EPILOGUE
MATTHEW
One Year Later
I n two weeks, everyone Bells and I loved was flying out for our wedding on a small private island. Yeah, Bells and I were getting married on a freaking island. It was completely over the top, and I loved everything about that fact. She hadn’t been wrong about her mom wanting to invite all of their relatives, even ones Bella had never met before, but none of that bothered me. As long as Bells was okay with it, so was I. The more, the merrier.
Plus, my bank account had more zeroes in it than I could spend in this lifetime, and I wanted to blow it on the things that mattered, like marrying the woman of my dreams in an exotic location with the people we cared about. And the ones who cared about us.
Both of my brothers’ weddings had suited them. This shit suited me. Where they were more private and low-key in their love lives, I was more of a show-off. And I’d never apologize for it. I was who I was.
Bells had truly fallen for the idea of a destination wedding when we first started throwing out suggestions for the big day. She was concerned about the cost, of course, but I reminded her that she was marrying a very rich man. I thought she still wasn’t completely comfortable with the amount of money I’d spent to make it all happen, but she’d get over it.
“I can’t believe you made me wait a year to marry you,” I whined as soon as she walked into the kitchen, where I sat, holding a cup of coffee.
“You’ve survived.” She shot me a look.
I put the cup down before I reached for her tiny body and pulled her onto my lap.
“Barely. I’ve barely survived,” I complained right as one of the cats jumped onto the counter and smacked me with its tail.
I’d wanted a dog so Bells would feel safe whenever she was at the house alone, but somehow, we’d ended up with cats. Plural . There were three of them now. Not sure how they helped Bells with anything, but these cats were everywhere. They completely owned the place. And to be honest, they kind of scared the shit out of me. I’d woken up before to one of them standing on my chest, staring at me like it was plotting my murder.
I still wasn’t convinced it wasn’t.
I tried to shove the cat away, but it swatted me with its damn paw.
“Stop being mean to Peaches,” Bells groaned.
“Me? It’s trying to cockblock me,” I complained. “Or kill me. I haven’t decided which yet.”
Bells laughed. “My tough guy, scared to death of some cats.”
“Because they’re only nice to you,” I whined because it was the truth.
Those things followed her around the house, winding their bodies between her legs until she picked them up.
She leaned up on her tiptoes, her breath hot against my ear as she whispered, “They know you want a dog.”
I turned and took her mouth with mine in a long kiss before finally breaking it. “I’m going to get two.”
Bells gasped. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Oh, I would dare. Just you wait.” I hopped off the counter.
When we got back from the honeymoon, I was getting some dogs. I’d bring them to the resort with me, like Patrick had with Jasper. The guests would love it. Maybe.
“So, what’s on the agenda for today?” I asked.
Bells had been deep in wedding planning. Or at least it felt that way. Honestly, I’d been kind of typical when it came to that stuff and let her choose whatever she wanted. Of course, I’d given her my opinion when she asked for it, but all that truly mattered to me was that she (a) showed up and (b) said I do . The rest were minor details, in my opinion.
“Just some last-minute details. The island has everything planned. I really didn’t have to do much in the grand scheme of things.” She grinned. “It was kind of nice, so thank you for that.”
I smiled and kissed her again. “Anytime.”
“I do get to pick up my dress today though, so no peeking!” She gave me a smirk that tried to look forceful, but was downright adorable instead.
I threw my head back. “Why would I peek?”
“Because you can’t help yourself. Remember Christmas?”
She cocked her head to the side, and a lock of hair fell over her face. I brushed it aside and tucked it behind her ear.
“That was one time. One gift,” I complained, but she was right.
She’d made the mistake of wrapping a present and putting it in our closet, where I could see that it was for me. It sat there day after day, tempting me to look inside. I’d caved. Reverting to being a little kid who unwrapped and rewrapped every gift he’d found just to see what was inside. Bells had known immediately what I’d done and started hiding the presents somewhere I couldn’t find them.
“If you can’t behave, I’ll keep the dress at Addi’s house so you won’t be tempted,” she warned.
