by Lucy Score
The moment was coming. Their own little sparkling second in an evening overflowing with love. Gloria knew Harper would be over the moon. That’s what friends did. They loved and cheered for each other no matter what was going on in their own lives.
She watched her friend’s face carefully as Aldo sang about giving her his ring. And when he held up Gloria’s hand, when the lights hit the ring just right, Gloria felt Harper’s joy as sharp and swift as if it were her own. She felt the crowd’s too when the entire bar got to its feet. They were cheering for her. For the happily ever after that she’d earned.
Harper jumped up, eyes shining bright, and blew them a kiss.
It was the perfect moment.
They finished with a flourish, and then Aldo was bending her over backwards and laying a kiss on her that had the crowd roaring. Or maybe that was just the blood in her head, the joy in her system.
There was no more “poor little Gloria Parker” here. No more Gloria Who Left Glenn After the First Time. Only Gloria Parker, the luckiest woman in town.
Gloria hopped off the stage, and Harper dove for her hand. The diamond sparkled like the bright, shiny promise it was. They wrapped each other in a fierce hug. “I am so happy for you two.” Harper’s voice quavered with feeling.
Gloria cupped her friend’s cheek in her hand. But words failed her.
“We wouldn’t be here without you, Harp,” Aldo yelled over the noise, moving in for his own hug.
“We’re hoping you’ll agree to be our maid of honor,” Gloria said, clasping her hands together. She was planning a wedding. Dear Lord help her. She needed her best friend by her side.
“Are you serious?” Harper yelped. “Oh, you guys! I would be honored!”
Gloria hugged her again. “Mind if we join you?”
“Please! Sophie disappeared. I can’t believe she’s missing this.” Gloria and Aldo shared a mischievous look.
Someone produced a third chair, and they all crowded around the tiny table. The excitement of the moment, of what was to come, gave Gloria goosebumps.
Harper leaned in. “This is a pretty incredible send-off,” she whispered with a sad smile.
Gloria bit her lip and smiled. She didn’t trust herself not to shout “Just you wait!”
Aldo dug into the nachos. “I was too nervous to eat dinner tonight,” he confessed.
Harper laughed. “You guys were great.”
“Wait until you see the next act,” Gloria winked.
She didn’t have long to wait. They were already taking the stage.
The Garrisons. And Joni.
Sophie was front and center with Claire and Joni flanking her. Charlie, James, Uncle Stu, and Ty crowded in behind them. They were all wearing ugly Christmas sweaters that said Garrison X’mas.
The funky ’70s beat of Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family” filled the bar. The women moved toward the mic in unison.
They pointed to Harper and sang to her about family. And Gloria felt goose bumps rise on her arms. She and Harper would start families together here in Benevolence. They would raise children together and host book clubs and bake sales and work long hours. They would come home to men who loved them, treated them as partners. Their future was so bright and shiny that Gloria couldn’t see through the tears for a moment.
Aldo, reading her thoughts, reached under the table and squeezed her knee. She blinked back the tears, and he mouthed the words that had changed her life.
I love you.
She squeezed his hand back, realizing she had so much more to say to him.
The Garrisons’ number ended, and the entire family paraded off the stage, pausing to hug and kiss Harper. And then Gloria felt the shift in the air.
Luke stood alone in front of the mic, hands in his pockets.
Aldo squeezed her knee again.
Luke cleared his throat, and the noise around the bar died down. “I’d like to dedicate this song to one of the women I’ve been lucky enough to love in this lifetime. I don’t deserve you, Harper, but I hope you won’t hold that against me because I love you with every piece of me.”
Harper squeaked out a sound, her mouth open in shock.
It was Gloria’s heart’s turn to burst with happiness for her friend. Luke had barely begun “Angel Eyes,” and Gloria could see that Harper had already forgiven him. Harper was crying. She was crying. Even Aldo’s eyes looked a little extra glossy.
There was so much love in this room that Gloria thought her heart might not be able to take it. When Luke pulled Harper up on stage, when he kissed her like it was the first and last time, Gloria tugged Aldo to his feet.
Together, they wove their way through the crowd, shaking hands, accepting hugs and congratulations. When they finally made it to the door, Gloria pushed it open and sighed into the quiet night.
Christmas was coming, and the entire town was decked out. Even Remo’s had icicle lights dripping from its porch roof. The night air was crisp and cold and full of promise.
