Weston
One Month Later
The old barn next to my cabin has been cleaned up and decorated with tiny twinkling lights, a wooden dance floor, and sheer fabric hanging from the beams overhead. Not too long ago, it was little more than an old barn with drafty walls and a dirt floor.
Now it’s been transformed into an event space, perfect for celebrating Reese and me. Music plays from speakers Sawyer set up around the perimeter.
Zane and Tessa are moving around the dance floor, both wearing happy smiles.
Anyone on the outside wouldn’t be able to tell that a month ago, we were all fighting for our lives three miles from where we’re standing now.
“I can’t believe you’re married,” Sawyer says as he stops beside me, a plate of fresh fruit in his hand.
“It’s been a month. You were there.”
He laughs, then pops a blueberry into his mouth. “I know, but still. I’m so happy for you, man.”
I look over at my friend, still so grateful that he survived. His bruises have faded, and he was cleared to stop using the sling a few days ago, but with the way he and Anastasia look for each other every few minutes, I imagine there’s still some healing they’re both doing.
She may not have been here for it, but that doesn’t make it any less traumatizing.
“Thanks, Cable Guy.” I take a blackberry off his plate and pop it into my mouth, while he eats a few more blueberries. “You’re next. You ready?”
“Two weeks to go.” His gaze lands on Anastasia, where she’s currently serving coffee to Pastor Reeves and his wife, Helen.
Something one of them said makes her laugh, and Sawyer’s lips lift in a smile, just watching her.
“I love her so much, man. I mean, after the childhood I had, I wasn’t sure it was possible to feel this way, you know? ”
Reese comes into view, Katelyn beside her. She has Katelyn’s baby in her arms and a bright smile on her face. Just the sight of her brings me more joy than I ever thought a man like me would find. “I know exactly what you mean.”
Sawyer chuckles and pats me on the back. “You sure do. Excuse me, I’m going to try to get a dance.” He leaves and crosses over toward Anastasia right as Pastor Reeves and Helen head for the dance floor themselves.
Meanwhile, Reese’s gaze locks on mine, and she hands Katelyn’s daughter, Grace, back to her before closing the distance between us. The ring on her finger catches a bit of light, and I smile.
Years ago, I’d given her a ring I made from wire I found right here on this ranch. I didn’t have anything to offer, and she still loved me. Today, her ring is a simple band with diamonds set in white gold.
And that wire ring? It hangs around her neck at the end of a chain because she kept it all these years.
“Hey there, handsome.” She stretches up on her tiptoes and grips the front of my shirt to pull me down into a steamy kiss. Heart hammering, I sink into the feel of her lips against mine as love so potent it nearly takes me to my knees saturates my bloodstream.
“You’d better be careful, Mrs. Hayes. Kissing me like that in front of all these people is not a good idea.”
She grins up at me, a dazzling smile that steals what little breath I have left in my lungs. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
The last few weeks have been a dream come true. We wrapped up the repairs to Vivian’s house, and I’ve almost finished building her a new dining room table. All while being married to the most amazing woman in the world.
Last time, our marriage felt like a tainted secret. Something we kept to ourselves because of the chaos around us. Now it’s a bright light shining on everything that has ever gone right in my life.
Reese steps up to my side, and I wrap an arm around her shoulders as I look around.
Sawyer and Anastasia twirl around the dance floor, sharing conversation with Zane and Tessa, and Ryker, who is leading Momma Knox in a two-step.
Not too far in the distance, Garrison and his wife stand side by side while their son, Thomas, lingers nearby, talking to Kyle Harding.
We may not have been born brothers, but that’s exactly what we are.
And I may have lost my sister, but over the years, I have gained three more.
My mom may not want anything to do with me, but Momma Knox and Vivian will always be there.
So while the family I was born into might be gone, the family God brought me is here. Right here with me, celebrating this wonderful blessing of a life.
I’m a lucky, lucky man.
Thank You, Lord. I didn’t do anything to deserve this, but thank You.
“You doing okay?”
I glance down at Reese. “I have never been better.”
