Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 50311 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 252(@200wpm)___ 201(@250wpm)___ 168(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50311 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 252(@200wpm)___ 201(@250wpm)___ 168(@300wpm)
Cambria nods, all smiles and watery eyes.
“We’re havin’ a wedding!” I tell my mom, and the cheer that follows rattles the night.
Cambria laughs through her tears and climbs into my lap, kissing me so hard my heart forgets how to beat right. I hold her close, the ring warm between us, her breath sweet with lemonade and hope.
Later, after the food’s mostly gone and the fire’s nothing but embers, Cambria’s with Yesnia and Laura by the pond, no doubt laughing and crying about centerpieces and cake flavors and all the details I’ll never understand. I sit on the porch with Toon, passing a bottle of whiskey back and forth. The night is thick, full of crickets and distant laughter and memories I never want to lose.
“You happy?” Toon asks quietly, his gaze fixed on the shadows moving in the grass.
I don’t even have to think. “Yeah. I am.”
He studies me, then nods, satisfied. “You earned it.”
“Not sure I did.”
He turns, serious now, the lines in his face softened by the glow from the kitchen window. “You stood by her. You fought for her. You brought your shit to the club, manned up when it counted. Don’t ever question if you earned it.”
I nod, throat tight, words stuck in my chest.
“You good here? For real?” I ask, shifting the subject back to him. I can’t stand the thought of Toon drifting, lost, not knowing where he belongs.
“Better than I was. Takin’ shit as it comes,” he says, rolling the whiskey between his palms.
“Catawba, we’d be glad to have you back.”
He smiles, slow and honest. “Maybe one day. Can’t say my place is in Catawba. Can’t say it’s here. Thought about going Nomad with Smoke and the others, but I don’t know. I don’t have a calling to go anywhere just yet. I’ll see how my shit plays out here a little longer.”
“Door’s always open at my place for you, brother.”
He bumps my fist with his, grateful and silent. I know what it is to need a place, to need a reason. I’m just glad I found mine.
After a while, Cambria finds me, slipping her hand into mine, her eyes bright with laughter and plans.
We walk down to the edge of the pond, the grass cool and soft under our feet. The moon’s high, painting the water silver, and the world feels hushed and private. She wraps her arms around my waist, tilting her face up to mine.
“Promise me somethin’?” she asks.
“Anything,” I say, brushing her hair behind her ear.
“Don’t let the world turn us cold.”
I cup her face, thumbs sweeping over her cheeks. “The world’s always gonna try, Cam. But I’ve got you. You’ve got me. That’s heat enough to keep us from ever bein’ cold again.”
She nods, eyes shining with hope and faith and something that feels a hell of a lot like forever.
We kiss, slow and deep, every fear and every promise wrapped up in that moment. When we finally pull back, I rest my forehead against hers.
“This is it, you know,” I say. “The road. The life. Us.”
She smiles, tears and laughter mixing together. “Forever?”
“Forever.”
We stand there, the world silent around us, the sky full of stars. I hold her close and know—really know—that the fight is worth it. That home isn’t a place. It’s a person. It’s family. It’s the way her arms feel around me, the way her laughter carries through the dark, the way every scar I’ve got feels healed when she’s near.
Tomorrow, there’ll be more miles to ride, more stories to write, more battles to win. But tonight? Tonight I have everything I ever wanted.
And for once, I believe I get to keep it.
The End…