by Holly Jacobs
Mrs. Nies, JoAnn from the B and B...
Colton’s yard was full of her family.
For years she’d felt like an orphan, but she hadn’t found a home when she’d moved to Valley Ridge, she’d found her family.
She’d worked hard over the years to face life with a sense of optimism and a smile. She tried to find the glee in...well, everything. Sometimes she could hardly contain it. And at this particular moment, she didn’t even try. She was so immensely happy she could hardly stand it. She knew with absolute and utter certainty that Colton McCray loved her.
As she gazed at him, his cowboy hat and wedding clothes in place, she didn’t have a fear in the world. She was so in love there simply wasn’t any room left for fear or doubt.
She walked up to him and smiled.
He looked at her and smiled back. “What happened to you?”
“Dance with me.”
“They turned the iPod off. I think they’re going to cut the cake or something,” he said.
She didn’t need music to dance with the man she loved. “Well, until they do, music or no music, dance with me.”
Colton didn’t argue, didn’t fight, he simply swept her into his arms and turned a slow circle on the lawn. “I was going to tell you that—”
Sophie put a finger over his lips. She didn’t need him to tell her anything. She already knew. “Shh.”
He peered down at her. “Something’s changed.”
“Nothing’s changed,” she said as they turned lazy circles. “I simply figured a few things out.” She tightened her hold on him and she knew she’d never let go again.
“Like what?”
“You love me,” she said with utter certainty. She looked up into his eyes and repeated, “You love me unconditionally and absolutely.”
He nodded. “Yes. That’s not a change.”
“And you love the baby that same way, already,” she continued. “You’d do anything—and I mean absolutely anything for him.”
He nodded again. “I would.”
She had to step on tiptoe to reach the brim of his hat, but she gave it a small tug. “You are a cowboy in the truest sense of the word. Not because of the hat, but because you’re kind and honest, and faithful—”
He snorted, interrupting her list of his finer qualities. “You make me sound like a dog.”
Sebastian stepped up onto Colton’s makeshift stage. “Hi, everyone. For those who might not know, I’m Sebastian Bennington.”
“I serve,” someone in the crowd yelled.
Sebastian laughed.
“I’m about to ask you something, but I already know the answer,” Sophie whispered.
Sebastian continued, “I wanted to say a few words about Finn and Mattie because I’m pretty sure my few words will be longer than any speech Colton would give.”
Everyone laughed and turned to Colton, who waved, then he whispered to Sophie, “What question?”
“Colton McCray, will you marry me?” She said the words with utter certainty both of his answer and of the fact that he loved her.
“...and that first day of school, Finn’s sister...”
“What?” he asked.
“Marry me. Make an honest woman of me. Let me move here to the farm with you. I know I kept secrets from you, but you love me despite that. You trust me.” She thought about the papers and about his words to his friends. “You’d do anything for me, even if it hurt you.”
“...the first time he saw Mattie she was wearing a diaper...”
“I would,” he said. “I’d walk away if you needed me to, but I’d never stop fighting to make you see I love you.”
She nodded. “And that’s why you don’t have to fight. I see it. More than that, I feel it. Marry me.”
“You name the time, place,” he said. “Tell me when and where and I’ll be there.”
“...then he really saw what we’d all seen, he loved her....”
“Here,” she said, feeling more certain about this than she’d ever felt about anything. “Marry me now. The minister’s still here. We still have a valid license. There’s an arbor up in the field that you built for me. Marry me. Mattie won’t care that we’re using their date. Finn won’t care.” She knew that, too. Mattie and Finn were their family. They’d share a wedding date with perfect happiness.
Colton didn’t need to be asked again. He grabbed her hand and practically dragged her over to the porch, where the newly married couple listened as Sebastian wound down with, “So, congratulations Finn and Mattie. I hope your life brings you nothing but joy.”
Sebastian spotted him. “You had something to say?” he asked Colton loudly, then added, “Don’t worry, folks, this won’t take long.”
