Epilogue
Lamya and Kuol’s wedding was absolutely beautiful. The special guests had been the King and Queen of Rahmi, the King and Queen of Bermalia, the president of Crusina, and several titans of industry.
Lamya handled them with grace and excitement to learn from the best. She held her own as the new leader of her family’s company, but had been humble enough to ask for advice.
Helena had heard many of them making deals with her and setting up meetings for after her honeymoon.
Sebastian’s plan to launch Lamya as a woman of global industry was a success.
Pictures from her wedding somehow made it to international business magazines and of course, the gossip sites loved Lamya and Kuol’s story.
What touched Helena, though, was the fact that they didn’t leave after the wedding for their honeymoon.
Lamya and Sebastian worked together while Ahmed and Kuol worked daily.
They both learned while they waited to attend Helena and Nolan’s wedding.
They’d insisted on it and it meant so much to Helena.
However, now it was her time to walk down the aisle.
“You really don’t object to me marrying a fireman?
” Helena asked her father as they waited for the music to change and the church doors to open.
Her grandma had flown in her hometown’s Greek Orthodox priest to assist with the wedding.
“My other boyfriends were never good enough and they were in finance, the law, and heirs to major brands.”
“It was never about their jobs, sweetheart. They weren’t good enough for you because they didn’t see you.
They saw our last name. Nolan sees you. All of you, and he loves you for those reasons.
That’s why he has my full approval. Plus, the family loves him too.
And you know as well as I do that they’d tell you if they didn’t.
” Her father leaned down and kissed her cheek.
“Now, let’s get you married. And remember, Rafail will make an excellent middle name for your first son. ”
Helena smiled up at her father. And then, as the doors opened, all she could see was Nolan, in his fireman’s dress uniform, waiting for her. Next to him stood Colton, Flint, Jack, and Conley, all wearing their dress uniforms.
Waiting for Helena stood Quinn, Bette, Gigi, and Bella. Helena hardly saw them though. She couldn’t take her eyes off Nolan as they said their vows, both in English and then, Nolan surprised her and her entire family, by saying them in Greek.
Then they were married and Nolan was kissing her to the cheers of the crowd. “I love you, Mrs. Flynn.”
“I love you too,” Helena whispered a moment before they took off down the aisle.
The firefighters had beaten them to it though. They exited the church and the firefighters stood on each side of the church steps with their axes forming an arch and their firetruck shooting off a rainbow of water on the other side of the street.
“It’s perfect,” Helena said, placing her hand over her heart as they were surrounded by friends and family.
Nolan had not considered what goes into a Greek wedding beyond learning his vows in Greek.
He’d thought some of the Davies family’s parties had been something else, but nothing could have prepared him for finding himself hand in hand dancing in a large circle as plates were thrown and cheers got louder with each plate breaking.
“Opa!” Miss Lily and her sisters called out before each smashing a plate. Helena’s family cheered madly and the dancing continued. There were the special shots. The Rose sisters, not to be outdone, made their own shots from their iced tea and it became a wild party.
“This is the best wedding I’ve ever been to,” Bella told him as the music changed and the circle broke apart.
“The absolute best,” Helena agreed.
Nolan smiled as Greer, Abby, and Cassidy joined them. They offered their congratulations and then turned to Bella. “I’m sorry, Bella. Your transfer to the local Marshal’s office has been denied,” Greer told her.
“My freaking boss,” Bella cursed.
“It wasn’t your boss,” Abby informed her. “It was us. I’ve been watching you train with my father and we have a different job in mind for you.”
“Job?” Bella looked at the three of them with suspicion. “Exactly who are you?”
The women smiled and Nolan saw that Helena looked thrilled. Bella would be staying in Keeneston after all.
“I’ll get you ladies a drink and give you a chance to talk,” Nolan told them and stepped away from where Bella was now learning about Bluegrass Ops.
Nolan headed to the bar and ordered the drinks before turning to his friend. “Why aren’t you dancing?” Nolan asked Conley.
“I’m trying to figure something out.” Nolan followed Conley’s gaze and saw that it was focused on Gigi Rossi, Sebastian’s executive assistant and one of Helena’s new best friends. She was one of the bridesmaids.
“About Gigi?”
“Does she look sad to you?” Conley asked. Conley might come across as an easy-going country boy, but he was the most observant person Nolan knew.
Nolan looked hard at Gigi. She was dancing with Bette and Quinn. She was smiling, but . . . “The smile doesn’t reach her eyes.”
“Exactly. It has me worried. She’s been like that the past several days.”
Interesting. So, Conley had been paying close attention to Gigi. “Why don’t you ask her to dance and maybe—”
“No way. She’s a New Yorker. She doesn’t want a burly man like me.” Nolan raised an eyebrow and then Conley chuckled. “Okay, so maybe us country boys do have a shot with them city girls.”
“How long have you been interested in her?” Nolan asked.
“Since the auction. She bought me and I haven’t looked at another woman since. But no one takes me seriously. I mean, even the Belles go flirt with Jack and Flint and basically leave me alone.”
“There are deep currents under calm waters. It’s their loss. And you don’t care about the Belles anyway. Go ask Gigi to dance. I know for a fact she’ll say yes.”
“You can’t know that,” Conley replied with a little huff.
“I can when I hear her, Bette, Quinn and Helena talking. Now go. Go check on your woman.”
Nolan saw the moment Conley decided to do it.
Helena shot him a surprised smile when Conley twirled Gigi away and Nolan knew he’d done the right thing.
Helena excused herself from a very excited-looking Bella and crooked her finger at him.
Nolan set down his drink and whisked his wife into a slow dance.
“I forgot to tell you. That was very naughty of you to leave me that present in my changing room,” Helena whispered about the room she used to change from her wedding dress to her reception dress.
“I didn’t leave you a gift there.”
“The panties,” she said, smacking him. “Not my style, and I definitely can’t wear red under this white dress, but I’ll wear them on the honeymoon for you.”
“Babe,” Nolan said, his face splitting into a grin, “I didn’t leave those. The panty dropper has struck again.”
“Oh my God!”
“No, just his son’s bride,” Sister Bernie called out as she danced by with Father Ben. “They really don’t get this.”
Helena and Nolan laughed, but then Helena shook her head. “Quinn told me all about the mystery of the panty droppers. Is it one couple? Two? More? Maybe Rayne Carlin can get to the bottom of it.”
“It’s a mystery for sure. But who is Rayne Carlin?”
“You don’t know Rayne? She’s only the biggest investigative true crime podcaster in the country! She’s coming to Keeneston next month to look into some unsolved mystery.”
Nolan could guess what it was, but this was his wedding and he didn’t want to think about that case right now. Right now, he wanted to see his bride smile. So, he twirled Helena, dipped her, and kissed her right in the middle of the dance floor.
“Opa!”
And then plates broke all around them.