Page 143 of Against The Tide

“And ever and ever.”

Always.

“And I’m still your favorite, right?” She looks up at me with that sneaky smirk that makes her more of a Reynolds than she’ll ever know.

That smirk has been the start of many a trouble, especially when Scarlett is involved and Caleb is the recipient.

“Shhh…” I look back at the house to find Avery standing on the porch with the twins perched on her hips as she smiles on at us. “Of course.”

“Along with Pop and Ro.”

I hold up my thumb and forefinger in a half heart shape, and she does the same. “See, you’re all a piece of my heart.”

“That’s corny,” she giggles, looking back down at the paper semi-scrunched in her hand. “It kinda feels good being a Reynolds.”

Pushing up from my lap, she pushes the paper into the front pocket of her hoodie before grasping my arm and trying to pull me up too. “Come on, Daddy, you got a wedding today.”

“Yup, or your aunt Callie might get all ninja spy on my ass.”

With the biggest grin I’ve ever seen on her lips, she runs back to the house, and there is no happiness I’ve felt that comes close to this hot ray of sun in my chest.

Whoever said it’s the little things that make life worthwhile was wrong. It’s these small moments that make life worth everything.

EPILOGUE II

AVERY

The day has been perfect. We had the smallest sprinkle of rain as Jo walked me down the jetty to Rhett. Everything we’ve been through—the highs and lows—my heart has never beat so fast as the moment he took my hand, and with Rowan officiating, we promised each other forever. Hands down the best moment of my life.

Well, I think with him there isn’t only one great moment. Rhett makes every second of every day feel like a lifetime of nothing but the warmest sunshine. I look down at my hand and smile at my mother’s rings. I wasn’t sure why Dad left them to Nora, and a part of me was devastated by his decision. But I think he knew that one day I would have everything I wished for and dreamed of, and the only thing that would make it even more special was having him and Mom with me.

Mom never took these rings off her finger till the day she died, and my father took them off himself. And it’ll be the same for me. I’m going to love, cherish, and adore Rhett until my very last breath.

“That’s quite the sight, huh, sugar?” Jo nudges me as I watch my husband dance with our daughter.

“The most beautiful sight.”

“Just remember, I told you he was a good one,” she chuckles as I wrap my arm around her so that her tremors don’t make it so hard for her to stand beside me. Even with her stick, it’s getting harder for her to stand on her own. It’s why it made sense for us to build on the land Rhett bought from her. We wanted to be close to look after her the way she looked after me and Iris when we were nothing but strangers.

“The best,” I tell her as my gaze catches on his and he gives me that grin that makes the butterflies in my belly go crazy.

He winks, and as I make my way to him, I help Jo to one of the chairs overlooking the makeshift dance floor he and Rowan put up over the rocky shore of Duke’s cove. Twinkle lights and wildflowers decorate the picket-like sides they put up to keep the kids safe, and while Nora insisted on hiring proper tables and chairs for our wedding picnic, there are odd rugs, blankets, and cushions patched over the wood slats keeping us above the water.

It’s beyond perfect, and there isn’t a single person here that shouldn’t be. It might be the smallest wedding ever, but it’s ours and only ours.

“How’s my wife?” Rhett grabs me by waist when I’m within reach and pulls me flush to him.

“Happy, Dr. Reynolds,” I reply as he sways us to the snappy tune that comes on.

I’ve never heard it before, but the melody is familiar, and when he hums it in my ear, I smile at the familiar sound that he hums me and the girls to sleep with almost every night. The warmth in my chest becomes impossibly brighter, and as his hand slips down to the curve of my ass, I press myself as close as I can while I tell him, “I’ve never been so fucking happy.”

“Say that again?” The words are something between a rasp and groan, and as his hand slips lower, I whisper, “Fucking.”

His mouth comes down on mine hard, pressing our lips together so that his light stubble scratches over my jaw and our teeth knock together as his tongue slips over mine. A hum vibrates from him as the hand holding mine falls to meet the other at my ass, and I roll onto my tiptoes so I can wrap my arms around his shoulders, holding him as flush to me as he is crushing me to him.

“God, I love your potty mouth, Mrs. Reynolds. You do things to me,” he growls, his hands anchoring at the juncture of my thighs as he lifts me onto my tiptoes. “Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?”

“Only every chance you get.”