Page 164 of Shadows of You

She swiped at my nose.

“Shit!”

Then the damned cat headbutted my chin and started purring.

Cady and Aspen promptly burst out laughing.

“See, she loves you, Mr. Grizz,” Cady chirped.

I stood, setting the cat on the bed. “Well, her love’s toxic.”

Aspen stifled another giggle and turned to Cady. “What did you want to show us?”

Her eyes brightened. “Come on!”

Aspen grabbed my robe as I picked up a sweatshirt.

“I can’t believe she’s up. She didn’t fall asleep until after ten,” I mumbled as we followed her out the door.

Aspen shrugged. “Big day. She’s excited.”

I wrapped an arm around her and brushed my mouth across hers. “You ready?”

“Would’ve married you the day you asked.”

A burn lit in my chest—the best kind of pain.

Cady opened the front door and stepped out onto the porch. There was a light dusting of snow over everything, a sight I’d never get tired of. “Dory came. She brought her family.”

I followed Cady’s hand as she pointed. And there Dory was, surrounded by her herd. That burn deepened and spread. You could never be sure if the ones you helped would make it, but she had. And she’d come to show us that she was okay.

I lifted Cady into my arms. “See those two little ones?”

Cady nodded.

“I’m pretty sure those are her babies. They’re sticking pretty close. She probably had them last spring.”

Cady’s eyes went wide. “I bet they missed her so much when she was gone.”

Aspen slipped under my free arm. “But think how happy they are now that they’re all together.”

A smile spread across Cady’s face. “I bet they’re the happiest. Just like us.”

The burn flared deeper. My girls. I wasn’t sure how, after everything, I’d gotten this damned lucky.

Aspen looked up at me, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. And I knew she felt the same way.

“Love you, Tender Heart.”

“Love you, too,” she echoed.

“I love you both. And Dory and Mabel and Emmaline and—”

A horn sounded, cutting Cady off and making all the deer head off in the opposite direction. Grae’s SUV pulled to a stop in front of us, and she, Maddie, and Wren jumped out.

“It’s wedding day!” Grae yelled, doing some sort of shimmy shake.

I frowned at her. “Isn’t it a little early?” I wanted time with my family before we had to deal with all the people. It was a small wedding, but it had still grown to more than I wanted to deal with. I would only do this for Aspen. She’d insisted on Jonesy attending, but I’d drawn the line at inviting Dr. Miller, who continued to care for all the animals. I wasn’t having a man who’d asked her out at our wedding.

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