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Pressing a kiss to her forehead, I closed my eyes and inhaled slowly so I could tell her the final thing Remington needed me to say for him. “He knew, Vi. He knew, and he didn’t care. You were his forever, and that was all that mattered to him. The fact that a part of you was still in love with me, that didn’t even bother him. He thinks he was a selfish man, but in my eyes, he was a saint. He saved you from yourself in a way I couldn’t, and then he gave you back to me, with Love Bug as a bonus. Remington thinks I saved him by stepping up to protect his girls, but the truth is, he was my savior. Without you, my life was over. There was nothing left worth living for until he offered me a lifeline.”
I heard her gasp softly before she pressed her face into my chest. “So it’s okay to let go?”
“I don’t want you to let go completely. Because a part of me will hold on to him too,” I assured her. “But yeah, baby. Let go of the guilt. Of the pain. Of everything eating at you that holds you back from enjoying our new life together. Listen to the man who just told you he wishes you nothing but happiness, and accept that. Not for him or even for me. But for yourself.”
Epilogue
Layla
“Gammy, why does Daddy have that vein popping out of his head?”
Turning at the sound of my grandson’s voice, I glanced over at Luca, who did, in fact, have a vein pulsing in his forehead. His eyes swirled with rage, and with a grimace, I followed his gaze to where some guy was talking to Violet. Beside him, Love Bug was talking excitedly, having yet to notice her dad’s attention was miles away from whatever she was telling him.
There was a little carnival in West Bridge for the weekend, and we’d decided to attend since Jesse and I were in town for a few days to visit before Ethan and Elijah’s fourth birthday. My daughter-in-law was in line getting ice cream for all three kids, and Luca was in another line getting drinks for the adults. I didn’t recognize the guy trying to chat up Violet, and there were very few strangers in the small town where my son lived, so I could only assume the guy worked with the traveling carnival.
“Daddy only has that look on his face when he’s playing football and someone says something to make him mad,” Ethan told his younger brother by one minute.
“But he’s not playing football now,” Elijah reminded his twin.
“Daddy has that look on his face because he’s territorial,” I explained.
“Of what?” they asked in unison.
“Mommy,” I said with a soft laugh.
“I think I should help Violet with the ice cream before we have to hide a body,” Jesse muttered low enough that only I could hear him.
“Good idea,” I agreed, kissing him back when he touched his lips to mine for a brief moment.
Still holding the twins’ hands, I watched their grandfather walk over to Violet and step between her and the guy who’d been trying to sweet-talk her. Seeing Jesse, she gave him a relieved smile and offered him two of the ice cream cones she’d just paid for. Moments later, the two of them walked away from the carny. Jesse returned to me and the boys, and Violet walked over to the line where Luca and their daughter were still waiting to be served.
Luca waited until she’d handed the final cone to Love Bug before bending down and kissing her hard enough that it was impossible to miss the way he was branding her.
“Gross, they’re kissing. Again,” Elijah complained.
“They’re always kissing,” Ethan grumbled, taking the cone from his grandfather with a “thanks” before taking a huge bite out of the chocolate ice cream. Just watching him hurt my teeth.
“Whoa, boy. Lick it slowly. Savor it. Don’t gobble it down like savages,” Jesse cautioned just as Ethan groaned and put his free hand to his forehead.
Laughing, I rubbed his back. “Lick the roof of your mouth. It helps, I promise.”
After a few seconds, he released a thankful breath, only to take another huge bite. Elijah rolled his swirly brown eyes at his twin and licked his own ice cream as his grandfather had instructed.
“Can we ride the Ferris wheel next, Poppy?” the younger boy asked.
“I wanna do the bumper cars next,” Ethan whined. “And I wanna drive this time!”
“Let’s let Gammy decide,” my husband suggested.
I considered it for a moment before deciding not to give either twin what they wanted. “I want Poppy to win me a bear at one of the games.”
“Cool!” Ethan said. “We’ll help, right, Eli?”
The boys ran ahead, and Jesse draped his arm around my shoulders. “Should we wait for the others?” I asked as he followed the youngest of our grandchildren.
Jesse laughed. “I think they’ll be a little while before Luca comes up for air. The boy needs to stake his claim so everyone sees who Violet belongs to. Until she starts showing with this new pregnancy, he’s going to be off-the-walls territorial. Love Bug will lead the way to us.”
I sighed happily as I snuggled against his side while we walked. “Two more grandbabies. We’re going to have eleven by this time next year. Does it make you feel old yet?”
