EPILOGUE
Charlie
Six Months Later…
I couldn’t believe I was actually getting married.
I stood back in the hallway as everyone took their places, feeling like a princess in my long white dress and a gorgeous bouquet of flowers that Anna had helped me pick out.
Kane and Anna had been like the family I’d never even hoped to find. Kane’s wife was so much like me. She’d become a hermit herself, disconnected from the world while she was struggling with her own loss issues before Kane had come into her life in the most unexpected of situations.
Anna winked at me as she started down the aisle, having agreed to be my maid of honor. I smiled back at her, a happy, radiant smile that I couldn’t suppress because I knew that in a matter of minutes, Gavin would be my husband.
Finally, in her own beautiful teal gown, Anna headed down the aisle before me.
“Are you ready, Charlie?” my father’s voice grumbled beside me.
I turned my head to look at him, then smiled as I noticed the twinkle of something almost like pride in his eyes.
The road to a truce had been rocky with my dad. Maybe we’d never have a truly close father/daughter relationship, but we were learning to be friends. He’d manned up to the fact that I never should have been held responsible for Jessie’s death, and he’d treated me with courtesy. Gavin wouldn’t allow him to communicate with me in any other way. Maybe we’d grow closer in time, but I was content to have him here today. He was my only family, and it seemed only right that he was here to give me away.
I finally nodded at him. “More than ready.”
“He seems like a decent man,” my father said grudgingly.
Really, what more could he say? Gavin was wealthy, brilliant, and he’d been responsible for starting a worthwhile charity that honored my father’s deceased son.
“He’s perfect,” I whispered as I took the arm my dad offered. “You’re looking very smart today.”
My escort was dressed in a stunningly handsome suit, and was more formal than I’d ever seen him in my entire life.
“I only have one daughter to give away. It seemed appropriate,” he replied, bemused.
I leaned up on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek. It was the closest I’d gotten to him since I was a child.
“He better take good care of you,” he said, looking flustered by a show of affection from his daughter.
There were no worries there. Gavin cherished me and watched out for me better than any other person ever had.
Even Gavin’s brother and sister had taken me under their wing, so happy that Gavin was finally settling down, and I knew neither one of them wanted anything to ruin their eldest sibling’s new attitude and joy.
“He will,” I murmured to my father as I stepped forward with him to take our place at the end of the aisle.
I looked out over the sea of people in the venue, still a little startled by how many had showed up for what had started out as a very small, intimate wedding.
Everyone stood, and in the front rows, I could see Gavin’s brother and sister right next to Kane’s brothers. Other than that, many of the people were strangers except for a few of my friends sprinkled throughout the gathering.
Gavin swore most of the people coming to our nuptials were just work associates, but I knew that in some way or another, Gavin had touched many of their lives. I noticed that even a few FBI officers were present.
My husband-to-be was oblivious to just how much his work on disassembling the dark net had endeared him to so many.
My father urged me forward and I went willingly, my heart surging as I heard the start of the wedding march.
When my gaze finally landed on the end of the aisle, I first smiled at Kane, who was looking incredibly handsome in his tuxedo. He was standing next to Gavin, grinning mischievously as I made my way to them.
Anna was waiting for me so she could take my bouquet.
And Gavin? Well, he looked good enough to devour. Our eyes locked, and he wasn’t smiling. His look was hungry and predatory, a fact that didn’t faze me in the slightest. It was an expression I was accustomed to, and it made a shiver of excitement slither down my spine.
My father made the exchange from his possession to Gavin’s, and only then did my groom grin at me. Anna took my bouquet, and I faced my soon-to-be husband with a silly smile that I couldn’t wipe off my face.
“I love you,” I blurted, unable to hold the words inside me for another second.
His grin grew wider. “I love you, too, baby. You look beautiful.”
The Justice of the Peace protested that Gavin was jumping the gun as he leaned down and kissed me with a tender promise of everlasting devotion, taking his time even though the JP was clearing his throat with irritation.
I snickered as he finally pulled back, then nodded to the JP. “We’re ready. We were just practicing.”
“Looks like you already know that part just fine,” the official replied, then started the ceremony.
Gavin winked at me, then squeezed my fingers, showing not the least bit of hesitation or fear. My heart was lodged in my throat as I repeated my vows, still incredulous as to how I’d ended up with a guy like the one in front of me, promising me his trust and love for the rest of our lives.
Then, I reminded myself that I’d waited a long time for him, and those lonely years had paid off big time.
The science geek had gotten her perfect computer geek, and it was only right that the two of them should live happily ever after with each other.
And that’s exactly what we did.
~ The End ~