Epilogue
Four months later…
The music started to play and Jane took her first step, moving slowly down the aisle and toward her future, holding a bouquet of blush-colored peonies in her hands.
Her eyes locked on Henry, and she felt herself tear up. He looked so handsome in his tux that he stole her breath. His expression was so warm he also stole her heart.
Even though she was walking down the aisle by herself, and missed her dad dearly, she didn’t feel alone. With Henry by her side, she never felt alone. He went out of his way to make her feel loved and cherished every day, showering her with support. When he’d gotten down on one knee, just a month into their relationship, she’d been surprised.
Dressed in all red, Jane stood along the fence by the finish line, watching as the cars made their final lap. Her heart was in her throat, as Henry held the lead by only three-tenths of a second. Behind him was Jake Evans, putting on the pressure. The two had been fighting it out the entire fifty-eight laps, making for an edge-of-the-seat race.
As they came down the final stretch, the black-and-white checkered flag just seconds away, they were neck and neck, side by side, with Enzo just a few seconds behind. There was so much tension in the air, not a single fan dared to breathe.
“You’ve got this, baby,” Jane whispered, hanging over the fence and waving to her man as he came barreling toward the line.
This wasn’t just a win. It would be a victory at Henry’s home track in Monaco, so taking the podium would mean the world to him. It would also give him a major lead in points over Jake for a second World Championship title, and, with Enzo staring down third, the Constructors Championship as well.
Unable to blink, Jane watched with her heart in her throat as both cars zoomed past the finish line, so close it was too difficult for the human eye to declare the winner. But then it came over the speakers.
“In first place is Henry Norris.”
The home crowd erupted, on their feet with deafening cheers. A sea of engineers, mechanics, and the rest of the team swayed like a wave of Apex red, hugging and high-fiving over their tenth podium of the season.
Jane’s eyes teared up with pride as she watched her man unstrap himself from the car to stand on the seat and pump his hands in victory. Her ears rang with the chaos from the stands and celebration blanketed around her.
Without a second thought, she pushed her way through the crowd to the small fenced-in area next to the finish line where the team principals and other higher-ups of the company stood, waiting for their two winners to approach.
She stayed behind the team owners and VIP, not wanting to be that girlfriend who assumed they should be at the front of the pack. But it hadn’t mattered. As Henry stalked toward them, his helmet visor lifted, he looked past the first row and the second, until his eyes found hers. Then a smile, so bright it lit her heart, broke out across his face.
He reached the partition and was instantly pulled into the crowd of his team with hugs and smacks to the back, but his eyes never left hers.
“Jane,” he called out to her over the roar of his team. “Come here.”
She shook her head because she didn’t want to impede on this moment between him and his teammates. Because while he was the face of Apex Motorsports, there were a hundred other people who stood behind him who had also won today.
He waggled a finger and the team principal cupped her shoulder and led her through the chaos to the front, until she was pressed against the partition.
Before she could tell him they’d celebrate later, he took off his helmet and planted one on her so thoroughly that her knees turned to Jell-O. And when her head had stopped spinning and she came back to earth, she realized that her feet had literally left the ground because she was on the other side of the partition. And Henry was in front of her in his racing jumper.
“What are you doing?” she whispered, ignoring all the flashes going off behind them.
“Going for the win.” He took off his helmet and handed it to Enzo who was flanking his side. “I’ve won a world championship, countless podiums, but none of that matters unless I’ve won your heart.”
Her eyes were so full of tears she could barely make out anything but his handsome face. “You’ve won all of me.”
His hands were shaking, she realized, as he reached into his racing suit neckline and pulled up a silver chain, which was odd since he never wore jewelry when he raced. The chain was free and something brilliant sparkled at the end. Jane struggled to make sense of what it was when he dropped to a knee.
She covered her mouth with her hands.
“Jane Pearce,” he began, and she could see the nervous uncertainty in his gaze. “Would you make me the happiest man alive and be my wife?”
