How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue

He couldn't bring himself to wake Elodie. Instead, he gently draped another blanket over her and drove smoothly back to their place.

They'd actually been living at his family's old house for a while now.

It was all because of Nadia. His grandmother absolutely refused to let him take care of Nadia alone-she doted on the little girl too much to allow it.

In the end, he'd relented.

Besides, Nadia seemed to have taken an unexpected liking to Octavia. Octavia, who used to spend all her time out and about, now came home every day just to play with Nadia.

But with the wedding tomorrow, the old house was hectic-too many details, too much noise. Elodie was exhausted. So he decided to return to their own home for the night, letting her get a good night's rest before everything began.

When they arrived, Elodie was still asleep.

Jarrod got out, circled around to her side, opened the car door, and carefully lifted her out, tucking her arm around his neck.

She stirred, her eyelids fluttering open for a moment.

He met her gaze. "It's alright. We're home. Go back to sleep."

With a soft sigh, she nestled closer and drifted off again.

He carried her upstairs.

on the bed, Jarrod slipped off her shoes and shrugged the heavy coat from her shoulders, moving with practiced tenderness. He supported her head, making sure

the bed for a while, watching her peaceful face as she

Every time he called her for a video chat, she'd be tapping away at code late

that the wedding was tomorrow, he might have called the whole thing off,

the comforter around Elodie once more, then pulled

was

"It's

up so we can start getting

the day. A

in this late

who was still sleepily curled around her. Jarrod lifted

no

was.

had guests to greet and

out of bed,

wedding day, I'll never hear the end of it,"

her frantic movements, amusement tugging at his lips. "Just blame it on me.

him a glare, and shut the door to start her

didn't waste any time either. He got up, tidied the room a bit, checked the time on his phone, and, satisfied

time Elodie finished her shower and got

downstairs, the spacious living room was buzzing with activity. More than a dozen people were