But more than anything, she had the kind of healing, honest, accepting love—a perfect love—that drove away her fears.
Bear pulled her close again. “Well, now I know why everyone was trying to get me to my room. Which reminds me, there’s only one problem with all of this. We only have four bedrooms—and they’re all full. Not like your dad’s house.”
She laughed with her forehead against his chin. “You’ve attempted to solve much larger problems than this, Bear McKinley. This one has a fairly obvious solution.” She tipped her head to meet his gaze.
“Rather forward of you, Raegan Walker.” The light danced in his eyes.
“Don’t get any funny ideas. I’ll require a change in marital status.”
“Make that really forward.”
He kissed her forehead, her nose, her lips. And then, to the tune of her oh-so-very happy sigh, he whispered in her ear. “Welcome home, Raegan Walker.”
Epilogue
New Year’s Eve
“Showing up late to Seth’s wedding and my wedding?” Kate shrugged. “Fine. But showing up late to his own wedding?”
The brassy swing of a Glenn Miller tune lilted over the speakers in the barn-turned-community-center at the Valley Orchard. What had to be thousands of white twinkle lights were draped around ceiling beams and strung over every doorway and window.
And outside the windows, snowfall glistened under moonlight.
Raegan met Bear’s gaze across the wedding party table. Everyone had abandoned their assigned seats forever ago, but too many family members had crowded around before she could claim the chair next to Bear.
So for the past half an hour, she’d settled for watching her handsome husband fidget with the bow tie that was clearly coming far too close to strangling him to death.
Beckett, his arms around Kit sitting in his lap, rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t late for any one of those—especially not today’s. I wasn’t early, I can grant you that. But I wasn’t even a second late.”
“Beck, you barely beat me down the aisle.” Kit’s honey-blond hair spilled from an updo long since undone by hours of dancing.
Beckett stood, keeping hold of Kit lest she topple off his lap. “You all exaggerate way too much and obviously it’s a bad influence on my wife. So I’m taking her away—to the dance floor.”
Kate stood, as well, holding her hand out toward Colton. “Come on, you. I’m not so huge yet that I can’t dance.”
She might not be huge, but she was definitely showing. Raegan hadn’t done nearly a good enough job hiding her gasp when she’d first seen her sister after getting into town just before Christmas. Might not have been so surprising if she’d seen Kate at Thanksgiving.
But she and Bear had used that holiday for a different trip. A late honeymoon to South America to see the church Bear had helped build. From there, they’d gone on to a resort in Costa Rica with views Raegan could spend a lifetime painting. That bonus from Sara had come in awfully handy.
Kate pulled Colton toward the dance floor now, waving at Seth and Ava, who hadn’t left the floor since the music began.
Logan leaned over at Raegan’s side. “You look content, Rae.”
She turned to her brother. His tie was crooked—of course—and his eyes filled with knowing. “Content is the perfect word.”
And it fit like it never had ever before. Before, contentment had been a costume. Something she dressed up in to convince everyone she was fine.
I’m fine. I’m fine. I’m fine.
But she’d blazed past fine months ago and now, life was fuller and richer in a way she couldn’t have described if she tried. She might come close to capturing the feeling in a painting. Like Logan could in a speech or a song.
But surely even her most vibrant colors on her largest canvas couldn’t convey the full depth of her joy.
No, life hadn’t suddenly become something only ever easy and light. There were still the hard days. The moments of missing Mom. Adjustments to living in Atlanta, being away from her family. Even a hefty dose of nerves about starting school in a couple weeks.
Plus, Luiz Inez’s trial hadn’t even started yet. That would bring extra stress to their household.
But the security of Bear’s arms . . .
The peace of knowing she was right where she was supposed to be . . .
The faithfulness of God, who’d loved her all this time . . .
It all added up to contentment. Pure and sturdy and unbreakable.
