29. EPILOGUE
CORY
Two Years Later
I stood in the middle of DelINKquent Tattoos, the new and improved version, my heart racing. Technically, I wasn’t supposed to be there, but whenever I was this anxious and this nervous, the only thing that calmed me down was the smell of my shop. The inks and the leather, the sanitation products. All of it mingled in the air to create an aroma that was like a balm to my nerves.
Getting the shop back up and running had taken a bit longer than I would’ve liked, which is to say that I wasn’t able to reopen immediately. Insurance covered a lot, but not everything, and because I’d put every spare penny I’d had into the original DelINKquent Tattoos, which had only been open for three months, I didn’t have any savings to restart right away. Glen welcomed me back to Black Stem Studios with open arms, and I put my nose back to the grindstone just like I had the first time around. Except this time, it only took a year.
The Grand Re-Opening of DelINKquent Tattoos was even better than the first time. Sasha and Lexi came back to work with me, and for that, I was incredibly thankful. They turned out not only to be great coworkers and artists, but pretty awesome friends, too. Kinsley and I even managed to get them hooked on the stupid dating show we loved. It became our thing. Sasha, Lexi, and Kinsley would come to my house, and we’d kick Garrett out to go help Hayes with the baby, not that he needed it. He was a natural. Granted, little miss Eloise made it easy on him. She was the most perfect baby to have ever graced the earth, and she had everyone wrapped around her tiny little finger, Uncle Gar-Bear included.
The point was, this time around, I had other things and other people to focus on and enjoy—other things to live for than just my shop. And when opening day came, there were a lot more people present.
Clients from the original DelINKquent Tattoos came back to show support, some having postponed entire pieces just to get them done with us. It was the same building, which was a decision all its own. Start fresh somewhere else without all the crappy memories attached to it, or redo the original, the baby I’d worked my ass off for. In the end, it was simple.
I wasn’t letting my mother get a single win out of anything she’d done, no matter how small.
Not that she’d know one way or another from her prison cell. By the time she would get out, I liked to think that she’d have gotten over her dislike for tattoos by then.
“I figured I’d find you here.” Glen’s voice broke me out of my trance. He stood by the back door in a black suit, a classic black tie sitting slightly crooked on his white dress shirt.
I walked over to him, my heels clicking on the epoxy floors with each step, and adjusted it. “I just needed a second.”
He ran a hand over his beard and then motioned toward the parking lot. “Are we running? Because we can run if—”
I laughed and smacked him playfully. “No one is running. I’m good, I promise.”
He shrugged. “Just figured I’d offer one last time. So, are we done keeping the people waiting?”
I shot him a haughty look, grabbing my bouquet and taking the arm he held out to me. “They can wait a couple more minutes. They sure as shit can’t start without me.”
I took one last deep inhale, and then let Glen guide me outside to his car.
***
When Garrett had proposed to me with a beautiful pear shaped onyx stone, surrounded by tiny sapphires, a “yes” had left my lips before he’d even officially asked the question. What I hadn’t thought or cared too much about was the wedding itself. If it were up to me, we’d have done a courthouse wedding. It’s not like my half of the guest list was going to be very large. But Garrett had a big family. He had people who genuinely wanted to see him marry the girl who was supposed to be the love of his life.
So, for Garrett, we planned a wedding.
And by that, I mean Kinsley planned a wedding.
She swore up and down that she wanted to do it, that being at home with Eloise was the most amazing thing ever, but she needed something to do with her brain that wasn’t Pinterest-ing learning activities. So, instead, she Pinterest-ed my wedding.
And I had to give her credit, because it was beautiful. Way better than anything I would’ve done, and that’s without a toddler.
The guests were seated in chestnut bentwood chairs, the aisle seats adorned with arrangements of burnt orange and cream-colored flowers, feathers and what looked like wheat, but I’m sure were something much more expensive, sticking out in a strategically chaotic way. Everything was the perfect blend of rustic and autumn. An arch made of branches sat at the altar adorned with similar florals to the chairs. In short, she nailed it.
“Okay, baby, that’s your cue.” I smiled and ushered little Eloise forward.
Siren walked right next to her, keeping pace so that Eloise could take flowers out of the basket strapped to Siren’s side and scatter them down the aisle. Well, it was more like tiny piles of petals, but she was only a year and a half. Honestly, we were lucky she wasn’t eating them. Regardless, it was cute, and Siren’s tail wagged to Eloise’s delighted giggles.
