AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I love you, too.” The words burst forth before I had the chance to stop them. It didn’t make them any less true. I had been so unwilling to admit it until now, but I loved Hunter Carson more than words could even express.
“Then make mistakes with me,” he said, referring back to our conversation in the cafe. “Let’s go on adventures, even if they’re in our own backyard sometimes.”
“Only if I get to come back home to you at the end of the day.”
“Always.” He slid the ring over my finger in one swift motion before kissing me. I melted against him. This was it. All that time I’d spent searching for the missing part of myself, and he’d found me. Hunter made me whole.
All this time and I was wrong.
I was meant to live a great love story, and I would continue to do so for the rest of my life— wherever that might take us.
Epilogue
Two Years Later
Elephants.
It was all about the elephants this year. Though, my baby shower could have been decorated in burlap sacks and I still would have been happy. I was just happy to be here, celebrating with our friends and family. Even the ones who hated me.
Today was not about family feuds. It was not about how many years Vanessa and Kyle had been put on probation or how many months they spent in a Mississippi jail after setting my house on fire.
Maybe it was a little bit about that.
Without them, I would have never met Hunter. And without Hunter, I never would have known how wonderful my life could really be. Now, we were ready to welcome another member of the family.
Nova Leigh.
Poor child doesn’t even know it, but she’s entering a war zone.
Now there would be a new heir to Hummingbird Hollow. Someone else for Kyle and Vanessa to try and overthrow before the house could ever belong to them or their family. Not that they would. I would like to think they learned their lesson the first time, but old habits die hard.
“Why are you hiding in here?” Aly walked into the room, looking as ready to pop as I was. “Everyone’s waiting for us.”
We hadn’t planned on being pregnant at the same time. That had just been a happy accident. Our children would grow up about a month apart in age—two girls and just as sweet and beautiful as their mamas. Both would be raised to be kickass queens who loved themselves unconditionally and would want for nothing, ever.
Of course, that also meant Aly and I swapped baby shower ideas and supplies. I attended hers out in California, and she was now here with me in Mississippi. She already knew the ropes, where to hang things, and what to set out. I’d helped her set up, but I was way more nervous about the guests than she was.
What did one serve to family members you put away in prison? What did you even serve to said family member’s parents?
“What’s wrong?” Aly asked, when I remained fastened to the floor.
I shook my head. “I’m just so nervous. I don’t know why.”
“I can get rid of your cousins,” she said, gesturing over her shoulder toward the door. “I don’t know why you invited them in the first place.”
My head cocked to the side, and I regarded her with a knowing look. “Why did you and Zach invite his father?”
She bowed her head in submission. Zach had almost lost his inheritance and his mother due to his father’s selfish ways. And yet, the patriarch still somehow secured a ticket to his grandbaby’s shower. “Touche. However, I must say with all the horrible things his father did, he didn’t set our house on fire.”
“Oh, honey.” I smoothed the flyaway curls sticking out from my updo. “This is the South. Hospitality is sort of a whole big thing down here. I couldn’t not invite them.”
“I guess we can just check their gifts for explosives, then.”
“Ha, ha.” I took a seat in one of the chairs. Standing on my feet for long periods of time was becoming a chore. My feet felt swollen all the time. I’d had to forgo my heels in the first trimester. But Hunter had treated me like a queen, getting me whatever I needed, even when I didn’t ask for it.
I knew with him, our little girl would always be happy, would always feel loved. It was everyone else in our life that worried me.
“It’s just—” I struggled for the right words. How did you explain your fears about a child growing up amidst a feud that had since cooled? There was always the possibility for things to spark up again. And yet, this wasn’t medieval England. We weren’t vying for the attention of a king or trying to overthrow rulers. We were just a small family who didn’t get along.
