Page 114

“This place we’re standing on isn’t just beautiful—it’s hallowed ground, at least to me. Right over there, near the bend in the path by the water, is where I first told Rebecca I loved her. Lauren’s aunt. My wife. Now their neighbors.

“I have to tell you, watching this place come back to life over the last month has been like watching a story turn its own pages. Kolby and Lauren have cleared the brush, planted a garden, scrubbed and stained the porch rails, and I feel that even the wood can breathe again. They’ve brought laughter back to this house. Light. They’ve made it theirs by honoring what it was. And that, in its own quiet way, is love.

“So, today, as we stand by the water, under the same sky where Rebecca and I once stood and dreamed of forever, it feels right to begin again—with two people who know what it means to fight for love, to come home to it, and to let it change them in all the best ways. Lauren and Kolby have written their own vows. Let’s begin.”

“I never thought I’d fall into the kind of love I’ve witnessed my entire life.” I smile and silently laugh. “And especially to the man I met that was beautiful, but a brooding pain-in-the-ass right guard who walked into the Brewery, who glared at me like I’d offended his very soul, when all I did was exist.

“But I think I loved you then. In that way we sometimes love the things we don’t understand. The kind of love we feel in our bones before we’re ready to admit it.

“You saw me.Me. Not as the girl running around the Brewery or screaming from the stands. Not as the owner’s daughter. Not as the woman with a clipboard and too many rules. You sawme.

“And even when you were trying not to, even when we were sniping at each other like children, somewhere between the lists and the looks, I fell for you, slowly.

“You are not perfect. And neither am I. That’s what makes us real. I’ve seen the way you protect the people you love. I’ve seen the weight you carry, and the strength it takes to set it down. And I promise, before everyone here and everyone we’ve lost, that you will never carry anything, except maybe wood, alone.”

He swallows hard.

“I vow to stand beside you, laugh with you, fight with you, and build a home with you, one we will want to leave, but not without each other. Contrary to what is splashed on socials, I wasn’t picking my player. You were not on any list. You were always my number one, first round, first draft. And you always will be.”

“Sixty-eight plus one!” Izzy hoots.

Kolby clears his throat. “There was a time in my life when I believed love was something other people got. A peace I’d never find. Then you happened. You, with your sharp wit, and perfect braid, and those eyes.” He shakes his head as he looks so deep into them that I feel them touched.

“You told me what you needed without ever asking for it out loud. You made a home I didn’t know I was searching for. Youchoseme, even knowing all the ways I’ve been broken. And now? I vow to give you joy every chance I get. I vow to love the life we build, even when it’s loud, even when it’s messy, even when we’re running on three hours of sleep and two of them I lay awake, listening to you spew off things to add to a list.”

“Do not,” I huff.

He smiles and continues, “I vow to make this love a safe place—for you, for our future children, for anyone who walks through our front door and needs to feel what I feel when I look at you. You are home, Lo.”

I feel my eyes heat. Yep, I’m going to cry … dammit.

Josh clears his throat. “Well then. You’ve planted the seeds. You’ve spoken the truth. You’ve promised forever with words that came straight from your hearts.

“Lauren and Kolby, what you’ve just done is no small thing. It’s not just love that brought you here today. It’s trust. It’s loyalty. It’s knowing each other fully and choosing each other anyway. That’s the kind of love that lasts, that builds something better than perfection—it builds a life.

“And now, by the power vested in me—by the state, by this community, and by the grace of a love that’s been a long time coming—I now pronounce you husband and wife.

“Kolby, kiss your bride.”

Chapter23

Epilogue

Kolby

You never expect your whole life to shift while you’re holding twelve pounds of awesome in a Knights football onesie.

Ezra’s snuggled in my arms, making those tiny grunts that babies do when they’re just … content. Riley’s in the recliner, ankles elevated, sipping ginger tea like she’s hosting a damn spa day in our living room. Lo’s standing beside me, humming as she folds yet another impossibly small pair of baby socks.

She glances at me then down at Ezra and says, “I’m stealing him.”

“You’re about to have one of your own,” I remind her with a wink. “Just give me ten more minutes.”

She opens her mouth to reply then freezes. I mean, completely still, like a deer caught in stadium lights. Her hand flies to her belly. Her eyes go wide.

“Oh—”

“What?” I shift Ezra in my arms. “What did I do?”