Colton nodded and jumped onto the porch next to him, pulling Sophie up, as well. As if he were afraid to let her go.
“Finn and Mattie,” he said, “I feel as if Sophie and I get some of the credit for you two falling in love. I mean, you witnessed what true and everlasting love looks like when you saw us together. And we kept putting you two together, despite your difficulties, for our wedding. So, I’m going to ask you a big favor.”
“Anything,” Finn promised.
“Let us share an anniversary with the two of you. Sophie said she’d marry me and I’d like to seal the deal before she changes her mind.”
“I’m not changing it,” she assured him. “I’m not changing it ever.”
Colton reached into his pocket and pulled out her engagement ring. “I don’t have our wedding rings, but I’ve been carrying this with me since you took it off.” He held out the ruby ring. “I’d like it to stand in for our wedding rings, if that works for you.”
“Ring, gum-machine plastic or no ring, I’m marrying you.”
* * *
FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER, Sophie was walking down the field toward the arbor that Colton had built. Her friends and the Valley Ridge community stood crowded on either side. It was reminiscent of their almost-wedding. Lily and Mattie stood to the left of the arbor, Finn and Sebastian stood to the right, next to Colton, who was watching every step she took down the aisle.
Sophie walked toward the man she loved. She was aware that she was surrounded by friends, but her eyes were only on him.
He might not be perfect, but he was perfect for her. And he’d seen all her imperfections and loved her anyway.
Sophie normally thought of herself as a happy person, but at the moment, she was so much more than happy. The only word she could think of that even came close was gleeful, and even that was not enough.
Colton had his hands behind his back, and he pulled out his hat.
Her cowboy.
In a community of farmers, vintners, business people, he was her cowboy.
She reached his side.
“Dearly beloved,” the minister started. “Here we are again. Not only for a second wedding today, but for a second time with Colton and Sophie. And just to settle everyone’s nerves, let me ask, before we start, if anyone has any objections to their marrying.”
Everyone turned toward Tori, who laughed and called out, “The only objection I have is you’re taking too long.”
“There you have it then. Dearly beloved, we are gathered here...”
Sophie lost herself in the words. In the feel of Colton’s hand in hers. In the waves of love that seemed to beat against her like waves on the sand.
She looked at the man next to her. He was her happily ever after.
No, this wasn’t the end of their story. It was only the beginning.
EPILOGUE
TORI FELT A SENSE of being home as the winefest wound down and she walked along Valley Ridge’s main street, Park Street, with Joe at her side. His little sisters ran up ahead of them. “I’ll miss you,” he said. “It seems like you just got here.”
She felt a little shiver at the words. She wanted to tell him that she would miss him, too. That she hated leaving Valley Ridge, and him. But she didn’t want to go too fast. She
was a kid and so was he. They lived in two different cities, and though they texted a lot and used Skype, too, it wasn’t the same as living in the same town.
Plus, there were her birth parents to think about. They’d been young when they’d fallen in love. They’d thought they had the future planned, but then Sophie had gotten pregnant and...
No, she wasn’t in a hurry, so she slugged Joe lightly on the arm and said, “I’ve been here since Friday. That’s the whole weekend. Plus, you talk to me every day.”
“Texting isn’t seeing you.” He paused, then asked, “Are you going to come spend all of winter break with Sophie?”
“Well, she’s out at the farm now, and we don’t drive—”
“You do,” he teased.
“Well, I know how, but I’ve learned my lesson and I’ll be waiting for a learner’s permit like everyone else. So, even if I’m here the whole break, you still won’t see much of me.” He looked disappointed and Tori felt sort of flattered that he wanted to see her that much. “But I’m sure Sophie and Colton will let you come out and spend time at the farm. Sophie got her chickens and she’s trying to talk Colton into a horse.”
Joe laughed. “He’ll do it. He’d do anything for her.”
