Page 67 of The One Who Changed Everything

Carla rolled her eyes but leaned into his side. “Figured I’d keep him out of trouble.”

“Good luck with that,” I muttered, earning a round of chuckles.

Samantha nudged Carla’s arm. “You guys seem really happy.”

“We are,” Carla said, her voice full of contentment.

I narrowed my eyes at Elijah. “You guys thinking about kids yet?”

Elijah shrugged, but his grin gave him away. “Let’s just say we’re notnotthinking about it.”

Carla laughed. “Translation: He’s already picked out names.”

I smirked. “Man’s got a plan.”

Elijah clapped me on the back. “You know me. Always prepared.”

Samantha squeezed my hand again as we moved toward the center of the room, her expression softer than before.

I let my gaze sweep over the firehouse, over the people who had become my family.

This place. These people.

Somehow, despite everything I had lost, despite the years of regret and loneliness, God had given me more than I ever could have imagined.

Bryce and Krystal stood off to the side, lost in their own little world, his hand never straying far from her. I’d heard the story about how he’d been in love with her in high school. Their second chance had come more than a decade later, when Krystal returned to town. And now, God was blessing them with a child. A new beginning.

Jake and Monica sat near the Christmas tree, Monica rocking a sleepy baby in her arms while Jake leaned in, whispering something that made her smile. Jake had shared how Monica’s car accident had given her amnesia and almost destroyed their relationship. Their love hadn’t come without its struggles, but here they were, stronger than ever. Parents. Partners. Proof that love could conquer anything.

Nathan and Rebecca moved through the crowd, greeting everyone with easy smiles. They were the steady ones, the couple that had been tested and had come through the fire more inlove than before. It wasn’t easy to see a marriage through fifteen years, but Nathan said every day was another chance to choose to love each other.

Elijah and Carla laughed together near the dessert table, their hands intertwined, completely at ease. Their relationship had ended what had been a decades-long feud between two of Minden’s oldest families.

Everywhere I looked, I saw proof of His grace. Of His mercy.

Second chances.

Every single couple in this room had been given one. And somehow, against all odds, so had I.

I let my gaze sweep over the room once more. Every one of us—me, Bryce, Jake, Nathan, Elijah—we’d all gotten a second chance.

God had been in it this whole time. Even when I couldn’t see it. Even when I thought I’d lost everything.

As the sound of laughter and Christmas music filled the air, as Sophia’s giggles rang out among Nathan’s rowdy boys, as the firehouse glowed with warmth and love, I knew one thing for certain.

God had brought us all here. He had rewritten every broken story.

Even mine.

I glanced down at Samantha, at the woman who had changed everything for me—who had helped me believe that I wasn’t beyond redemption after all.

I lifted her hand to my lips, pressing a kiss against her fingers. And one to where my ring adorned her finger.

She smiled up at me, something knowing in her gaze. “What?”

I shook my head, brushing my thumb over her knuckles. “Just thinking about how much I love you, Mrs. Mercer.”

Her breath caught, and for a moment, it was just us—just this woman who had stolen my heart and the future I no longer had to live without.

I cupped her face, letting my fingers trace the curve of her cheek. “I’m so glad I got my second chance with you.”

I exhaled, the weight of those words settling deep in my chest. God had been weaving our story together long before either of us had realized it. He had taken everything broken, everything lost, and turned it into something beautiful.

And now? Now, I got to spend forever loving her.

I tipped her chin up and kissed her, slow and reverent, right there in the middle of the party. The sounds of laughter and Christmas music faded as she melted into me, her hands gripping my shirt like she never wanted to let go.

She didn’t have to.

Not now. Not ever.

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