Page 51 of The Rancher Married the Wrong Sister (Billionaires of Evergreen, Texas #13)

THREE WEEKS.

It’s been three weeks since I knelt in the mud and begged my wife not to leave me, and somehow, miraculously, she’d found it in her heart to forgive the bastard who’d used her as bait.

Three weeks since Jessica broke down and confessed everything. Her addiction to gambling. Her spiraling debts. And ultimately, the loan sharks that had pushed her to steal from me and disappear.

She didn’t care about the consequences. Didn’t care about Wednesday. And that was probably why Jessica had found it so hard to believe when the woman she never saw as a sister...started to cry because Wednesday had been hurting for her.

I wish you had told me. I wish you had let me try to help.

That was just how my wife was.

And she was so incomparably kind that for one second, Jessica and I had actually looked at each other, and both of us discovered something in common.

We don’t deserve her.

And indeed, we don’t.

But such was the goodness of God, that it seemed He had given Wednesday to Jessica and me because she was the only person on earth He had designed to have enough kindness and love in her heart to forgive people like us.

Wednesday had asked me nervously afterward if I had any plans about Jessica, and it wasn’t hard at all to read between the lines.

Frankly, even if she hadn’t asked, God had already told me what I needed to do, and at this point in my life, I’d be an even bigger idiot if I wasted arguing with the God who created me.

To live a life without following Him, it would be like buying an Android device but going to whoever Steve Jobs’ successor was and asking if I could have the user manual for an iPhone.

The Creator knows best, always. And so, to cut the long story short...

I paid all of Jessica’s debts in exchange of her commitment to entering rehab. None of us made any promises beyond that, but it was also easy to see that both women shared an unspoken hope. That maybe one day, they could finally be sisters for real, the way they had never been their entire lives.

It was a happy-for-now ending for the Arthurs, and as for the Launcelots...

Perfect timing.

I straighten my tie and glance around the back garden of my ranch, transformed into something that looks like it stepped out of a fairy tale.

White chairs arranged in neat rows, an archway draped with flowers and flowing fabric, and more guests than I’ve ever seen on my property, all here to witness something I never thought would happen.

A wedding that I wanted with all my mind, heart, and soul.

The crowd stirs, and I turn toward the main house just as she appears.

My love.

Wednesday glides across the garden in a gown that’s pure sunshine, layers of flowing fabric in every shade of spring, from soft yellows to coral pinks to the palest lavender.

Flowers are woven through her long black hair, and she looks like something out of a dream.

A fairy princess who somehow wandered into my harsh, practical world and decided to stay.

Who knows?

Maybe in Heaven, that’s exactly what she’ll be.

But for now...

She reaches my side, her violet eyes shining even more brightly than usual, and it’s just like Wednesday to look at me like I’m her fairytale prince.

As if I haven’t spent months being the villain in our story.

As if the man standing before her deserves even an ounce of the love I see reflected in her gaze.

I know we’re supposed to wait.

The pastor hasn’t even started yet, and there’s a whole ceremony planned.

But seeing her like this, radiant and perfect and mine...

The crowd erupts in laughter as I draw her close and capture her mouth in a kiss so deep she ends up bending backward in my arms, her bouquet of wildflowers falling to the grass.

“Ahem.”

Pastor Lee clears his throat, and I reluctantly let my wife go. Her cheeks are pink, and she’s stammering out apologies to our guests, which only makes them laugh harder.

I take her small hand in mine, threading our fingers together. “I love you,” I whisper.

And just like Wednesday...

Her shy smile blooms across her face as soon as she hears the words that have become our anchor. “I love you, too.”

Pastor Lee beams at us both, raising his voice to address the crowd.

“We are gathered here today...”

This time, when he asks if I take Wednesday to be my wife, I don’t hesitate. I don’t look away. I stare straight into those stunning violet eyes and say the words like a vow.

“I do.”

And when it’s her turn, she whispers those same two words with tears of joy streaming down her cheeks.

Thank You, God.

I thought I married the wrong sister.

But I was wrong.

His ways, His thoughts, like always, were higher than mine.

And I can never thank Him enough.

The End

Thank you for reading The Rancher Married the Wrong Sister. I hope you enjoyed it, enough perhaps to leave even the shortest review or a quick rating. Such things mean the world to indie authors like me.

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Thank you so much again, and let us always remember Philippians 4:13.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Until our next journey,

Marian Tee