When Griffin comes to a stop, Wilder takes his place. “May I cut in?”
“He’s the worst out of the three of us,” Griffin says, placing my hand in Wilder’s much larger one. “Mind your toes.”
“Get outta here. It’s my turn to dance with the bride.” Wilder shoves Griff out of the way and sweeps me into his arms. He offers me a tender smile and glides his hand up and down my spine in a comforting gesture. “You ok?”
“Besides being a blubbering mess? I’ve never been happier.”
“You deserve it.” He gets a far-off look in his eyes, and his expression sobers. “Thank you for loving him back to life.”
My heart spasms inside my chest. “What do you mean?”
“Jaxon was a broken shell of a man before he met you. I don’t know how you did it, but I have my brother back again.”
I lock eyes with Jaxon across the dance floor and mouth a silent “I love you” as the song comes to an end. Evelyn meets me at the side of the dance floor and pulls me in for a hug.
When she lets go, she cups my cheeks in her palms. “You will always have a place in this family, Calliope Hayes. Thank you for loving my boy.”
Jaxon
She sways on her feet, gazing at me with a warm smile, eyes the exact shade as the night I proposed. She looks more radiant than ever.
“Come on, Cinderella. Time to go before you turn into a pumpkin.”
She throws her arms around my neck, giggling. “That’s not how the story ends, silly.”
I take two measured steps toward her. “Is this the ending?”
She wraps her arms around my neck. “For them, it is. ForCallie Cooper and Jaxon Hayes—two broken people who found each other long before they were supposed to. Today, we start writing a new story.”
“And what is it you want from this new story of ours?”
“It’s a lot, do you really want to know?”
“Tell me.”
Her fingers twist in the hair at my nape. “I want your kisses, all of them until the very last one. I want to grow old together on this ranch, in the house that started it all. I want your heart beating next to mine until we take our last breath. But more than anything, I want our daughter to have your eyes.”
“Daughter?”
She nods. “I’m pregnant. There’s another princess on the way to take my place.”
“I’m going to be a dad?”
I let out an unsteady breath as I sway us back and forth. There’s no music left to dance to, only the sound of my heart beating in time with hers like it was always meant to. I dip her backward and seal my mouth over hers, kissing her softly. Slowly. Reverently.
“Have I told you how much I love you?”
“I love you, too, Cowboy.”
“Mm. Say it again.”
She brings her lips to the shell of my ear. “I love you, Cowboy.”
“That’s my girl. Hold on tight.”
She squeals as I sweep my arm behind her knees and lift her into my arms. “Let’s go home, Bluebird.”
Bonus Epilogue
