Epilogue
SLOAN
Nine Months Later
The wedding at the Chapel of the Transfiguration hadn’t been possible to book until September, but it didn’t matter to Sloan—time, fate, God, and maybe Granny herself had led them to Jackson Hole for a reason. There were no coincidences.
She just hadn’t anticipated snow on the day of the wedding.
“Are we stuck?” Sloan asked, rolling down the window to Dad’s old Toyota. They were still several miles away, and the ceremony was in ten minutes.
His tires spun for a moment. “Maybe. Hang on,” Dad said, pressing on the gas slowly.
“I can see the headlines now,” Penny said dryly from the front seat. She adjusted her wig over the fine curls that were just starting to show up again. “ Actaeon Tech giant dies stranded in snowstorm because he’s too cheap to buy a car with all-wheel drive.”
“Maybe it should be : Bride murders father on her wedding day because he couldn’t settle on a tie and made her late ,” Sloan grumbled, rolling the window back up.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Delilah said with a roll of her eyes, smoothing her hand down her bridesmaid dress. “It’s not that big a catastrophe. We can just call someone.”
As if summoned, Cheyenne’s Range Rover pulled up behind them. She climbed down from the driver’s seat—in heels—and came toward Dad’s car. “Are you guys stuck?”
“Yes,” Dad admitted, hanging his head.
“Well, come on, y’all. We have to get the bride to the church on time!”
As they raced toward Cheyenne’s car, snow falling fast, Sloan shook her head and laughed. “It’s that damned Winnick luck, I swear. It’s rubbing off on me.”
“If we don’t show up on time, my friends are going to think they came back for round two of Carrington bride on the run ,” Dad said, shutting himself into the back seat with Sloan and Delilah.
“Oh, cheap shot, Dad,” Penny said, smirking from the passenger seat.
“I’m not worried about your friends thinking that,” Sloan said, dusting the snow off her wedding gown. “I’m worried about Kyle thinking that.”
Cheyenne shook her head. “Honey, Kyle knows there isn’t a single person here who would let you run away from him.
And unless you’ve got any other ex-boyfriends showing up at the wedding to whisk you away, I think it’s a safe bet we would all do whatever it takes to shove you down that aisle, even if you suddenly got taken over by a mutant and changed your mind. ”
“Lovingly, of course,” Delilah said with a grin.
Sloan didn’t answer. She was busy trying to settle the trembling of her fingers.
She shouldn’t be nervous, after all. They’d been together well over a year now, building a life in Nashville.
With Sloan’s help, Delilah had expanded her offerings at the shop.
The work was perfect, giving Sloan the flexibility to go with Kyle whenever she wanted to join him on one of his Pathways adventure s.
They’d been able to buy the IP from Helixnet back in January, thankfully, which had just been in the nick of time.
It turned out many other women corroborated the claims that Evan Tipton was a lying scumbag, and that made Kyle suddenly very appealing.
His brand had found itself flooded by offers and potential partners.
Meanwhile, Evan had resigned from office.
Not that Sloan really ever kept up with what was happening with Evan.
She was happy. In love.
The sex was hot.
Kyle didn’t take as many risks anymore.
And she had a feeling when she explained to him why she wouldn’t be drinking at the reception tonight, that he’d be taking even less risks in the future.
They pulled up at the ceremony five minutes late, their phones all blowing up.
Kyle and his family—all of them—were outside, waiting for her.
She hurried toward the door, vaguely aware of Penny’s attempts to lift the train of Mom’s wedding dress. Who knew? Maybe Penny wanted to wear it someday, too.
“Hey.” Kyle closed the gap between them before Sloan could reach him. He cupped her face. “You okay?”
“I’m fine.” She laughed, glad to see the worry on his face melt to relief. “You’re not supposed to see me yet. You didn’t think I wasn’t going to show, right?”
“He would never think that,” Elle chirped brightly, while Liddy nodded a winking, yeah, he did.
Sloan shook her head. Thank goodness for Elle and Liddy. They’d more than made it clear they held nothing against her from the past, and she was so happy to have two sisters in them, too. To be a part of their beautiful family.
She blew them both kisses, then gawked at the flower girls and ring bearer—Tara, Charlotte, and one-year-old Jude, who lounged in Quinn’s arms. “Oh my God, they look amazing.” Sloan set her hand over her heart. “I love them so much.”
“We should take them inside before they freeze,” Aiden said to Quinn. “I think the groomsmen are supposed to be lined up anyway.”
“We’re all supposed to be lined up,” Isla said with an arched smile, the only one sensible enough to be standing under an umbrella with Callum. “And half the wedding is out here in the snow.”
Sloan hugged her wedding party, then turned to her dad. “Go on in. I want to talk to my husband for a minute.”
“Future husband,” Dad corrected, looking at his watch. “For the next few minutes, you’re still single.”
She rolled her eyes. “All right, Dad.”
If she was grateful for one thing, besides Kyle, it was that she finally had her family back. Over the past nine months, Dad, Penny, and Sloan had tried a lot harder to reconnect and spend time together. Sloan had even already invited them both for Thanksgiving, which she couldn’t wait to host.
But it wasn’t just those good times that meant so much to Sloan.
Having someone to talk about Mom with meant everything to Sloan.
And Dad had struggled with that at first, but the more he did it, and the more time he spent in Nashville with Sloan, the more he seemed to bring up stories on his own. And the happier he looked.
Drawing strength from each other was so much better than grieving alone.
Everyone else went inside, leaving Sloan and Kyle standing at the front of the chapel.
She turned to him, exhaling a sigh of relief that frosted the air in a cloud. “You sure you don’t want to elope?”
“And risk getting arrested for kidnapping you somehow? Not on your life.” He grinned, setting his hands around her waist. “Happy?”
“The happiest.” She kissed him. “The happiest I could ever be. I love you, Kyle.”
“I love you, Sloan.”
“The only thing that would make me happier is if Charlie and Sadie could have been here, but I guess I’ll just have to give them extra rubs when we get back.”
Kyle shook his head. “Charlie would have tried to steal the wedding cake off the table. Too much of a risk.”
“Oh, now you don’t like risks,” she said, laughing, then kissed him again. “You didn’t really think I wasn’t going to show up, did you?”
“Not really. I was mostly worried something had happened. Anyway, you’re stuck with me. Now and forever, sweetheart. I’m not letting you go ever again.”
Sloan smiled. “Right back at you.” Then she turned, holding his hand, and walked into the church with him, side by side.
Not what she had planned.
But the unscripted route was so much better, anyway.