EPILOGUE
GABE’S HEART POUNDED as he located Natalie’s parents on the other side of the country club’s terrace. Strings of lights draped overhead gave the area a warm, magical glow, while a jazz band played a pleasant melody in the background. The air was thick with the scents of the roses and lilacs that had been placed on the tables for the reception. Lindsay had just been married in a sunset wedding in the quaint garden beyond the low terrace wall. The whole thing felt like a scene out of a fairy tale. Maybe it was. Gabe would’ve never thought in a million years that he’d be able to come to the wedding.
“You ready to go over and say hi?” Megan squeezed his hand as she gazed up at him. He’d never get tired of seeing the love shining out of her eyes every time she looked at him. The past several months since she’d decided to give him a second chance had been better than he’d dreamed they could be. She’d been kind, loving, demanding, supportive, and all that he could ever want.
She was damn near perfect. He didn’t even bother wondering why he’d been lucky enough to find love twice in one lifetime. He’d learned to stop questioning and to enjoy living and to accept what he’d been given.
Bringing her hand to his lips, he kissed it and then put his arm around her waist, proud that she was here with him. “I’m ready.”
The Walterses noticed him approach as they made their way around the final table. His mother and Brian were already there mixed in with the other well-wishers. They’d sat together for the wedding, but Gabe hadn’t been quite as eager to talk to the Walterses afterward. He still felt a pang of guilt when Dennis walked up to him.
“Gabe!” Dennis’ boisterous voice drowned out all the others around them as Gabe held out his hand. Dennis took it but then pulled him in for a hug. “We’re so glad you could make it, son.”
Gabe swallowed past the unexpected lump in his throat. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed these people he’d once called family. Natalie’s mother, Kimberly, gave him a wide smile and a hug. She kissed his cheek, and then dabbed the lipstick smudge with a tissue she’d been holding. It was obvious she’d been crying happy tears from the wedding.
“Lindsay will be so excited to see you. We’re happy you’re here,” she said, and then her kind brown eyes darted to Megan. “Who have you brought with you?”
Gabe didn’t know what he’d expected, but relief lightened his chest when her smile didn’t waver at the sight of Megan. “This is Megan Sinclair, my girlfriend.” Though the term girlfriend didn’t do justice to how he felt about her, and if he had his way she’d be even more very soon. He’d already started looking at rings, trying to decide which style she’d like best. He’d settled on simple and elegant, but hadn’t pulled the trigger yet. They’d only been together a few months and that seemed too fast, but he knew there was no one else for him but her. “Megan, this is Dennis and Kimberly Walters.”
“Oh, Megan Sinclair,” Kimberly said as she shook Megan’s hand. “The Megan Sinclair from the articles?”
Gabe and Megan shared a surprised look before he said, “You read those?”
Dennis laughed and put an arm around his wife’s waist. “Those and every article on every blog she can find. She’s your biggest fan.”
Kimberly gave her husband a playful swat. “Oh, and I’m the one with a copy of every fight Gabe’s ever fought.” Looking at Gabe, she said, “He can give you a play-by-play of every one of them.”
Gabe couldn’t help but smile, awed at how these people had been so supportive of him when he’d tried to shut them out. He’d been hurting too much to see their concern for the love that it was. It was a mistake he wouldn’t make again.
Dennis shrugged. “We liked to keep up with what you were doing.”
“Helped us feel closer to you,” Kimberly added, and patted Gabe’s hand. “But now we both like the sport.” Then she looked to Megan. “Thanks to you, I have a couple of new fighters to follow. That was an interesting exposé you did for Mosaic. Is that how you two met?”
Megan smiled and nodded. “He wasn’t my most cooperative interviewee, but I managed to get him to talk . . . eventually.”
“She won an Online Journalism Award for those articles,” said Gabe, unable to keep the pride out of his voice. Megan poked at him playfully.
“That’s wonderful,” said Kimberly. “They were excellent, just excellent. What are you working on now?”
“I’ve just started a piece on the side people don’t see of beauty pageants. It’ll be published in Vanity Fair a few months from now.”
“You should let us know the next time you come to Vegas,” Gabe said. “We could go see a fight. I may not fight anymore, but I know people and can get decent seats.” He winked.
“That’s right,” Dennis said. “You announced your retirement. How do you like working at the foundation? Your mom says you get to work with kids again.”
Gabe hadn’t realized how much he’d missed teaching. He’d always loved kids and loved the idea of giving back. God knew where he’d be today if his mom hadn’t gotten him involved in karate. He hoped that he could use the tragedy and pain he had experienced to do some good in the world. “It’s been great so far. We completed our first round of workshops last month, and this month we’re opening summer camps in Las Vegas, Phoenix, and here in San Diego.”
