Bonus Epilogue
Shiloh
Music thumps outside to an old country song. We’re all here to support Gracie. One of her stops wasn’t far from Paxton, so we all made the drive out. She got us backstage and we’re hanging out while she and the Hayes’s cousin Dallas get ready for their show.
“I swear they don’t even notice they’re doing it,” Mae whispers to me.
I nod, taking a sip of water, and glancing past them as if I’m looking at something else.
June has her arms crossed, and Sterling has a lazy smile on his face as he gazes at her while she chastises him.
Every time I catch Sterling looking at her across the dinner table, at the bar, walking past her when we’re at a bonfire, I see nothing but longing in his eyes.
No one knows why she won’t give in to him.
Her brothers are oblivious. Otherwise, I think we’d all know by now.
“Did you figure out what’s keeping them apart?” I whisper.
Mae shrugs. “I think the only one who knows is Gracie.”
“What if it’s because it’s Sterling?” I ask her.
She purses her lips. “I don’t think so. I asked Coop about it and he didn’t think that was it.”
I hum and take another sip, looking for my husband. “Ledge didn’t seem to mind them possibly being something either.”
“So I wonder what’s stopping them?” she says under her breath as she rubs her belly.
“There they are!” Fletcher says, clapping his cousin Dallas on the back.
“Holy crud on a cracker,” Mae says under her breath.
“You’re telling me,” I mutter, both of us staring at Dallas King. The Dallas King. The Bad Boy of Country.
“We’re happily married, though, right?”
Mae nods rapidly. “Oh yeah, for sure, yep.”
“Yep, totally.”
There’s a reason this man is as big a country star as he is. Hitting the top of the charts with Gracie, they have been in the spotlight in a major way.
Gracie comes in after them, and June all but throws herself at her best friend.
Dallas makes his way around, telling his family hello until he stops on me and Mae.
“Ma’am,” he says, tipping his hat to each of us.
A giggle bubbles from my lips, and Mae elbows me.
“It’s my understanding both of y’all are the newest Mrs. Hayes?” he asks.
We both nod.
“Yeah, uh, I married Ledger.”
“And I married Cooper,” Mae rasps.
He chuckles and gives us each a hug. “Welcome to the family. I’m sorry I couldn’t be at either of the weddings.”
“That’s alright, man,” Cooper says, throwing his arm around Mae.
“Yeah, Ledger and I didn’t have a … typical wedding,” I mutter, and feel his hand slip around my waist possessively.
“Is that right? Hm, I’m still trying to figure out how two beautiful women like you are with my raggedy cousins.”
I snort. “I ask myself that every day.”
“Hey,” Ledger mutters.
“I love your music, by the way,” I gush.
He smiles. “Well, thank you, that means a lot. Ms. Gracie has really been that missing piece for the last few songs we’ve done,” he says, looking around for her.
She’s still talking to June.
“Dallas and Gracie! On deck, intro running!” a stagehand calls from the doorway.
“That would be my cue. It was very nice to meet you, Ms. Shiloh,” Dallas says, taking my hand and kissing my knuckles.
I giggle like a little girl, and Ledger literally growls and takes my hand out of Dallas’s.
“It’s Mrs. Ledger Hayes, asshole,” Ledger says.
Dallas winks and Ledger sighs heavily.
“I’m being a gentleman cousin,” he says to Ledger.
Ledger grumbles at him, and I spot Gracie waiting for Dallas at the doorway.
“I’ll see y’all after the show. Enjoy, have fun,” Dallas says.
Everyone yells shouts of good luck, but I look up at my husband. “Don’t worry, sheriff, I’m not going anywhere. Especially since you knocked me up.”
He grumbles and kisses me roughly.
“Yes, sir,” I mutter against his lips.
He grins and I pat his cheek.
We all filter out of the green room to stand on the edge of the stage.
They give Dallas his guitar and Gracie her’s. She frowns, adjusting her hat on her head, and Dallas fixes it for her. She looks up at him, and he smiles sweetly down at her. They’d make a beautiful couple, one that would probably piss off a lot of fans.
“You’re seeing what I’m seeing, right?” Mae says coming up to my side.
“I’ve always thought there was something between them. Gracie swears there isn’t. But a man like that doesn’t look at a woman like her just because,” June says, on my other side.
Ledger stands at my back, talking to his brothers.
“I can’t imagine being in their position,” I mutter.
“I think that’s why they won’t take the leap. It would mess with the brand. But I told Gracie to forget the brand. If you’re going to love someone, then you have to be willing to fight for them. Period. The circumstances don’t matter,” Jane says.
Mae and I give each other a look.
“If you don’t fight for it, then maybe it wasn’t worth having,” I tell her, reaching back for Ledger’s hand, needing to feel him.
“But even after you fight for it, you’re both tired and bloody … what if you forgot what you were fighting for to begin with?” June asks, but it sounds like she’s asking herself the question.
I shake my head, watching Dallas point to something on stage, making Gracie laugh.
“Love is always worth the fight, the sacrifice, the tears, the blood, the risk. They call it falling in love for a reason. Sometimes the air gets knocked out of you, but you still have to decide if it’s worth getting back up.”
“Yeah,” June rasps, but she’s not looking at Dallas and Gracie. She’s looking at Sterling. “But if you fall too many times, you might not be able to get back up again,” June says.
And I can’t help but wonder if Sterling and June have fallen over and over again, but neither of them are willing to finish the fight, maybe because that would mean they have to lay down their hearts.