Epilogue
Mason
one year later…
The snow was falling around us, landing on Emily’s eyelashes as I held her close to me, unable to look away from her sparkling green eyes. My thumb rubbed across her cheek as she gave me a soft smile.
She took my breath away, even now. Her light brown hair was loose around her shoulders with an elegant braid swooping the top half back, catching more snowflakes as they settled from the sky.
“You’re so beautiful,” I murmured, brushing a tendril of hair back behind her ear.
“Mason,” she whispered, her cheeks and nose slightly pink from the cold. Her white dress sparkled against the backdrop of the trees. She reached up, adjusting the brim of my brand new black cowboy hat.
“Still can’t believe you’re mine, darlin’.
” I couldn’t stop touching her. Couldn’t keep my hands off her any time I was around her, but somehow, today it was even harder.
Maybe because she looked so beautiful and I’d barely had five minutes alone with her yet.
I pressed my lips against her ear. “Going to show you just how much tonight.”
Her eyelids fluttered. “Can’t wait, cowboy.” Reaching up, she grabbed the hat off my head and placed it on her own.
“Em…” I warned her, already feeling my tux pants growing tight. “You know what they say.” Oh, did she ever. We’d recreated that scene in the stables multiple times over the past year, and it never stopped being the hottest thing I’d ever seen.
She smirked, draping her arms over my shoulders. “If I wear the hat, I gotta ride my cowboy.”
“You’re a vixen,” I groaned.
Emily grinned. “Can you believe it’s been a year since we got snowed in together?”
What a year it had been. “Best year of my life,” I murmured, rubbing my nose against hers.
“Me too.”
We’d spent countless hours on the backs of our horses, riding side by side.
Emily had taken to ranch life better than I ever imagined.
In fact, she thrived on it. Sure, she’d never be a horse trainer or a breeder—but I didn’t want her to be.
My favorite moments were watching her help my mom around the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe and watching them giggle to themselves when they didn’t realize I was there.
And then there were the times I’d find her interacting with the guests, particularly the kids, telling them all about her riding lessons at Midnight Pines Ranch.
Even the ones who were the most scared of horses seemed excited to get on one after that.
She was… incredible. There were no other words for it.
I loved watching her create content and curate her accounts, too. Watching her put together outfits and seeing how much stuff brands sent her, hoping just for a chance to be featured on her page.
Her social media pages had changed, but her followers didn’t seem to mind that her content had shifted from traveling to her new life. Our life together.
The first photo she’d posted of us, everyone had gone crazy—even though it had just been our feet.
A soft launch, she’d explained to me. I didn’t know what the fuck that meant, but the photo had been her boots nestled between mine.
It was the spark that started the fire, little photos she shared with my face hidden until Em finally posted one of me kissing her cheek, cowboy hat on my head, a giant smile on her face.
Then, everyone had demanded to know more about how she found her hot cowboy.
Her words—not mine. But more than that—they were all happy for us.
So was the entire town, thank fucking God.
I hadn’t known what I’d do if people disapproved of us together, of the eight year difference between us. But they hadn’t.
Thanks to Em’s posts, we couldn’t keep up with bookings at the ranch thanks to her tagging the location on her profile. Everyone wanted to come to visit and get a taste of this life.
Plenty of them hoping to find their own cowboys.
Unfortunately for them, this cowboy was locked down tight. Had been since that day in the bar where I’d walked in and found the love of my life standing at it.
No regrets. I’d do it all over again if I had to, just to get right back here to the same position. My ring on her finger, glittering in the light just like the snow did.
I’d proposed in late spring, just like I’d planned, when the wildflowers had popped up and the meadow was full of them. That was where I’d gotten down on one knee and asked her to spend the rest of our lives together.
Thank fuck she’d said yes.
“I love you.” I kissed her brow, and then her lips before stealing my hat back.
Emily adjusted her hands around my neck, letting one rest on my shoulder as the other still held a bouquet of white roses, her beautiful emerald green eyes matching the pine trees behind her. God, she was a miracle to behold. A wonder I still could barely fathom.
And she was mine.
A shutter clicked. “Got it!” The photographer announced. “You two are naturals.”
“Hear that, baby?” I smirked. “A natural.”
She groaned, dropping her forehead against my tux.
And because I couldn’t resist, I kissed my wife.
Wife.
Today was our wedding day. And while the rest of our families were sitting inside, out of the cold, we were the two crazy people taking photos in the snow.
But I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“You’re insufferable.”
I grinned. “You married me, remember?” I held up my hand, showing off my titanium wedding band. “You’re mine now, wife.” She giggled as I kissed her ring, happiness shining off her face brighter than any sun.
“I think I’ve got everything photo-wise,” Ava, our photographer, said, slipping her equipment back into her camera bag. “Unless there’s anything else or any other poses you’d like?”
We’d probably taken hundreds of different photos—all sorts of angles and poses and backgrounds. But the snow really was beautiful. And my wife was resplendent.
No, she was positively glowing.
Emily looked up at me, biting her lip. “Do you still want to…?” Her question trailed off, but I knew exactly what she was thinking of. We’d talked about this moment for months. How we’d tell our families. We wouldn’t be able to hide it for much longer, after all.
Grinning, I let my hand rest over her stomach. You couldn’t tell thanks to her dress, but her bump was there.
