Chapter Seventeen
Crew stood still in the back of the old barn, letting the noise wash around him without really hearing it.
Laughter echoed off the high rafters as the guests arrived to share Gray and Honor’s special day.
The strains of music added an air of excitement to the refurbished barn that glowed with string lights, making it warm and celebratory.
The air floating through the open back door smelled like cut grass and wood smoke and summer.
All of it felt unreal.
Because a few days ago, none of this had been guaranteed.
Gray and the other groomsmen had gathered in the groom’s suite, talking and laughing. Carson produced a flask, indicating that the party was really getting started, and it got passed between them.
Crew drifted toward the open door, drawn by a gorgeous view of the verdant fields. The smoky blue mountain rose in the background like an old friend that was always there to watch over the ranch.
He stepped outside, breathing in the fresh air and searching for Fern without meaning to.
His body always did that now. Like some internal compass had rewired itself to her. Though he didn’t see her, he knew she was with the other women, primping and assisting the bride.
She was safe.
But he could have lost her.
The thought hit him hard, a blunt force to the chest that made him draw a slow breath and hold it. He replayed the image he couldn’t shake—the rain, the mountain, the way the world had narrowed down to one objective and one name.
Fern.
He dragged a hand down his face and turned before the weight of it turned into something sharper.
Today was about hope and happiness. It was about two people who were meant for each other being joined as one, with all of the people they loved celebrating with them.
When he stepped inside again, Rhae caught him slipping in. She drifted to a stop, her long dress swirling around her body and the jewels in her ears catching the sunlight.
She didn’t say anything at first. Just looked at him with that knowing she wore like a second skin.
“I heard,” she said finally.
Crew dropped his gaze to the old floorboards, cowboy boot scuffing a groove without thinking. “Yeah.”
She stepped closer. “I’m so damn proud of you.”
The words sank much deeper than he expected. Praise had always been complicated for him—earned through action, not offered freely, especially after what happened with Conner.
He lifted his head, meeting her eyes again. “You think it’s worthy of the wall?”
The wall. The one inside the lodge. The one that told the story of men who’d moved forward.
Rhae didn’t hesitate. She wrapped him in a hug that was quick and fierce and full of certainty. “Definitely.”
His chest tightened. He nodded once, throat thick, then pulled back before emotion made him stupid.
“Thanks,” he said, meaning more than he could explain.
Rhae continued down the hallway, high heels clicking on the floor. When she opened the door to the bridal suite, Crew caught a glimpse of the ladies clustered inside. Their breezy laughter trickled out.
Then he spotted Fern woven effortlessly into a knot of women. She was gripping a bouquet of yellow flowers while she laughed at something Honor said, her hand lifting to her mouth in that way she had when she was genuinely amused.
She looked like she belonged.
The sight filled him with warmth knowing that she’d found her place. She wasn’t hovering on the edge of life anymore. She wasn’t watching from the sidelines.
They’d pulled her in without hesitation, and she’d stepped right into their world.
Crew let himself watch for another heartbeat, then turned when someone clapped a hand on his shoulder.
“You disappear back here to brood?” Gray asked.
Crew huffed. “Just catching my breath.”
“Good, because we’re almost ready.”
Carson and Denver drifted by them, ribbing each other about seating and whether Carson’s son CJ or Navy, Denver’s little girl, would be the first to disrupt the ceremony.
Gray waited until the others wandered off, then squared up in front of him.
“I know this is my big day.” He pitched his voice lower now. “But it’s yours too.”
Crew studied him. “Meaning?”
Gray didn’t draw it out. That wasn’t how a Malone worked. “I want you at the training facility. Officially.”
Crew’s breath stalled.
Gray kept going. “As an extraction trainer. You’d be in charge of planning, contingencies, worst-case scenarios. You’d run the program.”
Crew felt his eyes burn before he could stop it. He blinked hard, jaw tightening as the reality settled in. This—this was it. The thing he hadn’t known he was hoping for.
A place.
A reason to be here.
A future that didn’t involve walking away from everything he’d built on the Black Heart and the people he had forged ties with.
“This is what I wanted.” He pinched the bridge of his nose to stave off the sting of emotion.
Gray nodded. “A way to stay.”
