Page 34 of Rescued By the SEAL

EPILOGUE - HEATHER

One Year Later…

“Oh, my goodness, you look beautiful.” My best friend and book publisher, Alona, declares as she claps her hands in excitement. “I’veneverseen a woman look as incredible as you do in their wedding dress. I always knew that you were going to look beautiful, but honestly, you’re like an angel. Landon Ross is a very lucky man to be marrying you.”

I smile at my friend and nod in agreement, but honestly, I feel like I’m the lucky one. To be living here in this incredible house in the countryside and about to marry the love of my life… the best man in the world… I’m the only lucky one here. But Alona seems to have the belief that I’m the best person ever, and I’m not about to argue with her. This is my wedding day, for crying out loud, and I need to have every bit of confidence I can get hold of. I do a twist and a spin just to show every inch of my dress off.

It’s a mermaid tail dress, a little too glamorous for what I would normally wear, but that’s the whole point. After a year of spending every single moment with my man, I want to surprisehim on this special day. I want him to be blown away by me. That hasn’t been the easiest challenge for me. It isn’t a simple job to find a dress with a belly as big as mine. But I wouldn’t change my round potbelly for the world. The babies inside there have been created with love and will be with us soon. Mine and Landon’s twin children are going to be here soon and a big part of our family, so they should be in our wedding too. We did consider waiting to get married until after our babies were born, but I knew that we wouldn’t have time. With two babies on our hands, getting hitched will be out of the question, so even though it’s a little bit close, I want to do it now. Landon too.

“Thank you so much, Alona. Thank you for helping me get dressed. I’m so glad that I’ve met you. You’re awesome.”

“Oh, darling, don’t.” She leaps up and hugs me. “From the very first moment that I saw you, when you were that shy girl walking into my office with your manuscript, I knew that we were going to be the best of friends. And I was right. I didn’t necessarily know that I would end up being your maid of honor, but I’m glad for sure. This day is amazing.”

“I was intimidated as hell by you when I first met you.” I laugh. “But then you agreed to publish my book, and that’s the moment I knew that you were going to be my best friend too. That was pretty much what swung it for me.”

“Oh, so it was just the book?” she teases. “And there I was thinking it was my sparkling personality.”

“That helped,” I admit with a laugh. “But mostly, it was because you were helping turn my dream into a reality.”

And boy, has she done that! My God, I never thought that my half-fiction, half-fact—not that anyone knows about the facts inthe text aside from me and Landon, and maybe people who were involved who will recognize it—novel would go on to be the bestseller that it has become. There are even talks of a movie deal in the works, which is phenomenal. The whole thing has inspired me to write some more, which is awesome. I’m going to be an actual author, who would have thought?

Thankfully, Landon has managed to find work he likes too. A security job, one where he gets to be protective but one that doesn’t involve his life on the line any longer. Not in the way that it was, anyway. It’s a dream come true for both of us. Honestly, even when I used to dream about my future with Landon, even as a teenager, it was never as incredible as this. I’m so lucky.

“I’m just going to check on what’s happening downstairs,” Alona suddenly declares in a slightly shady and warning tone of voice. “See if everything is going to plan and give you guys a moment. I’m sure you need some time to talk properly.”

“Huh? What are you…?” But as I spin around, the question falls off my lips. I no longer need to ask because I can see exactly what she’s talking about. My father is here, in a smart suit, smiling at me like he’s the happiest dad around. “Oh, I see.”

Things haven’t always been easy with my dad. Ever since I left with Landon, it’s been civilized but strange. We’re both trying, always trying to make things okay between us, but without it being straightforward, it’s impossible to just be normal. Now, though, he’s giving me that proud look, the one I remember from when I was a kid before I started disappointing him all the time.

“Oh, Heather.” Are there tears in his eyes? Oh, my God. “You look so beautiful. That dress is incredible on you. Your baby bump just makes you look even more stunning. You must be so proud of yourself right now. I know I am.”

“You are?” I take a step closer to him as shock reverberates through my system. “I didn’t think that was possible.”

“For me to be proud of you?” He scoffs. “Even when I haven’t seemed that way, I’ve always been proud of you. My strong-willed girl, just like her mother.” For the first time ever, he doesn’t sound broken as he compares me to her. “Who always knew best even when I definitely did not.” His expression falls. “I can see now that I was trying to protect you from the wrong person. Landon wasn’t the one I needed to keep you safe from. Everyone else, I stand by, but him… he’s different. He loves you.”

I grab onto my father’s hands, grateful to have his understanding at long last. “I always knew it, Dad. I always loved him.”

“And he loves you too. He cares about you almost as much as I do.” We both chuckle at this, and it feels good to laugh with my father after all this time. There were times when we had the best relationship ever. “And now he’s going to be the father to my twin grandchildren, which makes him a part of our family. Your husband too, so I’m happy.” He rests his hands on my belly with a soft smile playing on his lips. “You know, my mother was a twin. Twins run in the family on my side.”

“Are you serious?” I’m shocked, again. “How much have you not told me, Dad? There is so much I need to know.”

“I’m sorry.” I can see how bad he feels as he apologizes to me. “I don’t ever mean to keep things from you. I just never think to say things. I think I’ve spent so much time just trying to protect you and keep moving forward that I forgot about keeping you in the loop on everything. I forgot all the things that you might actually want to know. Ask me anything in the future, though.”

I can feel a weight lifting off both of us, a new start beginning to form. We need this more than anything in the world.

“You are going to walk me down the aisle, right?” I never asked him before because I didn’t think that he would want to, but I feel dreadful as soon as his eyes light up. Of course he’s going to want to do this. I should have known. Why didn’t I guess?

“I would love to.” He offers me his arm, and I take it. “I think everything is ready, so should we get going now?”

Luckily, that’s the moment Alona bursts back in the room to get us. I don’t need to explain to her that Dad now has a role in the wedding. She instinctively gets it, which means it’s time for us to begin. Finally, I’m going to say those incredible words to the man I’ve always loved, and I’ll get to keep him forever. All the other parts of our dream are set in place, so this is the last final jigsaw piece to put everything together, to make our happy ever after come true. I can’t wait.

“Ooh.” I get a little burst of pain as I walk toward the wedding, right in the pit of my stomach. But that’s okay, it’s been happening all morning. I know that it’s just the nerves getting to me, that’s all. I’m not worried. “Oh, wow.”

I can forget about all the agony in the world when I see how beautiful everything is, how incredible everyone looks, and most of all, how wonderful my husband is. I’ve seen Landon looking gorgeous a million times before, but never quite so striking as he does in his wedding suit, surrounded by the men he worked alongside in the Navy and at his security job with Max. On top of the friends that he has here, including Derek who’s actually been chosen to officiate our vows, it’s bordering on ridiculous, but I don’t mind. Whatever makes him happy. This day is to celebrate both of us and the fight it took to get here.

Landon gives me a thumbs up as I move toward him, and I can tell that’s because my dad is with me and not because of the dress. I’m hoping he makes some kind of comment about that when I’m next to him, because honestly, it’s becoming a little uncomfortable now. I don’t mind squeezing into it to look beautiful for him, but he'd better appreciate it. I might not be the bride in high-heeled shoes for my wedding day, but I hope that I look glamorous enough for him, anyway.

“Are you okay?” Dad hisses to me quietly. “You’re grabbing onto my arm quite hard now.”

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