“I can behave,” I said before thinking better of it. “But maybe you should put it in a closet downstairs somewhere,” I suggested.
She laughed. “I knew it. You just can’t help yourself.”
“I really can’t.”
She maneuvered herself off of the counter and landed with a thud. “I have to get to the dress store.”
“Are the girls meeting you there?” I asked.
Brooklyn and Addi had been involved in every step of this process with her. I wondered if it had bothered Bells, and I remembered asking her one night when we lay in bed together. She had swatted my shoulder and told me it was the best thing ever, having two sisters.
I couldn’t have related to anything more.
Having two brothers was the absolute best. One wasn’t enough.
“Yep,” she said, popping the P . “And my mom. And Clarabel and baby Ella,” she said, making a dramatic face.
Brooklyn had had her baby. It was not goo, or a mango, or a pumpkin, like Clara had predicted, but another little girl they named Ellabel. We called her Ella. She was the cutest thing, just like Clara had been when she was a baby.
Thomas was surrounded by women.
I was going to have nothing but boys.
“There’s going to be a lot of crying today,” she added with a nod.
“Girls.” I pretended to roll my eyes.
“Right. I expect you to shed a few tears when you see me walking down that aisle toward you.” She pointed a finger at me.
“Guess we’ll see,” I teased.
I was going to bawl like a fucking baby when I saw her. I just didn’t plan on admitting that to her right now.
“Don’t you have to get to work?” She refocused my attention.
I sucked in a breath. I did need to be at the resort soon. I’d been shadowing my dad for over a year now, and I loved the job more than I could have ever hoped. It wasn’t hockey, but it was our family’s legacy.
My brothers had been right; the job suited me. And I was damn good at it. I was certain that if our mom were still around, Dad would have retired by now. But he wasn’t in a rush to have nothing to do all day long, and I liked that he was still there. He’d mentioned stepping back from his CEO role, but he was still hanging around, and I had zero issues with that plan.
The four O’Grady men were working side by side to run our family’s resort. It was kind of a dream come true, even though that had always been the plan. Still, reality could sometimes turn out differently. I was so grateful it hadn’t.
BELLA
Everything felt like a dream. This person I’d loved as a boy had grown into such an incredible man. And he wanted to spend his life with me. Had anyone ever been luckier? I was sure that every woman felt this way, but I still felt like I’d won the lottery.
In a couple of weeks, Matthew O’Grady was going to be my husband.
Husband.
Just thinking that word did funny things to my insides.
I navigated my car down Main Street toward the dress shop as butterflies started flapping their wings inside my stomach. I wasn’t nervous. I was excited. This was the last fitting before I got to bring my dress home, and I prayed it would fit.
There was a parking spot a couple of rows down, and it was a freaking miracle. I shut off the engine, grabbed my purse, and hopped out. Right in time to see Brooklyn walking in my direction, holding Clara’s hand, with little baby Ella strapped to the front of her body.
“Hey,” I shouted as she waved with her free hand and let go of Clara’s.
Clara came running to me, and I bent down to give her a hug. “Hi. I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Me too, Auntie Bells.”
I never knew what name Clara was going to call me, but Auntie Bells had been sticking a lot more lately.
“I am so excited to see you in your dress!”
“But we can’t tell Uncle Matthew anything about it, remember?” I asked as I looked her in the eyes.
“I know. Mama Waffles says it’s a secret only the girls get to know.” She spun in a circle.
“She’s right,” I said. I stood up and gave Brooklyn a soft hug, trying not to squish Ella in the process. “Is she asleep?”
“Milk coma,” Brooklyn said, and I laughed.
“Little Miss Ella Beans the Goo is always in a milk coma,” Clara added, and Brooklyn just shrugged.
We walked toward the dress shop, and Clara tried to open the door, but it was too heavy for her. I stepped behind her and pulled it open. The bells jangled, and I noticed my mom and Addison standing near the cash register with the owner, Sandy. Her face lit up when she saw me.
“Oh, yay! You’re already here.” I smiled at everyone, happy to see them.
