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He stepped around her and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me in for a hug. “Hi, darlin’. It’s nice to finally see you here.”
I squealed in surprise, earning me a lot of grins from his family standing behind him before I hugged him back, and whispered, “I’m so happy to be here.”
He pulled back and smiled down at me. “Now come on, my Anna has been dying to meet you. And you have a lot of family here to meet yet.”
He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and began steering me away. I looked back at Gunner who watched me closely, but I waved him off. I was okay. This didn’t feel scary or intimidating; it felt warm and inviting. I followed Jack through the yard and met so many people I knew it would take me a long time to get everyone straight, but it didn’t matter because I’d have that time. I’d have the chance. A chance I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would have.
And I let the warmth surround me. Finally, after all these years, life was giving me my happy.
Not all that long ago, I was afraid that fate had taken away any chance of me living a life I could be proud of, a life where I felt happy and free.
Now I understood that everything I endured wasn’t the end, but the beginning of something beautiful. Something that I never in my wildest dreams thought would be possible in my life. And something I was never going to take for granted.
I glanced across the crowd and found Gunner.
His eyes on me.
Always on me.
That no longer felt intimidating. It felt comforting to know he loved me so much that I would never have to face hard times alone again.
I would never walk alone again.
I smiled, and he grinned back at me, giving me a nod of his head that I found ridiculously adorable before he turned back to the conversation he was participating in.
When I felt someone walk up to stand beside me, I turned my head and came face to face with Luke. I took a sip of the water from the bottle in my hand.
He dropped his head and grinned. “I can’t even tell you how good it is to see you smiling.”
“It feels good to smile,” I admitted, picking at the label on the side of my bottle before finally saying what I always wanted to say. “Thank you, Luke. You can’t know how much it meant to me that you visited me and tried so hard to save me.” I smiled shyly. “Even when I was trying so hard not to save myself.” I turned to face him fully, taking in a deep breath and exhaling before continuing. “I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough then to just let you help me.”
His brows pulled in close together. “Maggie, you are one of the strongest people I know. You lived a life that few of us can understand, and you lived it staying true to yourself. In all that time with Snake, you could’ve become like the Widows, but you didn’t. You stayed true and honest and brave, and that takes more strength than most people have.”
“That’s what Gunner says.”
Luke grinned. “We’re both pretty damn smart.”
I giggled. “He’d say that too.”
“Maybe we have more in common than we thought.” His smile slowly fell, and his face grew serious. “He lost his mind, Maggie, when you were missing after my wedding. Never saw a man so determined. I knew, hell, we all knew that he’d tear apart this town, this city, wherever he had to just to find you.”
I shook my head. “I shouldn’t have done that, and I regret it. Regret that he was worried, that I took you from your wedding day, that I was selfish and never thought my decision that day would affect anyone else.” I smiled sadly. “I’m sorry for all of that.”
“You have nothing to apologize for, Maggie.” He smiled. “It all worked out in the end because here we are celebrating, and this time, you’re standing with us where you will always have a place.”
I smiled genuinely. “Your family is amazing. I never knew families like this existed.”
Luke reached out to grab my hand and squeezed gently. “It’s your family now too, and I expect to see you at all the events we celebrate. And trust me, we celebrate a lot of shit.”
I nodded my head once and giggled softly. He acted like he didn’t like it, even seemed put out by the enormity of his family and their expectations, but I’d been paying attention, and I knew that wasn’t the case. He loved every moment of it, and I was starting to understand why. “I’ll be there.”
Luke leaned down and hugged me just as Gunner approached. I stiffened, worried that Gunner would be upset that Luke was hugging me, but he smiled instead and waited until Luke and I parted to speak up. “You have your own woman, you know.”
I saw Kate come behind him and wrap her arms around his waist, shoving her body under his arm. “Oh, he knows.”
Luke stared down at her the way he had at the wedding, the way I’d seen him do the few times I’d been around them, and I realized it was the way Gunner looked at me.
I leaned back against Gunner and sighed when he wrapped his arms around me. My eyes drifted over the scene in front of me, taking in the couples, the children playing together, the dogs chasing them, the family all celebrating another amazing thing in their life.