Crew wasn’t able to speak for a second. His chest felt too full, emotion crowding in.
“Thank you, man. I mean it. You’ve given me so much in my time here. All of you have.”
Gray gripped his shoulder once, firm. “Then it’s settled.”
Gray stepped away, pulled back into the orbit of his wedding day, leaving Crew standing there while his world permanently shifted.
And then he saw her.
Fern emerged from the bridal suite. She looked up, and when she saw him, her entire face lit up.
She started toward him, her dress swirling around her legs, hair loose around her shoulders. Her eyes were locked on his, a soft smile curving her mouth like she already knew something good had happened.
Everything else faded—the noise, the people, the lights strung overhead.
All he saw was her.
She’d been through hell and knew how to smile.
Staring into her eyes, as green as the fields he loved so damn much, he knew one thing with absolute certainty.
Whatever came next, they’d meet it together.
* * * * *
Fern fisted her hands in the lapels of Crew’s jacket and tipped her face up to search his rugged features. “Why are your eyes glassy?” she demanded teasingly. “Were they mean to you?”
The question was exactly the same as the one he’d asked her when the women included her.
His lips twitched even as his throat worked. His voice came out gruff. “No. Nothing like that.”
Her brows drew together. “Then what?”
He took her hands, lacing their fingers together like he needed the contact as much as she did. “I was offered a position.”
The words barely had time to sink in before she sucked in a gasp. Joy broke over her, as uplifting as the day promised to be.
“I knew it!” She laughed, and it came out a little watery. “I knew they’d keep you. Oh my god, Crew—I’m so happy for you.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him tight. He buried his face in her hair for a second.
His words rumbled into her ear. “This isn’t just for me, honey. It’s for us.”
Something deep inside her that had been slowly unclenching with each day she spent with Crew, with the team, with everyone here on the ranch, fully let go.
“For us.” Her throat was tight.
“And I get to see the community garden come to life.” His eyes glowed as he searched hers. She went on tiptoe and brushed her lips over his, feeling the shiver of pent-up passion between them.
Too soon, their quiet moment in the hallway faded as the guys poured out with Gray taking up the rear. Crew brushed a soft kiss over Fern’s lips and took his place with them.
She watched him go for only a beat before realizing she should take her seat with Navy so she could help keep the little girl entertained and quiet during the ceremony.
The wedding was beautiful. Ribbons and flowers were swagged everywhere, along with little crystals that twirled in the sun and cast rainbows around the rustic barn in a way that fit Honor and Gray so perfectly.
When the couple exchanged their vows, Fern couldn’t help but lock eyes with Crew and wonder if someday—soon—it could be them.
Everything became a whirlwind after, with congratulations called out and flower petals showering the new couple as they walked outside for photos.
By the time she and Crew broke away from the festivities and he led her to a pocket of quiet near the open barn doors, she was ready to spend some time alone with the man she loved.
The evening air was cool and sweet. Music floated behind them, and laughter rose and fell with the chime of champagne glasses.
Her gaze connected with Crew’s, and her heart gave that same pitter-patter it did every time she looked at him.
He reached into his pocket. “I have something for you.”
Her eyes flicked down as he took her hand and turned it over. He slipped something into her palm, warm from being carried close to his body.
A bracelet.
Not the same green one that Reed had stolen. This one was different, with deeper greens threaded through the beads, and just as beautiful as the last.
Her vision blurred as she turned it over, tracing the beads. “Crew…when did you make me a new one?”
“I found time.”
She swallowed around the emotion thickening her throat and looked into his eyes. “I love it. So much.”
He fastened it around her wrist, callused fingers stroking over her skin and lingering over the pulse in her wrist. When he finished, he lifted her hand and pressed a kiss there too, right over the steady beat.
Suddenly, he pulled her back into the barn with a light tug that made her laugh. “Dance with me.”
He settled a hand at her waist as the music shifted to a slow and familiar song they’d sung to in the truck on the way to the garden center.
They’d never danced together, but they moved together easily, like they’d done it a hundred times already and would do it a thousand more.
He twirled her once, making her dress flare and her laugh ripple out.
When she came back into his arms, she slid her hands up his chest and settled over his thumping heart.
Around them, the celebration became a series of vivid snapshots.