I’m standing out front as the bus’s doors open and tourists start to get off.
I spot Evan first. He’s a big dude anyway, but the red hair and beard make him stick out like a sore thumb.
And then I see Harper, and my chest seems to tighten as if the piece that was missing from it clicks back into place.
God, I missed her.
Seeing her—being with her—has become such a routine part of my life that I didn’t even realize how much I missed her until I see her at the top of the bus stairs.
She glances up and her eyes connect with mine, and then her face breaks out into a broad smile as she skips down the steps and races over to me. As she jumps into me for a hug, emotion chokes the back of my throat.
“I missed you,” I murmur.
“I missed you more,” she sasses back, and there’s my girl. I laugh, and she pulls back to give Victoria a hug next.
“Didn’t think I’d see you here, Harps,” Victoria says, and the way she squeezes onto my girl tells me she feels much the same way I do.
“I missed you, Harts,” Harper says as she squeezes Victoria.
“Missed you more,” she says as Harper pulls out of her arms.
Evan comes over and tosses out his hand for a shake, and I thank him for coming. I’m not quite sure how to repay him for everything he’s done for Harper and me, but that’s the sort of family you get with this career. I realize now how lucky I am. I hug Trudy next and give Bella a little squeeze.
“So why are we here? Mr. Wilkinson said there’s a big surprise.” Harper looks between the two of us.
I glance at Victoria. It’s supposed to be a secret wedding, and as much as I want to tell Harper the real reason why we made her come all this way, we need to wait.
But I won’t wait long.
Just long enough to introduce her to Victoria’s family, which we’ll do in another hour when we meet for brunch—the final official event in the Lambert-Hartley wedding weekend.
Between getting the Wilkinsons checked in and showing Harper around the hotel, the hour passes quickly and we find ourselves walking into the brunch with my daughter.
“Well, who do we have here?” Lori asks.
“This is my daughter, Harper,” I say. “Harper, this is Victoria’s mom, Mrs. Hartley.”
“So you’re Ms. Hartley and she’s Mrs. Hartley?” Harper asks, glancing back and forth between the two women.
Victoria laughs. “I thought we agreed outside of school you didn’t have to call me that anymore.”
“Oh, right,” Harper says with a smile.
“She’s one of my reading students,” Victoria clarifies. “She just transferred to Stratford this year. And I happened to meet her father a week before I met her, as if fate intervened.”
I reach over and squeeze Victoria’s hand. I know she’s saying it for show since Owen just walked in, but it also feels natural to hear it.
It does feel a whole lot like fate. Like someone’s up there watching out for me.
Maybe it’s Caroline and Simon making sure Harper is getting everything she needs, and we’ll click another piece into that puzzle later this evening when Victoria becomes my wife.
My wife . I’m still not used to that.
And I’m not quite sure how we’re going to consummate with my daughter here, but we’ll find a time. Consummation is most definitely occurring at some point. That’s a guarantee.
“How lovely to meet you, Harper,” Lori says. She glances up at me as if she has a feeling something big is about to happen. “What brings you here?”
“My dad said he didn’t want me to miss out on the awesome vacation,” she answers, and then Ken comes over and we issue more introductions.
“I didn’t realize you had a daughter,” Ken says to me privately as Victoria takes Harper to meet the other kids, the oldest of which is still six years her junior.
“Her parents passed away a couple months ago and it turns out I’m her biological father.” I shrug.
“Holy smokes,” he says, and he whistles low between his teeth. “And you just…took her in?”
I shrug. “I wanted to do the right thing, and that was it.”
“Even though you were a single guy living the high life prior to that?” he asks.
I laugh. “It’s been an eventful couple months with a lot of adjustments, I’ll tell you that.”
He chuckles. “I’d imagine so. But wow. What you’re doing is certainly admirable.”
I didn’t do it to be admired. I did it because I wanted that little girl to have a good life of stability, and somehow, despite it all, I guess I’m the guy who can give her that.
It seems backwards and wrong, but it’s our life now. It’s been no picnic over the last few months, and there will be even harder times ahead, but it’s hard to think that way when I feel so much joy right now.
More joy than I’ve ever felt in my life, if I’m being honest.
“And Victoria…she knows what she’s getting into?” her father asks, pulling me from my thoughts.
I glance over at the woman I’m going to marry tonight. She’s laughing with Harper, and she turns as if she can feel my gaze on her. She winks at me and smiles wider before turning back to the kids, and I nod as I look back at her father. “Yes. She knows. And we’d love your blessing, sir.”
He presses his lips together. “She’s a special girl. She’s my girl, and I don’t take handing her over to someone else lightly.” He claps me on the shoulder. “But I’ve never seen her as happy as she is when she’s with you, Travis. It would be my honor to give you two my most enthusiastic blessing.”
I reach out to shake his hand, but he grabs me into a hug instead.
As crazy as it seems, somehow, someway, I feel like I just might fit into this family.
I lean in closer to him. “The sunset cruise tonight…it’s going to be a surprise.”
“I had a feeling when your daughter showed up,” he says. “Don’t you want your folks here?”
“I’m not real close to them.” I shrug. “We’d, uh, appreciate your discretion.”
He nods. “Of course. Thanks for telling me. It’ll give me a minute to prepare what to say as I give away two daughters in two days.”
I sling an arm around his shoulders as I think about someday far, far, far into the future when I might be having a similar conversation with a person who wants to marry my girl, and I think about what it is that I’d want to hear from that kid in that moment. “You’re not giving her away, Mr. Hartley. She’ll always be your girl. I’m simply doing what I can to make her happy.”
He glances over at me. “You’re a good kid, Woods. We’re lucky to have you around.”
My entire chest lifts at the compliment. Aside from coaches who’ve told me they’re lucky to have me on the team, no father-figure has ever handed me a compliment like that based on who I am as a man. “That means a lot,” I finally mumble.
We’re both getting emotional, and then one of Vanessa’s kids starts throwing a tantrum—screaming before throwing himself on the floor face down and kicking his legs, and then the nanny takes him aside to chat with him, and the entire moment between us is broken up. We head our separate ways with one of those parting nods men give one another, and I slide my arm around Victoria’s waist not in a possessive way but in a I-need-to-touch-you-right-now sort of way. Harper is playing “Pat-a-Cake” with one of the babies, and Victoria leans over and presses her lips to my cheek.
“What were you and my dad talking about?” she asks.
I chuckle. “Oh, you know. Manly things. Chest hair and beards.”
She narrows her eyes at me in jest with a laugh, and then the luncheon starts.
It feels pretty damn good to have his blessing, as if it was some final hurdle for us to jump over, and I can’t wait for the dinner cruise tonight.
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