“That’s perfect, Ellie. Tilt your head to the right.” The camera clicked loudly as the photographer took shot after shot. “Now, Landon, step in behind Ellie a bit more.”
“How many more pictures does she need?” Landon whispered in Ellie’s ear. “Honestly, even poor Penny has had just about enough.”
Penny stood beside them with a wreath of beautiful flowers hanging from her neck, which matched perfectly with the wedding flowers around the grounds. How far both woman and horse had come in the past year!
Ellie laughed and pinched her groom playfully. “At least Penny hasn’t grumbled about every picture for the past half hour.”
He stuck his tongue out just as the photographer snapped another picture—and Ellie sincerely hoped that particular shot would make it into their wedding album.
“Well, Penny isn’t stuffed into a vest that makes her feel like a penguin,” he said, blowing out his cheeks and imitating a waddle.
“And with that beauty,” the photographer called, “I think we’ve got all we need.”
“Finally!” Landon stepped away, undoing the buttons on his vest as he walked over to where the family stood milling around.
Ellie shook her head and laughed quietly as she leaned in closer to Penny’s head. “Thank you for being such a good girl today and not complaining as much as some others we know.”
The horse turned and blew a puff of air onto Ellie’s neck as the whiskers on her snout tickled her skin.
“I’m so glad you’re here, Penny. I hope you’ll love your new home with us.” Once they returned from their honeymoon, Landon and Ellie would officially adopt the special horse. Until then, she had one last week at Memory Ranch.
Ellie and Landon would have a new home, too. They planned to take over the ranch that had been in her father’s family for generations so her dear old dad could start prepping for retirement.
They planned to erect a second set of stables where they could house horses like Penny, the lost causes that everyone else had given up on. Ellie knew there wasn’t a horse out there who didn’t deserve a second chance, someone to believe in them. And she was determined to help as many as she could. After all, she, too, had been given a second chance—and it had meant everything.
Howard strolled over with a huge smile on his weathered face as he grabbed Penny’s reins from Ellie’s hands. “I’ll take this girl back to the pen and give her a treat for being so good today.”
Ellie shook her head, trying to grab the reins back to no avail. “Howard, you’re a guest today. You don’t need to be helping out.”
The old cowboy waved dismissively and led Penny away anyway.
Ellie walked over to join Landon next to her father. He looked down and smiled at her as he pulled her next to him, keeping his arm around her waist. “I don’t know how you can do that all the time. Honestly, I don’t see the point of having so many pictures of almost the exact same pose.”
Ellie rolled her eyes and playfully slapped his chest. “Well, I hardly do it all the time. And besides, you really do need that many to make sure you get one that’s exactly right.”
She laughed, because even after all this time he didn’t quite get it. All he knew is that photography was something his new bride enjoyed and that he wanted her to have every opportunity to pursue it. And pursue it, she did. Thanks to a few lucky turns and her former connections in the world of fashion, Ellie’s pictures were now on calendars, websites, and magazines all over the world.
Finally she was able to embrace doing something she truly loved. And had always loved. It had taken Landon to remind her of that. Giving her that camera that day had shown her how much he believed in what she could do.
She still did some modeling, too, but it was always on her own terms. She refused to cover her scars. They were too important in reflecting the triumph of her struggle. She wanted young girls and women everywhere to see that there was beauty in every face no matter the color, shape, or even scars making it different. Different was what made it beautiful.
“You look wonderful today, Ellie.” Her mother came up beside her and wrapped her in another huge hug. “I’m glad you agreed to have your hair up like that. It looks perfect on you.”
“Thanks, Mom. Today is perfect. You did a wonderful job planning it all for us.” She stepped back and noticed the tears in her mom’s eyes. “And I’m glad you’ve decided to move here. It will be nice to have you so close by.”
Her mom had agreed to move to Anchorage and work for Memory Ranch handling their marketing and public relations. Liz had said that even though she might be a bit of a handful at times, she could see how good the woman would be at that job. She was exactly what they needed.
Ellie wasn’t naive enough to believe she’d ever have the normal family, but her parents had at least settled into a casual friendship. They still fought like cats and dogs, but they made up quickly and moved on from their own pasts to share in Ellie’s future.
“C’mon, Arlene,” her father said, offering his arm to his ex-wife. “Let’s go check on the caterers.”
As Ellie watched her parents stroll away, her matron of honor, Liz, came over and fussed with the veil pinned delicately to her hair.
“Just take the whole thing off,” Ellie said with a laugh. “It will be easier to dance that way.”
“You’ve got it,” Liz answered, rooting for the seemingly endless number of pins until she was finally able to detach the veil. “I’ll keep this in the big house for you. Need anything while I run up there?”
“No, you’ve already done more than enough. Thank you for everything.” Ellie gave her friend a tight hug. She’d never given so many hugs in all her life as she did today. But she was so happy to have her friends and family at her side watching her get married in the place that had changed her life for the better.
Not only had Liz graciously offered Memory Ranch as the location, but she’d also been the one to stage an intervention that tearful morning after the barn dance. Without it, who knows where any of them would have ended up—certainly not vowing her eternal love to the only man she’d ever needed.
As the others walked toward the tent on the other side of the yard, Landon held her next to him without moving. Finally, he turned and took her in his arms. “You know as soon as we get in there it’s going to be chaos, so can I grab a quick moment alone with the woman of my dreams, please?”
“Landon, you don’t get to say that,” she said between giggles. “You know the dreams were all mine—that you’re the man of my dreams.”
“Hey, can’t we both be each other’s dream come true?” Landon pulled her closer and smiled down at her from beneath his dress cowboy hat.
Ellie wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled up at him. “Have I told you today how much I love you?”
He scrunched his mouth and pretended to think. “Nope. I would remember something like that.”
“Well, I do,” she said, stealing a quick kiss. “Thank you for never giving up on me, for getting us to this day.”
He smiled and reached up to trace his thumb along her jaw. “I thought we already exchanged our vows at the altar.”
Ellie laughed again. “We did, but you better get used to hearing how much I love you every single day, because that’s the one thing that’s never going to change.”
“I can live with that,” Landon answered with a wink. And as his lips found hers, the world around them faded away. She knew her heart had found its home.