“The sonogram is in my pocket,” I whispered in her ear.
We hadn’t exactly planned on it when it happened, but one or two missed pills this summer had turned into two pink lines—and we’d both been ecstatic. And now, our baby was growing inside of her.
“One more photo, Ava?” Emily asked the photographer, sliding her hand into the interior pocket of my tux jacket, pulling out the small black-and-white photo.
She let out a small gasp. “Oh.” She looked back and forth between the two of us. “You’re…?”
My wife nodded. “Yeah.” Her green eyes beamed up at me. “I’m four months along.”
Pregnant. Emily was pregnant with our baby.
Some days, I still couldn’t believe it. Couldn’t believe what a blessing this was, after everything I’d been through to get here.
That after all this time, I was getting the future I’d always dreamed of.
With the girl who was everything I could have ever asked for—and more. My soulmate. The love of my life.
Ava helped pose us—one of Em holding the sonogram over my shoulder, showing off her ring and the scan, with us wrapped up in each other. Another with me holding her bump, my hands cradling the little life growing inside of her.
“These photos are so perfect,” she told us after taking one of me kissing Emily’s belly. “Gosh, y’all are just going to have the most beautiful baby.” Ava was originally from the south, and she’d just moved up to the area this past summer. Of course, she and Emily had been fast friends.
Tears pricked at Em’s eyes. “Thank you.” She looked over at me. “We haven’t told anyone yet, though.” Once we got back from our honeymoon, we were telling them all the good news. The photos were just a part of that. And our small way of having our baby be a part of our wedding day.
“My lips are sealed,” she promised.
“I’m pretty sure some of them suspect, though,” I said, laughing as I tugged her to my side.
“Your brothers kept giving me weird looks last night when I kept finishing all of your drinks.” And I could only slip her so much sparkling apple cider before I was pretty sure someone was going to catch on.
“The girls too,” Emily admitted. “They’re all getting a little too suspicious. It probably doesn’t help that I threw up the night of the bachelorette party.” She winced. “Not my finest moment.”
Rubbing her back as we headed back towards the main lodge, I couldn’t help but think of the memory of her crawling into our bed that night. The first trimester had been hard on her, and I’d done everything I could to help make it better. To take care of her, just like I promised.
We’d decided to get married on the ranch, the place we both loved.
Of course, it had snowed the night before our wedding, and we trudged through the powdery layer of snow that had settled, turning the place into the perfect winter wonderland.
Just like it had been during the storm that changed our lives forever.
“We’ll tell them when we get back,” I reminded her. This year, it was our turn to spend a magical two weeks in a tropical paradise. Even if the only pineapple drinks we’d be having were alcohol free.
She rested her hand on her bump, cradling our baby. “Yeah.” A smile curled over her lips. “They’re going to freak. I can’t wait to tell your mom she’s going to be a grandma.”
My mom was going to lose it. I had no doubt about that.
“There you two are,” Jonah said as we approached the lodge, ready to slip back inside the cozy warmth.
We were having the reception inside, though it had been completely redecorated for the occasion.
The ceremony had been outside, under a trellis, with the only backdrop being the Montana forests and white winter snow. “Thought we’d lost you.”
He was one of my groomsmen, along with Benjamin, plus Hunter as my best man. Emily’s best friend Hannah had been her matron of honor, with her sisters-in-law as her bridesmaids.
My sisters-in-law now, as well. It felt crazy to think about that.
In such a short time, I’d gone from being an only child to having this entire family.
The guys I’d grown up with were now my brothers.
Part of me still couldn’t believe this was my life.
We’d spent a lot of time with Hannah, her husband Tony, and their son Brandon over the last year, and it made me even more excited about welcoming our own child into the world next year.
“Sorry,” Ava said, dipping her head as she blushed. “We wanted to grab a few more photos.”
I couldn’t help but notice there were sparks flying between my friend and our photographer. Huh. I filed that away in my memory to bring up to Emily later. If our parents had meddled in our love life, who was to say we couldn’t help our friends also find happiness?
“Now, Mrs. Elliott.” I turned to face my wife, holding out my hand to her. “I believe it’s time for us to make our grand entrance.”
Her answering smile was enough to warm me from the inside out, to not care that we’d been standing in the snow for the last few hours.
“Okay, Mr. Elliott.” She took my hand, and I kissed her softly before leading her into the room filled with our friends and family—filled with all the love we’d ever need in our lives—and sent a giant thank you up to the universe.
A year ago, I’d been alone. Still reeling from the divorce, with my entire future pulled out from underneath me like a rug. Now, I was married again—this time, to the love of my life—and we were expecting our first child in the spring.
All because of a snowstorm. A snowstorm that made me see how good we could be together. That I couldn’t deny the truth in front of me any longer. That this girl—this beautiful, incredible, awe-inspiring girl—was supposed to be mine.
I’d never squander that, or this opportunity to love her every day for the rest of our lives.
“You’re mine,” I whispered in her ear as we walked into the room to applause and cheers. Family and friends alike all so happy for us. “You and our baby. Forever and ever.”
She looked up at me, tears dotting her eyelashes, and I pressed a kiss to her forehead.
This was the start of our forever, and I couldn’t imagine it any other way.