They greeted Simone with open arms. They rushed her into the bar. Music played and everyone celebrated and laughed and…
Simone might have cried. But she tried really, really hard not to let anyone see her tears. She swiped them away whenever they tried to trickle out. It was just…
Welcome to the family.
Her breath shuddered out.
Ryan pulled her onto the dance floor. A small dance floor in a small-town bar with people who accepted her without question.
“I love you,” he whispered into her ear. “I meant what I said, I’d be lost without you.”
Her hands curled around his shoulders, and she held him tight. She’d been afraid to dream, afraid to fantasize, for far too long. But everything she wanted was right there.
Found. Finally. The man she loved. The life she’d longed for…it was all right there. She’d found it. She’d fought for it. And she would never, ever let it go.
* * *
THE END
