EPILOGUE

RYDER

Three months later

A shrill scream wakes me in the middle of the night. “Ashlyn?” I ask, blinking and trying to adjust my eyes to the darkness in our apartment. We still live here throughout the week. Only staying at the house in the Hamptons on the weekend.

“Ryder!” She gasps, and then she screams again.

I fumble to find the lamp on the nightstand and knock a few things to the floor before it comes on.

“Ashlyn?” I ask, turning to face her. Her eyes are closed and tears run down her face as she bends over the best she can with her pregnant belly. “Baby, what’s wrong?” I ask, my panic rising and already grabbing for my phone that I had knocked to the floor.

She sits up, and I can see the sheets where she sits are soaked. Her blue eyes meet mine and tears run down her cheeks. “Something’s wrong.” She gasps.

I start shaking my head quickly. It can’t be … It’s too early … She throws her head back, letting out a cry so loud it makes my ears ring.

We crash through the hospital doors of the ER at Saint Meds. Milton runs to the nurses’ station while I hold Ashlyn in my arms. She’s pale and sweating as she cries in pain.

A nurse grabs a gurney, and I place her on it before they push her off into a room, telling me I have to wait out here. Moments later, my sister and Jaycent arrive followed by my father and his girlfriend. Her parents both rush through the door.

We sit out in the waiting room for I don’t know how long when I see a doctor coming toward us. I jump up as he comes up to us.

“My wife, Ashlyn O’Kane …” I stop, needing to swallow the lump in my throat as I twirl the wedding band on my finger.

He looks me in the eyes and sighs. “I’m sorry … we did everything we could…” And I take off in a mad dash down the hallway to where I know she is.

Four months later

“You may kiss the bride.”

The smile on her face as she looks at me makes my chest ache. The most beautiful woman in the world just said yes to me.

I place my hands in her blond hair that she wears down in big curls and pull her to me. She places her hands over mine and closes her eyes just as my lips touch hers.

A baby cries out, interrupting the dream I was having of our wedding on the beach behind our Hamptons home. I get out of bed and make my way across the hallway to her nursery to find my daughter wide awake in her crib, kicking her little feet and speaking in a language I haven’t mastered yet.

“Hey, gorgeous,” I say, picking her up and holding her to my bare chest as I move to the glider in the corner.

“Shh,” I say, rubbing her back over her little pink onesie as she fusses. “How would you like to hear a story?” She cries louder, and I take that as a sign she wants to hear how I met her mommy. “One warm afternoon, I met a gorgeous blond on the beach,” I say, and a smile spreads across my face as I remember those big blue eyes and feisty attitude. “And she was gorgeous,” I say, closing my eyes as her cries start to quiet. “She had this look of pure beauty. So rare. She had these eyes that matched the ocean and this smile.” I sigh. “It was blinding like the sun. When she looked at me, I knew right then and there that she was gonna get anything she asked for.” I open my eyes and look down to see her little blue eyes closed and her little lips parted as her breathing evens out. “I just didn’t know that she was gonna give me more than I could ever give her …”

“You gotta get a new love story.”

I look up at the doorway and see my wife leaning up against it with a smile on her face, dressed in nothing but my t-shirt that she loves to wear. “Why? Ours is my favorite.”

She laughs softly. “Why didn’t you wake me?”

I stand, cradling her to my chest. “I don’t mind getting up with her.” I place her back in her crib as Ashlyn comes up beside me, leaning into me.

“She’s so gorgeous.”

I wrap my arms around her. “Just like her mommy.”

She sighs and whispers. “It’s after mid night. Happy birthday, Ryder.”

ASHLYN

“Happy birthday, Ryder,” I say for the fifth time today, leaning over to kiss him in the back seat of the Escalade while Milton drives us toward Fifth Avenue. I have a big surprise party planned for him tonight and I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he sees who all want to share this special day with him.

“Thank you, my love,” he says with a smile and then leans over to give me a chaste kiss.

Julianna, our daughter, makes a noise, and he leans down to kiss both her cheeks. It’s crazy how one year ago today we stood outside his penthouse suite in Panama. And now he’s my husband and we have a child.

