He was ridiculous.
“When my boy here first met Cassidy, I was the first one he told, and I knew from the way he lit up that night just talking about her that someday we’d end up right here.”
“Cassidy, Jonny has loved you since that first date. When he talks about you, there are literal stars in his eyes, even when he’s irritated about something. You’ve got yourself a good man there, one of the best, or at least second best after me.”
“And he’s single ladies,” Knox announced.
Cruz linked his fingers with mine and squeezed as Cash finished out his speech. For once, it wasn’t snarky or inappropriate. He’d delivered a sweet, heartfelt best man’s speech—almost.
“Now when you’re living on a tour bus the way we do when Daisy makes us go to work, you get to know people on a different level. Like the fact that Jonny farts in his sleep and it’s been known to clear the whole damn bus.”
“Lies, asshole,” Jonny protested.
“If you aren’t already aware of that, then he must be plugging his butthole at night or something.”
My jaw dropped in surprise, but Cassidy and Jonny both laughed.
“Secrets come out when you’re stuck on a bus, ladies and gentlemen. Trust me on that. One day I remember sitting around, Knox was banging out a beat on the table, and Jed grabbed his keys.”
Knox started the beat while Jed pulled out a small keyboard from under the table. I laughed out loud because I didn’t know Cash had recruited everyone for this.
He seemed to produce an acoustic guitar out of thin air and motioned me to join them.
“Now stuff like this happens a lot. We’ve created some great songs together over the years. Some we’re really proud of. This isn’t one of them.”
Everyone laughed.
“But let’s keep in mind that Jonny wrote this song for his girl Cassidy when they were finalizing all the details of this wedding. It goes a little something like this,”
I knew that was my cue, but first the guys joined in on the music line.
Jonny’s jaw dropped and then he got the biggest smile on his face.
“No, you aren’t.”
“Oh, yes, son. We are,” Cash assured him.
I launched into the first verse all about all the little things he loved about her, even the ridiculous stuff like the way she snorts when laughing after a glass of wine. Most of the lyrics made no sense to anyone but Jonny.
From the look on her face, Cassidy understood them too.
It was a beautiful moment. We’d never actually finished the song, so I had to improvise some, repeating the chorus to draw it out. By the end of the song, everyone was singing along.
Doesn’t she know?
Doesn’t she understand?
Doesn’t she realize I don’t give a shit about this crap?
I just want to love her for the rest of my life.
“Can I get a recording of that?” Cassidy asked once we were done.
I laughed. “I’ll see what I can do the next time I wrangle them all into the studio. Consider it a late wedding present.”
Jonny gave me a big bear hug before passing me around to the others. I hugged each of my favorite guys, fully aware that pre-Cruz, I didn’t hug people like this. In some weird way, he’d not only cracked my protective exterior, but opened me up to embrace others as well.
“Daisy Brooks, y’all. The one and only. Our fearless leader.”
With the speeches done, the DJ fired up the music and opened the dance floor, beginning by playing Holding the Pieces Together. It didn’t take much convincing to get my handsome mate onto the floor to sway with me to the music.
And as the song closed and a fast-paced one started to thump, Jonny and Cassidy walked over to us.
“Thank you both so much for being here. It really means a lot to us.”
She one-arm hugged me and then passed me over to Jonny.
“We know you’re basically still on your honeymoon, too. Please don’t feel obligated to stay all night. I hope our family and friends haven’t been too weird about you being here,” she said.
“It’s been beautiful. I wouldn’t have missed this for anything.”
“Cut the damn cake, and I’m out of here,” Cruz mumbled.
“So I’ve heard,” Cassidy said.
“What?”
She pulled out a box and when I peeked inside, it was cake.
“Knox! I can’t believe you told them.”
“Love you, Daisy,” he yelled and waved from across the dance floor.
“Go, enjoy your evening,” Jonny said. “And thanks for the ridiculous song. You didn’t have to do that.”
“Oh, yes I did,” I argued.
“No she didn’t, but that’s how much she loves you both. So congratulations. I’m sure we’ll talk soon. Enjoy your honeymoon. And thank you so much for the cake,” Cruz said. “But you don’t have to tell me twice.”
He took the box from her then tossed me over his shoulder with one arm, careful not to let me flash everyone as he sprinted from the room.
And the next day . . . that was the picture that made the front-page headlines. But hey, Cassidy and Jonny were thrilled to have their wedding mentioned alongside it.
*****
If you enjoyed Cruz & Daisy’s story, consider reading Brady & Tricia’s book, Fated to the Wolf Cowboy, book 1 in this series.