by S M Broad
“Come in.” Aayla’s soft voice calls us into the room. I swipe the privacy curtain out of the way and squeal quietly when I see her sitting up in the bed, pillows tucked all around her as she holds her new bundles of joy. “Hey, guys.”
“Hi!” I creep closer, leaning forward to kiss my best friend’s cheek. “Congratulations! Oh my gosh, look at them! They’re so perfect.” I turn to smile at Kohen, who is ducking down to give Aayla a quick hug.
“Well?” I wiggle back and forth, excited to know what I get to call my niece and nephew. I stick my arms out in a baby holding pose as Aayla moves to hand me the little pea pod wrapped in pink just as Latham breezes into the room, taking the baby wrapped in blue for Kohen to hold. “What names did you pick?”
“Leila, Kohen.” Aayla and Latham share a purely content look with each other. “Meet Bryn Ivy and Rhys Davis-Parker.”
“Aayla,” I sniffle, smiling through a fresh wave of tears. “I’m honored.”
“Thank you both.” Kohen can barely contain his own tears as he smiles at Latham, who claps him on the back. I look down at sweet Bryn and handsome Rhys, reveling in the abundant happiness filling the small room. Both are the perfect combination of Aayla and Latham. Bryn has Aayla’s dark hair and Latham’s bright green eyes while Rhys is the opposite with Latham’s lighter hair and Aayla’s chocolate brown eyes. Just as we pass the little darlings back to their mom and dad, Hensley comes bursting into the room with Boone.
“My babies are here!” She yells, making everyone laugh. I share a tender look with Kohen as we watch the new Reed family bond, and something in the depths of his eyes makes me wish for our own family. For the first time in a long time, I have hope that one day we’ll get to this place. I can finally look forward to a future with Kohen by my side. His silent words hold the promise of forever.
Epilogue
2 months later
“Are you sure I need to wear this fancy of a dress for a simple dinner?” I ask, looking down at the floor-length, fitted lace garment with a crooked squint. I adjust the thin straps over my shoulders, smoothing down the bodice of the fabric.
It billows around my bare feet as I walk to the vanity to check the smokey brown makeup that makes my baby blues pop brighter in the mirror.
My ginger hair is curled in spirals, half pinned up with the other half flowing down my back. I fasten the last sapphire studded earring that Aayla let me borrow into place and nod, deciding I’m presentable enough.
“For the millionth time, yes. It’s the last family dinner of vacation, so we’re all dressing up.” Aayla pokes her half-styled head out of the cracked bathroom door. We’ve been here at Kohen’s family beach house in South Carolina for two weeks now, and tomorrow everyone is leaving to go back home. Well, everyone except Kohen and me. He insisted we stay another week just so we could have some extra time just for us. It’s been a blissful, fun-filled time with our whole extended family, but I can’t wait to be alone with my guy.
“See that package on the bed? Open it and put them on.” Aayla calls as she ducks back into the room. I step over and pick up the brown box, gasping when I open it. Nestled into the coral-colored tissue paper is a pair of barefoot sandals with crystals, silver beads, and diamond starfish adorned to them. “From Latham and me.”
“What’s the occasion?” I sit on the bed, slipping the sparkles on.
“Do I need an occasion to buy you a gift?” Aayla asks, walking out of the bathroom in a knee length aqua colored cocktail dress.
“I guess not…Damn, girl, you look freaking hot.” I smile at my best friend, who magically became a MILF times three just one week after Bryn and Rhys were born. She’s one of those lucky women who got their slim figure back right away. “You better watch yourself tonight, or there will be another little Reed on the way.” I laugh when she glares at me.
“Ha-ha! I don’t think so. I barely get any sleep as it is with breastfeeding the twins, no more babies for this mama. I thank God every day for Latham, though, he keeps me sane.” She sighs gleefully, checking the time. “Oh hell, Kohen is waiting for you downstairs. Quit stalling, and I’ll see you in a little bit.” She pats my ass to get me moving.
I give her a look, but pick up the bottom of the dress, so I don’t trip and kill myself, taking the stairs down to the first floor. As soon as my jewel covered foot hits the last step into the kitchen, I hear Kohen speak from behind me.
