Epilogue
“I now pronounce you husband and wife. Chancellor, you may kiss your bride.”
Chance pulled Zoey into his arms and kissed her, nearly leaving her breathless. Then, he swung her up into his arms and carried her down the aisle. The rest of the wedding party followed. All with huge smiles on their faces.
It was a beautiful day in October on the grounds of Teakwood Ridge. Several people were present, including some of Zoey’s co-workers and college friends. Lucky was her matron of honor, and Sharon stood in for her mother. Lucky’s father, Mr. Andres, gave her away.
Zoey knew she was marrying into a wonderful family and looked forward to living on the ranch with the man she loved. Their marriage was a continuation of the love that had begun with Waylon and Victoria. After their honeymoon in Italy, she would start work at Houston General Hospital.
She and Chance had their first dance as husband and wife, a slow dance, then they had surprised their guests by breaking into a dance they had choreographed together. It was their own version of a Texas line dance they called the Teakwood Ridge.
Before going inside to dress to leave for their honeymoon, she noticed Mama Laverne sitting by herself and decided to go to her and thank her for everything.
“Mama Laverne, I could never thank you enough for all you’ve done.”
The older woman smiled. “Poppycock. You did it all yourself. You’re a fighter and Chance is lucky to have you. We are lucky to have you in our family. Another Satterfield marries a Madaris.”
Zoey slid into the chair beside her, which wasn’t an easy feat in her wedding gown. “I’m going to love living here.”
The older woman nodded. “You will get to do something Victoria never did. Waylon built the cabin as their home. Now you will have both.”
Yes, she would. Chance had bought the cabin from Trevor Grant, and a new barn had already been built. She and Chance would use the cabin by the lake as their “getaway” place. She and Chance had gone to the tomb twice now to put more flowers there for Waylon’s and Victoria’s graves. They’d even traveled to Laredo to place flowers on Deedra’s grave.
When she saw Chance walking toward them, she eased out of the chair, kissed Mama Laverne on her cheek, and said, “Again, thanks for everything.”
“No thanks needed. It was meant for the two of you to be together. Just like it’s meant for those two,” she said, pointing to the two kids running around the yard playing together.
Zoey recognized the little girl with red hair as the daughter of Alex and Christy Maxwell; and the little boy as one of the triplet sons of a couple she’d met a few weeks ago—retired Colonel Ashton Sinclair and his wife, Netherland.
“I won’t be alive when it happens, but mark my word that one day it will,” Mama Laverne added.
Zoey smiled. There was no doubt in her mind that one day it would happen since Mama Laverne had declared it would. Walking down the steps to meet her husband, Zoey was swept into Chance’s strong arms.
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