“Good.” She pulls away and takes my hand. “Then come on.” She tugs me through the crowd and out of the barn. I follow, love and desire swirling within me as she glances over her shoulder and grins.
Finally, we reach the bed of my pickup truck, where there’s a white take-out bag and a blanket waiting.
“What’s this? You do know there’s food inside.”
She laughs and climbs up on the tailgate. “I know, come on.”
I hop up next to her, and she hands me the bag, which is unusually light for one of Ed’s burgers.
Curious, I open the top of the white bag and look down inside. My heart kicks in my chest, my stomach twisting into nervous knots as I reach in and withdraw a small onesie.
“What—” I stare at it, so afraid to trust what it is I’m seeing. “Reese?” Her name comes out barely louder than a whisper.
Surely we aren’t this lucky.
It’s only been a month.
I turn toward her to see tears glistening in her eyes.
“I took the test three times just to make sure. It’s still early, but—” I slam my mouth onto hers and snake a hand around the back of her head as I pour everything I have into this kiss.
Every promise for a future where I will do anything and everything to make her happy and loved.
Where I will be the father our child deserves.
Breathless, I pull back and rest my forehead against hers. “A baby.”
“A baby,” she whispers and grips both sides of my face to look into my eyes. “And you are going to be a wonderful father, Weston Hayes.”
My bottom lip quivers, emotion I spent years running from fighting its way out. As the fear of what happened last time tries to surface, I shove it back down. Because this time, I know that, no matter what happens, so long as we keep our faith, everything will be just fine.
God is good.
He is there.
And He will never let us walk through the trials of this life alone.
“There you two are!” I pull away as Vivian crosses over toward us. “You do know that there is an entire party going on just for you, right?”
Laughing, Reese lifts the onesie and shows it to her mom. “I had to deliver news.”
Vivian’s eyes widen, and she raises both hands together in front of her mouth. “You are?”
“We are having a baby, Mom,” she says.
“A baby! A grandchild!” Vivian claps and rushes forward, all of her energy having returned now that no one is slipping pills into her system.
She wraps both arms around us, absolutely giddy.
“This is wonderful! Congratulations.” As she pulls back, she places one hand on my cheek, one on Reese’s.
“My Sugars, this is going to be quite an adventure. But the best one you will ever have.”
I look over at Reese. “I couldn’t agree more.”
Her cheeks flush with color, and she smiles up at me.
“Actually, this is perfect timing. Because as it so happens, I have something I want to talk to you two about.”
“What?”
“Well, I’ve decided that it’s time to move.”
Her words hit me right in the gut. The thought of losing her or this place levels me in a way I hadn’t been prepared for.
“Easy there, Weston, I can see the worst-case scenario playing out on your face. Before you get all twisted, what I mean is, I think it’s time you two take the farmhouse and I take the cabin.”
I stare at her. Surely I heard her wrong.
“Mom, are you sure? Why?” Reese questions.
“Because you, my dearest daughter, have a family. A husband and a baby on the way. You are going to need space. Besides, I’m getting a little old for farm work, and that cabin might as well be the best place to retire in the world.
Because it is far away enough to give you space, but right there when you need me.
Or when I want to come see my grandbabies. ” She sniffles, tears in her eyes.
“We can’t take your house,” I tell her.
Vivian clears her throat. “So long as you are comfortable living in that home, Weston, yes, you can.”
I hesitate a moment. When my mom told me we were selling the place and had to leave, I really didn’t care. That place held nothing but memories of my drunken father at his worst. Of fists slammed into sheetrock and broken doors.
But now I have Reese.
I have a family on the way.
And maybe raising them in that same house, giving them all the love I never had, might be the best kind of remedy.
“It doesn’t seem fair to you,” I say.
“Weston, when I was going to lose this place, you saved it. When I couldn’t handle everything on my own, you showed up and shouldered the weight without asking for a single thing in return.
This ranch is as much yours as it ever was mine.
More so.” She meets my gaze, a smile on her face. “You are my son, Weston.”
You are my son.
Her words settle over me. A comfort I hadn’t realized that I needed.
