Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 60933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
“Good, because I’m keeping you.”
She nodded. “You better.”
I tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “You didn’t even look nervous.”
The soft smile that spread across her lips made me want to kiss her for hours.
“I wasn’t alone,” she said. “Hunter was there. I could feel him. It was as if he were so close he was holding my hand. As if I could have reached out and touched him. It may sound silly, but it was real. He was with me up there.”
I shook my head. “That doesn’t sound silly. I don’t think he would have missed this for anything.”
Her eyes glistened with tears. “Me either. Just like when we were kids, he showed up to keep me from having to do something alone. He was always like that. I shouldn’t have expected him to be a no-show today.”
I pulled her to my chest and held her. “He’ll always show up for the important stuff, baby.”
And he would. I knew he would. That was Hunter Maclay.
ONE MONTH LATER
“The game may be finished, but now we have the future.”
WEST
I stood looking out over Lawton. In the exact spot my dad and I used to stand and the same place I had brought Maggie. This was the perfect location. When Maggie had suggested it when we were trying to decide on the location of our wedding, I had been surprised. Sure, it had a good view, but it wasn’t a church. It didn’t have flower gardens or anything flashy that most women want.
Although the transformation the girls had pulled off had made it pretty damn magical. I had known this day would come, and I think my dad had too. He’d loved Maggie on sight, but then she was hard not to love. I sure as hell had tried not to love her. Stupid punk kid I’d been hadn’t deserved her. I was thankful she’d seen through all my anger and pain to find someone worth saving.
“You ready to do this?” Brady asked as he came to stand beside me.
“You know that answer,” I replied.
He sighed. “Yeah, I reckon I do. Guess it seems right you two are the first to walk down the aisle and have a baby. You were the first of us to fall hard.”
I smirked. “You weren’t that far behind me.”
“I won’t be in the marrying step either. I’m more than ready for Riley and Bryony to be Higgens. I know they’re mine, but I want that last step.”
“I understand that,” I replied.
We stood there looking out over the town that had raised us. Through all the good times, wins, losses, heartbreak, and our darkest moments, we had known that was home. We had that one secure thing to hold on to. Not everyone had that, and I knew we were damn lucky. It was more than just football pads, helmets, fresh-cut grass, the smell of the cowhide. It was a friendship that made us a family. We would always have that, even if our days playing on a field together were over. It had taught us a lot about life, prepared us for things to come—and we had thought we were just playing a sport we loved.
“We were lucky,” I said, breaking the silence.
Brady turned to look at me, but I continued to take in the view.
“To have had this. One another,” I finished.
“Yeah, we were… we are. The game may be finished, but now we have the future.”
I smiled. “That’s what I was thinking.”
“West.” A familiar voice said my name, and I turned to see my mother standing there. I hadn’t expected her to be here. I knew this was Maggie’s doing. She’d wanted me to talk to my mom, but I hadn’t been able to do it. Not after she had gotten married and hadn’t thought to tell me until after.
“Hello, Mother,” I replied.
Brady slapped my back, then walked away, leaving us there. Part of me wished he’d have stayed to be a buffer or distraction.
She looked nervous as she twisted her hands together. I was good at reading her body language. Once we had been close. Once she had been a mother to me. That had died with my dad. She told me what I had already figured out. “Maggie told me about the wedding.”
I nodded. “Sounds like Maggie.”
She bit her lip, and I could see the unshed tears glistening in her eyes. I didn’t want to see my momma cry. God knows I’d seen enough of that in my past, but I also couldn’t just forgive her and act like the past six years hadn’t happened.
“She’s a beautiful bride, but I knew she would be,” Mom said.
I knew Maggie would be stunning. That wasn’t what Mom wanted to talk about, and today wasn’t the day I wanted to have a heart-to-heart with her. This was the day I married the woman I would spend my life with. The woman who had not once let me down or turned her back on me. When I needed someone the most, she was there. I couldn’t say the same for my mother.