Epilogue
CHARLOTTE
Amonth and a half later
I stood off to the side of the dance floor, trying not to melt into a puddle of goo as I watched Dalton swing a laughing, squealing Ivy around to the upbeat song the DJ was playing.
“You know, if I wasn’t stupidly in love with my new husband, that sight right there would melt my ovaries.”
With a laugh, I dragged my gaze off my man and my little partner in crime and turned to look at my best friend.
Hayden made the most beautiful bride I’d ever seen.
To say she was glowing was putting it mildly, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen Micah look happier than when the officiant declared him and Hayden husband and wife.
The whole day had been the stuff of fairy tales, and even I had been moved to shed a tear or two.
“I think you have enough on your plate with your man and that little red-headed monster out there,” I giggled. “By my last count, I believe she swindled at least ten bucks from every cop in attendance.”
Hayden rolled her eyes to the ceiling, announcing, “I give up. Might as well let her start her own damn college fund. Lord knows she’ll be able to afford it before I will.”
Wasn’t that the truth?
We lapsed back into silence, Hayden hooking her arm through mine and resting her head on my shoulder as we looked out onto the dance floor. “You seem happy,” she said quietly a few minutes later.
“I am,” I confirmed. Even with everything so up in the air with my sister, I had a man who bent over backward every single day, going out of his way to make me happy. “More than I ever thought possible.”
She lifted her head, turning to give me an impish grin. “So, does this mean you aren’t mad at me about the bet anymore?”
I narrowed my eyes in a playful glare. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
She shrugged, not giving a damn. “I regret nothing. I knew it would only be a matter of time before you pulled your head out of your ass and saw what was standing right in front of you.” A smug look flitted across her face. “I’m not one to say ‘I told you so,’ but . . .”
I let out a bark of laughter. “Like hell you aren’t! You’ve been saying it for weeks!”
“Yeah, you’re right.” She threw her hands up in victory, crying, “I told you so!”
“Mommy!” Ivy shouted just then, skipping off the dance floor in her sparkly lavender combat boots and matching tutu. “Guess how much moneys I got today!”
Dalton came up beside me, his chest rattling on a chuckle as he looped his arm around my waist. “That girl’s a menace,” he said into my ear before placing a kiss on my neck.
I twisted to face him, placing my palms on his chest. “So how much did she con you out of?”
He hesitated a bit before admitting, “I might be a twenty spot lighter.”
I burst into laughter, throwing my head back and letting it wash over me.
If you’d told me years, or hell, even months ago that I’d wake up each day after a great night’s sleep with a smile, thinking that each day was better than the last, I’d have called you a liar.
I spent so many years thinking I was cursed.
Then I met a man who changed everything.
“Feel like takin’ a spin on the dance floor with me to soothe my pride?” Dalton asked, grinning down at me with those intoxicating quicksilver eyes.
“Absolutely, cowboy.”
He led me to the very middle and wrapped me in his arms. I rested my head on his shoulder, and we began to sway to the slow beat.
“How whole you feeling today, baby?” he asked into my ear.
It was a question he asked almost every single day, and every single day, I gave him the same answer. “With you?” Lifting up on my tiptoes, I pressed my lips against his, whispering, “I’m overflowing.”
And as he smiled down at me, filling me with even more love, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was the God’s honest truth.
The End.