“Come here,” I say, barely able to speak over the emotion choking my throat. All I know is if I don’t hold her in my arms, I’ll explode.
She closes the gap between us, slowly at first, before flinging herself into my arms. I lift her up, and her legs go around my waist as she buries her head in my neck. I hold her close, nuzzling my nose in her hair, inhaling the familiar smell of her vanilla shampoo and the musky notes of her perfume. I close my eyes, absorbing how incredible it feels to hold her again, tightening my arms around her back, silently promising to never let her go.
“Presley, baby,” I murmur, as she slowly slides down my body a couple minutes later. Tilting her chin, I force her gaze to mine. She stares at me through tear-filled eyes, but she has a bright smile on her face and she’s clutching my arms as if she can’t bear to not touch me. I can feel her happiness as if it’s a tangible thing. My heart swells to bursting, and a deep sense of contentment washes over me. Her eyes lock on mine, and they are full of so much emotion it almost knocks me over. “I love you,” I say, winding my hands in her hair. “I love you so fucking much.”
We move at the same time, and our mouths collide in a passionate kiss that injects new life into me. I slide my tongue into her mouth as I angle my head, needing to deepen the kiss, to ensure she understands everything I’m saying with every brush of my tongue. I don’t care that we have an audience as I taste her lips over and over, holding her flush against my body, feeling her heart race in sync with mine.
This, right here, is the missing piece.
We might have needed the time apart to heal, but now we need to be together to glue back the remaining broken pieces of our hearts.
EPILOGUE
Presley - Two Years Later
“Okay, I’ll admit to being a little horrified when Rachel showed me the design for your dress, but I’ve got to hand it to both of you; it’s exquisite, and it works,” Alex says. “It’s perfectly you.” Her eyes flood with tears as she looks me over in my nontraditional wedding dress.
I swirl in front of the mirror, admiring my reflection. The gown is a plain strapless white dress with a full skirt that swings out from my waist, ending at my calves. It’s the fine layer of delicate black lace, covering the fitted top and creeping onto the skirt, and the silky black and red wraparound belt that elevates it from plain to spectacular. I even dyed the ends of my hair red for the occasion, to match my dress, and I’ve chosen to wear my hair down as Kent loves it like that. If we’d had a winter wedding, there’s no doubt I would’ve opted for a full-length black and red dress, but we wanted an early summer wedding so Austen could come. His season starts next month, and he wouldn’t have found time for a weekend wedding with his busy schedule.
Kent and I have become super close with Keaton and Austen, especially now they are back home in Boston with Austen having transferred to the Patriots last year under a record-breaking deal. Kent wouldn’t get married without them here, and he was happy to adjust our plans to accommodate his triplet and his husband.Isn’t it amazing how things can completely change?
Kent and I continue to attend monthly therapy sessions, and I’m sure we will for a long time, but we have come through the tough times and are out on the other side.
“Itisfucking sensational,” Rachel says, waddling toward me. “Even if I do say so myself.”
I turn around, wrapping her in a gentle hug. It’s hard to do anything else with the large baby bump getting in the way. Rachel is due to give birth to their second child next month, and everyone has been teasing her and Brad like crazy since we got to the cabin last night, joking it’s triplets or quads.
I seriously thought Brad was going to stab Kent in the eye when he asked a typically inappropriate question about how much bigger Rachel’s boobs had gotten. He still likes to wind Brad up any chance he gets, and I’d like to say his big mouth doesn’t get him into trouble these days, but that would be a lie. I love that Kent is still uniquely himself and what he’s been through hasn’t altered his personality too much.
“Thank you,” I tell her. “I’m honored to be the first woman to wear a dress from the new Rachel McConaughey brand.” Rachel left Miranda Fanning last year to set up her own label, and her first launch is only three weeks after the new family addition is supposed to arrive. She is ridiculously busy, and I felt very loved when she insisted on designing and making my dress. Alex made Shania’s flower girl princess dress and Selena’s matron of honor gown.
We didn’t want the whole extravagant hotel wedding, so when Faye and Kyler offered us the use of their Connecticut cabin for our big day, we jumped at the chance to hold it here. It’s only family and our small network of friends, including some of Kent’s colleagues from his law firm and our employees from Tenley Ink.
Lance is here with his wife Emma. He’s the only one of Kent’s former Harvard buddies in attendance, because Kent isn’t in contact with Mitch or Topher anymore. Mo, Kady, and Rafe are here too, as is Ford and his wife Michelle. Even Pete and a couple of my ex-colleagues from Denver Ink made the trip, and I’m touched they went to so much effort.
Things were good after Kent and I reunited the day Austen found me at Denver Ink. We had no choice, but to do the long-distance thing for the first six months. I didn’t want to walk out in the middle of my apprenticeship and Kent was in his last year at law school, so it meant living apart during the week, in the short-term. But we spent every weekend together. Either I traveled to Boston or Kent came to me.
Until I got pregnant, and that changed everything.
We had stopped using condoms when we got back together since I was on the pill. Plus, the chances of getting knocked up were slim, given my condition. Or so we thought, which was why we weren’t as careful as we should have been. Shania wasn’t planned, but she was the best surprise ever.
When I discovered I was pregnant, I immediately handed my notice in to Pete, packed up my stuff, and booked a seat on the next plane to Boston. I didn’t tell Kent until I showed up at his door, crying tears of joy as I explained we were going to have a baby. He was beyond thrilled, and his excitement matched my own.
Someday, when Shania is old enough, we will bring her to Tillie’s grave and explain she has an older sister watching over her from heaven.
Turned out, I wasn’t the only one keeping surprises, because Kent had been in talks with Austen for months about opening a tattoo shop in Boston as a joint venture between Austen and me. They had just signed a lease on a state-of-the-art premises in a prime city location, and Kent was planning to tell me when he flew in for the weekend. All the paperwork was in my name, and Kent handed the reins to me then because he knew I would want to be involved in every aspect of setting up my own business.
And that’s how Tenley Ink was born. Austen and I have a fifty-fifty partnership deal, but I actively manage the business. He helps out off-season, and we both have a select number of clients we personally look after. The business has only been up and running a year, but it’s already a massive success. We are in the process of setting up a franchise business, and once everything is in place, we plan to look for partners to open branches across the US.
It’s more than I could have ever dreamed of.
And it’s all thanks to the man waiting outside to marry me.
Kent has made all my dreams come true in more ways than one.
When he proposed last Christmas, I couldn’t stop crying tears of joy.
Now, today, when I marry my soul mate, with our baby daughter by our side, surrounded by family and friends, my life will be complete.
