His Plan: Book 2 in the Crossing Midian Series - A Small-Town Christian Romance

Epilogue

One Year Later

"You're here!" Beau exclaimed. He threw his arms around his brother in a tight hug, clutching the back of his suit jacket.

"I couldn't miss my little brother's wedding, now could I?" Tommy asked with a broad smile as he pulled away. "C'mon, let me look at you."

Tommy kept a hand on Beau's cheek as he looked him up and down before winking at him. "Man, good looks surely do run in our family! Unfortunately, yours won't last forever. Mine, however," he ran a hand through his blonde hair and grinned, "are eternal."

"But... but how are you here?" Beau asked.

Tommy didn't look any different. He still stood taller than Beau, though now only by an inch, his hair was still messy in that way that only added to his good looks, and his smile was still impish, as if he alone knew a secret and couldn't wait to tell. Tommy's eyes were still that beautiful shade of blue-green that Beau missed deeply.

"Don't worry about that. I just wanted to tell you I'm proud of you. And I love you, kid."

Beau felt his throat tighten and his words sounded choked. "Tommy, I'm sorry—"

Tommy held up his hand. "That's enough of that. I mean it, Beau. You let this go, you hear me?"

Beau barely nodded, and Tommy smiled. "It's great over here, little brother, but don't be in no hurry to come, okay?"

"You can't leave," Beau pleaded. "Not yet. She'll be here any minute now. You can meet her." Beau's voice sounded small, but he didn't care. He just wanted him to stay.

Tommy smiled again, and he reached out to ruffle Beau's hair. "You think I haven't been checking up on you? I've seen. You did good, kid. And you even fixed my car!" he added with a laugh.

Tommy stepped back. "You have to go now. You don't want to be late."

"Tommy, please—"

An alarm sounded, but Beau ignored it. He knew this was only a dream, but he wasn't ready to wake up yet.

"Go on, Bocephus," Tommy urged, using the nickname he always teased Beau with. "She's waiting for you."

Beau woke with a start, his phone ringing on the nightstand beside his bed. He reached for it to see a text from Lenore.

"It's our big day! Can't wait to see you. I'll be the one in white."

***

Beau never thought this day would come.

He stood bouncing on the balls of his feet at the front of the aisle. Josh stood calmly beside him and he looked out across the field where he had first met Lenore over a year ago. Looking back, it always surprised him how normal that day started out. That was the day he had met the love of his life. There was nothing normal about it.

Beau looked out over the crowd. They almost didn't have enough chairs. He saw his parents smiling up at him from the front row. On the other side sat Lenore's mom and Stella. The only empty chair was right beside his mother and on it sat a framed photo of Tommy, a lavender boutonniere lay next to it. Had he been here, he would have been Beau's best man.

Wesley and Anna walked up the aisle first, followed by Kara, who walked up alone, with Gracie and Amy following behind as the flower girls.

The roar of an engine caused Beau to look up and smile even bigger.

Beau had fixed the Javelin. Completely restored exactly how Tommy would have wanted. T.J. had begged to do the honors of driving it and Lenore onto the field.