Epilogue
Two Years Later . . .
“This is ridiculous,” Ryleigh said, tugging at the A-line-style dress that flowed to the floor. “I’m huge and I’ll be a distraction.
You should have let me pull out of the wedding.”
Jax ignored her. Ryleigh had been ranting for weeks now, saying she was too pregnant to be the matron of honor, but Jax refused
to listen. No way she was getting married without her sister by her side.
“No one should be this big,” her sister continued. “It’s not natural. When I saw the doctor last week, she nearly fainted.”
Jax fastened the pearl earrings she’d borrowed from her mom.
“Are you listening?” Ryleigh asked.
Jax smiled at her in the mirror. “Not even a little. You’re beautiful and you’re in the wedding. Accept it. And for the rest
of your life, we’ll have pictures of how incredibly pregnant you are.”
“Great.” She plopped onto a chair in the bookstore’s employee lounge that was serving as the bride’s room. “Why can’t I go
into labor and give birth?”
“You’re not due for three more weeks.”
“I know, but seriously, how much bigger can I get?”
Jax knew that behind the complaining was a lot of happiness. Ryleigh and Alex were having their first baby together and Jax
couldn’t wait to hold her. Their wedding had been a beautiful holiday ceremony, nearly eighteen months ago, with a delighted
Noah acting as his dad’s best man.
The timing of this wedding had been a little more complicated. Both kids were juggling overlapping away camps, leaving them
with a single week in the summer when they were both home. Ryleigh’s pregnancy had been an additional issue but while Marcus
had said he would be willing to wait until fall to get married, Jax had been the one to say they weren’t postponing their
wedding. It had taken her thirty-nine years to figure out what it meant to truly fall in love with someone. Marcus had been
patient with her and she was determined to marry him on the day they’d originally scheduled.
Gentry burst through the door, her long bridesmaid’s dress swaying as she hurried toward them. “Everyone is here. Seriously,
there’s not an empty seat.” She grinned. “Grandma’s already crying.”
“Oh, Mom,” Jax and Ryleigh murmured together.
Ramon flew in. Jax held out her hand for him to land on.
“Are you excited about the wedding?” she asked.
“I do, I do, I do,” he said in a singsong voice.
She’d decided against an outfit for him, but Huckleberry was sporting a cute plaid bow tie. The decision to hold the wedding
ceremony in the bookstore had been an easy one. They both wanted Ramon to attend and, well, they’d fallen in love here, so
the setting made sense.
Her stepfather, Taft, joined them, trailed by Xander.
Taft smiled at her. “You’re beautiful, Jax, as always.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
Xander tugged at his tie. “I didn’t have to be in Aunt Ryleigh’s wedding,” he grumbled.
“And you don’t have to be in this one, either,” Jax told him. “I said you could sit with Grandma and Grandpa if you’d rather.”
He flashed her a grin. “I know, Mom, but I like complaining.”
“And you’re not even a teenager yet. What’s going to happen then?”
They all laughed.
Cheryl stuck her head in the door. “Are we ready? It’s time.”
Gentry and Ryleigh picked up their bouquets. Xander joined his sister so the two of them could walk down the aisle together.
“I’ll try not to waddle,” Ryleigh said as she passed Jax. “Just don’t let them take any videos from behind.”
“Love you,” Jax said.
“Love you, too.”
Ramon flew after them. She’d put a perch off to the side, but she had a feeling he would find somewhere more conspicuous to
land.
Taft offered his arm. “I like Marcus,” he said. “He’s a good man who’s going to make you happy.”
“He already does.”
“That’s all we ever wanted for you and your sister.”
Jax heard the beginnings of “The Wedding March” and drew in a breath. There weren’t any nerves, no last-minute second-guessing—only
the thrill of anticipation as she took the first step toward what she knew would be the rest of her life.