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Morgan gasped and Willow covered her mouth with both hands as he put them around their necks. “I love you both like you were my daughters.”
“We love you too,” they said together, and then hugged him tight.
He gazed up at Tess, at the tears streaming down her cheeks. “You saved me,” he said. “With your big heart and your courage and your faith in the future.” This woman had lost everything and yet she had still offered him so much. “You showed me what love is, that it’s worth fighting for. Marry me, Tess. I just want to be with you. All the time. Forever.”
“Yes.” She yanked on his arms to get him to stand up. “Oh my God, I love you. Yes!”
Silas slipped the ring onto her finger and the four of them fell into a group hug.
Applause broke out then, complete with whoops and hollers and a yeehaw from Minnie. When the noise died down, Aiden and Kyra took center stage again.
“Are we good to continue?” Lyric asked with amusement dancing in her eyes.
“By all means.” Silas stepped to the side while the girls hurried back to their seats. He had more to share with Tess, but the words could wait. Now they would have a whole lifetime together.
Tess couldn’t stop glancing down at the sparkling stone on her left hand.
There’d been a time not long ago when she’d believed that her ring finger would stay bare forever. But her heart had proven to be more resilient than she ever could’ve imagined. They had all been through some very dark days, but, as she stood on the outskirts of the cake cutting ceremony, watching Aiden and Kyra smoosh the cake lovingly into each other’s mouths, she marveled at how far they had all come.
Thank you, Jace.
More than ever, she felt him with her tonight. His presence, his love, his sacrifice. She was here right now, able to love Silas and to take care of her girls because of all Jace had given to her. As usual, she carried his letter, neatly folded and tucked into her purse.
You can’t hide your beautiful heart away. No matter how much you might want to. You have to continue opening your heart so our girls know they can open theirs too. I want you to embrace life, embrace love, embrace anything and everything that brings you joy no matter what anyone else says or thinks.
Those words. She hadn’t accepted them for a long time. She hadn’t been able to face what he was asking her to do. But now… embracing was all she wanted to do. She had to believe Jace would be proud of her. She had to believe she was honoring his love and his life by living hers.
While Aiden kissed the frosting off of Kyra’s lips, Tess grabbed Silas’s hand and led him away from the crowd.
“Can we go home now?” he asked the second they stepped outside onto the beautiful stone patio Cowboy Construction Inc. had built for the occasion. “I want to take you home. Put the girls to bed.” His eyebrows peaked. “Putyouto bed…”
“Soon,” she promised, feeling that same impatience simmering in her. But it wouldn’t do to leave the party before the bride and groom. “I just needed you alone for a minute.” She tugged on his loosened tie. “I needed to do this.” Her lips found his and her body melted against him, heart sighing, knees loosening. “I can’t wait—”
“There you are.” Morgan bounded out the door to where they stood, with Willow on her heels.
“Were we lost?” Silas stepped away from Tess, making room for the girls to join them.
“Yes.” Willow posted her hands on her hips. “We were looking all over the place for you. We need to ask you a very important question.”
Tess tried to hide her smile. In Willow’s estimation, every question was a very important question and she asked about a hundred of them a day.
“Sure.” Silas sat on a bench near the firepit and patted the space next to him. “Ask away.”
Morgan looked at Willow and the girls seemed to communicate silently before she spoke. “Can you become our daddy for real?”
A tremor worked through Tess’s heart, exposing a fault line of emotion. She sat on the other side of Silas, keeping quiet, letting him take the lead on how he wanted to handle this conversation.
At the moment, the man seemed too choked up to speak. Tears glistened in his eyes.
“Can’t we go to a judge and tell them we want you to be our dad?” Morgan asked. “That’s what happens in the movies and on TV.”
He turned his head to look at Tess, his eyes questioning her. They had talked through the possibility of an official adoption but neither one of them had thought the girls would ask for this so quickly. Tess squeezed his hand in hers and nodded. She had hoped the girls would choose him, that they would want to bestow that very important title on him when they were ready.
“Yes. I would love to adopt you.” He seemed too afraid to believe that’s what they were asking. But Tess saw the hope blooming in their smiles. “If you’re sure that’s what you want.”
“We want everyone to know,” Willow said. “We want the judge to say it’s real. We want everyone to know you’re our real dad forever.”
“Then we’ll make that happen.” He pulled them both in close for a hug. “As soon as we can.”