Things have been going great. I have the gallery up and running. Between being a wife, mother, and business owner, life is hectic. But we got a routine down, and it is working for us. Ryder hasn’t been at the office as late anymore. He even works from home one day a week now that his father doesn’t have to step down to make his mother happy. She is in jail. Timothy’s assistant, Jackie, had found checks written to a company that didn’t exist, and after doing some research, she found out that Jessica and his assistants before her had been helping Gwenda embezzle from the company. So, needless to say, she went to prison, Timothy got his divorce, and somehow, he convinced Gwenda to sign away her parental rights to Maggie, so Rosie could make it official and adopt her. Mr. O’Kane took all the money that his ex-wife had embezzled and put it in a trust fund for Maggie to have when she turns twenty-one. That little girl is set for life. Ryder never came out and told me, but I know Gwenda was behind my car wreck. I overheard him talking to his father about it one night on the phone. I’m not sure what kind of charges she got for that, and I never cared to ask. She is out of our lives for good and can’t hurt any of us anymore.

My mother and father quit their jobs in Seattle and moved here to New York while I was pregnant. Becca moved in with Jaycent, and since the apartment we had moved into was paid for, she sold it to my parents for a price they could afford. I love that they are so close to me and Ryder. My mother helps me run the gallery. My dad got a job at a practice here and spends most of his off time playing golf with Mr. O’Kane. Timothy is in a serious relationship. I actually set them up. She came into the gallery, and I couldn’t help but think of how much they would hit it off. Her kids are also grown and live in California. She just seemed so lonely. Despite Ryder’s objections, I set them up on a blind date. I’m pretty sure Mr. O’Kane fell immediately. I know he plans to propose in a few weeks when he takes her on vacation to Paris. She’s always wanted to go there. I’m glad that after all these years he gets to have his happily ever after.

I never spoke to Bradley again even though he crosses my mind from time to time. I mean, me and Ryder have a little girl because of him, but I never have that desire to call him. Or talk to him. Becca told me that she heard he was seeing Vicki. And my first thought was God help this town—what those two are capable of—the city may catch fire. But I do wish them the best.

I had been pregnant with twins. It was just one more surprise we had. But only one survived. I lied there in the hospital bed while Ryder and I said our final goodbye to our son. The loss of one of our babies was the tragedy in our love story. It was hard on both of us. I cried for weeks, and Ryder still finds me crying at times. I don’t think the pain of losing a child ever goes away. My mother and Becca both came and stayed with us at the apartment and helped me with our daughter, Julianna. I named her after Ryder’s first name—Julian.

“We’re here!” Milton announces as he pulls up to the curb.

Ryder gets our daughter out of her car seat as I look down at my phone. I have two messages. One from my mother telling me they are on their way. And the other is from Timothy letting me know they, too, will be here soon. Milton opens the door for me. We make our way up the steps to the grand opening of Becca’s clothing store. A red ribbon drapes across the front, and I spot Becca along with a news crew over by Jaycent.

Ryder hands Julianna off to me as Becca spins around to see me. She rubs her growing belly and then heads for us. She too is expecting a little girl. I hope our daughters are as close as we are. Even if they are gonna be family. Just because you’re family doesn’t mean you’ll be friends; the O’Kanes have taught me that.

“Hello, princess,” she says, taking my daughter from my arms.

“This looks amazing, Becca,” I say to her with a smile. The store was finished about two months ago, but it took time to pick an opening date and for her to get all the media here so she could show the world how big her heart is.

“I’m so nervous,” she whispers.

“Don’t be. It’s gonna be awesome!”

“Can I get a picture?” a man asks as he comes up to us with a camera.

“One second. Let me get my husband and brother. Babe? Ry?” Becca calls out, and Jaycent comes running down the steps toward us followed by Ryder. All four of us stand side by side as Ryder takes our baby girl and smiles proudly at the camera. This reminds me of the picture I have sitting up in my office at the gallery. It was taken the day I opened it six months ago.

“Say cheese,” he says.

Ryder wraps his free arm around my shoulders and pulls me to his side before kissing my hair. “I love you,” he whispers.

I smile, looking down at my heart-shaped diamond wedding ring as the sun reflects off it and can’t help but laugh. I always thought love was selfish, but Ryder has taught me that true love is selfless. He was also right about our love story; it is better than Romeo and Juliet because we choose to live for one another.

THE END