“I want you two to raise your family in that home. Fill it with laughter, and love each other with everything that you have.” A tear slips down her cheek. “Your father would be so happy for you,” she says to Reese. “He would be so happy for the both of you.”
Katydids chirping around me, I make my way across dewy grass. It’s just after six in the morning, and while getting out of bed when Reese was curled up beside me this morning felt impossible, I knew I had somewhere else I needed to be.
With wildflowers I picked from the ranch in hand, I pause just in front of a marbled headstone.
“Hey, Violet,” I say as I squat down to rest the fresh flowers on her gravestone. Emotion burns my throat, and I have to swallow multiple times just to partially clear the lump in my throat.
“I got married,” I tell her, “Again. I’d say long story, but I’m sure you already know.
” Smiling, I sit down on the grass, not caring that it soaks through the fabric of my basketball shorts.
“And I’m having a baby.” A tear slips down my cheek.
“I can’t even believe it. Me, a dad. After we lost the last one, I just didn’t dare to hope.
But God is good.” I wipe the tear away from my cheek. “It seems so surreal.”
“God is good.”
At the voice, I jump up and turn as the old man who’d approached me outside the church crosses over toward me.
Even with a brown hat pulled over his white hair, I’d recognize him anywhere.
Mainly because I’ve been trying to convince myself that I didn’t just imagine him outside of that church ever since it happened.
“What are you doing here?”
“Same as you, I imagine.” He smiles. “So I hear congratulations are in order.”
“Oh, yeah.” I stare at him. Am I still sleeping?
“I’m glad to know you found your way, Weston.”
“How do you know my name?”
“Small town,” he says.
“Yet I don’t know you.”
“Oh, so sorry. I’m Samuel,” he says, then pulls his hand out of the pocket of his brown slacks and holds it out to me.
I take it halfway because I’m not entirely sure he’s really here. So when his grip is warm and firm, I’m genuinely surprised. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“You, too.” He smiles again, then takes a deep breath and turns his face to the sky. “It’s a beautiful day to be alive, don’t you think?”
“I do.”
“You have a wonderful day, Weston. I will be praying for you and your family. God’s timing is never wrong. Even though there are times we can’t quite see why things are happening the way they are, He has a plan.”
“I’m learning that.”
“Good. Keep your eyes on Him always.” With one final smile at me, he begins whistling, shoves both hands back into his pockets, and continues walking until he follows the curve of the tree-lined path and disappears from my view.
I briefly consider going after him, just to see if he’s still there. Instead, I smile as a sense of peace settles over me, and turn my attention back to the gravestone.
“I love you, little sister, and I can’t wait to see you again in paradise.
I have so much to tell you.” After brushing a leaf off the top of her gravestone, I turn and start jogging in the direction opposite to where Samuel went.
With each bit of distance I put between me and the gravesite, anticipation builds within me.
Because for the first time in forever, I’m not leaving here to go back to my empty cabin where I do everything I can to avoid facing the man in the mirror.
Instead, I’m running home to the woman I love, and the life we’re building together.
All because God saw something in me worth saving.
And I will forever praise Him for that.
Thank you so much for reading! I hope that you enjoyed SEAL of Valor! If you did, please consider leaving an honest review and sharing it with anyone in your life who loves books.
And be sure to keep a lookout for Ryker’s story, SEAL of Refuge!
He pulled her from the water. Now he’ll do anything to keep her alive.
A Navy SEAL with nothing left to fight for.
A woman with a bounty on her head.
When Ryker “Tank” Granger pulls Dahlia Swanson from a sinking car, he thinks it’s a one-time rescue.
He’s wrong.
Because someone wants her dead—and they’re not finished yet.
Dahlia has spent her life helping others. Now she’s the one being hunted, with no answers and nowhere safe to turn.
Except him.
Now under Ryker’s protection, Dahlia quickly learns he isn’t a man who walks away.
And the closer they get, the more this stops being a mission.
It becomes personal.
Because Dahlia isn’t just another life to save anymore—she’s his.
And anyone who comes for her will have to go through him first.
Get your copy of SEAL of Refuge! And keep reading for a sneak peek!