“But it’s only been a month. Are you sure?” She was certain he was her person, but she wanted to make sure he was in this all the way.
“When you know, you know. And I know that you are it for me. I just hope I’m it for you.”
“Yes,” she said. “I’ll marry you.”
Applause broke out and that’s when Jane realized that everyone had been awaiting her answer. Including the crowd who had been watching this unfold on the jumbotron.
Henry stood and pulled her into his arms and kissed her until the stewards told him he had to go weigh in before the podium ceremony. And as he’d taken the trophy, she’d beamed with pride for her man and decided he was right.
When you know, you know. And she’d known he was the one that day at the vineyard, she’d just been too afraid to admit it.
But she wasn’t afraid now. In fact, she told him every chance she got. Not only was her love for him limitless, it grew stronger every day.
It hadn’t taken them long to realize that long distance wasn’t going to work, so they split their time between Austin and Monaco. Jane was no longer a bridesmaid for hire. Her role-playing days were long behind her, and she was living her dream of running what would soon become a multi-million-dollar company. She now managed over two dozen bridesmaids, her event calendar was full, and Bride Buddies had even made the cover of Bride magazine.
Jane glanced in the distance as the sun was setting over the horizon, casting pink and orange hues over the Mediterranean. Yachts bobbed in the crystal-blue waters, and brilliantly colored flowers speckled the near distant town.
They’d decided to get married in Monaco at Henry’s private estate with just close friends and family. Bright purple wisteria clung to the trellises and giant cyprus trees jutted toward the sky in the space surrounding the garden. In the center stood a white altar covered with thousands of blush-colored peonies and roses. Matching petals made a pathway for her to follow that would lead her to her love and forever.
Their home was private, secluded, and the perfect spot for their wedding. Their courtship had been so public, they wanted this part of their love story to selfishly be just theirs.
As she reached the altar, Henry mouthed, “I love you.”
“I love you,”she mouthed back and nearly lost it when his eyes moistened with unshed tears.
Jane turned to give Roxy her bouquet and her friend grumbled under her breath. “I still can’t believe you made me wear a dress.”
“At least she picked the one with pockets,” Georgia whispered.
“Where else would I put my pocketknife?”
Jane smiled at her two friends, her family, then turned back to the man who was about to join that sacred circle. He took her hands into his and electricity and something much deeper sparked at the contact.
“You okay?” he asked with concern, because he knew how much she’d wanted her dad to be there.
She glanced at the portrait of her father that Henry had commissioned and given her as a wedding present, and then gave him a watery smile. “I am now.”
He brought her hands to his mouth and kissed her fingers. “Me too.”
The officiant began the ceremony, and as they exchanged their written vows, she fell even deeper in love with him. Never in her life had she imagined love could feel this way.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the officiant said. “You may kiss your bride.”
“Thank god,” Henry said, and the crowd laughed. Then his mouth covered hers in the gentlest of kisses that seemed to defy time and space. It ignited her heart, love traveling through her body until she was sure it lit up the room.
When they finally broke apart the officiant announced, “May I introduce Mr. and Ms. Norris,” and everyone went crazy with hoots and hollers.
“My wife,” Henry proclaimed, then picked Jane up in his arms and carried her down the aisle.
“I think you’re confusing this with the threshold.”
“Since you decided to follow tradition and sleep in your own bed last night, I’ve been dying to get you in my arms. Now that you’re my wife, I’m never letting go.”
Jane wrapped her arms around his neck and held on. He walked straight down the aisle, past everyone clapping, down the hallway, and into his changing room, kicking the door shut behind him.
Then she was on her feet and his mouth was on hers and it wasn’t gentle at all. It was wild and passionate. Jane ate it up, kissing him back as if they’d been apart for an eternity. By the time they broke apart, her lips were swollen, his were covered with her lipstick, and the zipper of her dress was halfway down her back.
“I’m going to be all wrinkled,” she said, not really caring if she was.
