Epilogue
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FOUR MONTHS LATER
“Close your eyes,” Nolan gently reminded Shayne, although she could hear that he was doing so through clenched teeth.
“Sorry.” Every sound she heard caused her eyes to pop open. She was a bundle of nerves.
Shayne took a deep breath and tried her best to calm herself. The energy just moved to her lower extremities, though, and she began tapping her heel.
“Woman, unless you want to walk down the aisle looking like the bride of Frankenstein, I suggest you sit still.”
“Sorry,” Shayne apologized again as she suppressed a grin. Nolan was doing his best to be supportive but his patience was wearing thin.
She couldn’t blame him. She hadn’t been the easiest person to deal with this past month. After Evan proposed to her a month ago she’d gone right into wedding planning mode. She hadn’t gone full bridezilla on anyone but she’d definitely had a few freak out moments. Ruby and Nolan, were serving as her maid and man of honor, and they’d both been by her side through it all. Although the majority of the responsibility had fallen on Nolan since Ruby was busy being a mommy to Nola Shay who was named after her Godparents.
Ruby sat beside her now, softly singing to the three-month-old angel baby as she tried to get her down for a nap before the wedding started.
The door opened and though Shayne flinched, she managed not to open her eyes this time.
“Ten minute warning!” Vivien exclaimed.
She’d stepped up as wedding coordinator when Shayne had a mini-meltdown at Brewed Awakenings. Shayne took in a deep breath.
“Have you seen Evan?” she asked.
It was so strange not seeing or talking to him since last night.
“Yes, he got here about twenty minutes ago and he was not alone. I think he’s with ‘The Hot One’”
Shayne’s eyes were still shut, but she grinned. Easton hadn’t been able to make it to the rehearsal last night so Vivien hadn’t met him yet. He’d been overseas for a few years and was planning on staying in Hope Falls for the next year while he worked on a novel he was writing. She thought about mentioning that rumor to Vivien, but decided it would be more fun to see it play out naturally.
“I would call dibs but, everyone here is taken.”
“I’m single,” Audrey, who had volunteered to watch Nola Shay, pointed out.
“Oh right…” Vivien agreed, then coughed a muffled, “Josh!”
“And voila,” Nolan exclaimed, letting Shayne know she was permitted to open her eyes.
She did and was happy that she’d put her foot down about going for a more natural look. Nolan tended to skew toward glam, but she’d insisted that she wanted to look like herself for her wedding. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”
“You’re perfect.” He grinned down at her. “Time to get you into your dress.”
She nodded.
After slipping on her dress she looked in the mirror. She was wearing a sleeveless deep V-neck A-line tulle dress with lace top. It had been the first one that she’d tried on and she immediately knew it was the one. That didn’t stop her from trying on about a hundred more, but she always came back to this one. It was meant for her, just like Evan was.
“Okay, it’s time,” Vivien announced.
Ruby stood still holding, Nola Shay and Shayne lowered and kissed her goddaughter on the head before the two women followed behind the rest of the wedding party, which consisted of Deanna, Kenzie, and Nolan.
As they stepped into the hall Shayne saw Benji was across the lobby, waiting to escort her in. He smiled and started toward the group. He looked so handsome in his tux.
“If he were only a few years older,” Vivien whispered beside her.
“He’s nineteen,” Audrey sighed as she took the baby from Ruby.
“I know. That’s why I said if he were only a few years older.” Vivien mumbled before quietly lining everyone up in front of the double doors and instructing Shayne to remain off to the side.
Benji stepped beside her and offered her his arm, “You look beautiful, sis.”
Warmth spread through her and she did her best not to tear up and ruin Nolan’s work. She loved hearing that word. Sis.
Nolan must’ve sensed her emotional shift because he left his spot in the back of the line just as the double doors opened and gave her a once over, scanning her face the way he did anytime she was about to walk a red carpet.
After a nod of approval, he kissed her on the forehead and said, “Whenever I dreamed of this day, I never guessed it would be happening on a Tuesday. At a community center. But somehow, it’s perfect.”
She chuckled as he took his place behind Ruby and the two disappeared around the doorway.
Yes, it was perfect. And it was at a community center. And today was six months to the day of the first time she’d laid eyes on Evan.
The doors closed and Vivien ushered her and Benji to their place in front of them. When they opened again, she looked up and saw Evan, waiting for her exactly where she’d been standing that night.
Their eyes locked and it held the same potency now as it had then. Her cheeks flushed, her heartrate sped, and her knees buckled slightly.
As she walked toward him, leaning on her brother as she did, tears filled her eyes. Her tall, dark, and sexy Brawny Man was about to be her husband. And she was about to be his wife. And that truly was the role of a lifetime.
The End