Epilogue

“Two weddings in a month,” Leona said as she helped Cath zip up her dress.

“I hope you’ll be as happy as we are.” Beverly handed Cath her bouquet of flowers, made up of roses and forget-me-nots. An image of herself standing outside the town hall, waiting for Hector, came to her. What if she’d turned around that day and seen Julius?

But she didn’t. They’d come to terms with the way they were swept apart that fateful day. Might-have-beens and what-ifs had no place in their future together.

“I hope so too,” Cath told Beverly. “You and Liam deserve every happiness.”

Beverly looked down at the gold band on her finger. “I love you like the morning sun as it peaks over the mountains, giving warmth and life to the world below,” Beverly recited a line from the vows Liam had written for her on their wedding day.

“Liam has the heart of a poet,” Hector said, standing in the doorway.

All three women turned to look at him. “Hello, Hector,” Cath greeted the father of her children.

“May I speak to you alone, Cath?” Hector asked.

“Of course,” Cath replied nervously.

“Don’t worry, I’ve only come to wish you happiness,” Hector reassured her.

Leona, Beverly, and Sandra, who were there to help her get ready and give moral support, left the room. Cath turned to face Hector. “Do you remember I had a bunch of forget-me-nots the day we got married?”

“I do.” Hector smiled sadly. “I wanted to say how sorry I am for…everything.”

“It’s in the past.” She looked down at her flowers. “Where did you go?”

“To the mountains.” He looked out of the window toward the Bluff. “I lived as an eagle for the first few years. Lost myself to the wind and the elements. I’m not proud of the way I behaved. But I was always a free spirit. I want you to know that I honestly loved you. I thought that I would never meet my mate, but I could be happy and have a life with you. Right or wrong, I made my choice to leave because I thought it was best for you.”

“I didn’t know.” Had he mourned his family?

“How could you, Cath?” Hector walked to the window. “The wild still calls to me now.”

“But you won’t leave again?” Cath asked. “You’re going to stay and build a relationship with your sons. Both of them.”

“I am,” Hector said. “If you want me to.”

“If I want you to?” Cath asked.

“I came here not knowing the full details. Certainly not expecting to learn you’d spent so many years alone.” He turned to face her. “I don’t want to hurt you again, Cath.”

“The only way you’ll hurt me, is by hurting our children. I’m over the rest of it. I’m over you,” Cath admitted.

“Be happy,” Hector said as he slipped out of the room, leaving Cath breathless, as sorrow threatened to bubble up inside her. She let it go, this was her day, the happiest day of her life, after the birth of her children.

“OK?” Sandra asked gently, coming back into the room.

“Yes. Yes, I am.” Cath crossed the room and looked at herself in the mirror.

“You look beautiful. And Julius is out there waiting for you.” They were getting married on the grounds of The Catherine Hotel, with the picturesque Gothic lodge as a backdrop to the ceremony. “Hector didn’t upset you?”

Cath shook her head. “Not really. He still makes me want to slap him for leaving. Even if he did think he was doing the right thing. But I’m not going to waste one more moment of my life on him. I have something special. And he’s waiting for me.”

Cath swung around, the full skirt of her wedding dress skimming the floor. The ivory silk dress, with its fitted bodice, might be a little much for a woman her age, but she didn’t care. Just like Beverly, she wanted a wedding of her dreams, because this time around she knew it was forever.

“Ready, Mom?” Liam smiled broadly as she met him downstairs in the hotel lobby. He handed her a glass of champagne. Cath had decided against bridesmaids, or matrons of honor, all she wanted was her son to walk her down the aisle.

She took a sip of champagne. “Perfect.”

“It’s going to be hard giving you away,” Liam said. “You’ve been the hand that’s guided me all my life. The rock I always knew I could cling to.”

“I still am,” Cath assured him.

“Liam. Cath.” they looked up as the door opened and Brad entered the reception area. Next to him walked a man in a pale gray suit.

“Mike!” Cath rushed forward and hugged her son. “This is a surprise.”

“A good one, I hope?” Mike asked cautiously.

“It’s always good to see you,” Cath assured him. “But how?”

“Declan pulled some strings, since Mike was so forthcoming with information on Frank Millar. That guy is going away for a long time. He was in charge of a major drug ring, which is now busted.” Brad nodded to Liam. “We’re going to join the others.”

“I’ll speak to you later,” Cath told Mike.

“Good luck, Mom. Julius is a good man.” Mike left the building, and Cath gulped down her champagne, the bubbles tickling her nose. “Maybe we were cursed, and true love’s kiss lifted it.”

“Maybe we were, Mom. Or maybe fate had its own plan for us. If Mike hadn’t messed up, neither of us would have come to Bear Creek. And then where would we be.” He kissed her cheek. “Julius will be thinking we’re not coming.”

Cath nodded. “I’m ready.”

As she walked on her son’s arm, out of the hotel which bore her name, she was filled with joy. Julius was, at last, going to marry his Catherine, and his Catherine was going to marry the man of her dreams.

Cath looked up as she neared the altar. Her eyes locked with Julius’s and the world stopped spinning. As they said the words I do, and Julius kissed his bride, Cath held onto him. He was her second chance at life, at love. And she was never going to let him go.