“Is everything okay?” Aldo asked as she pulled him toward the far end of the parking lot. She found the spot in the gravel where her life had almost ended before it began and turned to face him and took a breath.
“More than okay,” she said, watching the worry ease from his handsome face. “Everything is perfect.”
“You’re going to freeze to death out here, Glo,” Aldo said, rubbing her arms with his hands.
“Nothing could freeze what’s inside of me tonight,” she told him. “You glued on a fake mustache and got on stage in tie-dye to support a friend. You didn’t care if you looked silly or if someone would make fun of you. You did it because you love your friend and you wanted him to be happy.”
“Also the mustache. I’m totally digging it.”
“I love how big your heart is, Aldo.”
His hands slowed their motion on her skin. His gaze turned serious. But she knew that he understood that she had things to say.
“You love so big, Aldo. And that’s what makes you strong. Your love makes me stronger and braver than I ever thought I could be.”
She looked down at the gravel under their feet. At the spot where it had begun…and ended. “This is where it all started. This exact spot where my life almost ended. And now I’m standing here with you, and everything is just beginning. I can see us years into the future. I can see babies and football and Sunday brunches and that damn cat. I can see college visits and Mediterranean cruises. Wrinkles and doctor appointments, retirement accounts. Quiet nights with nothing but your skin on mine. I see a life with you, Aldo. Not just the good pieces.”
He reached up and cupped her face in his hands.
“I’m going to spend the rest of my life loving you, trusting you, supporting you,” she promised. “And this, right here, is just the beginning.”
She kissed him. Softly, sweetly, with all of the hope and joy that threatened to burst free from the tetherings of her soul.
He held her like she was precious and strong and infinitely perfect. Kissed her like he’d never have enough. And together they loved bolder than pain, fiercer than history, and brighter than all the Christmas lights.
Want More Aldo and Gloria!
Gimmie More
Hmm, I wonder what Gloria and Aldo are doing seven or eight years in the future?
Tap Here: I need this bonus epilogue more than oxygen!
(You know you want to. It only costs your email address. You’ll be added to my newsletter and you can unsubscribe at any time. To be up front, I plan to lure you in with witty, sporadic, rarely annoying emails so you’ll probably never leave.)
Gimmie Even More
If you’re thinking you could really go for some more Benevolence right now, you’re in luck! Did you know Luke and Harper have their own story? If you missed it, or you want to revisit them, check out Pretend You’re Mine.
And guess who will be joining Gloria and Aldo and Luke and Harper in the happily ever after club?
Lincoln Reed, permabachelor and
woman connoisseur, meets his match in 2019.
Author’s Note to the Reader
Dear Reader,
I literally don’t know what to say right now besides thank you for reading Finally Mine! This book was a very long time in the making and I hope you found the wait worth it. So far, Aldo is my favorite book hero to date and Gloria’s character arc was one of the most challenging and rewarding I’ve ever written.
Gloria’s story was so important to me to tell. Many of you have your own stories. And whether your share them or not, I hope you know you’re not alone. Gloria wasn’t. I wasn’t. You aren’t. And I sincerely hope you feel that.
Whew, okay! Let’s talk about what a trip it was to revisit Benevolence and Luke and Harper! I had written Pretend You’re Mine as a standalone. But y’all kept emailing me. And messaging me. And posting comments. For three years. It took me a long time before I was ready—and I originally thought Gloria and Aldo would be a novella. HA! 108,000 words later, thank you for forcing me to write this book.
If you loved Gloria and Aldo (and of course Mrs. Moretta) please consider leaving an embarrassingly glowing review and telling a few hundred of your closest friends who enjoy reading contemporary romance and eating tacos.
Want to hang out and be book pals? Follow me on Facebook and join me in my reader’s group: Lucy Score’s Binge Readers Anonymous. I’m also on Instagram. And if you want first dibs on preorders and sales and awesome bonus content, sign up for my newsletter! You will be dazzled by my sparkling wit and fart jokes. #classy
Xoxo,
Lucy
About the Author
Lucy Score is a Wall Street Journal and #1 Amazon bestselling author. She grew up in a literary family who insisted that the dinner table was for reading and earned a degree in journalism. She writes full-time from the Pennsylvania home she and Mr. Lucy share with their obnoxious cat, Cleo. When not spending hours crafting heartbreaker heroes and kick-ass heroines, Lucy can be found on the couch, in the kitchen, or at the gym. She hopes to someday write from a sailboat, or oceanfront condo, or tropical island with reliable Wi-Fi.
