“You’re still worried he might cheat on you if you give him another chance?” I whispered, glancing at Brody, whose head was bowed, listening to something Cole was whispering in his ear.
“I guess I just can’t help but think about the temptation he’s faced with every day. Could any man really be expected to resist that forever?”
I saw her point, but I’d seen the way Brody looked at her—like she was the only woman in the room. I really didn’t think she had anything to worry about, but that wasn’t my call. It was hers. “I don’t have to ask if you’ve talked to him about giving up that lifestyle. I’m sure you have.”
“He has no intention of giving it up,” she said, wiping her glossy lips with a napkin. “And I have no intention of spending my life waiting on him to come home, wondering if this was the trip where he’d come home and tell me that he’d made a mistake. That he’d had too much to drink and slept with someone else.”
I wanted to help them find their way, but it was obvious to me there was no clear-cut path to happiness for either of them. I didn’t know what the next chapter of their story would be, or if there would even be another one. I could only hope they would both find their happy ending eventually because I’d never known two people who deserved it more.
Ryker stood, holding his glass, drawing every eye in the room. “When my kid brother told me he’d met the woman he was going to marry, I think I laughed in his face.”
Nex chuckled, as did everyone else.
“Nex has always loved life. For as long as I can remember, he’s always been about having a good time.” Ryker’s eyes met mine, and we smiled. “But when he met you, Jaci, I think he realized, for the first time, what real happiness is. I’ve never seen him more content, and for that, I thank you.” He raised his glass. “To the woman who gave my brother the happy ending he deserves. I love you. We love you. And I know Nex will go on loving you for the rest of his life.”
“Thank you,” I mouthed to Ryker, giggling when Nex wiped away my tears with the corner of his napkin before leaning in to kiss me.
Brody was the next to stand, clenching his glass as his gaze drifted around the table, stalling on Riley, before finally landing on us. “I’m the older brother, so I’m supposed to lead by example, I guess,” he said to Nex, before clearing his throat. “But you’ve taught me something, Nex. You’ve taught me how to be fearless and persevere. I know Jaci didn’t always make it easy for you…”
Brody winked at me, making me blush as I imagined the stories he had heard about the early days of our courtship.
“But you never gave up on her. You never gave up because you knew”—he flattened his palm against his stomach—“in your gut what you could have with her. That it would be better than anything you’d ever imagined.”
Nex smiled before nodding at his brother while clasping my hand under the table.
“As I stand here today, looking at the two of you, so happy and in love, with your whole lives ahead of you, I have never been more proud of you, Nex.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Riley brushing away a tear.
“You took a chance. You faced the fear of rejection, and when things got tough, you didn’t run away. You stood strong and fought for what you wanted. You both did. And that’s why you’re sitting here today, together.” With a sigh, he glanced at Riley. “If this past year has taught me anything…” His gaze travelled to Mac and Ryker, then Seb and Skylar. “It’s that only the strong survive. And you two are strong. That’s why there’s no doubt in my mind you’ll not only make it, but get better with every year that passes.”
I wanted to go to him, to hug him and let him know he was so much stronger than he gave himself credit for, but I knew it was important to let him finish.
“So to your future,” he said, raising his glass. “I cannot wait to watch it unfold, to share every beautiful milestone with you, and be a shoulder when you need one to lean on.”
After we all raised our glasses, I set mine down before whispering to Nex that I’d be right back as Brody got up to leave the table as well.
“Hey,” I said, running to catch up to him as he made his way across the foyer to the front door. “Where are you going in such a hurry?”
He turned to face me, using a smile to try to mask his pain.
I’d never seen a man who needed a hug more, so when I reached him, I immediately wrapped my arms around him. “Thank you for that toast. It was beautiful.”
“I meant every word of it,” he whispered.
“I know you did.” I pulled back, curling my hands around his biceps as I looked him in the eye. “You could have what we have, you know. And I know you have it in you to be fearless too.”
He smirked. “Honey, you have a lot more faith in me than I have in myself.”
“Only because you’ve never tested yourself before. When you do, you’ll realize just how strong you are, Brody.”
He inhaled deeply, squaring his broad shoulders. “You don’t know how much I want to believe that.”
“It’s not too late, you know.” I feared I may be giving him false hope, but something told me that without hope, he would have nothing left. “She still loves you. She wants you to give her reason to believe in you again.”
His head fell forward. “I would give anything, everything, to be that man. The one she can count on. Not just today or tomorrow, but forever.”
I grabbed his face, forcing him to look at me. “Listen to me, imagine getting a call in the middle of the night that Riley had been in a terrible accident.” His large body shuddered at the picture I painted. “You got to the hospital just in time to tell her, what? What would you tell her if you knew it was your last chance?”
“I’d tell her she’d been my whole goddamn world for as long as I could remember.”
I let my hands fall, knowing his emotions were now holding him captive. He wasn’t going anywhere. “And?”
“And she’d gotten me through the hardest times of my life.” His gaze drifted into the dining room, and I knew he was imagining Riley sitting on the other side of that wall. “I’d tell her that I’d never love anyone the way I’d loved her. I’d tell her that I was sorry I couldn’t have been there for her the way she needed me to be.”
“That’s what you’re facing if you give up now,” I said, gripping his hands. “A lifetime of regret. Do you really want to do that to yourself? Do you want to do that to her, Brody?”
“No, but it would take a miracle to fix things now.”
I smiled before kissing his cheek. “Then I guess it’s a good thing that this is the season for miracles, isn’t it? Nex and I got ours. Now it’s your turn. Yours and Riley’s…”
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