Hero for the Holidays (Four Corners Ranch #9)

Epilogue

EPILOGUE

A S L ANDRY PREPPED for his wedding with his daughter, who was also the best man, the flower girl, the ring bearer and the maid of honor, he knew a particular kind of joy that actually made him feel sorry for other people. The family might not be conventional. But he didn’t regret a thing. Because how many other people could appreciate what they’d found in the way that he did? In the way that Fia did. They knew loss. And they knew love.

“You look great,” said Lila.

“Thanks, kid.”

They were having the wedding in the town hall barn, not at the lake, because Fia had not wanted to get married in the same place her sisters did. It was their long-awaited wedding, after all, and the whole barn was decked out beautifully. Lila had led the charge on decorations, and she had done a fantastic job.

Everybody was there already, and Lila, in her tulle skirt and tuxedo jacket, took her position with him up at the front.

And when Fia Sullivan walked through the door, dressed in a white gown, he knew for a fact that all his dreams had come true. And he was damned glad he was here to see it.

“She looks great,” said Lila.

“Yes, she does.”

And he didn’t feel any shame in letting a tear fall down his cheek. Because he had loved this woman for so many years. She was finally going to be his.

She took his hand, and they said their vows. Though he’d said them to her over and over again in a thousand different ways over the last year.

And then it was Lila’s turn to read something to them.

“‘I didn’t know how much I needed you both,’” she said. “‘Landry, when you first came to get me at the CPS office, I was afraid that you weren’t real. And when I met Fia for the first time, I couldn’t believe that I was finally seeing someone who looked so much like me. I couldn’t believe that this was really going to be my home. But you’ve done everything to build a life for me that helps remind me I can forget things. What you gave me is a miracle. And I love you both. And I would’ve loved you even if you didn’t marry each other, but I’m pretty happy that you are. I know you’ve talked a lot about names and such. Because of legacy. And Fia deciding to take Landry’s name made me think of a few things. You aren’t abandoning your family just because you’re choosing to take a new name. It’s about honoring where you are now. Because it feels right to you. I want to be Lila King. Because I want to be part of this. And I want to... I want to call you Mom and Dad. Because it doesn’t mean that my mom and dad didn’t matter. And it doesn’t mean I don’t love them. But you’re my family now. And you taught me that where you come from matters. We can remember it and honor it. But now is what we have. So that’s what I want now.’”

He and Fia both gathered Lila into their arms and did their best to hold it together, since they had an audience.

“That sounds like a good idea, kid,” he said.

“Thanks, Dad,” she whispered. He was done after that. But hell, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

When he and Fia kissed, when they were presented as a family, it really meant something.

When they went out to the bonfire to dance their first dance together, Fia leaned in and whispered in his ear. “She’s pretty great.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m her mom. You’re her dad.”

“Yeah,” he said. “Did you know she was going to do that?”

“She warned me. She thought that I would cry too much if she surprised me. She was okay with you crying a little bit.”

He chuckled. “Yeah. Thanks, kid.”

“How do you like being called ‘Dad’?”

“I like it,” he said. “A lot.”

“That’s good. Because I think you’re gonna have to get used to it.”

He felt stunned. “What?”

“Landry, I’m having your baby.”

He couldn’t dance then. He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t do anything but gather her up into his arms. “I love you so much, Fia King.” It would never be lost on him, the ways that love had found him. Persistently. Regardless of whether or not he deserved it.

But love, he realized, was the most resilient force on the planet. Wasn’t that another thing they said at church?

The greatest is love.

Well, in his life, it certainly was.

Landry King had never believed in love at first sight. He did now. He believed in love at first sight, and love after long years apart. He believed in love that gripped your soul and never let you go. He believed in love that made the foundation of what you were. Love that lasted no matter what. Through trial and tribulation. Through indignity and heartbreak. He believed that love was the most enduring force in the world.

If only you were brave enough to grab hold of it, and hold on tight.