Page 335

“My dancing cowboy!”

“Nora.”

I laugh harder.

The music gets faster. People clap, boots stomp against the ground and someone whoops. Then the country side of the family starts adding their own steps and whatever this dance was supposed to be completely falls apart.

Calabria meets Wyoming. Tarantella and cowboy boots. Italian shouting and Hawthorne laughter.

Absolute fucking chaos.

And I love every second of it.

Jude spins me back into his arms and I crash against his chest, laughing so hard my stomach hurts. His arms close around me.

“Happy, wife?”

I look around at our families dancing together, at the ranch and the mountains disappearing into darkness. At the little gold medallion still tied safely to the sunflowers resting on our table.

Then I look back at my husband.

My Grumpy.

My home.

I wrap my arms around his neck. “So fucking happy.”

His smile is slow and beautiful.

“Good.”

I laugh.

Good.

Then he kisses me beneath the lights while everyone we love dances around us.

And tonight, we celebrate.

Calabria style.

Country style.

Hawthorne style.

EPILOGUE

Eleonora

18 YEARS LATER

“Mom!”

The front door slams hard enough to rattle something in the hallway. I stop stirring the sauce and look across the kitchen at my husband. Jude lifts one eyebrow over the rim of his coffee mug.

“I will kill him!”

Giulia storms into the kitchen, black curls flying behind her, green eyes blazing.