Page 128 of Riding the High

“Will you be my mommy in my heart?” she says, and I pull her closer.

“Of course I will. Daddy’s girls?” Tears are streaming down my cheeks.

She nods, beaming, and when Cole picks her up and kisses me, I feel it. The peace I’ve been searching for. The place I’m meant to be. With my very best friend.

All the years of twisted and broken paths that unconventionally led us to each other now fall behind us.

Only one day left in our contract, but forever to go.

Epilogue

Ginger

Seven years later

“Idon’t like it. I don’t like one thing about it.”

I stare at my husband as he comes in the door, knowing the exact words that are going to come out of his mouth next.

“She’s too young.”

And there we have it, folks.

“She’s fifteen Cole, almost sixteen and they’re just friends. Unless you have something against her being friends with a nice young man?” I say, raising my eyebrow. “A boy she’s known since she was nine? A boy who is your deputy’s son?”

I know he can’t argue with me. Cole’s deputy sheriff, Wayne, who took over when Brent left and was elected again with Cole two years ago, is a great man. He and his wife, Lisa, have become two of our best friends, and Mabel and their son Max have been close since the day we all met. Might they have a little crush on each other now that she’s fifteen and he’s sixteen Probably. But they’re both great kids and I, for one, am not against them spending time together.

I smile at Cole and watch the tic in his jaw as he mentally gives in. Dads of daughters will be dads of daughters, and myhusband has three of them to worry about. Thank God he finally got his beloved boy when our son Luca was born.

“Friends isn’t what I’m worried about, Ginger. Max is almost sixteen and I remember being sixteen,” Cole says, running a hand through his hair. I notice the way his arm flexes as he does so. His right one matches his left now with a full sleeve, inked over the years to incorporate all our children’s names. At thirty-seven, Cole has never looked better, and I still often catch myself staring at him.

I laugh off his worry, and pin up another balloon—a red one, because today is Luca’s second birthday and it just so happens to fall during a Reds–Yankees series. Which means, of course, that the entire house is decked out in Reds décor. Advantages of being home during the summer and having free rein to decorate the house with Mabel’s help. She warned me Cole wouldn’t like it if she went swimming at Max’s and came back to the party with him and his parents. I assured her that her dad is just overprotective sometimes. And as much as I worry about Mabel too, I know she’s a trustworthy, sweet girl.

“This is blasphemy, by the way,” Cole says, taking off his badge and pulling out his keys and wallet, then setting them down in the basket in our entryway. I watch him as he takes in all the Reds balloons, streamers, and the customized “Happy 2nd Birthday Luca” banner.

“Hard to believe he’s two already,” he continues. “Hard to believe how old Isla and Sofia are too. Soon they’ll be fourteen and bringing home strange men.” He grimaces.

“They’re five and three,” I say with a laugh before walking over to him.

“Sofia is almost four,” Cole corrects me. I have no idea how, but I still get little butterflies in my stomach when he wraps his arms around me like this and drops his lips to mine. It’s probably why we have so many kids.

There hasn’t been one day over the last seven years where I’ve woken up and not felt grateful for my decision to play a drunken game of truth or dare with Cole.

We got married for the second time in front of all our family and friends a year after he proposed. I was pregnant with Isla at the time and our two golden retrievers—Mabel’s babies, Jake and Amy—walked down the aisle with the rings tied around their necks. The wedding itself was simple and Vegas-themed to remind us of where we started. We hosted it at Silver Pines and it was the first wedding to take place in Wade’s pet project: the newly built rustic wedding barn. We had a makeshift casino in the back section of the hall, complete with carnival games for the kids, but left the front candlelit, rustic and beautiful. It was the perfect way to celebrate with everyone we love. Not long after, we announced we were having our first baby. And the rest, as they say, is history.

“Cake cake cake!” Isla squeals, burning through the living room. She runs right between us at warp speed as Jo comes through the door with Luca’s cake.

“Your turn,” I tell Cole.

It’s well known that there’s no stopping Isla. Someone has to wrangle her at all times. And, right now, that’s Cole’s job. He makes his way over to her and scoops her right up, her long dark hair tumbling around him as he tickles her into oblivion. If I thought I loved Cole before we grew our family, I had no idea what was in store for me when he became a dad again. He thrives as a father, and together we make the best team. Our life is hectic, messy and chaotic, and about to get even more so. But we can handle it.

“Oh, this man must love you,” Nash says as he comes through the door eyeing up all the Reds décor. He’s carrying my almost six-year-old niece, Ruby, and CeCe follows with my brand-new nephew, Rex.

“Please. He couldn’t live without me,” I smirk.

“I’m thinking about making her sleep in the garage,” Cole cuts in with a laugh before setting Isla down. Her and Ruby scamper off to find Billi in the backyard.

All the girls are so close in age, they’re almost always getting up to mischief. Their main past-time is tormenting Wade and Ivy’s three-year-old, Wyatt, and our younger kids.

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