The only person missing was Anna, but she was working harder than I’d ever known she could. She was getting everything prepped for the time she’d be out of the office. There were multiple new products to photograph and get scheduled online for orders. She’d let me know she couldn’t get away, and I’d understood. I was happy that she’d found not only something she enjoyed, but was actually good at as well. I’d be seeing her soon enough anyway.
“I have your dress in the room for you. Does everyone want champagne or mimosas?” Sandy asked as she led us toward the oversize back space.
It was filled with full-length mirrors and had an elevated platform in the center. There were multiple velvet couches and a handful of chairs. You wouldn’t have even known this existed if all you did was peruse the dresses out front.
“Yes to mimosas, please,” I answered.
She disappeared to go grab the champagne and glasses; I assumed. Part of me almost offered to help. Occupational hazard.
The group of us sat down and got comfortable right as Sandy returned, carrying a tray of flutes with the orange juice already in them and a large bottle of champagne. She placed the tray down and reached for the bottle.
“I’m pretty bad at opening these, so my apologies in advance,” she said before I extended my hand.
“I’m a professional.” I laughed.
She shoved it toward me. “Thank God. I’m always afraid I’m going to take someone’s eye out.”
We all laughed as I popped open the top and caught what was about to spill with one of the flutes.
“You really are a professional.” Sandy smiled as she took the open bottle from me and filled the rest.
She offered a glass to each one of us, along with a plastic flute filled with orange juice only for Clara. Her little face lit up at being included.
“To Bella and Matthew,” my mom said, her voice already shaky with emotion, and my eyes started to well with tears.
“We’re all so happy for you,” Brooklyn added.
“And for us,” Addi said with a grin. “You’re getting married on an island. How cool is that?”
“It is pretty outlandish.” I giggled and raised my glass in the air.
“In the best way,” Brooklyn said before yelling, “Cheers!”
Everyone took a sip, but I noticed that Addison hadn’t. She’d only pretended to. Her eyes swung to mine, and I was about to call her out when Clara spoke up.
“I’m going to miss Jasper.”
“I know.” I gave her a sad face. “Is Patrick freaking out about being away from him for so long?” I asked.
Addi frowned. “They’ve never been apart,” she said with sadness in her voice.
I hadn’t even considered that, but it was true. Patrick hadn’t ever left Jasper before, and now, he was going to be gone for a week.
“Maybe you can just sneak him on the plane? It is private. Distract Matthew and bring him on.”
Addi laughed. “Well, Mrs. Green is going to stay at our place so Jasper is more comfortable and doesn’t think we abandoned him or aren’t ever coming back. And Patrick plans on video-chatting her every day, so she’s been warned about that.”
Mrs. Green was Clara’s after-school babysitter. Jasper had been around her multiple times, so it made the most sense for her to stay with him instead of him being boarded with a bunch of strange dogs and people that he didn’t know.
“That’s good. So, tell me then, why aren’t you drinking?” I asked, and everyone turned to stare at her.
Her face paled, and I knew she was about to try to lie.
“I, um… no reason,” she said, and the group of us flashed questioning looks at one another.
“I knew it.” I shook my head.
“Knew what?” She played innocent.
“You’re pregnant.”
Everyone gasped at once. I was around Addi the most, so I’d noticed that she seemed off some days, she would pale around certain foods and excuse herself, and the most obvious was that she hadn’t been drinking at any of our family dinners at the farm.
“We’re not telling anyone until after your wedding. Please don’t tell Matthew. Or Thomas.” She pinned both me and Brooklyn with a pleading look. “We didn’t want to take anything away from your special day. I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? Are you kidding? I’m so happy for you.” I beamed because I was. “And you’ve just given Matthew the best gift ever.”
“What gift?” she asked.
“A reason to get me pregnant as soon as possible,” I groaned, but I was only playing.
Matthew had been saying that the cousins needed to grow up together, and the only way to do that was for us all to have babies at the same time. I swore he was more obsessed with the idea than I was.
He was going to be so happy.
I was already so happy.
“You have a baby goo in your tummy, Starfish Addi?” Clara’s eyes were wide.
