Epilogue
Maggie
Five months later…
Oh, wow.
Bridger in a tuxedo.
Just… wow.
In my past life—the one before I fell in love—I would have never had the confidence to envision this moment. A small country church swathed in gardenias and white tulle, only two rows filled with people because my circle of friends is small but fierce, and a gorgeous man who looks at me like I hung the moon and the stars for him.
He stands there waiting for me with Woolf at his side. Both men are impossibly handsome, although Bridger is far sexier to me. His hair has grown out a bit more. It’s shaggy and in need of a trim, but it’s oh so much fun to pull.
Yes, Bridger has overcome nearly every hang-up he’s wilted under in the past. I can pull his hair to my heart’s content and ride his cock whenever I want. Doesn’t mean that the nightmares are gone forever, but they don’t happen often and when they do, I’m there to talk him down.
The biggest change for my soon-to-be husband though is the fact that he’s almost like a different man since he declared his love for me. So easygoing and laid back. He smiles and laughs often, my favorite being when he’s smiling and laughing with Belle.
About a week ago, he came home from work overly excited as he whipped off his shirt. I stared at the huge bandage across the center of his chest, gasping in horror that he’d been hurt. “What happened?”
He rolled his eyes, peeled the bandage off, and I got a look at his new tattoo.
The blackbirds are still there, still undisturbed in their flight toward his heart. Even the one that almost makes it and bursts apart before it can make contact. But to the left of that spray of black feathers are two new tattoos that converge right over where his heart is in his chest. Two white doves, one larger than the other, rising up with wings spread to hold a hover over his heart. The larger one holds a golden banner in its claws that says “Mags” and the smaller one mimics it with the word “Belle”.
“Oh, Bridger,” I’d said in wonder, not wanting to touch the irritated skin but wanting some contact. I put my hands on either side of the fresh tat and just stared at it in wonder.
“Didn’t change those blackbirds, Mags,” he whispered. “Before, they represented ways in which my heart would repel, but now… I choose to think of them as all the bad things that couldn’t destroy my heart. And of course… the doves are kind of self-explanatory.”
“I love it,” I choked out, my voice garbled from emotion as the tears started to flow down my face.
Yes… that tattoo is very special and so representative of just how much Bridger has transformed.
He waits for me at the base of the altar, his dark golden eyes eating me up while he tenderly holds Belle on his hip. The grand plan today was for her to walk me down the aisle, but just as the music started, she had a minor freak out and tore out of my grip. Belle ran down the aisle, dropping her little bouquet of gardenias and wild sage at the midpoint, and hightailed it straight to Bridger while everyone in the pews laughed.
I merely watched with tears stinging my eyes as he squatted down to receive her and she threw herself into his arms. When he lifted her and she laid her head on his shoulder, I almost lost it.
Almost, but not quite.
I blinked furiously and pushed those tears aside. I didn’t want anything to mar my vision of Bridger and Belle, my two loves, waiting for me.
Life is very, very good.
At Bridger’s insistence, I’ve “retired” from waitressing at The Wicked Horse. He doesn’t want me there on my feet all night. He’s offered me the option of staying home with Belle, finding a job more suitable for his woman, or going to school—a prospect I’d never considered before.
I chose school.
Cosmetology school to be precise. Our girls’ poker night has turned into girls’ mani-pedi night as I practice my newfound skills on my girls. More often than not, Bridger lurks around on girls’ night and that’s because he lurks around most nights. He’s given up keeping a careful watch over The Silo, preferring to let Cain take over, and he has actually been talking about bringing him on as a partner.
But even though Bridger doesn’t go there often, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t go there.
He does.
With me.
We don’t go a lot, but we do pop in every once in a while, and let me tell you… the things that man does to me when his imagination is fueled by such a deviant atmosphere is almost too overwhelming to handle. It’s why we don’t go often, as I just don’t know that my heart could take that type of excitement on a frequent basis.
For the most part, Bridger and I have become homebodies, preferring to spend our time quietly hiking on the ranch with Belle, cooking together, or reading the paper over a lazy breakfast. Every night is when we really come together, just the two of us, and in every touch given and every word spoken, we reaffirm our love for each other.
Just like I’m getting ready to do in front of our family and friends.
I take a step toward Bridger and Belle, measuring my stride to the tune of the “Wedding March”. Bridger and Belle look at me as I walk down the aisle. I watch as he inclines his head to my daughter, whispering something that’s meant only for her to hear. She grins from ear to ear. He turns his focus back on me and his eyes are blistering with excitement, love, and pure happiness.
I smile back at him and hold his gaze the entire time I traverse the distance between us.
When I reach him, he switches Belle to his opposite hip, never once thinking about putting her down, and steps in close to me, his arm snaking around my back. He gives my ass a quick squeeze, causing everyone behind us to snicker, and then pulls me tight to his side.
Adrian stands in front of us and gives Bridger a chastising look before he looks past us and says, “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here together…”
Bridger turns his head and looks down at me, the same exact moment I turn and look up at him.
He grins and whispers. “Love you, Mags.”
“Love you too.”
*
Bridger
I watch as Maggie tears up the dance floor with her girls—Callie, Sloane, Cat, and Auralie—and Christ, my wife has some moves. I shouldn’t be surprised because the things she can do with those hips are beyond astounding.
My wife.
Doesn’t seem strange at all to me.
In fact, it feels rather perfect.
