Epilogue
Carter
“Who would’ve thought, of all of us, Carter and Kelsey would be the first getting married,” JT says, sipping a glass of whiskey while we wait for the wedding coordinator to tell us it’s time to take our places.
JT and Jameson are both here, as well as Kelsey’s dad, Ken, and two of my Army buddies who flew in for the long weekend. We’re all dressed in our black suits, and we’ve been instructed to wait. So we’re doing that—talking, laughing, and drinking the finest whiskey two pro golfers could find.
The air in the room feels light, almost electric, with the nervous excitement that can only come before a wedding.
I glance around at the guys, each of us fidgeting in our own way.
Ken is smoothing down his tie for the fourth time, and Jameson is stretching his neck like he’s about to go to war.
JT, of course, is already on his second glass of whiskey, taking it like he’s preparing for some kind of emotional speech… which he might be.
We’re in the groom’s room in the back corner of a big red barn a few miles outside of Wild Bluffs. Calling it a wedding venue would be a bit insulting to places that host weddings every weekend, but it’s beautiful and rustic and was available at a month’s notice.
“It’d be romantic if they weren’t so practical about their shotgun wedding,” Jameson says.
I breathe in, stifling my eye roll. “It’s not a shotgun wedding. She isn’t pregnant.”
“So you both keep saying,” JT jokes.
I feel the weight of the words hanging in the air for a moment, the tone playful but edged with something deeper—something real.
It’s been a whirlwind these last few months between moving in together and building out the personal security side of the business.
Fast, yes. But it feels like everything is finally clicking into place.
Deciding to get married four months after we started dating wasn’t a decision Kelsey or I took lightly, but when my mom’s memory reached the place a month ago that I decided I needed to bring in someone to stay with her during the day, I just kept thinking that she might not remember my wedding.
That night, when we were lying next to each other in bed, I told Kelsey about it. Her response? “Let’s get married, then.”
I shrug, turning toward JT. “I know it’s fast, but it was important to me that my mom still be my mom at my wedding. She’s the only family I have.”
“Don’t let these assholes make you feel bad,” Ken says. “When you know, you know. Waiting months or years to figure it out doesn’t mean you’re any more likely to be happy together. It just means you’ve wasted more of your life not being with the woman you love.”
JT and Jameson share a look, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d guess Ken just won the local jewelry store a few new customers.
“Plus,” Ken continues, “Kelsey’s always known her mind. When she decided to share her home and her business with you, it was essentially the same thing as her proposing—she’s been in it this whole time.”
“So have I,” I say. Kelsey is the other half of my soul, the one I come back to again and again, no matter how long we’re apart—she’s my puffin. My mind may not have known it when we were in high school, but it turns out my heart sure as hell did.
“Did you know before the speeches that a baby puffin is called a puffling, Puff?” Wes, my buddy from my time in the Rangers, asks. “I almost shot my beer out my nose when Izzy included that in her speech yesterday. I sent it out in the WhatsApp group, and all the guys got a kick out of it.”
Damn Izzy and her fun facts. It’s a fucking adorable name for a baby animal, and now all I want to do is have a puffling of my own. Something I’ve never cared about before.
Ken winks at me. “There’s plenty of time before you start popping out pufflings. Though—”
Before Ken can finish his thought, the door swings open, and the wedding coordinator pokes her head in, looking at us with a knowing smile. “Gentlemen, it’s time.”
We all stand at once, and for a brief moment, I feel a weight settle in my chest. It’s a good weight. It’s the kind that comes with finally stepping into a life you’re meant to have. The nervous tension is gone, replaced by a calm certainty that this moment is exactly where I’m supposed to be.
I glance at my reflection in the mirror, adjusting my dark blue-and-green tie before walking out to the ceremony area.
It’s beautiful in a rustic way, with tall cottonwood trees and a slight green tinge to the light-brown grass.
The seats are old church pews that the guys and I moved outside this morning.
They were way heavier than anticipated, so I counted it as my workout for the day.
At the front is a simple metal arch with twigs and early spring flowers wrapped around the side.
It’s understated yet beautiful, simple yet bold—just like Kelsey.
My mom is waiting for me outside the door for me to escort her to her seat.
“Ready?” she asks, giving me a knowing look.
I nod, my hands steady. “I think I might’ve been waiting for this moment since high school. I’m just annoyed it took me so long to figure it out.”
I walk my mom to her seat next to Bill and Mildred and then step in front of Wes at the head of the line of groomsmen.
The music starts, and Lila exits the barn, smiling in a dress of darkest green, followed by Kelsey’s friend Sam in a dark green suit.
Izzy and Bryn come out together, Kelsey unwilling to pick either one of them to be her maid of honor.
She said it was because she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life listening to the other one bitch about it, but I know it’s because she couldn’t possibly choose between her two favorite people in the world.
Finally, the music changes, and everyone stands as the door to the barn opens again, Kelsey stepping out in a chic white jumpsuit.
The deep V-neckline draws my eyes down her strong silhouette, past the delicate lace that covers her stomach and hips before hitting the wide-leg pants that flow gracefully to the floor.
Her hair is a riot of soft waves floating behind her.
She looks perfect—elegant and modern and just so her.
I know she was a bit nervous when she decided against the traditional wedding dress her mom so badly wanted her to wear, but I can’t imagine a more perfect picture than the one in front of me.
Her steps are slow, purposeful, like she’s savoring every moment of this walk, this declaration of love.
As she and her dad make their way toward me, her blue eyes brighter today in the warm sunshine of eastern Colorado, I know I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.
When I came back to Wild Bluffs to care for my mom, I felt caged in by the dreams I was putting aside and leaving behind. But fate had other plans—it turns out, coming home set me free to live my wildest dreams.