“No!” Macy said in mock horror.
Heart so full, I wound around the counter, heading their direction. My man shifted, like he felt me approaching.
Those sage eyes pinning me.
Capturing me.
So beautiful.
That coarse, rough exterior with the most beautiful, giving heart underneath.
He no longer kept it hidden.
He’d welcomed me into it.
Wholly.
No questions blocking our path.
Rex took the pie from my hands and placed it on the table, turning to me wearing that sexy smile riding the edge of his full, full lips. The one that tipped my tummy and sent that attraction rushing free. Then his hands were on my stomach, over our son, his love pouring from him in shattering waves. “I love you, Rynna Gunner,” he murmured.
“I love you so much,” I told him.
Our gazes tangled for a moment, before he swiveled me, tucked me to his side. He lifted his glass just the same as he lifted his voice over the perfect clatter of voices. “I think a toast is in order.”
Everyone turned their attention to us. Their smiles so bright, brimming with the bonds of friendship and family.
Rex glanced at me, then back to them. “To Gramma Dayne. For the woman who loved this restaurant, but loved the people of Gingham Lakes so much more. To her courageous, gracious heart. I’m not sure where I’d be right now if it wasn’t for her.”
He lifted his glass higher.
Toward the heavens.
“You’ll always be a part of Pepper’s Pies. More so, you’ll always be a part of our lives.”
It was a chorus of cheers.
Cheers to Gramma Corinne.
To the woman who’d given us her all.
For her love and her inspiration.
All moments matter. We just rarely know how important they are until the chance to act on them has already passed.
Because of her I’d acted. I’d taken the chance.
The chance on love.
The chance of forever.
And I was never looking back.
The End