Dallas Fire & Rescue_Brave Hearts

by Maddy Barone

  “You bet. Do you think he’ll approve of me?”

  “Yes, but it wouldn’t matter if he didn’t. I’m marrying you no matter what.”

  “When?” he asked instantly.

  “Tonight, if you like,” she said recklessly, love and hope cascading through her.

  His laugh was low and intimate. “Good. I’ll change my sheets.”

  Epilogue

  It didn’t happen quite that quickly. There was the business to dissolve, and the arson investigation to get through. The insurance claims took time finalize, but clothes and other necessities had to be replaced. José, Linda and Mary Ellen had to find new places to live. Homeless, Isabel had wanted to accept Dusty’s invitation to move in with him, but her grandfather wouldn’t hear of it. The aunts tittered and the uncles glowered. She joined the mob at Eduardo’s.

  Three months later, Isabel stood at the back of Santa Teresa de Avila Catholic Church. Her bridesmaids, all dressed in midnight blue tea gowns, were arrayed on the right side of the alter, and Dusty’s groomsmen were on the left. Brutus, Dusty’s best man, escorted Inez, her matron of honor, to the front. They parted and took their places on either side of the altar. Dusty, incredibly handsome in his dark gray tux with a midnight blue tie and cummerbund, stood before Father Sancho, looking to the back of the church. Behind her veil, Isabel’s eyes filled with tears. Who would have thought a world of agony on a desert road in Iraq would lead to this?

  The stately tones of the Wedding March swelled. The people in the pews stood and turned to look at the back of the church. On Dusty’s side of the church, his father and mother, sisters and brothers, and nieces and nephews filled four pews. She remembered Dusty telling her that his family was large and fiercely loyal to each other. During the last few days she had experienced it for herself. His parents had welcomed her with generous love to their family. Their welcome had relieved some of her fears about leaving her own family behind one day. All of them smiled at her now, even his solemn, four-year-old nephew, Arthur. Behind his family sat Dusty’s boss, Captain Stewart, and the men and women he worked with.

  On her side of her church were her family. Her brothers and their families. Her aunts and uncles and cousins. José. Linda and Mary Ellen. Ana Gonzalez and her three grandchildren. Pews on both sides of the aisle were full of family and friends here to witness her vows to Dusty Wolfe. Seeing the church so full made her want to cry happy tears.

  “Our turn,” her grandfather whispered. “Are you ready?”

  Ready to begin her new life as Isabel Ybarra de Wolfe? Ready to spend the rest of her life with the man she loved? She looked down the long aisle at the most wonderful man in the world and smiled confidently. Her heart soared when he smiled back.

  “Yes, Abuelo, I am ready.”

  The End

  About the Author

  Maddy Barone has held many jobs in her life, including medic in the US Army, sales clerk in a craft store, and financial examiner for Medicare, but her favorite job is that of writer. For fun she knits, spins (the making yarn kind, not the exercise kind *shudder*), and sews historical costumes for her alter ego in the SCA. The Society For Creative Anachronism is a historical organization that recreates the best parts of the Middle Ages. She lives in North Dakota USA with her three rescue cats. A percentage of her royalties go to a local no kill cat shelter called CATS Cradle. Learn more about the work they do at www.catscradleshelter.org.

  For exclusive excerpts and deleted scenes from more of Maddy’s work, sign up for her newsletter at http://eepurl.com/g64uU and visit her website at www.MaddyBarone.com.

  Thank you for reading Dusty and Isabel’s story!

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