"Tell you what," I said, reaching into the nightstand. "I've been waiting for the right time for this. And I don't think it could get better than this," I said, pulling out the box, flipping open the lid. "Thinking maybe we should do it in the proper order. First, I marry you. Then we have those boys. Or those girls. Whichever," I added, giving her words back to her as her gaze went to the ring. "What's the matter? Too soon?" I asked, feeling my gut twist at the strange look in her eyes.
"No. No. Not too soon at all. I... I mean... you know I have wanted this since I was a kid still. I just... this ring looks so familiar and I don't know why."
"I maybe had Iggy try to gauge your taste in rings over the last few weeks. Maybe that's why."
"Maybe," she agreed, but didn't sound convinced. But, realizing this wasn't the moment for that, she shook her head, knocking those thoughts free. "Anyway. Back to your proposal," she said, giving me a wobbly smile.
"Right. Well... marry me, Ace."
"One condition," she said as I slipped the ring out of the box.
"What's that?"
Her lips pressed together for a long second before she blurted it out. "You write our wedding song."
Seeing as I had been full of music since she walked back into my life, I didn't think that would be a problem.
"I think I can manage that," I agreed, sliding the ring onto her finger. "Love you, Ace."
"I love you too. In fact, I've loved you longer," she declared with a nod of her head.
"Not everything is a competition, Ace."
"Ah, yeah it is," she countered, rolling her eyes. "You're just saying that because you're clearly losing."
"Dunno. I got the girl. I think I am winning in this situation."
And I so was.
She might have loved me the longest.
But I was going to dedicate my life to loving her the hardest.
Vance - 1 year later
I'd had Chris working on a secret project for me for months. A little surprise for Ferryn for her one year homecoming anniversary.
It had taken longer than either of us had anticipated. When I'd told Chris my idea, she'd shrugged her shoulders and said to give her a week or two. Which was great. It gave me a few months to work on it.
As it turned out, I only had three weeks to make it work after Chris had finally gotten me the information I needed.
I'd needed to include pretty much everyone in our lives on the secret since I had needed to leave town for a few days. We'd told her I had to go on a drop. Which meant a few of her uncles had to get lost for a few days as well since Reign would never send me alone on a job.
Even when I had left, I wasn't sure I had accomplished my goal.
Until the middle of the dinner party when the door opened.
And the surprised walked in.
Holden.
See, Ferryn would never outwardly say she missed the man, that she was worried about him, that she wanted to know what he was up to. But every time we went to his old place, when someone else said they were heading there for a little get away, every time she would dust all the wooden carved figures, she would get this faraway look in her eyes that stayed there sometimes for hours.
I wanted to fix that.
He'd been a tough man to track down, settling deep in the mountains of Vermont, existing without most basic necessities because he didn't want to be on the map.
How Chris eventually even found him was completely beyond me. And how I had convinced him to come was an even bigger mystery. When I'd left his place, he'd been giving me a steely stare, one that said he didn't give a shit about me or my surprise to my woman. Even if that woman was a girl he'd helped raise in a way.
Hell, I was pretty sure I was just as surprised as Ferryn when he dwarfed that entire doorway, when he looked around the room, spotting Ferryn sitting on the back of the couch, talking to one of her cousins.
"Kid."
Really, he hadn't even yelled, but his voice was the sort that boomed, that made all conversations around him grind to a halt.
Ferryn's lips fell open, her eyes went wide.
I didn't know what to expect when she turned finally to face her mentor.
I understood their relationship to be an odd one. No personal connections. She didn't know his life story. He didn't know much of hers. They didn't seem to have warm and fuzzies toward each other.
So when she hopped off that couch and made her way to Holden, we all sort of tensed.
When she got in front of him and threw her arms around him, he fucking tensed. His arms never went around her, clearly even more damaged than Ferryn had been when she'd returned to us a year ago, being away from his own warm and soft life for much longer than she had been away from hers. But one arm raised and awkwardly patted her back.
"That's enough of that," he rumbled out, making her pull back, giving him a smile that he seemed confused by.
"What... how..." she started, not sure which question she wanted to ask first.
"You got a persistent fuckin' cousin. And a dedicated fuckin' man," Holden told her, making her look toward Chris, then me, eyes a little dumbfounded.
"I, ah, yeah," she agreed, giving him a wobbly smile.
"You deserve 'em. Heard you're gettin' married," Holden said, gaze moving to her hand.
"Yeah. I mean... we don't have a date or anything yet. But yeah. Eventually."
To that, he made a grunting noise, reaching into his back pocket, producing a box, handing it to her.
"Wedding present," he said, shifting his feet, clearly uncomfortable with the large company gathered around, gawking at him. "Your people know where to find me if you need me," he added, already starting to make his exit. "You look happy," he said, turning back to Ferryn.
"I, ah, yeah. I am."
"Good," he said, giving her a firm nod. "That's good."
With that, he was gone.
She didn't try to go after him, get him to stay. She knew he needed to go. And she respected him too much to try to convince him otherwise.
"I can't believe he came," she said, coming over toward me, cradling the box like a bird with a broken wing. And, well, that was a perfect analogy for Holden, wasn't it?
"Honestly, me either," I agreed. "He might now know how to show it, Ace, but he loves you."
"I guess he does," she admitted, giving me a sad smile. "I love him too, but I don't think he would be okay with me saying that."
