Epilogue
ZENNIKA
T WO YEARS LATER
"If you keep fussing with those flowers, there won't be any left for the actual ceremony," I tell Abby, gently batting her hands away from the centerpiece she's been rearranging for the past five minutes.
"I just want everything to be perfect." She steps back, tilting her head critically at the arrangement. "It's not every day my best friend gets married."
"No, but it is the third time you've rearranged that specific bouquet." I link my arm through hers, steering her away from the table. "Come on. Brick's looking for you, and I need to finish getting ready."
The Georgia sunshine streams through the windows of the farmhouse Jude and I have called home for the past year and a half.
Outside, white chairs are arranged in neat rows facing an arch wrapped in wildflowers, all overlooking the rolling pastures where our horses graze.
In a few hours, those chairs will be filled with friends and family gathered to witness Jude and me officially becoming husband and wife.
Just the thought sends butterflies soaring in my stomach.
"Fine, fine." Abby laughs, allowing herself to be led toward the door. "But if you need anything..."
"I've got my maid of honor, my mother, and approximately fifteen cousins I didn't even know existed until Jude tracked them down for the guest list. I think I'm covered."
She squeezes my arm. "Can you believe it? Two years ago, you couldn't stand that man, and now you're marrying him on your very own ranch."
"Life's funny that way." I kiss her cheek. "Now go find your husband before he organizes a search party."
After she leaves, I pause by the window, taking in the scene below.
The property looks stunning, transformation complete from the "needs work" fixer upper Jude first showed me at Abby's wedding to the thriving ranch it is today.
Southern Midnight Ranch, we call it, a nod to Jude's original Washington operation and our Southern relocation.
The past two years weren't easy. Long distance for six months while I wrapped up projects in Seattle and Jude got the Georgia ranch operational. Weekends spent on planes, late night phone calls, and the constant pull of missing each other. But we made it work.
When I finally transferred to the little office I set up in Serenty County, we settled into a routine. It was perfect, better pay, more responsibility, and proximity to the Georgia ranch was the best part.
The decision to make Georgia our primary home was surprisingly easy after that. Jude's foreman now runs the Washington operation, with us visiting quarterly. The Georgia property has exceeded all expectations, with Jude's breeding program attracting clients from across the Southeast.
"There's my beautiful bride."
I turn to find Jason in the doorway, already dressed in his suit, looking more like our father than ever.
"Hey, big brother." I cross the room to straighten his tie. "Nervous about giving me away?"
"Nah." He catches my hand, giving it a squeeze. "Though I still can't believe I'm handing you over to that cowboy."
"Please. You adore him now and you know it."
He shrugs but doesn't deny it. The initial tension between Jason and Jude thawed fully the moment Jason realized that things between Jude and me were real. Now their friendship is different, being in-laws, but in some ways even stronger than before.
"He's waiting for you in the stables," Jason tells me. "Said he needs to see you before the ceremony."
"Is everything okay?"
"Seems fine to me. Just groom nerves, probably." He checks his watch. "You've got time. Hair and makeup don't start for another hour."
My heart flutters with a mixture of curiosity and concern. Jude and I agreed not to see each other before the ceremony, his one concession to wedding tradition.
"Tell him I'll be right there."
Jason leaves, and I slip on a light cardigan over my casual dress. The wedding gown hangs in the spare bedroom, waiting for later. Whatever Jude needs to tell me, it must be important for him to break our agreement.
The path to the stables is lined with flowering dogwoods, their white blossoms fluttering in the gentle breeze.
I find Jude in the center aisle, back to me as he speaks quietly to Midnight, the stallion that started his breeding program years ago and now enjoys a comfortable semi-retirement here in Georgia.
He's already wearing part of his wedding outfit, dress shirt, dark jeans, boots polished to a shine. His suit jacket probably hangs somewhere nearby, waiting for the ceremony.
"This is breaking the rules, you know," I say, and he turns, a smile spreading across his face at the sight of me.
"Worth the bad luck." He crosses to me in a few long strides, hands settling on my waist as he pulls me close for a kiss. "You look beautiful."
"I'm not even ready yet." I laugh, smoothing my hands over his chest. "What's so urgent it couldn't wait until the ceremony?"
His expression shifts to something more serious, and he takes my hand, leading me to a tack trunk where we can sit. "I wanted to give you something. Before all the craziness starts."
From his pocket, he produces a small velvet box, not a ring box, something larger. He places it in my palm, his fingers closing around mine.
"What's this?" I ask, turning the box over. "We agreed no wedding gifts."
"It's not exactly a gift. More of a... revelation." He looks uncharacteristically nervous. "Open it."
Inside, nestled on black velvet, is a key. Just a simple key, nothing fancy.
"I don't understand," I admit, looking up at him.
He takes a deep breath. "It's the key to a cabin. About thirty miles north of Seattle, on twenty acres of land with river access. I bought it six months before we met."
"What? Why didn't you ever mention it?"
"Because it was my escape plan." He takes the key, turning it over in his fingers. "Somewhere private, away from the demands of the ranch, where I could just... breathe. I never showed it to anyone. Never even told Jason about it."
I'm confused about why he's telling me this now, today of all days. "So it's your secret hideaway?"
"Was." He places the key back in my hand, closing my fingers around it. "Now it's ours. Our private place, for whenever life gets too hectic. For whenever we need to remember why we started this journey together."
Understanding dawns, and with it, a wave of emotion. "Your safe place. You're sharing it with me."
"Everything I have is yours, Zennika. Everything I am." His voice roughens. "But this... this is special. Because when I bought it, I never imagined sharing it with anyone. I couldn't picture letting anyone that far into my life."
Tears prick at my eyes. "And now?"
"Now I can't imagine my life without you in every part of it." He lifts my hand, pressing a kiss to my palm where the key rests. "Bad days, good days, all the days in between, I want them all with you."
"Jude..." I'm at a loss for words, overwhelmed by the significance of what he's giving me, not just a key, but access to the one place he's kept just for himself.
"Too much?" he asks, a hint of uncertainty in his eyes.
I answer by throwing my arms around his neck, nearly knocking him off the tack trunk. "It's perfect. You're perfect. And I love you so much it hurts sometimes."
He laughs, the tension leaving his body as he holds me tight. "Good hurt or bad hurt?"
"The best kind." I pull back just enough to look at him. "Thank you for sharing this with me. For sharing everything with me."
"Thank you for taking a chance on a cowboy you couldn't stand." His smile is tender as he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. "That emergency landing was the luckiest disaster of my life."
"Mine too." I kiss him, pouring all the love, gratitude, and excitement for our future I feel into it.
When we finally break apart, he rests his forehead against mine. "Now, I should let you go get ready. Before your maid of honor comes hunting for you with that emergency wedding kit she's been carrying around all day."
I laugh, knowing he's right. Abby's probably already wondering where I am. "I'll see you at the altar, cowboy."
"I'll be the one in the bolo tie."
"Oh no." I stand, straightening my dress. "We agreed, regular tie. Your concession to formal wear, remember?"
He grins, completely unrepentant. "Guess you'll have to wait and see."
I shake my head, tucking the key safely into my pocket. "Stubborn man."
"You love it."
"I love you," I correct, backing toward the stable door. "The stubbornness, I tolerate."
His laugh follows me as I head back to the house, my heart full to bursting. In a few hours, I'll walk down the aisle toward the man who was once my reluctant rescuer and is now the center of my world.
From emergency landing to happily ever after.
It's been quite a ride. But nothing, and no one, can get me to hop off it.
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