Epilogue
One Month Later
“Are you ready?”Taylynn opened the door to Raven’s office, which he’d loaned to Tania to get dressed.“Everyone’s waiting.They’re eager to get the party started.”
Tania looked down at herself, then up at her friend.
“I think I made a mistake.”
“Oh, honey.”Taylynn stepped into the room and closed the door behind her.“Are you having second thoughts about Smokey?I can tell he’s head over heels for you just by the two of you.I don’t know that you’ll ever find anyone who will take better care of you and Carter.”
Tania shook her head.
“Not that.I know Smokey’s the one.I’ll never have to worry about being hit again, that wasn’t what I was talking about.”She looked down at herself again.“I think I screwed up with this dress.It’s not me.”
“Oh.”Taylynn straightened.“That’s an entirely different issue.Give me a second, I think I know what to do.Do you trust me?”
Tania looked up from the white lace gown she had chosen for today.It was what she’d wanted when she’d married Rod, but she’d caved into her mother’s preference with what would fit with the theme of the wedding, which her mother and his had planned.But that was all over now.She met Taylynn’s gaze.“Of course.”
“Give me a minute, I’ve got to talk to someone.I have an idea.”
Tania nodded and watched as her new best friend left the room.While she waited, Tania thought back over all the changes that had happened in the last several weeks.
She’d been legally divorced, and the judge had ordered that she didn’t have to pay Rod the settlement amount lined out in the prenup.To everyone’s surprise, he’d agreed that he’d already gotten more than the hundred thousand that he would have been paid.Smokey now had full parental rights for Carter, and Rod’s had been stripped since he wasn’t the father.Less than a week after her divorce had been final, Rod and his father had been arrested.They were even now in jail, she didn’t know where and didn’t care, while they awaited trial on federal money laundering charges.Somehow, they were involved with organized crime.And there had been something about a missing woman that had turned up dead.She was still stunned by how she’d lived with Rod for over a year and had no clue what he was into.Tania couldn’t help but be glad she’d gotten away before it had gotten worse.
Tania had seen her parents once since she’d left Rod.She’d confronted them about hiding her inheritance, told them to enjoy what they’d gotten so far, because it was the last thing they’d be getting from her, then informed them she was cutting contact.Maybe, in the future, she would reconsider but for now, she needed time to process it all, and she couldn’t do that if they were harping in her ear about what they wanted.Not that it mattered much, she suspected they would disown her after they found out what was happening here today.She was marrying the one person who had cared enough to help her.The person she should have married in the first place.
“Here we are,” Taylynn came back into the room, closing the door behind her.“If we had more time, there are other things we could do, but I think this will be enough.”She pulled something from behind her back and it took Tania a moment to realize the folded black leather was her property cut.
“How?”she asked with a frown.
“I got David to go get it for you.”
Tania scowled for a moment as she wondered why send the prospect instead of just asking Smokey, but she soon dismissed the thought as Taylynn approached and held up the vest for her.Tania slipped her arms into it and settled the leather onto her shoulders before turning and checking her reflection in the full-length mirror that had brought in for the day.The leather vest didn’t match anything on the dress, but Tania thought it was perfect.A blend of her past and her present in a way she didn’t think she could have managed if she’d tried.
“It’s perfect!”Tania turned and hugged her new friend, “I’m ready.”She turned back to the mirror and tugged down the hem on her vest, settling it about her hips where it belonged.A moment later a deep voice drew her attention.
“I hear you’re ready?”
She turned to find Raven standing inside, watching her.
“I am.”
“I want to thank you again.I’m honored to do this for you.”He wore a black button-up shirt under his cut, along with a new, dark pair of jeans and his motorcycle boots.There was a small fake sprig of Holly tucked into his right breast pocket.
“With everything I’ve been through, you’re the only one I want to do it.”She stepped in and gave him a brief hug before stepping back and looking up at him.“Let’s do this.”
The door opened again, revealing Taylynn.
“We’re ready,” she said before disappearing, leaving the door open.She heard the opening notes of “Wanted Dead or Alive” by Bon Jovi and couldn’t help but smile at how appropriate it was.She wasn’t going to walk down the aisle to this.No.This was one part of the party she and Smokey had planned and insisted on.This was him.Smokey before she was a daily part of his life.When she was ready and stepped out into the hallway, the music would change.
Raven held out one arm.Tania took his arm, took a deep breath and straightened her back.
“Let’s go.”
Raven led her to the door, then turned them sideways to go through so he she wouldn’t have to release him, then took the few steps to the opening of the hallway.As soon as they could be seen by the rest of the room, the music changed.A short span of instrumental was soon broken by piano and then the vocals.Someone handed Carter to Raven and slowly, they walked through the empty space created through the middle of rows of chairs to “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith.
