Epilogue
When Austin walked Cassidy down the aisle, it was only two weeks after the release of his second book.
The Villain.
If he had been asked five years earlier how his life would turn out, he would never have guessed that he would be giving his younger sister away to a man who was descended from his family’s worst enemy.
Any more than he would have imagined that he would write a book about that same man.
But then, five years ago he wouldn’t have thought he would be a father, or that he would find love of his own.
That was the real surprise. The New York Times bestselling author stuff was just a bonus.
He took Cassidy’s arm, then leaned in. “You look beautiful.”
A far cry from the first time he’d seen her, cold and frightened, abandoned.
Now they had each other. A family that just kept growing, with a bright future ahead.
The town of Rustler Mountain had always been a place littered with legends, stories of heroes and villains.
They had done a lot of work to change those stories. To make their own.
And that was the very best thing of all.
He reached the head of the aisle, standing right in front of West Hancock, as if it were a Wild West showdown. Except they weren’t about to shoot each other. He smiled. “I expect I’m going to let you marry my sister now,” he said.
“Thanks,” West said. “I’m not sure I deserve her.”
“Oh, I’m sure you don’t. But none of us deserve our happiness. We just have to be thankful.”
He only got a little choked up when Cassidy and West said their vows and kissed.
And only felt a little heartsore when they headed off on their honeymoon, and he realized that the work of raising his siblings really was done.
They were all married, all in love. And after he tucked his girls into bed that night, he got into bed beside Millie and picked up his book, a Jack Reacher novel, by one of his favorite authors.
He put his reading glasses on, and his wife rolled over to face him, her copy of The Villain open as she looked up at him meaningfully.
“I hadn’t read this part before. You didn’t show it to me. ”
“Well, I didn’t get the end right until that last set of edits.”
“‘Butch Hancock had always been the villain. He had allowed his life to be defined by his darkness, by greed. And it would be remembered that way, he knew. If he made his way into history books, that would be the thing deemed most notable about him. He had stopped grieving over that long ago. History was marked by dark doings. But life, he had discovered, was defined by something else altogether. The past didn’t matter. What was written about him didn’t matter.
What mattered was the love he shared with Sarah and the life they’d built together.
Once he’d dreamed of being famous. Now he dreamed of nothing but what he had: a quiet life, and love.
Love was the only thing stronger than all the darkness.
There wasn’t one person who could truly be called a hero. The only hero was love itself.’”
Millie smiled and put the book on the nightstand. Austin felt his ears get hot. “It’s cheesy.”
“Maybe. But it’s true.”
“I didn’t think so. Not before I met you. I was obsessed with what this town thought about me. About my family.”
Millie kissed his cheek. “And now what are you obsessed with?”
“My life.”