They spent the next several minutes talking about Gabe’s foundation work, but were soon interrupted by a round of applause from the guests. They turned to see Lindsay walk in on the arm of her new husband. She looked so similar to Natalie that it nearly took his breath away. The couple made their way over, and Lindsay’s smile widened when she saw Gabe and his mom. She rushed forward and hugged his mom, and then Gabe.
“I’m so happy you’re here,” she said, a sheen of tears in her eyes. “And that you’re not alone.” She pulled back and cupped his cheek. With a glance over at Megan, she nodded. “She would’ve wanted you to be happy.”
“Congratulations,” he whispered, his throat tight at the sight of her smile, identical to Natalie’s. Lindsay had the same dimple in her right cheek. “We wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”
Lindsay was beaming as she introduced them to her husband, but they didn’t have long before the band was calling them over for their first dance. As he watched them dance to Michael Bublé’s “Everything” he couldn’t help but think that Natalie would’ve been so proud of her little sister and he vowed to do better by her family since she wasn’t here to watch over them.
No more shutting people out. No more doing things alone because he was afraid of the pain. Life was about living.
As other couples began to find their way onto the dance floor, Gabe pulled Megan against his side. “Dance with me?” he asked.
She smiled up at him. “I thought you wouldn’t ask.”
“And risk missing the chance to have the most amazing woman I know in my arms? Never again.”
Megan settled into Gabe’s arms as twilight fell around them, casting the terrace and its dance floor in a soft lavender glow. Laughter, the clinking of glasses, the perfume from the flowers, all wove together into a tapestry of excited happiness. She let her head fall against Gabe’s solid chest, breathing in his scent, adding to the mix.
She’d often fantasized about her own wedding day, and what it might look like. There’d never been one definitive fantasy. Sometimes she imagined it on a beach. Other times an elegant hotel. And others still she saw it as something simple and quiet, a park in Connecticut in the fall surrounded by her closest friends and family.
But as appealing as each of those fantasies was, she knew they weren’t as important as the one ingredient that had always been missing: the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. And she knew, without a doubt, that man was Gabe.
A few nights after his last fight, she’d opened up to him about everything. The cancer, her treatments, what it meant for her future ability to get pregnant. And through it all, he’d held her and listened. She’d been worried that having another child might be important to him—what if she couldn’t give that to him when they were ready?
She’d voiced that fear aloud, and he’d silenced her with a soft, gentle kiss. “I have you,” he’d said, his voice low. “Anything else is gravy.”
And with those words, it was as though her entire future had crystalized in front of her, trading wishes for certainties. She wanted it all with Gabe, the good, the bad, the exhilarating, the scary, and everything in between. At his easy acceptance of who she was, of her potential limitations, she’d fallen the rest of the way in love with him, forgetting about any of her lingering scars. Not to mention that her parents adored him. She smiled to herself, remembering how nervous he’d been to meet them, but he’d had nothing to worry about in the end. They’d fallen for him, just like she had.
Gabe’s lips brushed her temple, bringing her back to the present. “Did you do as I asked, sweet girl?” His voice rumbled over her skin, the swirling heat of his breath mingling in a teasing caress with the cooler evening breeze.
She arched up onto her toes to whisper in his ear. “Yes. My panties are in my purse.”
His hands slid down her back, grazing over her ass before settling a bit higher. He let out a harsh sigh. “It’s driving me fucking nuts thinking about you bare under there.”
“Don’t forget wet.”
He let out a low growl and pulled her tighter against him so she could feel his erection, hard and thick against her belly.
Once they’d gotten serious, sex had changed for them, but in a good way. While Megan still loved their games, still loved submitting to him and letting him shut her brain off, their repertoire had grown, and included so much more than before. No longer was sex about each of them trying to slay their own personal demons, but about connecting and feeling good.
And God, he made her feel good, because she knew it was real. More real than anything she’d ever experienced in her life.
“Would it be indecent if we snuck back to the hotel?” he asked, and she pressed her face into his chest, stifling her laugh. Lots of things had changed over the past few months, but his appetite for her wasn’t one of them.
“It might be a tad early in the evening yet.”
“Damn.” His hands dipped lower, the tips of his fingers grazing the top of her ass. He mumbled something that sounded like torture.
“Shouldn’t have asked me to take off my panties so soon, then. You did this to yourself.”
“Mmm.” He bent his head and caught her mouth in a sweet, gentle kiss that promised so much more. When he pulled back, his blue eyes, once so reserved and distant, were warm and full of love. “I know it’ll be worth the wait.”
Megan smiled and wove her hands into his hair, her heart so full she could feel every beat of it in her chest. “It will be. Just like you were,” she whispered.