Someone moves into my line of sight. I look up to see Aunt Gayle standing there, holding a sleeping Belle. I stand up, lean my head to the side to see her little face, and grin at how peaceful she looks as she slumbers away on Gayle’s shoulder.
“Randall and I are going to take Belle back to your house,” Gayle says in a whisper, despite the fact that some loud dance pop bullshit is playing right now. “We’ll see you there later tonight.”
“Okay,” I say, putting my hand on Belle’s head before I lean in and kiss her cheek. Then I give Gayle a wink. “But don’t wait up for us.”
Gayle laughs before she turns to the dance floor and heads over to break up the dance party so Maggie can say goodnight to her daughter.
Well, strike that… our daughter.
I’ve got an attorney working to get Zeke’s parental rights terminated so I can adopt her, but regardless if that happens, she’s my daughter too. Gayle and Randall volunteered to stay with Belle so Maggie and I can take a real honeymoon. We’re heading to Hawaii tomorrow for ten days of sun, surf, and a whole lot of dirty fucking.
I sit back down in my chair and watch as Maggie stops dancing to give Belle a kiss before doing the same to her aunt. Her parents didn’t come to the wedding, and that’s because they weren’t invited. Maggie made overtures to them, but they’re being a little unforgiving that she would dare to have done something so stupid as to put them in danger.
Maybe they’ll come around, maybe not. Doesn’t matter because she has a new family now.
I turn to see Adrian taking a seat beside me. We’re silent for a while, watching the girls dancing again, but now they’re joined by their men. Cain, Logan, Woolf, and Rand all out there boogying without any dignity or skills. Maggie turns to look at me and waves cheerily, but she doesn’t beckon me out there. I told her I’d give her whatever her heart desired for a wedding—turns out she wanted a traditional church service with Adrian marrying us and a small party after—but I told her the one thing I absolutely would not do was dance except for slow songs with her.
She immediately granted that wish, more than happy to get her church service and me stuffed into a tuxedo.
“I’m so proud of you, Bridger,” Adrian says beside me.
“I did good, didn’t I?” I ask, my eyes drinking in Maggie.
He knows I’m talking about Maggie, and Maggie alone.
“She’s your soul mate in every sense of the word,” Adrian says, but then in a wise voice that Adrian has perfected on me over the years, which means I straighten up and really put on my listening ears, he says, “But I mean I’m proud of the man you’ve become. You’re caring, generous, and loyal to your friends. You’re fair, honest, and protective of what’s yours. If I were to have a son, I’d want him to be just like you.”
And fuck… that gets me choked up. I turn to look at him, not even abashed by the wet in my eyes. “We may not be related by blood, Adrian, but you’re the father who was taken away from me too soon. God gave me a second chance with you.”
Adrian’s own eyes mist up, and he nods at me.
“I love you,” I tell him, and I’m surprised it’s the first time I’ve laid those words on his doorstep. Just like when I told Maggie that for the first time and it was oh so fucking easy, I have to marvel that it’s taken me this long to say it to the man who saved me in every sense of the word.
“I love you too, Bridger,” he says, and then his eyes cut back to Maggie. “So, how about you two get started on giving me another grandchild?”
He means “another” because he already considers Belle to be his granddaughter.
“Already ahead of you,” I say without taking my eyes off Maggie. I’m only forced to tear my gaze away from my wife when Adrian’s hand clamps down on my shoulder.
He stares at me with shock and awe on his face. “She’s pregnant?”
“Yup,” I say, beaming. “Two months.”
“No wonder you wanted a fast wedding,” Adrian says with a grin.
“Nah…” I wave him off. “I would have married her a hell of a lot sooner, but these things apparently take some planning. The pregnancy wasn’t a big surprise because we got rid of her IUD pretty soon after we got back together.”
“A baby,” Adrian says in wonder. “I hope it’s a boy.”
“I hope it’s like Maggie,” I add on, and he laughs.
As if she can sense she’s being talked about, Maggie abruptly stops spinning and turns our way. I crook my finger at her, and that’s all it takes. She leaves her posse on the dance floor, picks up her dress, and runs barefoot to me. She ditched her high heels an hour ago.
Maggie throws herself onto my lap, swinging her legs toward Adrian so she can look at him. “Thank you again, Adrian. The ceremony was everything I’d hoped it would be.”
“My pleasure, Mags,” he says, and I love how Adrian has picked up my special nickname for her.
“I told Adrian you’re pregnant,” I say as I lean in and kiss her neck. It’s moist with sweat from dancing, and I flick my tongue against her skin.
She shudders and leans into me, but addresses Adrian. “If it’s a boy, we’re going to name him Adrian.”
I lean my chin on Maggie’s shoulder and watch as Adrian’s eyes get wet again.
“And,” I say, reaching a hand out and gripping his shoulder, “if it’s a girl, we’re going to name her Adrienne.”
With a choked voice, Adrian stammers, “I’m honored.”
I start getting choked up myself again and squeeze Maggie harder. As if sensing that the men folk are the ones who wear the panties in this conversation, Maggie jumps off my lap. She spins and gives me a quick kiss before she pulls Adrian out of his seat. “Come on, Adrian. Come dance with us.”
Adrian laughs and follows her out on the dance floor, proceeding to show all the young ones just how it’s done. Maggie bumps and grinds and twirls around with happiness, her eyes coming to rest on me more than once. I smile back at her, imagine more than once peeling her out of that dress, and not for the first time since Maggie took me back, I utter up a small prayer of thanks to God for seeing fit to give me an amazing life.