Epilogue
Sophie
I couldn’t have asked for better weather on my wedding day. The sky is bright blue, the air is crisp and chilly, and birds are singing their love songs in the trees. The sun slants through the blinds as Missy curls my black hair.
For our wedding, I’m wearing it in an updo with a few tendrils loosely framing my face. “Have you seen him this morning?” I ask Mallory who is helping me with my makeup. She hasn’t once gotten frustrated when I’ve paused in our application to talk.
When I told the two of them I was getting married, they both threw themselves into helping me with every part of the ceremony. Whiskey was willing to marry me anywhere, but I already knew I wanted to get married on his mountain. He calls it our mountain now, which always makes me giggle.
“Yep, then my big lug of a husband saw me talking to him and carried me off.” She makes a noise like she’s mad about that, but everyone who looks at River and Mallory knows they’re madly in love.
“He was obsessing about you,” Missy says, giving my shoulder a gentle squeeze.
I smile, adjusting the lighting in the bathroom. The three of us are squished inside the cabin’s only bathroom. “That sounds like my groom.”
Some of the mountain men of Courage County have created an informal support group for military men. They chop wood or fish or whatever it is guys do when they get together. It does seem to be helping Whiskey. He’s sleeping better at night and so am I.
“I can’t believe I’m getting married today! What were your weddings like?” I ask the girls, realizing we’ve never discussed it.
“Beautiful,” Mallory sighs softly. “I hadn’t known River for long. We never even went on a date. But one day, he showed up at my work and told me we were getting married. Then he threatened to drag me to the courthouse.”
Missy laughs softly. “The men of Courage are possessive.”
“And a little over the top,” Mallory says.
“But we love them for it,” I point out.
Missy makes a soft hum of agreement. “I got married in the town church. I don’t have any family and barely knew anyone, yet my whole side was filled. All the people from town came together to support me and celebrate my marriage.”
“Just like they’re doing for you,” Mom says, stepping into the crowded little bathroom. Whiskey has plans to expand our cabin. The moment I told him about my dream to raise a big family in a tiny town, he started making a list of what needs to be done.
I grin at her in the mirror. “What do you think?”
“I think my daughter is beautiful,” she answers with a smile.
I blink back tears. “He makes me feel like the most special woman in the world. Every day, he goes out of his way to show me he cares. He’s good to me, and he’s good for me.”
“I’m glad you found someone just as special as you are,” she whispers.
The alarm on my phone dings, reminding me there’s only five minutes left before the ceremony is supposed to begin.
Missy and Mallory finish helping me with my hair and makeup. Then before I know it, I’m standing on the back porch with my mom. Missy walks down the aisle with Griffin while Mallory rolls her electric wheelchair with her husband walking beside her.
Whiskey is at the end of the aisle with Bella next to him.
Someone has put a purple bridal veil on her head that makes me giggle.
Beside Whiskey and Bella is Nate, Whiskey’s best man.
He’s holding my rambunctious kitten who has been given a purple bow tie to match Bella.
Tobias is trying desperately to claw it off.
Hunter, another of the groomsman who also lives here in the mountains, takes my squirming cat from Nate. He says something in a soft rumble that seems to settle him instantly.
Jasper is standing by the other men. He’s the one with the rings, and he’s absently patting his pockets. But even as he’s doing that, his eyes are on Thea, his wife. She gives him a flirty wink from her seat.
Last week, Jasper and Thea had us over for dinner.
We got to meet them and their cute baby.
Thea was surprisingly sweet, nothing like what the magazines have painted her as.
She told me about how she fell in love with Jasper after meeting him, but it wasn’t until they were snowed in together that she opened her heart to the possibility of a romance between them.
Emma May tugs on Whiskey’s sleeve to get his attention. She’s up at the front too. Since she’s the one who rented Whiskey’s cabin and brought us together, we thought it was only right that she officiate the ceremony. She looked so happy when we asked her to do it.
As the music begins, I take one more look at my mom. “Thank you for being there for me. You’ve always loved me fiercely.”
“I’ll always love you to the moon and back,” she promises, quoting our favorite expression.
The day is beautiful, my bridesmaids are gorgeous, and my dress is stunning.
But what I can’t take my eyes off of is the handsome man standing at the end of the aisle.
He’s changed from his usual faded flannel into a tuxedo that hugs him in all the right places.
But it’s not the formal clothes that steal my breath away.
It’s the look in his eyes, like I’m his whole world.
When it’s time to repeat our vows, he promises to love, honor, cherish, and search for brains with me. His joke earns a chuckle from our friends and family. I’m so glad I’m marrying a man that I can share my heart and humor with.
“You may kiss the bride,” Emma May beams.
“Come here, wife,” Whiskey growls and put his hands on my hips. He kisses me until I’m breathless and dizzy then he grins at me. “We are going to live happily ever after together.”
My cheeks are flushed, our friends are cheering, and this has been the wedding of my dreams. “With lots of babies.”
“All the babies you want,” he agrees with a twinkle in his eye. “In fact, we might just skip the reception and get started on that.”
I laugh at his gentle teasing. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life together with this big gruff mountain man who loves without limits. Together, we’re going to build an amazing life and a beautiful family.