How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue

Elodie glanced at him, startled.

Her marriage to Jarrod had happened in a rush. They'd simply signed the papers to make it official-nothing more.

There'd never been a wedding. After all, the whole thing was meant to be low-key from the start; throwing a big party would have defeated the purpose.

Now, with Nadia fed and finally contented, she was growing sleepy in Jarrod's arms. He set the bottle aside, then looked over at Elodie. "It's a shame we never had a proper ceremony. If things had started out differently, I would have wanted to give you everything—a real wedding, the whole nine yards."

Back then, the situation had been awkward for both families.

And with the press sniffing around, they'd kept things as quiet as possible, trying to protect Elodie from idle gossip and rumors.

If Jarrod was honest, he'd always wanted to make it up to her with a real wedding.

The thought had first crossed his mind when their relationship began to settle into something stable.

But pride had kept him silent-he'd never been good at voicing things he wasn't ready to face.

Elodie, for her part, had never been one to daydream about grand gestures or elaborate events. She was practical; to her, the idea of planning a wedding now seemed anything but simple.

“Wouldn't it feel a little weird?" she asked. After all, they'd been married for years.

laid Nadia in her crib before replying, "At least it would make things official-give us a proper start, even if it's late. Honestly, you don't

He sounded almost exasperated.

was funny-he was the one who cared

bemused. "Well, it's not like anyone doesn't know we're

imagine finding time to plan a

thinking about the endless details and logistics made

cheek, clearly dissatisfied. "That's not the same. Besides, it keeps a few people from

Ivan Harcourt. Watts Aldridge.

been trouble,

if those old problems had mostly been put to rest,

to know where things stood and certain people to know their

he was proud

understood exactly what

sore spot for Jarrod. She couldn't really say no. Reaching for his wrist, she retented. "Fine. But let's talk about it when im back

finally smiled, raising an

you get back, we'll have

disappeared off to shower, satisfied with her

excited about. Planning a wedding sounded exhausting-he was in

She'd underestimated Jarrod's determination.

shower, he grabbed his laptop and