Epilogue

Brett saw Ben coming.

Jacie whirled under his arm, he spun her out, then back. Then he held on tight to his woman.

Ben had Trudy along.

“Great wedding, buddy.” Ben thrust out a hand and smiled so big Brett couldn’t stop himself from smiling back as they shook. His twin brother.

“Can you believe we both got married so fast?” Brett slid his arm around Jacie’s waist. Ben did the same for Trudy. The two women smiled at each other.

Trudy was a softie. Jacie, tough-as-nails. Except lately she’d been real sweet.

“And can you believe Mom pulled off this wedding in two weeks?”

Ben’s had taken only slightly longer but it had been traditional. In a church with a reception in a hotel. Very orderly.

Brett’s was in his parents’ back yard. He looked around. They were on a dance floor Mom had rented. There were flowers everywhere, including all over the arch under which he and Jacie had gotten married about an hour ago.

Dad had smoked a hog and roasted half a beef, with help from Jim, their game warden brother, who was a whiz at cooking outside—specializing in roasting and grilling meat.

“She really did it up, didn’t she?” Brett looked over at his mom, Hangin’ Judge Janet who was talking quietly with Jacie’s parents. Brett couldn’t believe they’d come, and they’d been decent to Jacie, too. Not great. Not warm and loving, but they were here and polite and Jacie had told Brett she was astounded.

Brett had to wonder if his mom had threatened them somehow. That was Mom’s style.

Jacie rested a hand on Brett’s chest and leaned in a bit, between him and Ben. “We told her we wanted something small and simple. She said she’d handle everything. That suited me so I just let her have at it.”

Brett looked around. Three hundred people, at least. Cars parked all over the huge front lawn. The biggest tent he’d ever seen this side of the circus. “How’d she scare up a band?” A country western band—nobody famous but they were pretty good.

“When you’re talking about Hangin’ Judge Janet,” Ben said, “‘scare’ is probably the right word.”

“She is a woman known for getting her way,” Brett agreed. “And a caterer at a last-minute thing like this?”

Ben grimaced. “I wasn’t supposed to find this out but I overheard a phone call between the caterer and Mom. He was due for parole. Mom might’ve gotten him out just a little bit early for good behavior. I heard he stabbed a guy at his last catering job, sot Mom said it would be a good test of his self-control to come out here and work.”

They all turned to look at the man dishing up potato salad. Brett said, “Well, umm, he can really cook.”

The place was full of lawmen, and women. Not only the Garrison family but all their friends in law enforcement. Uncle Early, the Texas Ranger was wearing a gun on his hip. The caterer would probably behave.

“Dad made the meat, with Jim helping.” Jim was working even now. He’d shed his wedding clothes to the extent he could, as fast as he could. His tie gone, suit coat discarded, his beard so thick he looked like he was half bear.

“No one’s heard from Case?” Brett missed his FBI brother, but worse than that, he was afraid for him.

“He goes undercover, you know that. He’ll turn up.”

“It’s been a long time though. Too long.”

Silently, Ben nodded, then said, “Beth made it and hasn’t had to run.”

She’d come to Ben’s wedding but had been called away before the reception.

Beth stood talking to their sister Avery, the first born Garrison who was working for the Governor. Avery was the oldest and Beth the youngest, a matched set of blondes who were sitting at a table at the back of the tent, talking so intensely Brett figured it had to do with work. They were a matched pair and looked just like their mom.

“Beth swore she wouldn’t go in this weekend, no matter what, then she hedged and said at least today, Saturday.” Beth was a hostage negotiator for the Rocky Ridge Police Department. She was the best at what she did. She was so good at it sometimes, when she was off work and a hostage negotiation went sour, she got called in anyway. To look at her, skinny and blonde with a sweet smile, you’d never know she was the toughest of all of them.

Then he looked at all the other food and knew Dad and Jim had a lot of help from the knife wielding caterer.

There were tables set up in deep rows in the back half of the enormous tent, most of them surrounded by seated people eating with gusto, a few of them covered by a mountain of gifts. They’d set up tables in the Morton Building, the big steel shed where they stored ranch equipment, and even the barn had tables in it.

“I don’t have a place for those presents.” Brett ran one finger around his collar. It felt a little tight. “Where are they going to go, until the house goes up?”

“You needed everything,” Ben said. “Mom put out the word that your house blew up and, since you were reported dead for a while, everyone was paying attention when she talked about your wedding. There was no time for formal invitations so she invited everyone over the phone and gave all the neighbors permission to spread the word. The people at her work, too. All your clients, Brett, and all Jacie’s friends from the police department.”

“Co-workers,” Jacie said, “not friends.” She hesitated and added, “Maybe a few count as friends.”

Trudy shrugged one slender shoulder. “Your mom hasn’t stopped smiling. We had a bad few days when we thought you’d been killed at that safe house. Planning this has given her a lot of joy.”

“Well, she can enjoy her party until midnight, but for us, this party lasts one more dance,” he glanced at Jacie, “and then we’re out of here.”

“There are fireworks,” Ben had a huge smile on his face. He was teasing because knew full well Brett was impatient to get his wife to himself. “You have to stay for that.”

“Make a list of the things I have to do, see if I follow it.” Jacie slung her arm around Brett’s neck and gave him a private smile that made one dance sound like forever.

“Let’s go.” Brett led her onto the dance floor without even looking at Ben. Then a minute later he saw Ben with Trudy in his arms, swaying as Rascal Flatts asked God to bless the broken road.

Ben figured that oughta be their song. “We made it, Jacie.”

She smiled, so tall, she almost looked straight into his eyes. “We made it. And now we’ve got a lifetime to spend together.”

Brett kissed her. Whispering, he said, “I’m ready for that lifetime—the one where we aren’t in the middle of hundreds of people—to start right now.”

“It’d be good manners to make a circuit and thank people for coming and say good-bye to your family.”

“Yeah, that’s something a really nice guy would do, but I think instead, I’m just going to kidnap you.”

“There’s that mean side of you I like so much.”

She leaned closer. “It’s not kidnapping if I’m running hand in hand with you as fast as I can.”

His heart sped up and his necktie got a little tight as they danced. He picked his moment and dragged her into the shadows near his parents’ house and hustled her around to the front yard, leaving all the lights and voices and music behind in the back.

He pulled out in his brand new beige Camry and drove down the driveway without turning on his headlights, to avert capture.

“Where are we going?” Jacie reached her arm across the console.

“I’ve got a place and it isn’t far off.”

The strong hand tightened on his neck and sent warmth flooding through him.

“We’ve been on a journey from the first moment we met.”

“We need to build our home, I promise this will be at least as nice as my animal shed.”

She laughed. “All I really want is to be with you. Wherever you are, will be home.”

Together they set out on the next stage of their journey of love and home and forever.