Epilogue
JACK
Adrienne
The music changes, and I push to my feet with the rest of the crowd. I crane my neck, looking for him—the most handsome man in the room.
Even at sixty-four, he still makes my heart beat faster. The silver in his dark hair is appealing, and the lines around his eyes and mouth only make him more interesting, and he’s still as trim as ever, which is bullshit, because I am not.
I brush a whisp of my own silver-streaked hair back from my face, and I do it with a smile as Gabe walks our daughter down the aisle.
“Who gives this woman away?” the preacher asks.
“Her mother and I do,” my husband says proudly before kissing his baby on the cheek one more time before giving her away.
Of course ,it’s not like she’s leaving the country—at least I hope not, because her dad is finding retirement… a bit boring, and she’d probably have a heart attack if he jumped out of her suitcase. Or not. They’ve always been thick as thieves.
“This sucks,” he says with a huff as he drops down into the seat next to me.
“It doesn’t suck.”
“It’s bullshit.”
“It’s not bullshit. It’s beautiful,” I reply gently. “You know, it’s okay if you want to. You can cry.”
“I told you. Marines don’t cry, Adrienne.”
“I know, honey,” I say with a smile as I pat his hand.
In true fashion, our oldest daughter, Adelaide Macy, named for both me and his first wife, grew to love life wild and free on Macy’s horse ranch in Texas. I like to think it did her proud to have Gabe’s kids grow up there. At least in part. The rest centered around the racing circuit.
I had figured it was a toss-up between the beach house in San Diego or here at Macy’s ranch for the wedding. Texas won out, and her father and I flew everyone they wanted here.
There are more flowers than in all the state of Texas. There is nothing too good for Gabe’s baby girl. The weather is unusually mild for this time of year, and even the sunset graced us with mother nature’s perfect timing.
The young couple have just said their I dos, when I hear a deep inhale come from my husband beside me, and I feel his fingers dig into mine. Under a watercolor-painted sky, we watch our daughter marry a handsome young race mechanic, with kind eyes, named Jack.
The End
Thank you so much for reading Battle Scars!