“Then for the sake of wrinkles, let’s get you out of this ASAP,” he said as her dress pooled to the floor. “How long before we have to be back out there?”
“Ten minutes.”
He took in her white lingerie and groaned the groan of a man about ready to lose his cool. “I’m going to need at least twenty.”
“Hank,” she said with doubt in her voice.
“Okay, thirty.”
It took them thirty-five and when they walked into the reception there was no doubt what they’d been doing.
“Well, there you two are,” Jake said, coming up to them with a big grin. “We were all taking bets to see if you were going to come back or start the honeymoon early.”
“Speaking of bets,” Jane said with a smile. “Nice hat.”
Jake was wearing a tux, bow tie, and black hat that said Henry Norris is my hero bedazzled in white crystals.
“You know?” Jake asked, his face going a little pink with embarrassment.
“Hank told me the minute we left the airport. And by the way, he won the bet that first night. He was just too much of a gentleman to say anything.”
“Gentleman?” Jake laughed. “That’s a first.”
“Isn’t that like the pot calling the kettle black?” Georgia said in a cool-as-a-cucumber tone as she joined the group.
“Georgia,” Jake said, his voice going quiet with reverence and something else that reached out to Jane’s heart and tugged.
“Jake,” Georgia replied, and Jane had never seen her friend so cold with someone. In fact, now that she thought about it, her friend had been avoiding Jake all weekend and she didn’t know why.
“I’ve been meaning to say it’s good to see you again.”
Again?
Jane looked at her husband and he seemed just as confused as she. “You two know each other?”
“We met back in college,” Jake said at the same time Georgia waved a casual hand and replied, “It was a long time ago.”
OMG! He was the Jake who had absolutely shattered her friend’s heart? Georgia had a lot on her plate back then, taking care of her younger brother, putting herself through college, and being the rock of her family. Then some guy had come along, captured her heart, and bailed when things got hard.
Jane took her friend’s hand and pulled her off to the side. “Are you okay?”
“Me? I’m fine. I was just a little thrown off seeing Jake. It’s been a while is all,” she said as if it were no big deal, when it obviously was. “Anyway, I just came over to let you know that the photographer is looking for you. She wanted to catch a few pictures before dinner starts. But maybe I should smooth out your hair first.” Georgia laughed. “You guys couldn’t help yourselves, could you?”
“Nope.”
“I’m so happy for you. If anyone deserves to find their happy, it’s you.”
Before Jane could pry any further, Roxy walked up. “I put on my boots. Sorry not sorry.” She lifted the hem of her dress and showed off a pair of black steel-toed army boots.
Jane smiled. “I expected nothing less.”
“Good, because I’m about to lose the dress after your first dance. This silk stuff is screwing with my reputation.”
“Noted.”
“Ladies,” Henry said. “If you don’t mind, my wife and I have a photo to take and then a dance to perform.”
Henry led Jane out of the ballroom and into a secluded hallway.
“I thought we were going to take a photo?”
“We are, I just wanted to get in one more kiss with my wife.”
“You’ve had many kisses,” she teased.
“Not nearly enough.” He caressed her face. “Is today everything you wanted it to be?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Yes. But not because of the wedding, it’s because of the man I married. I really thought that I’d always be the bridesmaid and never the bride.”
“Which is why I was thinking we’d get married again every year on our anniversary.”
She smiled. “You just want another wedding night.”
“No,” he whispered. “I want to see you walk down that aisle again and be able to look into your eyes as I tell you all the new ways I fell in love with you. To remind you of all the reasons I am lucky to have you as my wife. And I want our children to see what a happy marriage looks like and what love is supposed to be.”
“Children?”
“I was thinking we’d start practicing on our honeymoon. If you’re on board.”
She nodded.
“I love you, Jane Norris.”
“I love you, Hank Norris.”
The sound of her name on his lips would never get old. In fact, he’d gotten it tattooed on his arm as a surprise, which had brought her to tears. Jane had woven a lot of tales in her lifetime, but this was the happiest tale and there was nothing made up about it.