Epilogue - Two
Two weeks later…
“I hope they like me.” Her knees were knocking together.
“They aren’t going to like you,” Ryan informed her flatly. “They are going to love you.”
She was not so sure. The twisting, churning in her gut told her this whole scene could be a disaster. “What happens if they don’t like me?” A question that would not stop running through her mind.
“Uh, I tell them to fuck off? That they’re idiots?”
Horror filled her. “You cannot tell your brother and sister to fuck off!” Oh, no.
This was bad. So bad. They’d arrived along the shores of a super cute, little southern town earlier that day, and now they were supposed to walk through the doors of a dive bar that was situated right on the gleaming, blue waters of the bay.
She’d already spied a few sailboats out on that water, and they’d made her happy and optimistic but…
“What if they don’t like me?” she whispered. If his family hated her, then maybe Ryan would change his mind about her. His family was so important to him and she—
“They will love you. And, who the hell cares if they don’t? They aren’t marrying you. I am.” He pressed a kiss to her temple. “Now, are we standing in the parking lot all evening or do you want to go inside?”
“Ryan…” A swift inhale. “You said that your sister is the sheriff here.” Actually, he’d revealed that his sister was a former FBI agent who was now the sheriff. “I’m…I’m a thief.”
“Who in the hell said you were that?”
Uh, she’d just said it.
“You are a retrieval specialist. You find the things that are lost.” He stood in her path. “You found me. I was lost until you came into my life.” His hand reached up, and he tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I’d still be lost without you.”
Oh, that was sweet. He could say some of the sweetest things.
He could do some of the sweetest things.
After they’d left London, he’d taken her to Vegas so that she could see Nana.
So that Simone could hug her over and over again, and Nana had been having such a good day.
She’d recognized Simone. She’d retold stories from Simone’s teenage years and she’d…
Nana smiled her sweet, beautiful smile when she put on her broach and earrings.
“I don’t care if my brother and sister love you or not,” Ryan added, voice rough and hard. “They can fuck off. I love you. You love me. That’s all that matters.”
A light peal of laughter drifted on the wind. A female voice ordered, “Oh, Ryan, stop being so charming!”
Ryan jerked in surprise, and then he whirled around. He whirled around just as a small woman with red hair, a very pregnant belly, and a big sheriff’s badge on her hip rushed toward him.
“Agnes!” Ryan called out in delight.
The sister.
He picked Agnes up into his arms and held her very, very carefully.
But Agnes had not been alone. A tall, broad-shouldered man with dark hair stood on the threshold of the dive bar.
His eyes were locked on Simone. One brown eye.
One blue. They glittered with hard curiosity.
This guy was just…intimidating. Intense.
He studied her with sharp focus and Simone found herself shifting nervously from foot to foot.
This guy did not look welcoming. He did not look as if he’d love her. He—
He smiled at her. “I’m Nash. Welcome to the family.”
Ryan had put Agnes back down on her feet.
The big, dangerous guy with the unusual eyes walked toward Simone. He had a hand extended toward her. Had he…had he really said welcome to the family?
“Forget shaking her hand,” Agnes called out. “Hug the woman, Nash! She’s marrying our brother!” Then she let out a cry that could only be described as delight. “She’s marrying our brother!”
Then there were a lot of hugs. There was laughter and raised voices and more people spilled out of the bar to join their little group.
A man with lots of tattoos, hard eyes, and an expression that would melt with love whenever he looked at his wife, Agnes.
A woman who rushed to hold Nash’s hand and who stared up at him as if he hung the very moon.
They greeted Simone with open arms. They rushed her into the bar. Music played and everyone celebrated and laughed and…
Simone might have cried. But she tried really, really hard not to let anyone see her tears. She swiped them away whenever they tried to trickle out. It was just…
Welcome to the family.
Her breath shuddered out.
Ryan pulled her onto the dance floor. A small dance floor in a small-town bar with people who accepted her without question.
“I love you,” he whispered into her ear. “I meant what I said, I’d be lost without you.”
Her hands curled around his shoulders, and she held him tight. She’d been afraid to dream, afraid to fantasize, for far too long. But everything she wanted was right there.
Found. Finally. The man she loved. The life she’d longed for…it was all right there. She’d found it. She’d fought for it. And she would never, ever let it go.
THE END