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Epilogue
C’mon girls.” Bryce ushered Addison, Cecily, and June down the courthouse steps and into her BMW, cranking the air-conditioning in the vehicle to offset the stifling July heat. “Patty called, and before we can go out and get ice cream to celebrate, we’ve got to swing into PattyCakes. There’s something wrong with the Wi-Fi, and the new QR menu code doesn’t seem to be working, so, June, I’m going to need your tech expertise.”
The girls all groaned.
“But today was ’posed to be a vacation day,” Addison said, folding her arms across her chest.
“The joys of restaurant ownership,” Bryce said. While she’d been thrilled when Patty had presented her with an ownership agreement that allowed her to transition out of the business with enough time to teach Bryce everything she knew in two years’ time, all this meant she hadn’t had time off in a while. She’d wanted this one day to celebrate officially becoming her nieces’ permanent guardian. She and the girls had plans to enjoy a massive hot fudge sundae, and then browse Wellsville’s Main Street, which was filled with vendors gearing up for the upcoming balloon rally this weekend. But even Willow had sounded frantic in the background, and that woman never got flustered. It must be pretty bad.
She pulled into the alley, using her keys to open the service door. The kitchen lights were off.
“Whoa. They must’ve had a power failure. Patty? Willow?” Bryce called, blinking for her eyes to adjust to the dark. Addison grabbed on to her skirt on one side, Cecily the other, and June crowded behind her as the metal door clanged shut.
She used her cell phone’s flashlight to find the light switch and tried it, not expecting anything.
But the kitchen lit up.
Suddenly, the dining area lights flashed on, and there were hordes of people standing there.
“Surprise!” everyone shouted at once, and Bryce dropped her keys in shock.
“Happy Forever Family Day!” Patty, dressed in a snappy pantsuit and without her normal frilly apron, bustled up to hug her and the girls. “Sorry about the drama, but Kate insisted we keep it all hush-hush, and Imani swore you wouldn’t be mad at me.”
Bryce hugged her, then Imani, who glided up next.
“She’s not mad—she knows it’s important to celebrate and enjoy the moment.” Imani’s lips were done in a festive shade of pink-red that perfectly matched her sundress. Zander—the tallest, sturdiest of the Matthews men—came up and took his turn hugging Bryce.
“My fiancée is right. Soak this in—this party is for you.”
“It’s not a party, it’s anevent,” Kate said, waiting her turn to give Bryce and the girls a squeeze. She wore a kelly-green dress, her auburn hair in an immaculate chignon. “And there will be no lacerated corneas, no thrown pastries, and there are enough healthy food options to ensure no vomit, either. Told you I’d give you an epic redo! Girls, come and see everything!”
Kate took Addison and Cecily by the hands, with June and Bryce following her out into the café’s dining room, where everyone waited. Bryce spotted Harvey and Adele, who immediately swooped in to hug their granddaughters, and then she saw Patty’s new guy, Frank Penny, as well as some of the girls’ friends from dance class and school. Bryce’s attorney, Lillian Goodwin, gave a cheerful wave as she stood next to the Paynes’ lawyer. Drake gave her a chin nod from the corner, where he was holding little Elise, and next to him, her tiny frame hunched into a chair, was Nana Grace, the Matthewses’ one-hundred-year-old matriarch.
Finally, she spotted Ryker, standing off to the side with Six until everyone had their turn hugging and congratulating her. Dressed in a pair of faded jeans and a black T-shirt that clung to his chest and shoulders, Ryker leaned against the wall, arms crossed. But instead of his RBF—a look she rarely saw anymore—his mouth was stretched in a smile that melted her insides. Bryce flew to him, her heart skipping in her chest like it did every time she saw the man.
“Hey.” He wrapped her in his arms, kissing her, his blue eyes sparkling.
“Keeping secrets from me again?” she accused as she kissed him back, then burrowed her nose into his neck.
“Surprises are supposed to be secret,” he said. “Besides, I should get extra credit for this mission. You four Weatherford females are hard to ambush.”
She inhaled the scent of his skin, smelling his clean warmth along with those delicious notes of car and garage underneath. She could stay there, arms wrapped around him, all day, but she pulled away as Six nudged her knee.
“Hey, Six-y,” she cooed to the dog, dropping to one knee to accept her kisses as she nuzzled her back, stroking her soft fur. “I’ve got some diced chicken I set aside just for you, my VIP.”
“Speaking of VIPs, there are two more here to greet you.”
Bryce looked up from loving on Six, scanning the dining room in curiosity. Then she saw the couple sitting in the booth. The woman had salt-and-pepper bobbed hair, and she sat looking around at the hubbub with a confused smile on her thin face. Next to her sat a stockier man with thinning hair and a port-wine stain on his left cheek and chin.
Bryce shrieked, Six barked, and the restaurant went momentarily silent.
“Dad! Mom!” she yelled, springing up to throw herself at them. Tears sprang from her eyes as she hugged her father first, then her mother, who patted and kissed her cheek. Bryce gasped out the words, “When did you…how did you…I didn’t think you could travel?”
Her dad wiped her tears with his thumb before nodding his head in Ryker’s direction. “It was all his doing. He and that wonderful dog of his flew down, then drove us up, all in one day to make it easier on your mother. She and Six rode in the back seat and slept almost the whole way. That dog is a miracle worker. Shelby is having a good day today.”
“Why wouldn’t I be having a good day?” her mother asked, giving him a grumpy look. Then she put her hand out to touch Bryce’s cheek. “Oh, my sweet girl! I am so happy to see you. Which reminds me, I have something for you.”
Bryce wiped the tears from her face, leaning in to hug Ryker as he and Six approached. “You didn’t have to bring me anything, Mom. Just having you here is gift enough.”
