Epilogue
Three Months Later
Tessa stood next to Lia by the door to the terrace in Sam’s study as the sun dipped below the horizon.
The heavens had blessed their wedding day with unseasonably warm weather, just like when she’d met Hudson.
Heat lamps and the white tent erected over the terrace would keep wedding guests warm throughout the night.
The chairs set up in front of the arch teemed with friends of the Langley family, Hudson’s rugby and military buddies, and Tessa’s friends from Bay County Memorial.
After the ceremony, there would be a bonfire on the beach, just like Hudson had promised.
She smoothed her hand down her white halter dress. The tiny beads on the bodice that fanned out to the formfitting skirt grazed her fingers. The ruby earrings Hudson had given her last night hung from her ears. Another ruby dangled from a thin platinum chain around her neck.
Lia handed her a bouquet of deep red roses. “Ready to get married to a gorgeous man in the most beautiful place on the Jersey Shore?”
She looked out the window, past the fairy tale setting on the terrace, to the ocean. Every grain of sand and piece of stone, from the driveway to the water’s edge, and everyone who lived and loved in the house felt like the home she’d been searching for her entire life.
She let out a deep, joy-kissed sigh. “This really is the most beautiful place on earth.”
Much to her surprise, Vivian hadn’t lobbied for a country club extravaganza.
Instead, she’d planned the wedding Tessa had never dared to dream about.
Somewhere between bulldozing the florist to add three hundred more roses and booking a string quartet that played eighties rock because classy can be edgy too, Tessa had bonded with her as quickly as she had with Sam.
Shayla picked up her bouquet from a table.
“I agree that this is the most beautiful place on earth, but I’m not going to lie.
I’m jealous as hell right now, but I’m happy for you.
” She kissed Tessa on the cheek as she peered at the crowd seated on the right.
“And by the end of the night, I plan to let one of Hudson’s military buddies out there make me very happy. ”
Tessa laughed, the sound as beautiful in her ears as the instrumental music from the terrace. She’d been surprised at how easily a friendship with Shayla blossomed the more time they spent together.
She peeked down to make sure Sam’s letter was securely tucked inside her bouquet. As she looked up, her full heart executed a flip.
Hudson stood at the edge of the terrace next to the General under an arch adorned with greenery and red roses, like he’d been dropped from the heavens. He’d chosen not to wear his uniform. He was officially retired from the Navy now and on his way to an even bigger opportunity.
Project VIPER.
They’d had a long discussion, well more like an argument, the morning after her abduction. Hudson had said he was fully retiring from military service because she’d been through enough turmoil in her life and he didn’t want his career to bring on more.
She’d told him hell no.
She loved the mansion and every reminder of Sam, but Hudson, not a house, was all the stability she needed. Besides, after surviving Frank, she could handle anything.
And after Hudson had asked her to marry him on the beach a few nights later, just the two of them under stars and a pile of blankets, he made love to her in the sand.
Smiling, she ran her finger over the small tuft of fur she’d snipped from Fluffy. She’d tucked the reminder of her favorite memory with her mother into her bouquet between Sam’s letter and a butterscotch wrapper.
Every week she sent Frank his favorite candy. And each week he sent back a short letter from prison with an empty wrapper. She hoped the smugglers who’d kidnapped her and Frank were rotting in a dark cell, and that Passage International was next to go down.
The string quartet hit the first chord of an eighties rock song about living on a prayer, the same song that was playing when Hudson showed up in Sam’s kitchen.
Vivian sailed in with a clipboard. “Okay, showtime.” She waved Malcolm and Ralphie, and Lia’s mom from the bar. “Put down your drinks and get over here.”
Malcolm appeared and offered his arm to Lia's mom to walk her down the aisle. Vivian nodded for them to go.
Malcolm held out his other arm. “This one’s for you, Viv?”
Vivian’s breath hitched. “What?” Her hand flew to her chest, tears brimming in her kohl-lined eyes.
Tessa took the clipboard from her. “Time to be fabulous, Aunt Viv.”
“You horrible, wonderful girl.” Vivian dabbed at her eyes. “You’re going to make my mascara smear.”
“Then stop crying and get your ass down the aisle.”
As the trio made their way to the altar with Shayla a few paces behind them, Lia muttered something under her breath about Malcolm still being an ass.
Tessa bit back a giggle and met her bestie’s gaze. “We are so talking about that later over shots.”
Lia’s smirk promised trouble.
She leaned over and kissed Tessa on the cheek. “Love you, sweetie.” With a grin and a wink, she proceeded down the aisle.
As the music switched, Ralphie held out his arm. “I guess we’re up.”
“Don’t you dare cry or I’ll cry too, and then Vivian will interrupt the ceremony to fix my make-up.”
Ralphie’s jaw trembled. “Can you feel him? He’s here.”
Tessa pulled in a breath full of Sam too. “Right on my other side.”
Taking Ralphie’s arm, she stepped onto the white cloth runner at the top of the aisle. Dozens of eyes swung her way, but she only saw Hudson as she stepped out onto the terrace. Sam’s terrace, where he’d declared in his letter that he was not matchmaking from the grave.
Bullshit.
Hudson beamed a smile at her. She had no doubt he was recalling that moment too as she slowly made her way toward him and forever.
The music faded as Ralphie placed her hand in Hudson’s.
The General slid under the archway. Ralphie took his spot next to Malcolm.
As everyone she loved settled into their places for the ceremony, she inhaled the smell of salt, bourbon, and the kind of love she’d dreamed about but thought she didn’t deserve.
Her superhero on the fridge, the man who set her straight, cupped her face in his hands and dipped his head to hers.
“You look beautiful, little thief.”
She answered with a brush of her lips against his. With a groan only she could hear, he deepened the kiss.
The General cleared his throat. “I know I’m only ordained online, but I’m positive the kiss comes later.”
Tessa ignored him and kissed the priceless gift she’d received from an old man who'd believed the two people he loved could heal each other's broken parts and build a life together.
As Hudson turned her toward the beach, not one, but a dozen bonfires lit up the coastline, lighting the future waiting for them. Somewhere beyond the flames, she could hear Sam saying, “Told you so.”
The End
Thanks for reading Too Broken to Love.