Page 88 of Something Tangled Something True (Rosa Ranch #1)

IN EVERY LIFETIME

THIRTY YEARS LATER

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay, Dad? I don’t want you to trip because you can’t see through all those tears,” Carmen jokes, squeezing my bicep as I swipe away the tears falling mercilessly down my cheeks.

I suck in a deep breath and blink the tears away. “Yes, mi amor. I promise, I’ll get my shit together for you,” I tell her with a raspy chuckle.

The truth is, walking our daughter down the aisle might just kill me.

It’s not that I don’t love her soon-to-be wife, quite the opposite, actually.

I adore Maribella, and after the first look, where I got to see Carmen wearing Lola’s wedding dress, the delicate lace appliqués still beautifully preserved after all these years, it was just too damn much.

I love love! I firmly believe that real men cry, but damn, I’m really ruining a lot of family photos with all these tears.

Lola slips beside us, sliding a hand around my back, rubbing soothing circles between my shoulder blades.

“Ry, everything okay?” she asks, giggling at my expense.

She and Carmen give each other a look so familiar to me after nearly five decades of seeing it on Lola’s face.

It’s the one that reads, “He’s being such a sap, isn’t he? ”

“I can’t help it! Our daughter is just so beautiful, and you know how I get at weddings.”

“Ryder, you better get your shit together because I’m pressing play on that song in t-minus twenty seconds, whether you’re ready or not!” Mayte whisper-screams at me, her voice startling me. I almost drop the giant black umbrella we’re using to shield Carmen from the crowd.

“ Ay !” Lola and Carmen yelp, grabbing hold of the umbrella to steady it in front of us.

“I promise, I’m good now,” I assure them, blinking away the last remnants of wetness from my lashes. “Let’s do this.”

Lola presses up onto her toes, pecking my cheek with a kiss I’m certain left a perfect red imprint of her lips. She licks the pad of her thumb and swipes at it roughly, my skin stinging from all the tugging.

“You ready, amorcito ?” I ask Carmen as Lola moves to stand on her other side, looping an arm through hers.

“I’ve never been more ready,” Carmen confirms. “I love that woman so damn much, it hurts.”

“I know the feeling,” I whisper just as “ El Amor” starts playing, signaling for us to make our way up the aisle.

I pass the umbrella to Mayte, loop my arm through my daughter’s, and walk her down the center of the crowd of people—people who adore her and Maribella more than anything, all smiling and dabbing at tears. I keep my eyes trained ahead, doing my best not to trip in the white sand.

Maribella’s dark hair is cropped close to her scalp at the sides, a mop of curls hanging over her forehead. She looks incredible in the cream linen suit I helped pick out. She, like Carmen, holds a bouquet of origami flowers surrounded by silk greenery, her dark eyes brimming with unshed tears.

When we make it to the end of the aisle, Carmen steps out of our embrace, turning to face her Mami first, hugging her tight and kissing both her cheeks. She spins to face me, blinking tears from her cinnamon-colored eyes, the same as Lola’s.

“Who’s the one crying now?” I joke, pulling her into my chest for a crushing hug before pressing a kiss to the top of her head, releasing her after a long beat.

“It’s usually you, Dad, but if we’re going to cry about something, I think today is the perfect excuse,” she whispers.

“I think so too. And Carmen?”

“Yeah?”

“ Te amo. ”

She grins up at me, dimples popping. “ Te amo, Papi. ” Maribella reaches for Carmen’s hand, helping her up onto the small platform as Lola and I take our seats in the front row.

The sun is setting, wind blowing lightly around us, as Carmen and the newest addition to our family say their vows surrounded by family and friends who love them exactly as they are.

Lola sags against my side, winding an arm through mine and pressing her other palm against my bicep. “You know, I would do it all again if it meant I got you in the end,” she whispers into my ear.

I lower my mouth to the shell of hers and whisper back, “I choose you, Lols. In every lifetime. In every circumstance. My soul will always find my way back to you. ”

The end, for real this time.