Don’t c-c-c-cry, okay?”
Verity nodded and reached up to swipe a tear that was trying to get away. “I’m crying because I’m happy. Because you make my brother so happy.”
“Ryan makes me happy,” Melody insisted, clicking her teeth together and grinning. “No more c-c-c-crying, Ver’ty. It’s my wedding day.”
Verity took a deep breath and nodded, taking Jane from Colton, careful not to wake her up. “See you at the altar?”
“I’ll be there,” he said, winking at her.
She turned from them and headed out into the garden behind complex F (Is For “Friendship”). Ten neat rows of white chairs faced a trellis under which a Methodist pastor waited for the bride and groom. All the CMs were in attendance, and most of the residents. A bubble maker (Mel insisted) was shooting bubbles into the air, and Verity grinned, thinking her brother’s wedding was a lot more festive than hers had been.
She and Colton had gotten married at the Spring Mountain Town Hall, one month to the day after he returned home. She touched the backs of the gold rings on her finger, smiling to herself when her belly swarmed with butterflies, as it always did when she remembered her wedding day. In a million years, she wouldn’t trade the memory of that fall day, looking up into Colton’s eyes and saying “I do,” then listening to his deep voice say the same. Was it fancy? No. Was it perfect? It bound them together forever. So, yes. It was.
She looked up to see Ryan standing in front of the trellis, Joe at his side, no doubt whispering some calming words of counsel. Joe waved as she approached and said, “You hand me my godbaby, now! Oooo! Janie, what a day we got for a weddin’, child!”
Verity chuckled as she watched the gray-haired man coo and swoon over the tiny blonde baby, her heart full of love and gratitude as he half danced, half walked to his reserved seat of honor in the front row next to the aisle.
. . . which left Verity and Ryan alone, standing in the trellis opening together, so very different from how they must have looked the day they’d stood in the doorway of the Marriott ballroom, despairing of finding jobs together, until her knight in shining armor rescued them.
“You ready, Ry?” she asked.
“I love Melody.”
“I know you do.”
“Don’t like bein’ away from her, Ver’ty. Now I can be with her all the time.”
“That’s right, Ryan. And you’ll help with the dishes?”
“Yup. And take out the garbage. And I’ll get the CM if she’s havin’ one of her spells. And I’ll make sure that she don’t run out of rocky road.”
“We keep it stocked in the store now,” said Verity. “I make sure.”
Over the past year, Verity had taken over the management of the Bonnie’s Place sundries store, and it was now open five days a week instead of three. She was permitted to bring Jane to work and had hired a college girl to help her part-time with the store, and part-time with Jane. She’d learned a surprising amount during her month of work with Beverly, and she cheerfully placed orders, restocked the shelves, and helped the residents of Bonnie’s Place find everything they needed.
“I’ll come see you at the store sometimes, Ver’ty, but I might be busier now,” he said, puffing out his chest a little.
“Too busy for your little sister?” she asked, elbowing him in the side.
“Nah,” he said, smiling down at her. “I got rooms in my heart for more than Mel. There’s a room for you, and one for Colton. Joe has a big room, and Janie has a small one. But there’s rooms for everyone, Ver’ty. Don’t worry.”
The opening bars of “All You Need Is Love” sounded, and Verity looked up to see her husband standing tall and proud beside his cousin, the beautiful bride.
“Your heart sounds like a sweet place, Ry,” she said, locking eyes with her beloved knight as he walked slowly down the aisle toward her. “I think we’ve all found our sweet place, big brother.”
THE END
A LETTER TO MY READERS
Dear Reader,
Thank you for reading my latest modern fairytale, Dark Sexy Knight. I hope you loved reading Verity and Colt’s story as much as I loved writing it.
As the sister of a special-needs person, this story is much closer to my heart than many of the other books I’ve written. There was so much of me poured into Verity and so much of my brother in my renderings of