Page 190 of Mended Hearts

I thought about that for a long moment, because... “You’re not wrong.”

Love came in a million shades of every color on the spectrum, each story painted in its own unique light. We grew, laughed, danced, played, and made love through the marvelous monotony of everyday tasks—blessed to do it together. Love was found in the little things. The way he’d set the coffee maker before leaving in the morning so I wouldn’t have to make it myself. It hid in the two-item delivery consisting of a bouquet of flowers and my favorite soda—because he’d swiped the last one on his way to work and knew my shoulders would slump when I found the shelf empty at lunch. In the way he adjusted our meal service to make sure I got the calories I needed to nurse and get back in the gym.

And, occasionally, in momentous moments I’d never forget.

In the paperwork Katie drafted that would officially start the adoption process after today.

Or… if you were my brother-in-law, apparently in mysteriously unearthing enough scandal that Carly hit the road and got the fuck out of town. I mean, weassumedGrey and Alice had something to do with her dirty secrets coming to light in an anonymous delivery of a one-inch-thick manila envelope.

In a fucked-up way, that’s what family did, wasn’t it? Protected each other from the threats in the world, no matter what that entailed.

A knock at the door had me turning from the mirror just as Kaia pinned the last embellishment in place.

“Hey, punky,” Pax said from the doorway, and my eyes welled with tears. My big brother was a walking miracle these days. After everything that happened this winter, I’d never take a single chance to hug him for granted. “You make a beautiful bride.”

I was already halfway across the room when Kaia cried out, “Are you serious?God, you’ve always been the worst at sitting still.”

I would’ve waved her away, but I was too busy hugging Paxton like my life depended on it, still nervous I could squeeze him too hard. His smile was blinding as he grabbed my hand and held me out for inspection.

“Ollie is a lucky man, sis.”

“Thanks, bubba. Daddy ready?”

“Just about. The boys were taking shots.”

“That tracks,” Kaia smirked, sidling up next to us and snaking her arm around his waist.

“Alcohol seems like an irrational risk for limited payout,” Tillie declared, earning a laugh from all three of us as my bridal party buzzed through the room.

“Good. Keep it that way.”

I was getting married today.

The love of my life was down the hall in Greyson’s other guest suite, probably sitting asses to elbows around a poker table much too small to accommodate my brothers and his. A squeal of laughter had us both turning in time to see Robert—his dark, spring-loaded curls bouncing—as he toddled into the room with maximum enthusiasm and minimal experience fleeing his older cousins, who were tight on his heels. I bent down and pressed a kiss to Quinn’s head as she wrapped her arms around his little belly with a victory screech, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Their mothers came in right behind them.

“Aww, Leigh, you look so beautiful,” Elora crooned, her eyes already misting.

“Seriously stunning,” Brex said—right before grunting, “Ouch!” as Noel collided with her backside. They all but tumbled into the room, Brex smirking and Noel beaming.

“He’s gonna plotz.”

“Skittles!” We all looked up when James entered the room with a huff, scowling at the hem of his sleeve. He glanced at me long enough to say, “Looking good, punky,” then immediately turned to his wife. “You insist on me wearing these things, so the least you can do is help me out.”

Noel grinned. “I watched you pull apart and reassemble an entire 1957 Chevy pickup, but you expect me to believe you can’t fasten cufflinks?”

I snickered, roping an arm around Tillie’s neck as she wandered by and pulling her against my belly. My brother said some smartass thing back, and the two of them bickered like they’d been married for a few decades instead of just one calendar year.

I dropped a kiss to the crown of my daughter’s head, then whispered, “Go get your dress on, beautiful.”

“I didn’t wanna dirty it.”

“Which is why I’ve let you wait until the last possible moment, darling. Now hurry up before Kaia slips into hers and then won’t touch a makeup brush.”

“I’m already done.”

“And let’s hope you still feel that way once you wrestle out of that,” I said, motioning to her skin-tight tank top. Because that phase had started, to my and her daddy’s chagrin.

By the time the chaos had been wrangled and I was walking arm-in-arm with my dad toward the beach aisle in Grey and Alice’s backyard, my nerves had finally caught up to me. Something about laying eyes on two hundred people here to witness this exact moment.

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