Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 32426 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 130(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32426 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 130(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
Thea glances at me, and we share a chuckle. “She’s an amazing grandmother, but she will spoil them rotten if you turn your back for one minute.”
“You have kids?” I ask as I follow her up the stairs.
“Emma. She’s already after us for another one.” She opens the door to the bedroom. “This is the nursery for Danny. Jasper made the murals on the wall. He won’t tell you this because my bossy mountain man is way too modest, but he’s a big deal in the art world. Like really big.”
I take in the scene of the playful farm animals with smiling faces. In the picture, there’s a little boy toddling along with a big, brown dog beside him.
“It’s perfect,” I breathe out. “It must have taken him days.”
She shrugs. “He started working the moment Nate called him.”
Tears fill my eyes again. This is so much better than I could have imagined. It’s like we fit into his world.
“I never thought I would have all this again,” I say, and turn toward Nate, who has been trailing us from room to room, looking as nervous as a kid in the principal’s office. “I feel like I’m home.”
He pulls me into his arms. “Good, because you are.”
Thea slips from the room as he kisses me, slowly and deeply, his lips tasting of family and forever. This is the start of our happily ever after.
“What do you think?” I twirl in front of the girls as the wedding gown swishes around my ankles in Danny’s nursery where I’ve been getting ready for the past few hours. I feel like a beauty queen today. The girls have spent their day pampering me. In just a few minutes, I’m getting married to the love of my life.
From the comfort of Emma May’s arms, Danny grunts his approval, and I laugh. He’s becoming fast friends with her. The two of them are bonding, and she’s made it clear that she’ll help with anything he needs.
“It’s beautiful!” Thea beams.
I’m marrying Nate here on his farm, right in the living room. There are plenty of beautiful places in town where we could get married. But I wanted it to happen right here, right in my new home.
“I love all the lace,” Sophie adds. She’s another one of Emma May’s daughters by marriage. I’m not sure of her husband’s real name. Everyone calls him Whiskey. I don’t know him that well, but Nate seems to like both Jasper and Whiskey.
“How did you meet your husbands?” I ask the girls.
“I met Jasper at a client’s wedding,” Thea says. She told me earlier today that she’s a manager for country music stars. “We made our own music together that night, and I left the next morning, thinking that it was over. When I came back to tell him I was pregnant, he kind of tricked me into getting snowed into his cabin. It’s not my fault. He makes the best pie, and before I knew it, the snowdrifts were taller than me.”
“And that is how I got my first grandbaby,” Emma May beams.
“What about you?” I ask Sophie.
“Someone went online and pretended to be Whiskey and rented out his cabin to me.”
“Like a scam?” I gasp and adjust my veil.
Sophie reaches for it, straightening it until it’s perfectly positioned.
“It was not a scam,” Emma May sniffs. “It was the act of a desperate person who wanted her son to find love, which he did, and I couldn’t be happier with the bride he chose.”
“Devious,” I say, glancing at Emma May.
“But it was the best thing that ever happened to me,” Sophie says. “We were both pretty lost and going through some things. We healed together in the middle of our darkness.”
“That sounds like a beautiful beginning,” I murmur happily. A lot of beautiful beginnings seem to happen right here in Courage County.
There’s a knock on the door then Jasper’s head appears. The first thing he does is scan for Thea. When his gaze meets hers, his whole face lights up. The same way that Nate’s does when he sees me.
“It’s time,” he calls softly.
Emma May walks me into the living room where my groom is waiting at the fireplace with Whiskey, our officiant. In Nate’s arms is Danny and beside them is Rudy. The three of us are becoming a family today, so it’s important to me that they are right here with us.
Whiskey is next to Nate and Rudy. He’s got the rings, and he won’t stop beaming at Sophie every time he looks at her. Nate said they’re newlyweds. You can definitely tell from the glow they both seem to have.
Thea and Sophie are standing on the bride’s side. Mary and Christopher are smiling from the TV. We’re livestreaming our wedding to the Naughty List Ranch so they can share our special day with us.