“Holy shit.” He’s breathless but nervous at the same time. I turn and clutch my chest when I see him standing there. He’s all spiffed up in a crisp white dress shirt that’s tucked into tan suit pants with a matching jacket and a white Daffodil pinned to his lapel.
“You look handsome.”
“You’re absolutely spectacular.” He stares in awe, biting his lip nervously. As if on silent cue, a familiar melody starts up. He smiles a knowing grin, all his straight white teeth glittering as “You Make It Easy” by Jason Aldean plays.
“What’s going on, Kohen?” I ask, gaping with my mouth wide open when he sucks in a deep breath and kneels in front of me. When he pulls a black velvet box from his pocket with shaky hands, his face goes fuzzy as tears sting my eyes.
“Oh my...Are you serious?” I’m stunned, shaking from overwhelming emotion.
“I’m just gonna keep this part simple. Leila, I love you more than I will ever be able to say in a lifetime, and I want you forever. I want us forever. Will you…”
“Yes!” I shout, covering my mouth when he stands up abruptly.
“…Let me finish asking you?” He chuckles, taking my left hand in his right.
“Yes, I’m sorry. Yes.” I fidget, unable to calm my flustered self.
“Leila Ivy Dennison, will you do me the absolute honor of being my wife?”
“Yes, Kohen. Yes, yes, yes, a million times, yes!” I nod enthusiastically.
“So, yes?” He chuckles softly, pulling the jewel from its velvet resting place. I gasp when he slides the platinum band onto my ring finger. The stone glows like a halo, bright, and sparkly.
“Oh my god, it’s so beautiful.” My eyes bounce from the centered princess cut diamond to Kohen until he cups my face, kissing the breath he just stole from me right back into my lungs.
“Right now.” He states, making me blink away the haze from admiring my engagement ring, squinting at him.
“Huh? Right...what?”
“Will you marry me...right now?” His cerulean eyes sparkle just as bright as the diamond on my left hand. “We’re already dressed for the occasion, so what do you say?” He takes my arm, leading me through the dining room of the beach house to the closed patio doors that have been covered by dark curtains. He turns the handle, opening them, and then everything goes blurry again as more tears flood my vision.
Thank God for waterproof mascara.
Out on the beach, a sheer white canopy with soft white lights has been set up, flower petals, and glowing lanterns lining the center aisle with a few chairs on either side. The setting sun cascades a gorgeous pinkish-purple glow around the area as a smiling officiant waits for us to join her.
“How long have you had this planned?”
“A few weeks.”
“Kohen!”
“So? You wanna start a new life with me tonight?” He asks the question, and I don’t even have to think, but the only thing I can manage to spit out is an unflattering,
“Duh!” I cringe and shrug, while Kohen’s smile grows more as he watches me try to find the right words.
“I mean, it would be a shame to waste this beautiful dress.” A dress I now realize is really a wedding gown that Aayla must have picked out for me.
“It sure would be.” He agrees with a wide grin, holding his arm out for me. I slip my hand into the crook of his elbow, walk across the patio and down the stairs to the sand with him.
As we round the corner of the house, I see everyone we love waiting for us. Latham and Aayla hold Bryn and Rhys as Hensley bounces around, kicking up sand
. Karla, Kassie, Jason, and Audra stand off to their left. Next to them are Boone, Davis, and Eviana, all smiling.
A pang of sadness hits me when I realize that two important people are missing. Then, Kai and Emily appear from the corner of the beach house, and I squeal when my mom peeks out from behind them. She steps forward with her long red hair blowing in the breeze, and her bright eyes shimmering with happiness. I’m lucky that I got her looks.
“Hi, Senna. I’m happy you could be here.” Kohen kisses her cheek, and she hugs him quickly before turning back to me. She touches my face, comforting me with the gentleness only a mother has for her child.
“Well, you have your something new, borrowed, and blue…” She slides my late grandmother’s diamond-encrusted hairpiece with a sparkly starfish that matches the ones on my sandals into my hair where it’s pinned up. “Now, you have your something old.” She kisses my cheek tenderly.
“I’m so glad you’re here.” I blink back my overwhelmed tears.
“Me too, sweetheart. I wouldn’t have missed this for anything.” We share a quick hug as everyone settles into their seats to get started. “Speechless” by Dan + Shay accompanies me during my walk down the aisle as my brother gives me away with a hug before taking everyone by surprise and thumping Kohen’s back in a quick, manly embrace.
