Page 124 of Hero for the Holidays

And she had so much compassion for those kids that they were. Who had wanted this, but couldn’t get there.

And so much gratitude for the adults they were now. Adults who could make this life together.

Because the clearest thing right then was that they lived through that so they could arrive here. And she did agree. Even without Lila, even if it had been ten years from now. Eventually, they would reach this place. She wasn’t sure about the particulars of fate. What all was meant to be, and what all was random. She knew for a fact that choices mattered. But one thing she knew for sure, beyond a shadow of a doubt, was that it wasn’t so much that Landry King had worn grooves into her heart as it was that she’d been created with a heart that loved him. And nothing, not time, not pain, not separation, had ever done anything to change that. He was her one and only. She was his.

The love had always been there.

They just had to grow enough to be able to hold it.

And now that she did, she finally felt whole.

When they walked back to the farmhouse and opened up the front door, it felt like that last door had finally been beaten down.

Like there was nothing inside her separate or distant.

It had been loving Landry all along.

The final thing. The only thing.

Lila came down the stairs then. She looked at them, and at their hands.

“What’s going on, guys?”

“I feel like we had a lot of parties lately,” said Landry. “But what do you think about a wedding?”

Lila ran toward them both and wrapped her arms around their necks. And she felt the three of them, held together. By love. And she knew right then that everything was going to be okay. She let out a breath that she’d been holding for thirteen years.

She’d been home the whole time. But somehow, this was the first time she’d really felt it. She looked around the living room. At this house she’d painted in bright colors when her mother had left. Now Landry’s boots were by the door. Lila’s crocheted animals were everywhere. Sunday was chewing the stuffing out of a pillow.

They had a Christmas tree, with presents for all of them.

This was the home she’d always dreamed of. Finally, it was time. Finally, they could have it. Finally, they could have each other.

She looked at the stars they’d put there. Those stars that marked traditions in Lila’s life before them, and showed their family now. The traditions they would build. The life they would have.

Fia. Lila. Landry.

“I love us,” whispered Fia.

“Me too.”

EPILOGUE

ASLANDRYPREPPEDfor his wedding with his daughter, who was also the best man, the flower girl, the ring bearer and the maid of honor, he knew a particular kind of joy that actually made him feel sorry for other people. The family might not be conventional. But he didn’t regret a thing. Because how many other people could appreciate what they’d found in the way that he did? In the way that Fia did. They knew loss. And they knew love.

“You look great,” said Lila.

“Thanks, kid.”

They were having the wedding in the town hall barn, not at the lake, because Fia had not wanted to get married in the same place her sisters did. It was their long-awaited wedding, after all, and the whole barn was decked out beautifully. Lila had led the charge on decorations, and she had done a fantastic job.

Everybody was there already, and Lila, in her tulle skirt and tuxedo jacket, took her position with him up at the front.

And when Fia Sullivan walked through the door, dressed in a white gown, he knew for a fact that all his dreams had come true. And he was damned glad he was here to see it.

“She looks great,” said Lila.

“Yes, she does.”

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