“Yes, but it’s our secret. We can’t tell anyone yet. We’ll tell them after Uncle Matthew’s wedding, okay?” Addi practically begged, and Clara seemed to contemplate the idea, but hadn’t agreed to the terms yet.
“We sure are keeping a lot of secrets.” Clara wrapped her arms across her chest.
“I know this might not feel right to you,” Brooklyn said, but I could tell she was at a loss for words.
How did you tell a little girl who had been raised not to lie and always tell the truth to keep secrets from her dad?
“We are only keeping a secret because we don’t want them to know yet,” I interjected. “It’s like when you buy someone a present at Christmas or for their birthday. You don’t tell them what you bought them, right? You let it be a surprise.”
Clara looked relieved. “So, these are surprises, not secrets.”
Everyone collectively looked relieved. Surprise seemed like a much better word choice than secret .
“Yes! My dress is a surprise. We don’t want Uncle Matthew to know anything about it until he sees me in it.”
“’Cause you’re his present,” she said, and I laughed.
“Damn right she is,” Addi answered.
“Bad word.” Clara pointed.
“Sorry.” Addi pouted. “And the baby in my belly is a surprise until after the wedding because we want everyone to be focused on Uncle Matthew and Aunt Bella and not on the baby. Does that make sense?”
“Kind of.”
Brooklyn leaned toward me and whispered, “Please help me out and go try on your damn dress.”
Duh. The whole reason why we were all here. The final dress fitting.
I hopped up from the couch and stood. “I’m going to go try on my dress,” I announced, and I swore that they almost started crying already.
While I was in the back room, Sandy came inside to help me get everything tied and zipped up.
When I’d first come in, I’d opted to try on the standard white dress, but felt disenchanted. Even when my mom’s eyes watered, I had known the color was all wrong for me. My new dress wasn’t even remotely typical, but Matthew was going to love it. Not to mention the fact that it was the color of his NHL team when he used to play. It was my sentimental nod to that time of his life while also wearing the color that looked best on me. My wedding shouldn’t be the exception to that fact.
Slipping into the dress, I made sure to maneuver my way into the top portion. The back was wide open, with the exception of the straps and buttons that lined down my derriere. The material was silky, and it had a built-in train. The front of the dress dipped low between my breasts and fit my body perfectly. There was no veil because, to be honest, they didn’t suit the island theme.
“It looks like it was made for you.” Sandy beamed proudly.
“At this point, I feel like it was,” I said because we’d had multiple fittings by this point. I hadn’t meant to keep losing weight, but even a couple of pounds made the dress baggy and look awkward in places.
“Ready?” she asked.
I gave myself one last look in the mirror before walking out.
“Oh my gosh, Bella.” Brooklyn started crying instantly, waking the baby, who also started crying.
“You look so beautiful, my darling.” My mom stood up and grabbed me, hugging me tight. “The red suits you.”
Addi was close behind. “Turn around,” she demanded.
I tried to spin, but the material at my feet pooled, and I was afraid I might step on it and trip. Or worse, rip it.
“This is the sexiest wedding dress I’ve ever seen,” Addi added.
“What does sexy mean?” Clara asked, and we all grew instantly silent.
“It’s a grown-up word. But it basically means that Aunt Bella looks really beautiful,” Brooklyn explained.
“I like the red,” Clara said. “So sexy.”
“Clarabel.” Brooklyn’s voice was stern. And she’d used her full name.
“Sorry, Mama.”
“Think he’ll like it?” I asked, meaning Matthew, but they all knew who I was referring to without my having to say it.
“He’s going to lose his mind.” Addi shook her head. “I’m losing mine!”
“He’s definitely going to cry,” Brooklyn added with a smile.
“He’d better.”
And on our wedding day, as I walked down the aisle on our private island toward my husband, cry he did. He didn’t even care who saw, and he didn’t try to stop the tears. He’d be crying even more later because I’d found out that I was pregnant right before we got on the plane.
There was about to be a whole lot of little O’Gradys running around Sugar Mountain. And I couldn’t think of anything that sounded better.
THE END