I take Kohen’s hand, staring at only him the entire time the officiant says her opening lines, and then it’s time for our vows. Kohen takes a deep breath, capturing my attention all over again with those beautiful eyes of his. Eyes that once housed so much turmoil and pain are now bright and clear.
“Words aren’t exactly my strong suit, but I’m gonna try and say some romantic type shit right now.”
Everyone laughs.
“It’s no secret that we’ve had our fair share of ups and downs, and that I’ve had my own issues, but we’ve always found our way past them. I don’t know how I got so lucky, but I am the luckiest man that ever lived because I get you. Time and time again, you forgive my mistakes, you look past my flaws, and you love me even when I don’t deserve it.” Kohen’s blue eyes well with emotion.
“You’re my saving grace, Leila Ivy Dennison. I promise to always love you, protect you, and cherish you for as long as we both live.” A tear slips down his cheek as he takes my wedding ring from Latham, sliding the simple diamond band to rest against my engagement ring. Thumbing a tear from my own face, he smiles softly at me. I say a silent prayer that I won’t lose my shit, take Kohen’s left hand in mine, and make my vows to him.
“Kohen,” I pause to take a breath. “When things were hard, when there were struggles, and I thought we might not make it to the other side, I still loved you. I’ve always loved you, and I will continue to love you until my last breath on Earth. You were worth fighting for. We were worth the pain, the tears, and the heartache because we get to stand here today. We’ll always be worth it. You’re it for me, Kohen Parker Stone. I am so proud of the obstacles you have overcome, and I promise to always love you, support you, and cherish you for as long as we both live.” I suddenly realize that I don’t have a ring for him. I start to freak out when Aayla nudges me. I turn to see her holding a thick platinum wedding band and let out a relieved sigh. She winks when I take the ring with a grateful smile, sliding it into place where it will forever rest.
“By the power vested in me, by the state of South Carolina, I now pronounce you husband and wife.” The officiant steps back as Kohen seals his lips over mine for our first kiss as a married couple. “It gives me great happiness to introduce for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Kohen and Leila Stone.”
Our small group of loved one’s holler, clapping for us as we take a walk down the aisle together. We skirt around the chairs set up to stand by the edge of the water.
I stare out at the deep blue Atlantic, wrapped up in my husband’s loving arms, and thank every single lucky star in the sky for bringing him back to me, for making me see that second chances are always possible and love is worth the fight.
I know without a shadow of a doubt that he’s my path, and I intend to follow him wherever he takes me in life.
-THE END-
Acknowledgments
Thank you to my children and husband. I love you four endlessly.
My mom and dad. Your support in everything I do means the world to me. I am so incredibly blessed to have you as my parents.
My Alpha readers Abby and Shannon. You two truly helped me work through all the blocks I had while working on this book. I love you both so much!
My Beta readers! Thank you for going on this journey with me! You’re stuck with me now!
Emily Wittig at Emily Wittig Designs for another stunning cover! Your work continues to inspire me, and I’m so proud of you for chasing your own dream!
S.I. Hayes at Haney Hayes Promotions for editing and helping to get this book ready for publication!
Alexandria Bishop with AB Formatting & Design for helping transform the pages of this book and making them look pretty! It’s been a pleasure working with you!
Special shoutout to Shannon Pillay. When I was struggling for months to finish Kohen and Leila’s story the first time around, this amazing lady stepped in to help me. We had many talk sessions, and she helped bring this book full circle. I honestly don’t think it’d be the story it is without her. Thank you so much! Your friendship means the world to me.
Lastly, but certainly not least. To you, the reader. I hope you love this story as much as I loved writing it.
If you enjoyed this book (or even if you didn’t, that’s okay too) I’d be forever grateful if you would consider leaving a review.
Thank you with all my heart for reading!
About the Author
SM Broad is a coffee addicted, mermaid obsessed, moose collecting Ohioan whose love of reading and dream of being an author was born at the age of 15 after reading Don’t Die, My Love by Lurlene McDaniel.
She lives in a small town with her husband, son and two daughters.
She enjoys yoga, listening to all genres of music, watching movies and having dance parties with her kids.
When she isn’t moming and writing, you can find her curled up with a good book, drinking coffee, baking and spending time with her friends and family.
