“Night, darlin’!”
As soon as we were outside, I scooped her up, already kissing her as I backed her against the side of the bar.“I love you.So goddamn much, Ev.I love you, sweetness.”
“Reid,” she moaned, holding on to my shoulders, wrapping her legs around my waist.“I love you too.”
Those words crashed into me with the force of a freight train.“I have to get you home, baby.Gotta get you in our bed right now.”
“Yes, please.Hurry.”
Epilogue
Everly
Fate hada way of getting its way.
Like making me allergic to condoms and then working its voodoo and causing my birth control to fail.I’d made Reid wait so long—it still felt like it had been years instead of a few weeks—only for the damn pill to not even work.
But I couldn’t say I was mad about it.
Being pregnant wasn’t all that bad.Morning sickness was a hard pass, but feeling the baby move inside my belly was worth all those days I spent so sick it was a struggle to get out of bed.Watching Reid’s eyes fill with tears when the ultrasound tech told us we were having a girl was a moment in time I was never going to forget.
Neither was the day he’d placed our daughter in his dad’s arms and that old biker turned to a blubbering, mushy mess.Tanner Reid was my second-favorite man in the world, followed only by his eldest son.Which was why I’d asked him to walk me down the aisle.
“You ready, darlin’?”
Blinking back tears, I nodded, taking my papa biker’s arm.He wore his MC cut over his tux, but I couldn’t imagine this day any other way.
Jos adjusted my veil then cupped my face in her hands.With her helping me, planning my wedding had been seamless.All those mother-of-the-bride traditions we’d done together were something I hoped to do with Addison one day.
Jos’s eyes glittered as she gave me a trembling smile.“Perfect.”
“If we don’t get things moving, Reid’s going to come in here and carry Everly down the aisle to the minister,” Elias said from the doorway.“And then all the hard work you put into this wedding is going to go down the drain, Ma.You spent two years planning this day.Enjoy it a little, yeah?”
“Stop rushing your momma.Your brother will stay where he’s supposed to—or else,” Tanner grumped at his youngest son.“Now, walk her down the aisle before she ruins the makeup she spent all morning fussin’ about.”
Elias offered his arm to Jos, giving me a smile that was just the right amount of affectionate and wouldn’t trigger his wife’s crazy.“See you on the other side, little sister.”
Outside, Tanner paused to wait for Elias and Jos to walk down the aisle, and then Sammy followed, holding Addison’s hand as she toddled along, throwing rose petals.From where we were standing, we were able to watch her for most of the walk, even with every seat filled.As expected, she didn’t make it far before she was bored with the flowers.
“Addi,” Reid called to her, and I watched her face light up.“Walk to Daddy, baby girl.”
“Dadadadada,” she squealed in delight, as if she hadn’t seen him in days, rather than the mere minutes it had been since she’d left his side to play her part as our flower girl.
Jos and I planned this day around Addison being able to walk, and she hadn’t let me down.The wait had made Reid grumpy, but he couldn’t tell me no.Ever.And I might have used that to my advantage.Often.
After my daughter was out of sight, Sammy took her place.Evie turned to give me a hug, her eyes telling me all the things neither of us could say aloud because our throats were too tight with emotion.This day was the best day of my life, and I knew that wouldn’t have been possible if she hadn’t been there with me.When I released her, she started her walk toward the altar.
I held on to Tanner’s arm a little tighter as the music switched.“You okay, darlin’?”
“Better than okay, Papa,” I assured him, trying my hardest to keep the tears back.No one had ever told me that happiness felt this good.I’d never imagined I could experience it—and definitely not on this level.Today, I was getting all the things that I’d once thought were impossible dreams.
A family.Not just with Evie, but one of my very own.With Addison and Reid.With Jos and Tanner and all the uncles, aunts, and cousins thrown in.I was getting the security and the love and the tiny things that most people took for granted but I’d never gotten to experience until we moved to Creswell Springs.
“Good.You ready?”All I could do was nod.
As soon as we reached the back row of guests, my eyes on the man waiting for me with our daughter in his arms, I couldn’t hold back the happy tears any longer.When I saw Reid standing there, everything else disappeared—the hundreds of people sitting as witness to our special day, the fairy lights twinkling around us like stars—but the man who had become a part of me the moment I set eyes on him.
One look.That was all it had taken for me to fall in love with him.One random moment in time and he’d attached himself to my heart.
