She placed her hand over his, feeling the weight of the ring in hers again. “I don’t care that we’ve only known each other for just a few short weeks. I don’t care that initially we might have built our relationship on something that was fake. I only care that despite those things, I’ve found the man that I am going to marry. I love you.”
Her fingers shook, but his were there to help push the ring back where it belonged. She looked up, to meet his eyes, bright with moisture and happiness. And just like that, he was leaning down to kiss her—not a chaste, seal-the-deal kiss, either.
It was a kiss that held all the love, passion, and joy she felt.
She closed her eyes, ready to be swept away in the feeling of having Jack’s arms once again around her. It took her a moment to become aware of applause and whistles, and she opened her eyes again, turning her head to see Benny and Henry, her parents and brothers, sisters-in-law, and her three kids, beaming back at them.
Any guilt she might have felt at sidelining her sister’s wedding—unwittingly or not—evaporated as Benny put her fingers together and whistled loudly, just as Henry put his arm around her and whispered something in her ear that had Benny leaning against him as he kissed her.
“And with that, I think you might have a few things still to do as part of your maid of honor duties,” Jack said, nodding toward the priest standing and waiting behind them all. “Just promise me you’ll save me a dance later?”
“How could I resist?” she said.
And the thing was, she no longer had to.
Epilogue
“You’re such a cheater,” Daisy said, laughing as Jack elbowed her in the chest as he pushed past her to make the basket.
“That was perfectly legal. What do you say, Paul?” he asked his teammate, who smiled and nodded.
But whatever satisfaction Jack had was short-lived as Benny stole the ball from him and went for a layup. “Score!” she cried, giving Daisy a high five before turning to give one to Cruz as well.
“We’ll let you have that one,” Dominic said. “You got to keep the faith somehow, seeing as how we’re totally crushing you.”
From the sidelines, Kate and Payton didn’t even bother to hide their own laughter at the antics, the sound seeming to excite the baby who bounced on her mom’s lap, smiling and drooling as she held her hands out as if she wanted to play.
Behind them, up on the deck, Daisy’s dad sat across fro
m Max Harrison, Jack father, both completely engrossed in the Scrabble game in front of them. Once Daisy got past her awkwardness around Jack’s dad, a guy who she once had considered almost a celebrity, she found him as warm and charming as his son—and every bit as pushy, since he’d dropped many not-so-subtle hints that as much as he loved his new grandkids, he was hoping that maybe Jack and Daisy might add a few more. Daisy wasn’t entirely sure, their family felt pretty complete as it was, but one thing she’d learned was to never say never to anything.
“I think we should take a break,” Daisy called out. “I have a new dessert I want you all to try out.”
“You don’t have to ask me twice,” Henry said and wrapped his arms around his new bride and kissed her before they walked across the grass to where the rest of the kids were playing their own competitive game of croquet along with their grandma and aunt Glenda.
Jack’s arms went around her waist and she nestled back against him, enjoying the way he burrowed his head into the crook of her neck. It had been five days since Jack’s inauguration and she had stood there next to him as he’d sworn to serve the constituents of their state, a moment that had been broadcast to a record level audience. At least according to Stuart.
Which meant she now had the honor of having her own security entourage on hand for the growing number of public events she was participating in as soon-to-be First Lady. Something she was still working on balancing along with her time with the kids and the responsibilities of being a successful entrepreneur, now that her catering business was really taking off—she’d already bought two more ovens to accommodate the orders pouring in.
But unlike before, she wasn’t afraid to ask for help from the people she loved when she needed it. Whether it was having Benny and Henry take the kids out for ice cream when it was crunch time on a massive order of her chocolate salted caramel empanadas, asking her brothers and their wives to taste-test a few of her newest creations or tweak something on her website, or even accepting Jack’s offer to find her an assistant who could help her keep organized and on top of her growing schedule of events.
“How long were you thinking of staying?” Jack asked, his breath tickling her neck. “Because I thought that with just a couple days left of summer, you and the kids might be convinced to have a sleepover at our place. A place that actually has a lock on the master bedroom door.” His place, of course being, as of this weekend, the stately and beautiful Governor’s Mansion.
“You’re incorrigible, you know that, right?” she said, even as a rush of adrenaline coursed through her at the prospect of having another night next to this man. It was making her rethink her previous plan of a long engagement in exchange for the Christmas wedding Jack and the kids had been pushing for since they received the offer from a luxurious mountain retreat to host it, if they were willing.
The kids, she was certain, were mostly just excited at the possibility of horse-driven sleighs and sledding down the snow-covered hill all located on the property.
“Only when I’m around you,” Jack said. “So is that a yes?”
She pretended to think about it.
“Maybe I can bribe you. What could I offer for the luxury of another night with you in my arms?”
From across the grass, Dominic held little Marianne up in the air, grinning at her as she cooed down at him. Kate leaned in, resting her head on Dominic’s arm, a smile on her face as she watched them. Cruz and Payton were cozying up on the swing in the corner of the patio, Cruz’s hand lingering over his wife’s belly, and Henry and Benny were sitting on a bench in the garden, their laughter impossible to miss.
Daisy held Jack’s arms around her, sighing in contentment as she looked up at him. “I have everything I want. Right here.”