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Acknowledgments
It takes a freakin’ army to keep me on task and get a book from blank page to your hands. Thank you, from the bottom of my cold, dead heart, to:
•My readers who begged, pleaded, and threatened me for three years before I finally delivered this book. Now you can stop.
•Andrea for being brave and beautiful, raw and real while sharing her story with me and making sure that Gloria shined.
•Kari March of Kari March Designs for nailing this cover.
•Joyce and Tammy for being the best damn admins in the whole damn world.
•The maker of fuzzy blankets. You make me feel loved because my cat will only sit on me if I’m under a fuzzy blanket.
•Dawn, Amanda, and Jessica for finding all of my misplaced commas and bringing to my attention such questions as “Is she on her back or her knees?”
•Mr. Lucy for bringing me to the beach to work and feeding me tacos and martinis. Also for doing all the work that I don’t want to do. You’re a good man.
•The beta readers who bravely stepped into this story before it was polished and pretty.
•Carlina for suggesting I write this particular story.
•My author posse without whom/who (crap, I already paid the editors off at this point) my life would be empty and sad and waaaaay less distracting.
Lucy’s Titles
Standalone Titles
Undercover Love
Ashley is given the keys to revenge on her cheating fiancé when she teams up with billionaire Jason Baine to bring him and his mistress down.
Pretend You’re Mine
Harper starts her life over again with a fake relationship with real-life hero Luke. But fake and real and hidden truths soon turn into one unforgettable love story.
Finally Mine
Wounded veteran Aldo wishes for his old life, while Gloria tries to build a new one. Between scars and second chances, these two collide. Will they help each other heal or do more harm?
Mr. Fixer Upper
Gannon King’s on-set clashes with his field producer Paige drag them both further into the spotlight. And as the network pushes for more drama, things heat up behind closed doors.
The Christmas Fix
Cat King arrives in Merry with a camera crew, a big budget, and the intent to put the town back together again after a devastating hurricane. Christmas is just around the corner. Can she convince the surly city manager to trust her?
Heart of Hope
Single mom Bristol begins to fight through her grief with the help of sexy stranger Beau. But Beau has a secret that will affect her entire family.
The Worst Best Man
Business mogul Aiden has never met a woman who can hold his attention for longer than a month or two. Until Franchesca, a smart mouth girl with a big Brooklyn attitude. Can he conquer the unconquerable?
The Blue Moon Small Town Romance Series
Where It All Began
Find out where Blue Moon got its start in this prequel. John Pierce is a farmer enjoying his solitude until the grad student he reluctantly agreed to take on turns out to be a woman.
No More Secrets
Carter Pierce is a gorgeous veteran who doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty tending the family farm, but he’s not in the mood to be shadowed by a big city journalist.
Fall into Temptation
Beckett Pierce is the charming mayor of Blue Moon with a soft spot for women who are trouble, especially when they live in his guesthouse.
The Last Second Chance
Jackson Pierce is the returning prodigal son. With a successful career as a Hollywood screenwriter, he has everything. Everything but the girl he left behind.
Not Part of the Plan
Emma’s got her whole life planned out. And that plan doesn’t include a detour with hunky fashion photographer and notorious ladies’ man, Nikolai Vulkov.
Holding on to Chaos
Sheriff Donovan Cardona has his hands full when his town loses its collective mind, not to mention the red-headed disaster who’s keeping secrets and accidentally flashing him every five seconds.
The Fine Art of Faking It
Can two enemies fake a relationship long enough to take down the meddling Beautification Committee? Find out in this new chapter in the Blue Moon small town romance series.
Bootleg Springs Series
Whiskey Chaser
Scarlett is a hell-raising tomboy with a tool belt. She’s only being neighborly when she makes her sexy next-door neighbor her new pet project.
Sinner and Saint
Crossing the Line
It’s hate at first sight when Xavier, a by-the-book bodyguard, meets starlet Waverly who is desperate to leave the sparkle and danger of Hollywood behind her.
Breaking the Rules
A dangerous game brings Xavier back into Waverly’s life. He’s the only one who can get her out alive, but will she ever trust him again?