"He knows," I assured her, giving her a squeeze. "Are you going to wait to open that?" I asked as she ran her finger over the top of the box.
"Oh, please," Summer said, rolling her eyes, and we shared a smile because we both know Ferryn had absolutely no patience and was known for desperately trying to find presents she knew you'd gotten her.
Ignoring us, Ferryn clawed at the box, tossing the top to the floor along with the little sheet of tissue paper.
"What is it?" I asked when her eyes went soft, almost swimmy. She still wasn't much of a crier, but she got misty when she was feeling really emotional. Like now.
"Two doves," she said, holding up the intricately carved figurines.
"Doves are a symbol of love and fidelity," Lo declared, being the expert on all things love related. "They mate for life," she added.
That was fitting.
Since she was going to be mine for life.
If I ever got her to agree on a fucking date.
Ferryn - 1.5 years later
This was the place.
This was the place from the dream.
When I walked into the hall, nothing had clicked. It was just as nice as the fifteen other halls—yes, literally—my mom and aunts had dragged Vance and me to thus far. And we were quite a sight, me the upcoming bride and groom who seemed wholly uninterested in the giant fairytale extravaganza my twenty or something aunts were determined to give us.
It had a sort of rustic feel that I knew Vance was loving—reclaimed wooden floors, mismatched wooden chairs, high, beamed ceilings,
understated shiplap on the walls—and I liked that there were a ton of windows so that it wouldn't feel too crowded with all our loved ones gathered there. Because there were a lot of them. And no one was going to miss it.
The first wedding of one of the Navesink Bank kids.
It was a big deal.
And Vance had convinced me to let them run with it since I had no head for such things and they were so excited.
We would have happily had a little courthouse ceremony.
But it was nice to see my mother so happy.
Feeling a little dizzy from all the voices in the hall, I decided to take a walk out back since the owner had mentioned it being a nice place for pictures.
It was then that it clicked.
This was the place from my dream.
It was ridiculous to think that, of course.
It was just a fancy garden.
But there was this niggling feeling of having seen it before, despite never having visited.
Sure, there were the irises and peonies and snapdragons and amaranth and zinnias. But those were all common flowers, weren't they? Nothing to feel such a feeling of deja vu about.
I ran my hand over the silky flowers, seeing my hand, my ring, getting that sort of tightening in my belly again, that weird, unshakable feeling.
And then I saw it.
The gilded mirror between two weeping willows.
I didn't really believe in premonitions, in dreams being a window into your future. But there was no way to deny that I had dreamed this place, that I had seen myself in a white dress with Vance behind me in a tux standing in that mirror.
"Hey," I said, going back in the doors, voice raised to be heard above all the other people talking. "This is the one," I declared, watching as a few faces deflated, clearly set on other venues, but my mom gave me a warm smile. And Vance, well, Vance looked like the weight of the world had just been lifted off of his shoulders.
"You heard her," my Aunt Lo declared. "This is the one. Now to figure out what to do about this awful alter."
Yes, they could figure that all out.
Me?
I moved back outside, taking a deep breath, smelling the flowers, basking in the warm sun, hearing Vance follow me out, draping an arm around my lower back, curling me into his chest.
I felt it right then.
The deeply rooted certainty in my soul.
Me.
Vance.
Our family.
And happily ever after.
Don't Forget!
Dear Reader,
Thank you for taking time out of your life to read this book. If you loved this book, I would really appreciate it if you could hop onto Goodreads or Amazon and tell me your favorite parts. You can also spread the word by recommending the book to friends or sending digital copies that can be received via kindle or kindle app on any device.
Also by Jessica Gadziala
If you liked this book, check out these other series and titles in the NAVESINK BANK UNIVERSE:
The Henchmen MC
Reign
Cash
Wolf
Repo
Duke
Renny
Lazarus
Pagan
Cyrus
Edison
Reeve
Sugar
The Fall of V
Adler
Roderick
Virgin
Roan
Camden
The Savages
Monster
Killer
Savior
Mallick Brothers
For A Good Time, Call
Shane
Ryan
Mark
Eli
Charlie & Helen: Back to the Beginning
Investigators
367 Days
14 Weeks
4 Months
Dark
Dark Mysteries
Dark Secrets
Dark Horse
Professionals
The Fixer
The Ghost
The Messenger
The General
The Babysitter
The Middle Man
Rivers Brothers
Lift You Up
STANDALONES WITHIN NAVESINK BANK:
Vigilante
Grudge Match
OTHER SERIES AND STANDALONES:
Stars Landing
What The Heart Needs
What The Heart Wants
What The Heart Finds
What The Heart Knows
The Stars Landing Deviant
What The Heart Learns
Surrogate
The Sex Surrogate
Dr. Chase Hudson
The Green Series
Into the Green
Escape from the Green
DEBT
Dissent
Stuffed: A Thanksgiving Romance
Unwrapped
Peace, Love, & Macarons
A Navesink Bank Christmas
Don't Come
Fix It Up
N.Y.E.
faire l'amour
Revenge
There Better Be Pie
About the Author
Jessica Gadziala is a full-time writer, parrot enthusiast, and coffee drinker from New Jersey. She enjoys short rides to the book store, sad songs, and cold weather.
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<3/ Jessica
The Rise of Ferryn Page 24
