Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 84370 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84370 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Copeland wipes my cheeks, and without a word, his lips meet mine. “Forever, Ells.”
I nod, unable to speak past the emotions welling up inside me. I’m heartbroken, but I meant it when I said that reading his words healed me. I needed them more than he’ll ever know, and although I’m angry at my mother, at least she saved them. She gave me this—a piece of him, of what he was feeling—and I only wish that I had done the same. I wrote him so many letters, but I trashed every one of them. I didn’t know where to send them, and I refused to ask Mary. He’d known where I was, and I told myself that if he wanted me to have that information, he would have given it to me.
He tried.
So many times.
I just spent hours reading through every word.
“Forever,” I rasp, finally forcing a reply over the lump in the back of my throat.
This man is my forever.
Twenty-Two
Copeland
* * *
“So, you got the girl, huh?” Macklin asks.
I chuckle. “Yeah, I got my girl,” I tell him, my eyes locked on Ellison as she laughs at something her sister, Baylor, is saying. We’re sitting in the backyard of my mom’s house, waiting for all of our guests to arrive.
“You plan on locking her down this time?” Dixon asks.
“You need us to go ring shopping with you?” Bowen smirks.
“Nah, got the girl and the ring,” I tell them. It takes everything I have not to tell them that today, they get to see me make Ellison my wife.
My wife.
The last two weeks have been nothing short of incredible. Together, quietly, we’ve planned and organized the day that we will remember forever. The day we’ll tell our kids and grandkids about.
I even proposed to her for real, on one knee with a ring. We took a stroll down by the pond one night after dinner, and I did it there. She smiled through her tears as she said, “I’ve always been yours,” and then I kissed the air from her lungs.
“When are you gonna do it?” Bowen asks.
“Today.” I smirk because they have no idea.
Movement out of the corner of my eye catches my attention. I turn to see Kip, his wife, Sara, and their daughter, Sophie, stepping into the backyard. “Look what the cat dragged in!” I call out, standing to greet them.
“Good to see you, Cope,” Kip says, pulling me into a hug. I step out of his hug to kiss Sara on the cheek and lift Sophie into my arms.
“How ya doing, Soph?” I ask her, placing a kiss on her cheek.
“Uncle Copeland, we drove so far!” she exclaims.
“I know. I’m glad you’re here. Come on. There’s someone I want you to meet.” With Sophie in my arms, I nod for Kip and Sara to follow me. I stop at the guys and introduce them before we move to where Ellison is standing with her sisters and my sister-in-law, soon to be hers, too, Macie.
“Hey, Ells,” I say, stopping next to her and sliding the arm that’s not holding Sophie around her waist. “This is Sophie.”
Ellison’s eyes light up. “Hello, Sophie. It’s so nice to meet you.”
“You’re pretty,” Sophie tells her.
Ellison smiles. “Thank you. So are you. I love your braids,” she says, nodding toward Sophie’s braided pigtails.
“Uncle Cope, is this your girlfriend?” Sophie asks.
She’s so much more than that, Soph. “Yeah,” I tell her. “Ells is my girl.” Sophie giggles, and I tickle her belly. “This is Kip, and his wife, Sara. They made this one,” I say, bouncing Sophie in my arms. I can’t help but think about our baby, and that this time next year, it will be my son or daughter in my arms.
I can’t fucking wait.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Ellison tells them. They both pull her into a hug, but Kip’s eyes find mine over her shoulder. I nod, and he grins.
From the very first day of boot camp all those years ago, Kip and I hit it off. He heard my woes about missing Ellison, and he’s been there every minute since. I’m so glad they were able to make it today. I didn’t tell him we were getting married. He’s going to be shocked but happy for me.
“We’re going to go say hi to your mom,” Kip says, taking Sophie from my arms.
“She’s going to be excited to see you.”
He nods and leads his wife and daughter to the porch, where my mom is sitting with a tired smile.
I offer Ellison my hand, and she takes it, allowing me to lead her to the edge of the yard so that we can talk privately. “Everyone is here,” I tell her.
“Are you ready for this?” she asks, smiling up at me.
“I’ve been ready,” I tell her, leaning in for a kiss, but she turns her head, giving me her cheek. “Ells?” I ask, concerned. She’s not having second thoughts, right?