Epilogue
“Honey, are you sure you wanna do this? I mean, this is awfully fast.”
Aspen stopped fussing with the skirt on her wedding dress and folded her hands around her dad’s arm.
“I know. But sometimes you just know. You and mom did. And I spent most of the last ten years not keeping the promise mom asked of me. I put everything off out of fear and was too afraid to really live. And I’m not doing that anymore. Especially now.”
She’d finally told her dad about the cancer and her prognosis in the same conversation she’d admitted she was eloping.
His head was still spinning, but he and Tricia and her step-siblings Heidi and Everett had shown up for the wedding anyway.
Aspen had to admit, after all the years of being just the two of them, it was lovely to have more family.
“Everything should be fine. And hopefully, everything will stay fine for the rest of my life. But in case it doesn’t, I want to have lived. I love Brooks, and he loves me.”
His hand covered hers and squeezed. “That’s the only thing I really care about. If you’re happy.”
“I am.”
“Then I will make every effort to like him.”
Aspen snorted. “Dad!”
“What? You’re my only daughter. I’m entitled.”
“Fair enough.”
“He’d better take good care of you.”
She thought of everything he’d done since they’d met. Especially since he’d come to Georgia. “He takes excellent care of me.”
“What are y’all gonna do? I mean, for everything else?
Where will you live? He’s a hockey player, right?
Who does he even play for?” It said a lot about how fast all of this had happened that her father still didn’t know about all the media coverage they’d had of their “engagement.” She wasn’t the only one who wasn’t into sportsball.
She didn’t actually know the answer to his question. They hadn’t discussed any of that. Not whether he was retiring or whether he’d be going back to the ColoradoAvalanche for pre-season in a few months. Brooks had declared that could all wait until after the wedding and her surgery.
“We’ll figure it out.” For all that she was a planner and preferred to think of All The Things in advance, she’d decided to just roll with this.
It wasn’t worth putting life off anymore to figure out all the details.
She was confident they would make it work.
Because having this chance was worth it.
“Miss Fairchild?” The venue wedding planner stuck her head in the door of the suite. “It’s time.”
Aspen’s heart fluttered as she grabbed up her bouquet of mountain flowers. She was really doing this. She was marrying the man she loved. And from somewhere in the back of her mind, she could hear her mother’s joyful laugh.
Good job, kid.
She and her dad followed the wedding planner outside.
The venue was teeny, with rows of small benches flanking a short aisle leading up to an arbor built at the edge of the deck overlooking the Great Smoky Mountains.
Their handful of guests were already seated.
Tricia and her two kids. Linnea. And on Brooks’s side, his friends Grady and Colter, whom she’d met when they’d arrived last night from Denver.
Brooks stood at the altar, looking utterly mouthwatering in a tux. As he spotted her, his smile spread wide. Aspen felt an echoing grin split her face as the music began, and her father escorted her down the short aisle and handed her over to her husband to be.
Brooks squeezed her hands and whispered, “You look incredible.”
“So do you.” And she was already thinking about what it would be like to peel off the layers of that monkey suit when she got him alone later.
Their officiant beamed at the assembly. “Dearly beloved...”
The ceremony was short and sweet and absolutely perfect because it didn’t make them wait to start their new lives together any longer than absolutely necessary.
“You may kiss the bride.”
Brooks tipped her back in a dramatic dip that had her laughing as he took her mouth to much enthusiastic applause and cheering from their handful of guests. They’d done it! They were married! Holy crap.
They practically danced back down the aisle and into the lodge for the cake and cocktails reception.
He pulled her aside into an alcove. “I’ve got something to give you.”
She arched a brow. “Oh?”
“A wedding present.”
“I mean, I’m very excited for that, but we might require a little more privacy…”
He grinned. “Not that. But definitely that. All of that later. This is an actual present.”
Aspen sobered. “I don’t have yours with me.”
“That’s totally fine. But I didn’t want to wait to give you this.” Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out an envelope.
Confused, she took it, opening the flap and pulling out the stack of papers inside. It was some sort of contract. “I don’t understand. What is this?”
“I didn’t want to mention it unless I could pull it off, but everything’s finalized. I’ve just been transferred to Atlanta.”
Aspen frowned. “Atlanta doesn’t have a hockey team.”
“It does now. They’re starting a new one.
The Firebirds. I’m part of the initial roster, so I’ll be based in Atlanta—only a little over an hour away.
I’ll be able to commute in for practice, so you don’t have to leave Cooper’s Bend unless you want to.
I mean, I’d love to have you on the road with me for away games, but I know you can’t leave your shop. ”
“What do you mean? I don’t have a physical storefront. My shop is online. There’s absolutely no reason I can’t come with you on the road.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
On another whoop of excitement, he scooped her up and swung her in a circle. Laughing, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Well, I guess I’m going to have to break my lifelong streak of ignoring sportsball and actually learn about hockey.”