“Well.” Logan leaned back in his chair. “I should find my wife and daughter. Amelia’s probably letting Charlie have a third piece of cake.” He stood and tousled Raegan’s unruly hair before strolling away.
She followed her brother’s movements, grinned when he found his girls exactly where he’d known he would. Amelia reached up to straighten his tie and Charlie smeared frosting-covered fingers over his jacket when he swung her into his arms.
“Finally, I can sit by my wife.”
Five months married to Bear McKinley and just the sound of his voice was still enough to turn her thoughts to mush. “Are you here to ask me to dance?”
“Better.” His whisper against her cheek sent goosebumps over her arms. “Let’s get out of here.”
“What? It’s not even eleven. This thing’s going to go ’til at least midnight.”
“And we’ll be back by the time it’s the new year. Promise. Got something to show you.”
“But—”
He pulled her to her feet and immediately tugged her to his side. “No arguments, Mrs. McKinley.”
Cheeky man. He knew she was incapable of arguing when he called her that.
He nabbed her coat from a rack as they passed, but she stopped him before he could nudge her outside. “Bear.” She pointed to where Dad and Sara Jaminski swayed on the dance floor. “He looks so happy.”
As if he’d heard her, Dad’s eyes caught hers. He winked.
She winked back.
And then let Bear tow her into the winter cold. He helped her into her coat as snowfall dusted every surface in sight—Bear’s eyelashes, best of all. Could he really be even handsomer today than the day they’d married in that sweltering courthouse in Atlanta?
And how could he read her mind so completely perfectly? “Do you regret it at all?” he asked. “Eloping? Not getting any of this?” He swept his hand behind him—toward the music-filled reception.
“Are you kidding? I can appreciate a pretty event as much as anyone, but I wanted you and you alone.”
He wrapped his arms around her, walking her backward toward their car in the lot while showering her cheeks with kisses. “Guess it’s a good thing that’s what you got, then.”
She giggled until he reached behind her to open her car door, and minutes later, the warmth of the heater spread over her as Bear steered them toward town. “You going to give me any kind of clue as to where we’re going?”
“And spoil the surprise?”
But it wasn’t hard to figure it out, not when he bypassed Main Avenue and turned instead onto the road that traced the ice-glazed river. A blanket of snow covered its sloping banks and glittered under lamplight. Did he think the mural would look that much different at night? They’d already come by to see it days ago.
Still, he parked across the street and rounded the car to open her door. She thought he might lead her toward the old building. Maybe he meant to sneak them inside again.
But no, he simply held her hand and turned her until she faced the brick structure. “Well?”
“Well what? Are you waiting for me to critique my own mural or something?”
He chuckled. “No. I just want to know what you think of your Christmas present.”
“My . . . Christmas present?”
“I know it’s a little late, but with the excitement of the wedding and family constantly around, I had a hard time finding the right moment. Plus, it wasn’t even finalized until a few days ago.”
She turned to him. “I d
on’t understand.”
He reached into his pocket and came up with a crinkled envelope. He pulled out a folded paper and handed it to her. Her attention hooked first on the word at the top: Deed. And then lower, squeezed in typewriter font between a jumble of legalese: Raegan Walker McKinley.
She looked from the paper to the building to Bear. “You bought the Hay & Feed Store?”
“For such a crazy-low amount you wouldn’t even believe it. My old apartment finally sold, so I used that money. Despite your masterpiece of a mural, Mayor Milt is convinced no business is ever going to move in. So . . . it’s yours.”
“I . . . you . . . why?”
“I think with some renovation it’d make an amazing art studio.”
An art studio. He wanted to give her an art studio. “But we don’t live here.”
“Not now we don’t. But that’s fine. We don’t have the money to fix it up yet anyway.” He plucked the paper from her hands, refolded it, placed the envelope in his pocket. “But we both know we’ll end up back in Maple Valley eventually, right? After we’re done with school? Jamie and Erin talk about Iowa so much, I doubt it’d take all that much to convince Rio and Rosa to make a change, too. When it’s time, the building will be waiting for you.”
