Page 135 of Let Me Be the One
It was so damn hard not to squeeze her, to confirm that she was his and only his, but he’d have rather taken that bullet than cause her pain. “Yeah, honey?”
“I love you.” She tilted her face back to see him. “I don’t care that it hasn’t been long enough. I don’t care what house I live in. I definitely don’t care what Sutter does or doesn’t do. We can be arguing, or talking, orjust sharing coffee, feeding goats or…oreven dealing with snakes. I’m so happy when I’m with you.” Tears welled up in her eyes and her lips trembled. “The kind of happiness I never knew was possible. I love Hoker, I love your family, and I love who I am with you. You’re it. You’re mine.”
And just like that, she made everything right again. He touched his mouth to hers. “I love you, too.” Nothing had ever compared to this. To the rightness of it. The completion and peace and sense of being where he was supposed to be. With the people most important to him. And with Callie.
He glanced at Sutter, at his battered, bloodied face. “I’m glad it’s me.”
She smiled. “It was always you—from the moment I saw you.”
* * *
INAUGUST, a wedding took place. It wasn’t at all fancy, but Glory insisted on a lot of beautiful flowers, and her mother wanted her to wear the designer gown that had already been altered for her. Callie didn’t mind. In the dress, she felt like the princess Tanner affectionately claimed her to be.
Tanner made it clear that he didn’t mind either, since Sutter had never seen the dress and he knew she’d chosen it with her own preferences in mind, not Sutter’s.
He pulled her close now and kissed her, then grinned as they looked around at the one and only event hall in Hoker. Callie had to admit, it was pretty outdated with paneled walls, metal chairs with plastic-covered seats, and a worn linoleum floor. “This is their moment of fame, you know. The renowned McCallahan family, having the town’s biggest event in their hall. They’ll live off this for years.”
She smiled. Her wedding had been perfect, and the reception was too, because all her favorite people were here. Her mom and dad were now seated with Addie. That had taken some doing, because Addie wasn’t a sitter.
Kam, who’d served as Tanner’s best man, was laughing with Dirk and Lang. She saw Tanner shake his head. He was still having trouble accepting that the brothers weren’t quite as bad as they had once been. No, they weren’t role models for young people, but they’d left their most unsavory habits behind in their late teens and early twenties.
Plus she knew Tanner would never forget that Lang had protected Blu, and Dirk had been trying to catch Sutter in the act. That’s how they’d ended up in the woods with a gun pulled on them.
Who knew Sutter even had a gun? Of course, he’d gotten it from someone else, and hadn’t known how to use it, but still, things could have gone very, very differently. If it weren’t for Dirk and Lang, they might still be trying to prove Sutter’s guilt.
“Glory looks stunning.” Her cousin had taken her role as maid of honor seriously, and had worked with her mother to get everything arranged so that Callie didn’t have to deal with it.
“She always looks perfect,” Tanner said. Then he rethought that and said, “Not as perfect as you.”
They were alone for the moment, standing together and sipping drinks, so Callie shared something she hadn’t before. “She was once in a bad car wreck.”
“Who? Glory?”
Nodding at the awful memory, Callie explained, “Her parents died, and she almost died, too. She’d broken a shoulder, a leg, two ribs, her nose and jaw…”
“Damn.” He looked at Glory with new concern. “You’d never know it to see her now. If she has scars, they don’t show.”
Thanks to multiple plastic surgeries, many of them pushed by her parents, Glory’s physical scars were no longer visible. Now her scars are all on the inside.
Tanner took her drink from her and set it on the table with his own. “Can we leave now?”
“We need to make the rounds to tell everyone goodbye and thank them.” Glad that he’d drawn her out of the sad memory, she said, “Maybe ten minutes more? No longer. I keep thinking that Blu is missing us.”
She’d already moved in with Tanner’s family. Funny thing was that Kam had plans to move out. Not far, just closer to town, but he swore he’d be back so often Addie wouldn’t be able to miss him.
No one believed that.
Glory also had a place in town now. It was a house, as small as Callie’s but more updated. Definitely not fancy. She claimed she wanted to simplify her life, but not in the same ways Callie had.
And good thing, because Glory had officially been promoted in the family company. Her recent rushed travel had netted several new deals with promised commissions from multiple sources. That had earned her favor, but also, Glory had wisely recorded Sutter’s rambling threats and explanations—before she’d attacked him. For that, everyone was eternally grateful.
Knowing that Sutter’s family would soon be embroiled in scandal and legal troubles, her parents had gone to them in person and shared the damning information. It was a sign of respect.
In appreciation for their discretion, Sutter’s family had gone ahead with the deal, fully endorsing them.They were shamed by their son’s dishonorable behavior but they loved him and planned to stand by him through his legal ordeal.
Callie wondered if Sutter would ever learn his lesson, but he was no longer her problem.
“Blu isn’t the only one who misses you. I still can’t believe your folks want to relocate here.”
