AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Haley,” he said. I bobbed my head, and he held out his hand to indicate the seat across from him. I sat. “You look—”
“Like you,” I said, “especially around the eyes.”
“I was going to say your mom, but yes. You have my eyes. If I had any doubts, I don’t anymore.”
“You didn’t know about me?”
He shook his head. “When things went south in Mountainside, I went home. I married the girl I’d been seeing off and on.” I nodded. “You should know you have two brothers. They’ll be so excited to see you.”
I had brothers. Something to wrap my mind around. I’d grown up with only Mom and if not for Avery and her parents, I wouldn’t have had any family. Now my family was bursting at the seams. I wiped at my eyes. “And your wife?”
He smiled. “I’ve told her everything. She and I weren’t together when I was with your mother. There’s nothing to forgive there. Amy is an incredible woman with lots of love to give. She’s just as excited to meet you as the boys.”
“Did Mom tell you about my daughter?”
His smile only deepened. “Yes. I hope to meet her.”
I cried as I nodded my head. “She’ll be excited to meet you as well.”
We made plans to all meet up as he shared more about himself and where he’d been all these years. I couldn’t hold him responsible for not being there for me any more than I could Mitchell. Neither had known they were fathers. But both had stepped up to the challenge when they learned the truth.
In the months to come, the Bowmen ranch would host several weddings. The first was a celebrity wedding. Avery and Nate’s guests included celebrities who were household names. The town had never had so many paparazzi in its lifetime. Most of Nate’s teammates bunked in the bunkhouse.
Good thing Agan had bought us a farmhouse near the town limits, close enough to Mountainside, where he would do business, and close enough to Zoe and her school. We wouldn’t disrupt her life between her father and me.
The next wedding was low key. A few sports players showed up for Mitchell and Sunshine’s wedding, but it was quite a bit smaller than Nate’s. Mitchell had a gazebo built that was covered in flowers. Sunshine showed up on horseback after Zoe left a trail of petals for her to follow. It was beautiful and I admit I even cried.
I thought my wedding would be the smallest. Only Avery, her parents, my dad and his family, who I’d now met, were there for my side. My brothers and stepmom were as wonderful as my father had said they’d be. I hadn’t invited my mother. I couldn’t bring myself to forgive her. But that didn’t mean we didn’t end up having uninvited guests.
Agan’s sister and mother had come from his side. Mitchell and Sunshine were also there. But I didn’t care how small our wedding was. The love I felt was so big.
Knowing being pregnant was the root cause of my over-the-top emotions didn’t stop me from forcing back tears as Agan’s mom and sister, along with Avery, were helping me get ready.
“Such a lovely lass,” Agan’s mom said for the hundredth time. “I’m proud of my boy. He followed his heart.”
She hadn’t been on board with Agan marrying out of duty either. Little surprise there.
“If only we all could be so lucky,” Caroline said. There was something a little sad in her smile. I didn’t know her well enough to ask.
“Okay, they are starting the music,” Avery said with a grin so wide I smiled back at her.
“Go,” I said, waving her off. “Someone needs to record my daughter’s entrance.” I wouldn’t see it firsthand. She was playing flower girl again and was so excited.
“We should go take our places. But my brother is going to have a hard time keeping his tongue in his mouth. You’re gorgeous,” Caroline said.
“Thanks,” I said.
Agan’s mom got to her feet after Caroline had stepped out, leaving us alone. “I’ve always wanted a daughter. And now I’ll have a granddaughter too.” She kissed my cheeks before disappearing out of the room. We were using James’s old bedroom as a staging area. I just had to walk out the back door from the kitchen and beyond the bunkhouse to the arbor where everything was set up. However, to make a grand entrance, I was to go out the front and walk between the house and the bunkhouse.
When I stepped outside the front door, a limo pulled up. It looked official, with little flags on either side of the vehicle.
Suddenly, my small wedding turned into a royal one when the King of Soturi stepped out with an entourage. “Looks like I made it in time.”
The man was regal, and it was easy to see where Agan got his good looks from. Not that his mother wasn’t beautiful, because she was, but his father was something to look at, for sure.
“Agan isn’t expecting you.” I didn’t exactly mean to sound rude the first time I met his father. But the man had made it clear I wasn’t good enough to marry. In the days after Agan showed up, he’d shared everything he’d gone through.
“I know. But I wouldn’t miss my son’s wedding. His first one anyway. We will have to do this again back home and make it official.”
