Epilogue
Jerry pulled Olive into his arms as the music began. She fit easily, one hand on his shoulder, one hand clutched in his.
He wore his dress uniform, what the Army community called the pinks and greens. The earthy brown-green coat and beige dress shirt made his hazel eyes shine bright. He had his trousers tucked into the tops of his brown leather jump boots and sported a chest full of ribbons and badges.
Her dress, a cascade of intricate floral embroidery in purest ivory, hugged her shoulders with delicate spaghetti straps before flowering into tiers of soft ruffles that skimmed her waist and hips, then flaring into a graceful skirt that brushed against the wooden floor.
Friends and family, brothers in arms, watched as they waltzed to the music, staring into each other’s eyes.
Olive couldn’t help but remember Jerry the first time she saw him, so close to losing life or limb.
Had she truly started to fall in love with him way back then?
Or maybe when he uninhibitedly flirted with her outside the hospital while dosed with painkillers?
Or that day they met again years later at chapel?
Whenever it started, she couldn’t imagine a future without him now.
The shadows from the events of the spring had started to fade.
But the remnants of those shadows didn’t stop the love she had for Gerald Adam McBride, for the desire to live as his wife, his one, as he served his country with love and honor.
He twirled her, laughter in his eyes, then pulled her close and dipped her, his lips covering hers. Their friends and family cheered, and her head spun with the love and desire she had for him.
As the cheers and clapping swelled around them like a warm tide, Jerry lifted her upright, his forehead resting against hers, their breaths mingling in the quiet space between heartbeats.
The orchestra’s final notes lingered, a soft echo of violins fading away, but the world narrowed to just the two of them—his callused fingers tracing the lace at her back, her palm pressed over the steady thrum of his heart beneath the crisp wool of his jacket.
In that instant, Olive saw it all: the sweet grin he’d flashed her in the recovery room, the fierce protector who’d shielded her from those who would harm her, the man who’d vowed his life to her in front of their friends and families.
The events on the cruise ship faded to faint etchings on the canvas of their story, overwritten by the bold strokes of this new beginning.
“I love you, Mrs. McBride,” he murmured, his voice rough with emotion, eyes gleaming in the candlelight.
“And I love you, Master Seargent McBride,” she whispered back, rising on her toes to seal the promise with another kiss, deeper this time, tasting of forever and the adventures yet to come.
As the DJ’s voice invited the guests to join them on the dance floor, Olive let herself be swept into the joy, her hand never leaving his.
A new battle to fight would certainly call him away.
The world might test them again. But here, in the circle of their chosen family, they had come together, as one, loving each other in an unbreakable way.
No matter what the world threw against them, love would make a way.
The End