“No more of that,” she said to him, then turned to Freddie. “From either of you. I’m fine. We’re all going to be fine.”
Freddie looked over her head at Roman. “She still don’t get it, does she?”
“Actually, she does.” Then Roman yielded to his need to touch her, placing one hand on her back. “And without her kind of faith, you and I would be in a bad way, kid.”
Jenna leaned into his side, and he slid his arm around her shoulders.
Freddie looked back and forth between them, then grinned that cocky smile of his. “Guess you don’t need pointers from me, after all, huh?”
Roman smiled. “Guess not.”
Freddie watched them for a moment. “So what happens to me now?”
“You don’t worry about it,” Jenna said. “We’re working on it.”
“Don’t want no foster home,” he protested weakly.
Jenna stroked his forehead. “Let us deal with that, okay?”
The boy looked skeptical until Roman nodded his agreement, and some of Freddie’s tension visibly eased. “Tired.” His eyelids began to droop.
“You go ahead and sleep, son.” Roman laid a hand on his shoulder. “You’re safe now.”
Freddie sighed and fell asleep.
Jenna kissed his cheek, then turned to Roman, her eyes fierce. “I have phone calls to make.”
He chuckled.
“What?”
“Nothing, just…” He shook his head slowly. “The world somehow feels right when Jenna’s making plans.”
She went on tiptoe and kissed him, then grabbed his hand and pulled him out the door.
He didn’t even try to resist.
He would follow this small warrior to hell and back.
EPILOGUE
Two weeks later
JENNA REACHED HER SPOT under the spreading oaks on the grounds of Hotel Serenity, glanced over at Cade and winked at her bridegroom brother before she turned to watch Sophie stroll down the aisle with Jenna’s dad at her side. Since Sophie had no family, she’d asked Hal to give her away, and Dad had pronounced that a great deal, being able to give her away as a surrogate daughter, then get her right back as a daughter-in-law once she’d said her vows.
Her brothers were Cade’s groomsmen, and she, Delilah, Roan and Caroline were Sophie’s attendants. Skeeter woofed from beside Cade, but a firm word kept him in place as his beloved mistress approached. He wasn’t wearing the lighted collar Cade had threatened to buy, but there were flowers woven into a shiny new one.
His tail was wagging madly, and laughter moved like a soft wind through the assembled guests.
Cade looked gobsmacked when he caught sight of Sophie in her simple, flowing ivory gown.
She looked pretty much the same when she saw him in his tux.
Jenna tore her gaze from the two of them to seek out the man she couldn’t wait to be with as soon as the ceremony ended.
Roman was right where he was supposed to be, in the midst of her family, Freddie at his side in a suit he’d complained bitterly about wearing.
But she’d caught Freddie, more than once, admiring himself in the mirror.
On the other side of Freddie stood Jesse and Delilah’s two children under the watchful eyes of JD and Violet. Where Jenna hadn’t been successful yet—yet, she resolved—at being approved as a foster parent, Jesse and Delilah, with their ranch and big house with plenty of room, along with horses and other livestock and two kids as playmates, had been able to cut through some red tape with Vince and Chloe’s aid. For the time being, they would serve as Freddie’s foster parents.
Jenna and Roman intended, long-term, to get themselves settled and begin the adoption process, once they could dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s. Meanwhile, Damien’s mother was enrolled in parenting classes that Jenna had found for her. The woman, Delfina, was well aware that many eyes were on her, but she had the moral support of the MacAllister/Montalvo clan. Jenna’s mom, in particular, had taken an interest in Delfina, and no one could be a better example as a mother.
As she watched, Freddie, still thin but eating constantly and recovering nicely, tugged at his tie, grimaced and rolled his eyes at her. She arched her eyebrows at him.
Roman watched them both and grinned.
Would she ever grow tired of the sight of his smile? Not hardly.
He had begun seeing a counselor who specialized in PTSD, and she was going to someone, too, though she considered what she’d been through in one night to be so much less than what Roman had endured over a period of years. They’d both been warned that the process for Roman to rid himself of the lingering effects of his experiences would take time and could not be rushed.
But already he seemed to have shed some burdens he’d carried for far too long.
And he smiled far more often as they spent all their free time together, living in her house while working on his place. They weren’t sure yet if they’d live in either one or sell both and buy something else.
In the meantime, Roman was supervising the Delgado job, while Teo was handling the Fosters. His wife had agreed to wait until spring to travel. The Marins had moved in just in time for Día de los Muertos, and they’d invited the entire crew to be part of the celebration.
JD and Violet were still waiting patiently for Jenna’s word about their job offer, but regardless of her decision, she’d already begun helping them get underway when she could find time.
Another smile beckoned her from the front row beside her parents. Mama Lalita had indeed made her first flight and loved it. She had loved Roman, too, from the first moment. The two had formed a special bond and spent a great deal of time together already.
Life wasn’t perfect, no. Not every plan she’d made had fallen neatly into place. Likely never would.
But as Roman stared at her as though she were more beautiful than the breathtaking bride taking her place beside Jenna, she couldn’t imagine asking for more than the bounty she’d been given.
“You may be seated,” said the minister.
Jenna had to drag her attention away from Roman to perform her maid-of-honor duties.
But not before she caught his smoldering gaze on her. His beautiful smile she never took for granted.
As she took Sophie’s bouquet, she sighed with pleasure. With relief. With deep, unending gratitude for her family, her life…for the very real sunshine that had returned with Roman’s love.
She couldn’t resist one quick glance back to blow him a surreptitious kiss.
Roman winked. Her family chuckled.
Freddie rolled his eyes.
And a smile, like those that once had come so easily, rose from deep in Jenna’s heart.
* * * * *
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ISBN: 9781459230873
Copyright © 2012 by Jean Brashear
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