She spotted her mom and dad standing in front of a vacant store next to Hank’s diner. “Hi, what are you guys doing staring into that mess?”
“I wouldn’t say it was a mess,” her dad said. “Just imagine it painted and cleaned up.”
Her mom sighed. “Your dad’s a dreamer.”
“That’s why you love me.” He leaned down and kissed her mom’s cheek, right there on the main street of Valley Ridge where anyone could see them. Where she and Joe had to witness it.
“Gross,” Tori said with emphasis.
Joe laughed. His two little sisters had reached the corner and turned around to come back to them.
“This is where the ghosts live,” Mica said in a small, serious voice.
“Joe said if we’re bad, he’s gonna make us come sleep over with the ghosts. I had a bunch of bad dreams, and Daddy yelled at Joe and he said there’s no ghosts, but...” Allie let the sentence trail off.
“Joe,” Tori said, “that’s horrible.” She knelt down and looked at his little sisters. “There are no ghosts.”
“Yeah, that’s what Daddy said,” Allie said, though neither girl looked convinced.
Still shaking her head, Tori stood and asked her parents, “So what were you looking at?”
“I was saying that this would be the perfect storefront for an art studio. I was talking to Mattie’s brother Ray, the one that’s the mayor, and he said the town has a growing tourist business. A small art gallery, maybe with some specialty books on the area and...”
“Wait, are you thinking about buying it?”
“No, not really. Your mom works in Cleveland and I...” He shook his head. “No, I’m only dreaming out loud.”
But there was something about the look her mom and dad shot each other that had Tori wondering.
“You better go find Sophie and say goodbye. We need to hit the road soon. Tomorrow’s a school day.” Her mom threw in the school-day part as if it was something to be excited about, but Tori wasn’t excited. She would never be as excited about school as her college president mother.
“I’ll go find everyone and say goodbye, then meet you at the car.”
“Sophie was at the diner,” her dad said.
“I should probably get these guys home,” Joe said. “They’ve got school tomorrow, too.”
“We’re girls, not guys,” Mica said, all proper and prim.
“Well, girls, I’ll see you next time I’m home.” Tori turned to Joe. “I’ll talk to you.”
“Text me on the ride home?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
He nodded, took his sisters’ hands and started back down the block.
The crowds were thinning out. It had been crazy busy in town this weekend because of winefest. Sophie had been so happy.
Tori walked into the diner, and saw Sophie, Colton and their friends at a back table. But there were a lot of people to get past before she reached them. She started to make her way through the crowd, and though hugging wasn’t something she did any more often than crying, she found herself being hugged by everyone. Marilee and Vivienne, Mrs. Nies and JoAnn.
She’d made it through the bulk of the crowd when Sebastian’s grandfather, Mr. Hank, came over. “Leanne, what did you do to your hair?”
Tori, like everyone else in town, knew that on occasion Mr. Hank’s memory wasn’t very good. She didn’t know who Leanne was, but she didn’t care. She simply played along. “Do you like it?”
“It has a blue stripe in it. You look...cute, though.”
This time she didn’t wait for someone to hug her, she reached out and hugged the older man, hoping he thought she was this Leanne. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Don’t be gone too long. I miss you when you’re not here. I love you.”
She stood on tiptoe and kissed the older man’s cheeks. “I love you, too.”
Sophie was surrounded by her friends. Mattie and Finn, with their kids yammering at least a dozen times over the course of the weekend about their honeymoon at Disney.
Tori didn’t even need to guess what Lily was talking about as she approached. “And I’m getting in a truckload of poinsettias for the church....”
Tori stood behind Lily, listening as she described her wedding again. It was going to be just after Thanksgiving, but before Christmas, and Lily was as excited as a kid with presents under a tree over it.
Tori looked at the three couples. Colton and Sophie, who was now so pregnant that Tori wasn’t sure she’d be able to walk if the baby got any bigger. Mattie and Finn. They weren’t much for mushy displays, but he had his arm over Mattie’s chair, and they sat close together as they both listened to Lily. And Sebastian. He was looking at Lily, nodding as he used his scarred hand to raise a glass to his lips.
