Epilogue

Fifteen months later, on a September afternoon bright with sunshine and promise, Harper waited near one of the castle’s exit doors for her mother to walk with her down the aisle. She was thankful her mom was back and feeling better. Though life had been filled with a lot of tough days handling the business while her mom was away, Harper was glad for the trials. The difficult days had been what brought her and Rafferty back together.

She held tight to the piece of paper containing the vows she’d written out months ago. She and Rafferty had chosen to exchange vows in the field behind the castle where he’d placed the picket fence.

“Ready?” her mother asked. She’d been delighted to hear news of the engagement when she’d returned from her trip. Connie squeezed her hand. “You look so beautiful. I knew he was the man for you.”

“How’d you know that?” Harper asked as they stepped outside.

Her mother’s smile wobbled. “Because he came to the house not long after your father died. He was skinny and gangly, and the cowlick in the front of his hair was sticking straight up.” She laughed at the memory. “He shoved a handful of flowers he’d plucked from his mother’s garden and asked me to give them to you. He said if you needed a father, he supposed it was okay if you borrowed his, but you couldn’t keep him.”

“You never told me that,” Harper said, looking down at the grass, blinking rapidly to keep from crying and ruining her makeup.

“No, it got lost in the midst of everything going on. But I knew then there was something special about that boy.”

“There is definitely something special about him,” Harper said, raising her gaze to the white picket fence and the crowd of their family and friends. She smiled at Grayson, then Lincoln and Josie, at Kent and Casey, whose sleeping infant daughter rested in a carrier seat next to them. She passed Rafferty’s mom and Jean, who gave her a wink and a thumbs up.

She walked slowly up the runner toward the spot where Rafferty stood, tall and handsome next to his father. When she reached him, her mother kissed her cheek and took the bouquet so Harper could join her hands with Rafferty.

When it came time to say the vows, Rafferty took a piece of paper from his tuxedo pocket. “If the shoe fits, marry the girl.”

Everyone laughed, and Rafferty cleared his throat and got serious. “I promise to be your best friend, your shield, your soft place to fall. I vow to be your partner, to support your dreams, to dry your tears, to laugh with you, and to always, always love you. And I promise to never let you get locked in a storage closet. This is my sacred vow to you.”

Harper laughed then gave up trying to hold the tears back. She let them fall as she read her own vows to him. “I promise to hold you, to encourage you, and to be your fiercest ally. I vow to support you through all our adventures together. Your heart will always have a place in mine. I promise to stand by you come what may, to love you unconditionally, and to build a home with you. I promise to cherish us always. And I promise to never again make you perform onstage. These are the vows I make to you.”

Rafferty laughed. “I will always be your Prince Charming on or offstage.”

The officiant pronounced them man and wife.

“Mrs. Bradford,” Rafferty said right before he kissed her.

Harper’s heart felt as if it had wings. Throughout the reception and their first dance as a married couple, she was walking on air.

“You know what’s next,” Jean said as she and Papa Ron danced close to them once the floor opened up to everyone.

Before the older woman could say “babies,” Rafferty said, “I do know, Granny. Finding a husband for you.”

Jean snort laughed. “You don’t have enough chutzpah to pull that off, and don’t call me Granny.” She was still laughing as she and Ron moved out of earshot.

“I know where I’d like to be next,” Rafferty said. “You and me and our honeymoon in Hawaii.”

“We’re not supposed to leave until tomorrow.”

“Let’s leave early.” He danced them to the door. “What do you say, Cinderella, love of my life? Want to sneak off with me and have a wild adventure?”

“Always,” she said, taking his hand and running with him out of the castle and toward their future.

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