Epilogue
One year later …
“She’s magnificent, isn’t she?” Molly asked, beaming, crying and clapping as Sasha finished her performance on stage with the rest of her dance class and they all curtsied in their tutus and tights.
“She really is. I think she could go all the way,” Ryker said honestly. “Mieka certainly thinks so.”
A hard lump of pride and emotion hung heavy in the back of Molly’s throat. She never dreamed that she could ever be this happy again.
But she was.
They’d been in Colorado for a year now and all three of them were thriving.
She’d managed to get a job immediately when they moved, and she adored the dentist and her co-workers at the local dental clinic. One of their hygienists had just retired, so Molly showing up with her resume was kismet. Ryker worked on the ranch with his best friends and brother—since Decker fell in love with Mieka’s best friend Joanie and also moved onto the ranch—and Molly had never seen him so happy.
And Sasha, well, she was flourishing.
She danced, she rode horses and smiled all the damn time. She played soccer on a local rec team for fun, but poured her heart and soul into dance.
Finally, after fourteen years of Molly and her daughter doing it alone, pretending just the two of them was enough, they were really, truly happy. Because they had family. Because they had a home and a bright and shiny future.
Ryker had gone and bought a bouquet for Sasha’s performance. He doted on her more than ever now—not that he hadn’t spoiled her rotten since she was a baby. But he loved her like she was his own, and Sasha adored Ryker just as much. They had a bond that sometimes even made Molly jealous, but she also loved that her daughter felt so comfortable with someone else.
The bigger the village, the better.
They waited with all the other parents for the dancers to come out from backstage, and one-by-one the heavily made-up teenagers with their tight ballerina buns emerged. Molly hated how much makeup they had to wear, because it always made Sasha break out, but it was par for the course when it came to dance. Mieka and Joanie were still backstage with some of the dancers, but Sasha came out with a couple of her friends, an enormous smile on her face.
She lunged at Ryker first, only bruising Molly’s ego just a smidge.
“Amazing, half-pint. Just amazing.” He squeezed her tight enough and leaned back so that her toes lifted off the ground and she giggled. Eventually, he released her and handed her the flowers. Bringing his voice down, he leaned in so only Molly and Sasha were supposed to hear. “In my opinion, you’re the best dancer in that whole show. Like, you need a solo performance already. I’ll talk to Mieka.”
Sasha snorted and rolled her eyes. “I’m not. But thanks.” Then she hugged Molly.
“You were incredible,” Molly said, tears springing from her eyes again. “You never cease to amaze me. Especially since I have no rhythm and two left feet.”
“Your dad had rhythm. You got it from him,” Ryker said.
They all smiled. Even though it still hurt sometimes to think and talk about Brendan, it’d also gotten easier in the last year. Probably because they all made a point of talking about him more on the ranch. There were more of them around to share stories and tell Sasha all about her father and the shenanigans he got up to. In a strange way, they’d brought a part of him back to life by moving away from his hometown. Just because Jackson Hole was where Brendan was from, didn’t mean that was where his heart was. His heart was with his family, with his brothers, and they made sure to keep his memory alive and well so his daughter would know all about him.
“So, where do you want to go for dinner?” Ryker asked, looping his arm around Sasha’s shoulder.
“I basically get whatever I want after an amazing performance like that, right?”
“Barring it’s not monkey brains or shark fin soup, I’m pretty much willing to take you out for whatever your heart desires.”
“It’s not food that I want,” she said, glancing between them.
“Booze?” Ryker asked, confused. “You’re fifteen. Try again.”
Sasha rolled her eyes. “I want you two to get married.”
Molly nearly choked on nothing. Well, maybe it was spit. Or air. But she started to cough on something invisible that was trying to kill her.
“You’ve been in love with each other forever. You live together. Get married already. I want a wedding.”
“Then you get married,” Ryker said dryly.
She rolled her eyes again like teenagers did way too freaking often. “It doesn’t have to be big. But you deserve a celebration. We all do. Besides, we missed Nate and Mieka’s wedding.”
“But Decker and Joanie still have to get married and Cal and Hannah,” Molly put in. “There will be other weddings.”
“They’re dragging their feet too. Who knows if it’ll ever happen? But you two, you could give us a wedding.”
Ryker and Molly looked at each other.
“My child is being awfully controlling,” Molly said. “We’ve had this conversation. We’re happy with how things are.”
“Are we?” Ryker asked.
Molly squinted at him. “Aren’t we?”
He shrugged. “I mean, if we are, then I’ll just return the ring in my pocket and go buy a boat.”
Her mouth dropped open, and she pingponged her eyes back and forth between her cheeky grinning child and her handsome whateverhewas . “You two planned this?”
“Well, we were going to do it over dinner, but half-pint decided to ambush me right here.” Now it was his turn to roll his eyes, but he was smiling.
People milled all around them in the auditorium. It was such a strange place for a proposal. And yet, Molly actually kind of loved it.
“What if I say no?”
He lifted his now perfectly healed shoulder. “Then we go home and continue to live in sin.”
“I thought you parted ways with God a long time ago?”
“I did. But to those who still have the guy on their speed dial, we’re living in sin.”
She snorted. “And if I say yes?”
“You’ll make your one and only perfect child incredibly happy,” Sasha chimed in.
“Well in that case …”
“Seriously?” Sasha asked.
Molly mimicked Ryker’s nonchalant shrug. “Sure. Why not? Let’s get married.”
Sasha squealed and hugged them both. “I am going to be the best maid of honor EVER!”
“Who said anything about—”
“Shhh,” Sasha said, pressing a finger to her mother’s lips. “We’ll discuss the details later.”
Ryker chuckled and gazed down at her, his eyes full of love. “You wanna get hitched?”
“To you? I absolutely do. Though, just for the record, our life is pretty fantastic the way it is.”
He tucked his finger beneath her chin and tipped it up, then brought his mouth down to hers. “Yeah, but calling you my wife will make it so much better.”
Then he kissed her and Molly could have sworn she heard Brendan’s voice somewhere saying, “Finally.”