Sebastian caught her staring at his arm. “Frankenstein, huh?”
“No, it gives you an air of danger,” she teased.
Sebastian started to laugh, and Lily leaned into him and took his mangled hand in hers.
It was kind of gross to see grown-ups so totally in love, and kind of nice, too. That’s how she tended to feel about her mom and dad.
Lily took a breath and Sophie said, “Sit down, Tori.”
“I can’t. I wanted to say goodbye to everyone.”
“We’ll see you at the wedding, right?” Lily asked.
“I wouldn’t miss it.”
Sophie got out of her chair with a great deal of difficulty and waddled over to Tori. “I’m going to hug you now, but Cletus is kicking up a storm, so you’ll probably get kicked when I do.”
And, so saying, she pulled Tori into an awkward-because-of-her-size hug.
“Were you this big with me?” Tori asked.
“Yes. It seems when you’re just a bit over five feet, there’s really nowhere for the baby to go but straight out.”
“I’ll call,” Tori promised. “And we’ll be back for the wedding and the holidays. Mom and Dad said they’re really going to try to get me here for when the baby comes.”
“Your brother can’t wait to meet you.”
“Yeah, my brother.” It still felt weird to think of having a sibling. Weird, but nice. “So, I’ll see you.”
Sophie leaned close and whispered in her ear the word perfect. It had become her standard goodbye. And even though she knew she wasn’t perfect, Tori felt sort of warm all over knowing that Sophie and her parents thought she was.
“Bye.” She hurried out before she got all teary like Sophie always did. Then she ran back and whispered in Sophie’s ear, “I love you.”
She dashed out before Sophie could cry, and she practically ran over Maeve outside the diner.
Maeve smiled when she saw her and ran a hand through her very wild red hair.
“Why
are you out here?” Tori asked.
“I needed a breather,” Maeve said. “I think everyone in town is celebrating the winefest’s success at Hank’s tonight.”
Tori realized that Maeve always seemed a bit removed from the rest of the town. She came to the parties and the like, but she never appeared to be totally a part of them. It was as if she was always sitting on the front porch while the rest of the town was in the backyard.
She seemed...lonely.
Tori felt kind of sorry for her. “Well, if this were the Wizard of Oz, I’d be Dorothy climbing into my balloon and telling you goodbye.”
“And I’d be?” Maeve asked with a smile.
“Scarecrow. You taught me so much, Maeve. I know Mom, Dad and Sophie thought spending my summer working for free at a library would be a punishment for stealing the car—”
“Yeah, don’t ever do that again,” Maeve said.
“I won’t. But working with you wasn’t a punishment. I know what I’m going to go to college for.”
“Oh?” A piece of Maeve’s hair blew across her face, though there didn’t seem to be a breeze. Maeve shoved at it, trying to push it back with the rest of her curls, but it didn’t want to go. It crept to the edge of her hairline.
Tori loved her boss’s crazy hair, though Maeve muttered about it all the time. “I’m going into library sciences. I want to be a children’s librarian. I want to do story times, and help kids find books. Thanks for that.”
“Well, thank you for all the work this summer. And for helping out this weekend at the book fair tent.”
Maeve had put many of the donated books she couldn’t use up for sale at the winefest.
Tori had just hugged half of Valley Ridge, but she realized that Maeve didn’t feel like someone who was used to hugging. So she moved in slow and hugged her boss. “See you in a few weeks.”
Man, Sophie was rubbing off on her. She’d turned into a sappy, teary-eyed mess.
Tori hurried down the street toward her parents and looked back over her shoulder at Maeve. She was beautiful and had singlehandedly reopened the library. All summer she’d passed Tori books, and always helped anyone who needed it at the library.
But standing there by herself, she seemed like the loneliest person Tori had ever met.