The Forever Girl (Wildstone, #6)(100)

“No.” She laughed and nipped his jaw. “How fast can you get me cleared and into your office? And does your door have a lock on it?”

“I don’t have an office anymore. I just gave notice.”

She stilled. “What?”

“I’m moving back to Wildstone.”

Their audience cheered.

“There’s more,” he told Maze, who was standing there looking at him like maybe he was better than Christmas morning. “I’m going to buy the Whiskey River. We can run it together, or if that doesn’t work for you, we can put these guys in charge and live wherever you want.”

“But . . . you love your job. It’s your life. Your home.”

“Yeah, I was wrong about that,” he said. “Turns out, home’s not a place, not for me. It’s you, Maze. You’re my home.”





Epilogue


Cat’s maid of honor to-do list:

—Keep any Elvis impersonator away from the ceremony.

Maze stood in the hotel suite staring at her reflection. For a woman who’d spent most of her life trying to shove all her emotions in a box with a lock and no key, she had no words. Because that box was open and every feeling had escaped. Excitement. Happiness. Giddiness.

Love.

And not a single drop of fear.

She was in a simple white silk sheath dress with spaghetti straps that showed off the tan she’d gotten over the past week in Hawaii. Her makeup was as usual minimal, her hair long and loose so that the wild waves were doing their thing. She looked like herself, which was important to her, but there was something very new. The happy. “Wow,” she whispered at her reflection.

Caitlin’s and Heather’s faces popped in on either side of her, grinning. “Right?” Heather said.

“I’ve never seen you look more yourself,” Cat said softly, “if that makes sense.”

Maze turned to face them and wrapped her arms around them both. “Thanks for being here with me.”

“Are you kidding?” Cat asked with a laugh. “Where else would we be except with you on a day like this?”

“It’s not too soon for you?” Maze asked quietly, very serious. It’d only been six months since Cat and Dillon had gone their separate ways. They’d talked a few times, had considered going back to dating each other, but had ultimately decided that was a bad idea. Cat had just recently stuck a toe into the dating pool, but was still happier on her own for the time being. That didn’t mean that Maze wanted to shove her and Walker’s happiness down her throat.

Cat grabbed Maze’s face and gave her a smacking kiss right on the lips, leaving some of her red gloss on Maze. “Honey, it’s not a day too soon for me to see two of my favorite people finding each other in love. And now you have the perfect amount of color on your lips to go get married.”

“They’re already married,” Heather reminded her. “It’s a renewal of their vows. Sober this time.” She laughed.

A knock came at the door and Maze’s stomach curled, but it was a pleasant sensation that warmed her from roots to toes.

Heather opened the door to Jace.

“Ready?” he asked.

“So ready,” Heather said, and jumped into his arms, wrapping her arms and legs around him.

Laughing, he easily held on to her. “I hear you, and we’re most definitely next. But Maze first.”

With her heart in her throat and sweet butterflies in her belly, Maze walked out of her hotel suite’s sliding glass door, the people she loved following as she headed down to the private beach Walker had booked for them.

Walker stood waiting for her beneath a wood arch wrapped in wildflowers, the light wind ruffling his hair, face tanned, eyes crinkled with love and acceptance and good humor. As she stood there ready to walk to him, the “step, pause, step, pause” decree suddenly came into her head, making her laugh.

Dignity wasn’t needed here. Walker loved her as is. And with that knowledge warming her heart, she kicked off her heels, grasped the hem of her dress, and ran down the aisle toward the rest of her life.





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Meet Jill Shalvis


New York Times bestselling author JILL SHALVIS lives in a small town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is, um, mostly coincidental. Look for Jill’s bestselling, award-winning novels wherever books are sold and visit her website, jillshalvis.com, for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures.

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Before reading The Forever Girl, how much did you know about the foster system? Did you learn anything new or anything that challenged a previous assumption?