“Only if you want to, wife of mine.”
“I find myself very motivated.”
From her position in the stands, Aspen tried to follow the fast-paced action on the ice.
Still new to the intricacies of hockey, even after attending every single one of Brooks’ games this season, home and away, she frequently only managed to follow her husband.
She’d had no idea when he’d taken her to the rink last summer that he could move like this.
No matter what else was going on during the game, she loved watching him skate.
He was all grace and muscular control, and now she understood everything that went into honing that athlete’s body she loved so much.
Her phone vibrated with a series of texts, and she tugged it out to find a message in the family group chat.
Dad: This one’s a nail biter. No score this late into the third period?
Everett: Brooks is really moving out there.
Heidi: Can he introduce me to Niko Petrov?
Aspen snorted and texted back.
Aspen: The goalie is too old for you.
Tricia: They’re all too old for her!
Heidi: I’m nearly twenty!
Tricia: GIF of woman with fingers in her ears singing la la la la la.
From the ice there was a cacophony of sounds—the clash of sticks, the scraping of skates—and then a sudden roar from the crowd.
Aspen’s head snapped up, scanning for the source of the action.
A flurry of activity around the opposing team’s goal caught her attention, and suddenly Brooks emerged in a flash of orange and white with the puck at his stick.
As he approached the goal, he made a sharp feint to the left, prompting the goalie to shift.
With a flick of his wrist, he shot the puck, deftly shooting for the now-exposed corner of the net.
Aspen almost missed the moment the puck hit the back of the net, the motion was so swift and seamless.
Aspen shot to her feet as the crowd erupted in a tidal wave of cheers and applause.
Brooks caught her eye as he skated by. His chest heaved, his face sheened with sweat, but his blue eyes sparked with the thrill of scoring.
Grinning, she blew him a kiss. Aware of the curious glances around her, she announced, “That’s my husband!
” Not that she was being subtle about it.
Every game she showed up in a custom jersey with his number that read MRS. HENNESSY on the back.
As was his habit, Brooks blew a kiss back before resuming his focus on the game.
This was the last game of the season, and Atlanta had done remarkably well for being a new team.
She’d learned to enjoy the game and had traveled all over with him during the season, but she was ready to have him to herself for a bit.
Between the surgery and treatment and the start of the season, they hadn’t had time for a proper honeymoon.
But all of it was worth it because she’d been officially declared cancer free.
Since last summer, they’d been making a list for all the things she wanted to do.
As they’d been able, on breaks and when the occasion arose while they traveled the country for away games, Brooks had helped her check quite a few off.
She’d seen Niagara Falls. Walked Rodeo Drive.
Swum with dolphins in Florida. And she’d learned to skate more than passably well—even if she did periodically fake a stumble just to have Brooks save her all over again.
With his ring on her finger, she figured she was entitled.
Now they’d be setting off next week for two whole months of globetrotting between seasons, while they worked their way through sixteen countries and three continents. Aspen couldn’t wait.
When the final buzzer sounded, Atlanta was up 1–0 and the crowd went wild. Used to the post-game chaos now, Aspen patiently made her way from her rink-side seat to the area where the press usually paused to interview players fresh from the game. She spotted a female reporter interviewing Brooks.
“—yet again, you score the winning goal. To what do you credit your success?”
He spotted her at the periphery and reached out to snag her, pulling her into the frame. “I’ve got my good luck charm.” He gave her a smacking kiss.
Aspen’s cheeks heated and she ducked her gaze, even as a satisfied smile curved her lips.
After nine months of marriage, she still wasn’t quite used to being so frequently in the public eye.
But since they’d been declared one of hockey’s most adorable couples, at least the attention had been mostly positive.
She even occasionally got asked for her autograph.
“Are you disappointed not to make the playoffs this year?”
Brooks tucked her against his side, his big hand curved possessively around her hip as he answered.
“No, I’m not disappointed at all. We’ve spent this season really building the team, working to create cohesion.
We’ve been successful at that, so everybody better look out next season because the Firebirds are going to be a force to be reckoned with. ”
The reporter smiled. “What do you plan to do next?”
His grin was impish. “I’m planning to take my wife on a new adventure.”
“Congratulations, you two.”
With a little wave, they turned away from the camera.
“There you have it, folks.” Behind them, the commentator continued to make observations about the game as Brooks led her out of the public space of the arena.
Aspen glanced up at her husband. “New adventure?”
“Yeah, I thought we might go to somewhere new. Maybe the Turks and Caicos Islands? Are you up for that?”
Heedless of the sweat, she looped her arms around his shoulders. “With you, always.”