21. Epilogue
Noah
The sun shone brightly on our wedding day.
Quite fitting we were marrying in the pasture of our property. Our home.
Dillon had volunteered to bring Miss Esmeralda, and she surveyed her former land with clear appreciation.
We’d shown her pictures of the changes we made, and she would always grin.
She’d decided to give the property before she passed—so she wasn’t making us wait to do what we wanted.
We still paid her a monthly sum to help offset her expenses, although she still had quite a pile of money in the bank.
Or so she’d shared with us. Mr. Sampson believed in complete honesty. He was a good man.
She was an even better woman.
Christian had found the courage to bring the photo of Miss Esmeralda and her best friend , Lucinda .
Miss Esmeralda had teared up, then told us about the woman she’d loved more than life herself and how they’d been roommates until Lucinda died in 1988. Miss Esmeralda had been alone all this time, clinging to the belief she would one day join her true love.
That’s devotion.
The same as I have for Christian.
He and I held hands as we walked down the sort of makeshift aisle. We’d invited all my clients—numbering well over a hundred, as I’d been busy in the last eight months. Many had declined, but a good number were here today.
Malcolm, who was standing up for Christian, stood tall next to the celebrant—with a shit-eating grin on his face.
Soren was standing up for me, and he was grinning pretty hard as well.
No one from back home was here. Christian had sent a cable to his parents, letting them know.
Turned out, about six months ago, Laura had returned with her husband—pregnant with twins and desperately wanting her mother.
The Frankstons, desirous of avoiding a scandal again, gifted twenty percent of the factory back to Christian’s parents.
The split was sixty/forty. Which meant that no matter how irresponsible his parents might be in their personal lives, the factory would be protected.
They’d made it clear they weren’t interested in acknowledging a gay son and would be just fine if he stayed in Foggy Basin and never returned home.
My mother had sent the silver set she’d inherited from her grandmother—more sentimentality than I expected. That gift marginally changed my opinion of her. Right until she said she couldn’t make the wedding because her new husband was taking her to Tallahassee.
Put her out of your mind .
I claimed to Christian that didn’t care. He didn’t appear convinced, but he’d have to trust me on that.
He handed Stormy’s leash to Malcolm while I handed Sable’s and River’s to Soren. His Tibby was being cared for by Janelle. Her Roxy was in training to be a therapy dog and showed great potential.
Christian took my hands and gazed into my eyes.
The service passed in a blur.
As we kissed, River barked excitedly—something he always did. A touch annoying at certain critical moments—but absolutely adorable today.
Soren gripped me tightly when offering his congratulations. “I just knew it.”
I chuckled, while swallowing back the tears of happiness. “You and Malcolm called it correctly.”
“Did someone say I was right?” Malcolm was there to embrace me while Soren grabbed Christian in a bear hug.
Christian giggled. “You were right. From the start, you were right.”
“Music to my ears.” Soren glanced toward Sam. “And who is he?”
“I take it you’d like an introduction?”
“Uh—” Soren cleared his throat. “If it’s not too much trouble.”
Christian laughed. “It’s not. I was jealous when I first met him—thinking he might have designs on Noah.”
“He did.” I snagged him by the waist, twisting the leashes. “But by then I knew you were the one for me.” I turned my attention to Soren. “His name is Sam, and I’m happy to make introductions.”
“If it’s not too much trouble. Oh, I better snag Tibby from Janelle.” He paused. “Although I have to say, Miss Esmeralda appears quite smitten with my lab. ”
“She’s thrilled to have us living here.” I beamed. “The care home loves that Stormy’s now a qualified therapy dog. Her visits are the highlights of Miss Esmeralda’s week.”
And I knew I was right. I’d done the training of Christian and Stormy, but they’d had to pass the certification without me. And they had. First try. I was pretty damn proud of that.
Stormy nuzzled Christian’s hand. “Oh, right. I think she has to go. Do you want me to take them as well?” He gestured to Sable and River.
I shook my head. “I’ll come with you.”
Our guests had been organized haphazardly, and clearly no one was waiting for us to make our way down the makeshift aisle. In fact, dogs were sniffing each other and enjoying themselves—which was always the point of today.
Letting Stormy guide us, we headed off to a quiet corner of the field.
As she peed, I pressed himself against Christian, tucking my head under his chin. My favorite spot.
He held on tight. “Best day ever?”
“Yeah, actually, it is.” I angled my head back so our gazes could meet. “We have guests to feed.”
He glanced over. “Actually, Malcolm, Soren, and Dillon seem to have things in hand.” We had food for the guests and treats for the dogs. Everything carefully labeled because of allergies.
“I’m thinking—” I cleared my throat.
“Thinking…?”
“About expanding our family.” My heart sped up. We’d said we weren’t going to do anything different in our lives until we were married. Am I ready for this? What if he says no?
“Expanding…?” He squeaked that.
“Kids. Foster kids or our own kids…however that might look.”
He grinned. “I think that’s a fantastic idea. ”
My expression lightened. “Yeah?” I didn’t tease him. Now wasn’t the moment.
“We’ll see what we need to do—”
“I have the papers in my desk.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Yeah?”
I nodded.
“Well then, tonight, we’ll sit down and look them over.” He pressed a kiss to my temple. “You okay?”
“I am now.” I met his gaze. “I’m sorry I didn’t see it before, except if I had, and I hadn’t had all those crummy relationships, then I wouldn’t appreciate what I have now. I’ve got the best of both worlds.”
He cocked his head in question.
“My best friend and my husband. That’s pretty damn perfect.” I pressed a kiss to his lips.
A kiss he returned eagerly because hell, yes, this was damn perfect.
Thank you for reading Christian and Noah’s story!