Epilogue
Lark
One Year Later....
Weddings might be my new favorite thing.
Standing on the beach with a buttery sun shining down as warm winds drive the waters crashing on the short, I revel in the beauty of it all. Bright, yellow flowers. Just four chairs for the four guests. Inside, a hall waits for another celebration with a stunning afternoon tea spread.
Gazing at Lawson as the sun begins to set beyond the horizon, my heart is so full. Benji and Tori sit behind me while his sister and Beatrix sit behind him. They all came to support us. To celebrate us on our special day.
Another trip to Heart Harbor for another wedding.
“Love happens when we least expect it with someone we might never expect. If we’re brave enough to embrace it, we can get our happy ever after,” Lawson declares as he holds my hands in his. Slipping the platinum band on my finger, he gives me a beaming smile as he ties me to him.
“I cannot wait to start our happy ending,” I whisper back as I slid his band on his finger. We’ve said our vows, we’ve exchanged our rings, and then he lowers his head, tugging me close.
“Now we get to play true newlyweds. I am going to do such filthy things to you, my wife,” he hums before he bends to brush his lips against mine.
Shivers course through me as his tongue licks at my mouth, my feet sinking in the warm sand as I go soft against him. Our wedding party hoots and hollers as we’re pronounced husband and wife. Lawson pulls back with a dirty grin at his handsome face, eyes shining in the warm sunshine.
Turning to face the others as a new bride, I am the happiest I have ever been. I never expected to get a second shot at this. At finding a partner. And he is the best partner. There might be decades between us, but he is truly the perfect person for me, my person, the other half of me and now I am whole.
We did not rush to get married though we talked about weddings from the start. When he showed up on my front porch last year, I still could not let myself believe I could get this. That I could get something as special as what we found together that weekend in Heart Harbor.
Lawson had a wandering spirit. He had no place he called home, no ties to any one place, and I before we met, no plans of either. I feared he would realize all he was giving up soon enough and it would be over. I was wrong because our life together is the best thing to happen to both of us.
“Let’s go celebrate us getting forever together,” Lawson whispers, leading me down the path of flowers sprinkled over the white sand.
Inside we waste no time going to the dance floor. I have never danced as much as I have since meeting him. We dance at home while making dinner. I dance when I am bothering him as he writes his books. Usually, to tempt him to take a break and create a filthy scene with me. Tonight, we dance with all the people we love as they celebrate us.
Lawson still writes but I decided not to go back to teaching. Instead, I act as his editor now. We make a great team—he writes steamy scenes, I edit them to make them steamier, and he pays me in orgasms when we act some of them out. It is a win-win working relationship for both of us.
Beatrix and Benji were much more accepting of our relationship than I expected. Bea admitted to having a little crush on him before she saw us at Benji’s wedding. My daughter claims she saw how we looked at one another, stole moments away from the others and knew something was there. To be fair, she thought it would be a hot hook up for her ol’ mom.
“Let me cut in here, bud,” Benji calls from beside us as he grins up at my new husband. “Mother-son dance part two.”
Laughing, I let him take me from a grumbling Lawson, who laughs and tells us to have a good time. He goes to dance with my daughter, and I make my own playful grumbling noises. They both laugh as he spins her away as Benji twists me the opposite direction.
“Ma,” he starts with a sober look that makes me pause. “I am so proud of you for being selfish for once. For doing what is right by you. You deserve to be this happy. I was a little surprised when I found out but...really, he is such a good man, he was looking for someone to love for a long time. And I don’t know if he told you,” He lowers his voice as if sharing a secret, glancing around playfully. “He had a crush on our English professor in college so...this is about par for the course for that idiot.”
Tossing my head back, I laugh. Lawson did admit to having always been attracted to older women. A maid he grew up with. His hot basketball coach in high school. And yes, he told me about his college professor. Benji never knew it was more than a crush—she was the first woman he was ever with, and it solidified he would forever want older, curvier, mature women.
“Considering myself lucky he has mommy issues,” I tease before I sober. “He is everything I could ever want, Benji. If it is weird or you have doubts, please know...he loves me. Lawson makes me feel so loved, so adored. I had no idea it could be the way it is with him. I truly am lucky.”
“No doubts from me. He loves you so big, it’s hard to miss it when you see it. You deserve the world ma, and I think he would do anything to give it to you. If he ever makes a mistake, I do know how to butcher things so...” Benji teases with a waggle of his brows.
“Heard that, mate,” Lawson calls from beside us, reaching for me. “I will be taking my wife back, thank you. No need to threaten to turn me to hamburger meat. I won’t ever make a mistake. Risk losing her? No way.”
We switch partners as the song slows down and I snuggle against my husband’s chest. Lawson holds me close as we twirl across the dance floor. It is another magical night on Heart Harbor. We talked about his wandering spirit and my own before the wedding. Agreeing we loved it here, we have decided to relocate.
Our honeymoon on the beautiful island never has to end.
Until late in the night, we dance, we eat, we laugh and celebrate with the people we love most. We tell them stories about the weddings we crashed last time we were here. They seem stunned but find the stories charming.
Calling it a night, though we plan to spend this weekend celebrating with all of them, we head up to our suite. At the door, he makes a show of picking me up to carry me over the threshold. I laugh because he has played this same scene out no less than a hundred times since he showed up on my doorstep.
“Starting our life as married folks off right, love,” Lawson teases.
Truth is, our life got started off right when we ended up on the same plane to the same wedding. We could not have known how we were tied together before we even met. Now I believe we would have found our way to one another no matter what. On the plan, at the hotel during the wedding, hell even somewhere on the beaches of Heart Harbor.
We were always on our way to our happy ending together.