Zack seemed to crumble before her very eyes. Profound relief and for the first time . . . hope . . . shone in his eyes.

He cupped her face in his hands and his expression became very serious.

“You didn’t give them your virginity, Gracie. They took it. They took something very precious, but you know what? Virginity is more than a thin barrier that proclaims a woman’s innocence. And on our wedding night, when you give yourself to me, you will have given me a gift more precious than any other. Because it will be our first time. Together. And just as we were going to wait before, I want to wait now. Until you’re my wife. I want our first time together to be as man and wife.”

She stared at him in wonderment. “Are you asking me to marry you?”

He laughed, though it sounded more like choked emotion. “Apparently not very well.”

He went back to one knee and gathered her hands in his, his expression somber and so very serious.

“Gracie, will you marry me? Will you live with me and love me until this life is over and the next begins? Will you have my children and fulfill all the dreams we ever dreamed?”

She pulled one hand free and cupped it against Zack’s bristly, unshaven jaw. For the first time in so very long, she felt . . . free. Happy. Optimistic. As though a terrible wrong had been righted and the world was as it should be once more.

“Oh yes,” she breathed. “Yes, I’ll marry you, Zack. I love you. I’ll always love you.”

He pulled her into his arms, ever mindful of her shoulders, and he simply held her as his body heaved against her. “Thank God,” he whispered. “Thank God.”

She closed her eyes, absorbing the sense of rightness, feeling true peace for the first time in twelve long years.

“I don’t want to wait,” he said gruffly. “But I also want you to have the wedding we always planned. I won’t have it any other way. We’ll invite our friends here, but we’re getting married in a church, by a preacher, and you are definitely wearing white.”

“How about we wait just long enough that I get these stitches out,” she said with a smile. “It would kind of suck not to have our wedding night because I’m still recuperating.”

He smiled back at her and suddenly she saw the boy she’d fallen in love with when she was just a young girl. It was as if the years fell away and his eyes glowed with happiness and renewed hope.

“Deal,” he said. “Besides, it’ll take that long to plan a proper wedding, and I plan to pull out all the stops.”

THIRTY-FIVE

“WHY am I so nervous?” Gracie asked breathlessly, as butterflies scuttled around her belly.

She stared into the full-length mirror and saw a woman she didn’t recognize. And yet, she also saw a sixteen-year-old girl who was finally getting the day she’d dreamed of.

Eliza and Ari flanked Gracie, their smiles broad and their eyes sparkling with excitement and happiness. It was contagious. No one in the small bridal room of the church was immune to the electric current of joy.

“You look beautiful,” Eliza said, a sheen of moisture reflecting wetly in her eyes.

“Don’t you dare make me cry, Eliza!” Ari admonished, scrunching her face in various ways to prevent her own eyes from tearing. “Weddings always make me cry, and this one more than most.”

Gracie did her own blinking and then held her eyes wide open to dry. Her hair and makeup was perfect, but then it had taken over an hour to get it that way. And she wanted to look her absolute best when she walked down the aisle to Zack. Finally to Zack.

At the mere thought of him, the butterflies swarmed again, giving her a slight queasiness that had her breathing in through her nose.

“You’re not going to puke, are you?” Eliza asked anxiously. “Because that dress is just too gorgeous to be puked on. I’ll wrap you in a garbage bag if I have to, but the dress must be saved!”

Ramie and Ari laughed and Ramie poked her head between the mirror and Gracie, giving Gracie a final once-over, her brow furrowed in concentration as she studied every detail of Gracie’s appearance.

Then Ramie smiled. “You’re all set.”

She reached for Gracie’s hand and gathered it tightly in hers. When Gracie put her other hand on top of Ramie’s and squeezed back—a gesture of thanks and unity—Ari and Eliza put their hands over Gracie’s and the four women stood there in solidarity.

The last few months hadn’t been the easiest. DSS had made three hits on facilities utilized by the fanatical group that had caused Ari, Gracie and Eliza so much pain. And not only had Gracie, Ari and Ramie been left behind to worry for the men of DSS, but they’d had to worry about Eliza as well, because she’d refused to be left behind.

Only one man had been taken back, shoved before Gracie under the guise of her identifying him. She hadn’t even had to have him questioned. His defeat and rage over their entire organization coming down at DSS’s instigation was as clear as if he’d said his thoughts aloud.

Gracie had merely nodded at Zack, Dane and Beau and then closed her eyes, her hands trembling. It had been over then.

She opened her eyes and once more she was in the bridal room, her dearest and only friends all gathered around her, staring back at their reflection in the mirror.

“Surely this is the granddaddy of all selfie opportunities?” Eliza announced. “No one move!”

Eliza reached back and fumbled with her phone and then inserted it in front of them, angling it and lifting it so it captured as much of them in the photo as possible.

“Think I’ll send this to Zack now,” Eliza said with an impish grin. “It’ll drive him crazy.”

“The groom is not supposed to see the bride before the wedding,” Ari reprimanded.

Ramie snorted. “He drove her to the church this morning. While Zack is refreshingly traditional in many ways I wouldn’t have expected, not seeing his bride for any extended period of time is not one he’s going to be down with.”

The other women laughed and Eliza sobered, once more gripping Gracie’s hand.

“He went far too long without seeing the woman he loved,” Eliza whispered. “One can’t blame him for not ever wanting to do it again.”

“She’s going to make me cry,” Ramie muttered in disgust. “Who would have thought our Lizzie was such a romantic?”