She couldn’t even feel the cold anymore. Nor could she see through her tears. “Bear McKinley.”
“I will never get tired of hearing you say my name.”
Under the glow of the streetlamp and the swirling snow, she circled her arms around his neck. “Guess it’s a good thing I’ll never get tired of saying it.” She kissed his warm lips and then proved her own point. “Bear McKinley. Bear McKinley. Bear McKinley.”
And she laughed.
THE END
Acknowledgments
No, I don’t want to do it! I don’t want to admit this Walker series is over. And if I write the Acknowledgements page, that’ll mean it’s over . . . so, no, I won’t do it!
Sorry. I’ll stop being stubborn now.
But seriously, I love this fictional family probably more than is reasonable . . . and writing this final book in the series heightened every emotion I’ve ever felt for them. Not because I think they’re the greatest characters ever written, but because writing about them changed me. Time and again, God used the Walkers to whisper to my heart the things I needed to hear. And I’ll never stop being grateful to Him.
I’m also so thankful to the friends and family who a) don’t think I’m crazy for my irrational character love or b) if they do, don’t tell me and c) helped me along the way as this last Walker book took shape:
Mom and Dad—You are the best ever and that is all there is to it and I don’t even know what more to say other than I love you and thank you and I think it might be that box of Reece’s Puffs that helped me finally write the final scenes.
My siblings, Grandma and Grandpa, and my extended family—I will never stop being grateful for your love, encouragement and prayers.
Charlene Patterson—This story absolutely would not be what it is without your editing expertise. Thank you so much.
Jenny Zemanek—This cover! This cover! I adore it, and I’m grateful to you for visually capturing the heart of this story.
Susan May Warren, Rachel Hauck, Beth Vogt—I think I emailed all three of you at various points throughout this story asking for help and you always came through. Thank you. And Courtney Walsh, all those voxes where you let me go on and on about how this story was taking me soooo long to write . . . you are awesome, that is all.
My coworkers at Hope Ministries—You guys always indulge my author-y anecdotes, and I love getting to hang out with you every M-F. Thanks bunches for all your support! Thanks, especially, to Terri Simmons for being such an awesome proofreader.
Readers—Every time I write a book, I feel like I’m putting my heart into your hands and it honestly scares me half to death. But at the same time, it’s turned out to be one of the most rewarding things in my life. That you’re willing to take the time to read these books and, in many cases, write reviews, send reader emails, interact with me on social media—it just means the world. Thank you for allowing me to be vulnerable through my characters . . . thank you for joining me on the journey . . . and just . . . thank you.
Note to Readers
I’m so very grateful every time one of you leaves a review on Goodreads and other online retail sites. It’s such a helpful and supportive thing to do. I’d be very appreciative if you’d consider writing a review—even a short one—of All This Time. And if you’d like to keep in touch, please feel free to sign up for my author e-newsletter! No spam, I promise. Just fun updates, giveaways, sneak peeks, personal notes and more.
About the Author
MELISSA TAGG is a former reporter, current nonprofit grant writer and total Iowa girl. She’s the author of the Walker Family series, the Where Love Begins series, and the Enchanted Christmas novella collection. Her books have made both the Publisher’s Weekly Top Ten and Amazon.com bestselling lists. When she’s not writing, she can be found hanging out with the coolest family ever, watching old movies, and daydreaming about her next book. Melissa loves connecting with readers at www.melissatagg.com.
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Walker Family Book One
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Kate Walker writes romance movie scripts for a living, but she stopped believing in “true love” long ago. Could a new friendship with former NFL player Colton Greene restore her faith?
Walker Family Book Two
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Other books by Melissa Tagg
Made To Last
Here to Stay
One Enchanted Christmas
One Enchanted Eve
“A Maple Valley Romance” in the Right Where We Belong collection
Coming in November 2017: One Enchanted Noel
Melissa Tagg, All This Time
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