But then the music changed to an instrumental version of Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” and I held Glen’s arm in a death grip as we rounded the corner, my eyes locking onto the man at the end of the aisle.
He stood in a blacked out suit, his hair tousled perfectly in a way that straddled the line between sophisticated and disheveled. When he saw me, a grin stretched across his face. The one with the dimples that got me from the very first night we’d met.
“Last chance. Running?”
I smiled, aware that people were watching me, that there was a photographer taking photos, but only seeing Garrett.
“The only place I’m running is to him,” I said under my breath. “Can we walk faster?”
Glen chuckled, a rich, hearty sound. “It’s your day. We can do whatever you want.”
And so, we picked up the pace. It wasn’t quite a run, but it wasn’t the speed a bride typically walked.
We got to the altar and Glen brought Garrett in for a hug, whispering something in his ear that I couldn’t hear. Whatever it was, it got Garrett to laugh.
“I wouldn’t dare.” His gaze returned to me as he said the words .
Glen nodded and then gave me a thumbs up on his way to his seat.
The ceremony was a blur of words and exchanged “I dos.” I could’ve agreed to always put strawberry jelly in his work boots before his shift and I wouldn't have known. My gaze stayed locked on Garrett’s, the smile that was almost always on my face around him making my cheeks hurt.
Then we got to the good part.
“I now pronounce you, Mr. and Mrs. Adler. Garrett, you may kiss your bride.”
And kiss me he did.
His hands wrapped around my waist as he spun me down over his knee in a dip so low, my hair brushed the ground. It was far from chaste, and I hoped Kinsley was shielding Eloise’s eyes because I kissed him back with equal passion.
When we broke apart, he murmured, “Mine.” And then crashed his lips back to mine.
***
We didn’t go to our cocktail hour, but not because we were taking pictures.
“Are you sure? We can just buy regular bands. This is permanent,” I said, giving the gun a quick test.
Garrett smiled and held his left hand out flat on the table we had set up off to the side of the patio where the rest of the guests were drinking and mingling.
“I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life because you, Cory Adler, are already tattooed on every inch of my soul.” His eyes were locked on my face, and his words made my heart smolder with love.
I leaned over the table to kiss him quickly, and then lowered the tattoo gun to his ring finger.
For a tattoo virgin, he sat incredibly well. Not that the design was anything complex, but it was a finger. When it was done, we swapped. I knew this was the part he was most nervous about, but it was the only thing other than what dress I wore that I insisted on.
I grabbed his hand, the one not holding the tattoo gun, and gave him a reassuring smile. “Relax. You’ve practiced this a thousand times, and even if it’s only squiggles, I promise I’ll love it forever.” I shot him a wink and added, “I vow it.”
In the end, it took us a little over an hour, but when we rejoined our guests, our newly tattooed wedding bands cleaned and wrapped, everything felt right.
Kinsley gave a toast and managed to keep her gloating on how right she had been to about a minute and a half. Hayes’s speech was part proud dad and part stand up, but we expected as much and loved every second of it.
A flash of movement during dinner caught my eye, and I spun to catch a glimpse of Darcy running from the reception. Glancing over at Garrett to get his attention, I motioned toward the doors she just fled from.
“Where is she going in such a hurry? Should we go check on her?” I asked, already starting to stand, but Garrett stopped me, gently wrapping his hand around my wrist and tugging me back into my seat.
“I’m sure she’s fine. Linnea will go after her if she’s not back soon.” He leaned in closer to me, a mischievous look dancing in his eyes. “Now, eat up, Mrs. Adler. You’re going to need your energy for what I’ve got planned.”
I pressed my thighs together under the fabric of my dress, trying to ease the tension that was already building, and smiled up at him.
The clinking of glasses erupted through the room, and we laughed, shaking our heads at the silly tradition. Then Garrett was slanting his lips over mine, enveloping me in a tender kiss.
This night, with this man, surrounded by everyone we loved drinking at an open bar and dancing like crazy people on the dance floor, was everything I could’ve ever dreamt it to be.
And as the DJ eventually played the final song of the evening, a slow one to wind the party down, Garrett placed his hand over my heart as we swayed gently on the dance floor.
“Is this spot taken?” he asked, the warmth of his palm against my chest making the organ he was referring to beat wildly.
I beamed up at him and placed my hand over his, the lights above his head twinkling. “Are you flirting with me?”
He bent his head down and brushed a kiss over my lips. “Damn. I knew I should’ve gone with asking about the weather.”