Chapter 30
DEX
The James Farm looked like something out of a magazine.
The massive white tent was strung with thousands of tiny lights that would glow like stars once the sun went down.
Round tables covered in white linens were scattered throughout, each one with a centerpiece of wildflowers and candles.
The bar was set up near the barn, and a dance floor had been installed in the center of the tent.
It was perfect. Just like Trace and Delaney deserved.
I stood near the entrance with the other groomsmen, watching guests filter in from the ceremony. Everyone was happy, glowing with that post-wedding warmth that made even strangers feel like family.
But I was looking for one person.
Leigh.
She’d gone back to her car to grab some other type of photography equipment that I’d never heard of before.
“She’ll be here,” Booker said, appearing at my elbow with two beers. He handed me one. “Stop pacing.”
“I’m not pacing.”
“You’ve checked the entrance seventeen times in the last five minutes. That’s pacing, just without the actual movement.”
“You’re leaving tomorrow, right? For Blue Point Bay. That’s really happening?”
“Yeah. It is.”
He was quiet for a moment, then nodded. “Good.”
“Good?”
“You’ve been stuck for years, man. That garage, that house, this town. You’ve been maintaining instead of living. If Leigh is what it takes to get you unstuck, then yeah. Good.”
“She’s not a catalyst. She’s…”
“Everything. I know. I see it.” He clapped me on the shoulder. “I’m going to miss having you around. But I’m happy for you.”
“We’ll visit. You guys can come to Blue Point Bay. It’s only three hours.”
“I know. And we will. But it won’t be the same as having you here.” He paused. “That’s okay though. Things change. People grow. Families adapt. We’ll figure it out.”
Before I could respond, Trace appeared, Delaney on his arm. They were both glowing, radiating happiness.
“There’s my favourite brother,” Trace said, pulling me into a hug.
“What am I? Chopped liver?”
“Haha you know I’d come to you first.” He slapped Booker on the shoulder who just grunted in response. He couldn’t hide the twitch of his lips though. “So. Tomorrow you’re driving to Blue Point Bay with Leigh?” Trace asked, turning back to me.
Word traveled fast apparently.
“Yeah. We’re going to look at some things. Figure out logistics.”
Trace studied me for a long moment, then smiled. “You’re really doing this.”
“I’m really doing this.”
“Then I’m happy for you. You deserve this. You deserve her.” He glanced at Delaney, who was already being pulled away by Billie for something bride-related. “Love is worth it. Worth any risk, any change, any fear. Don’t let her go.”
“I won’t.”
“Good.” He squeezed my shoulder once more, then followed his new wife into the reception.
I stood there, watching him go, feeling the weight of what I was about to do.
Leaving Willowbrook. Selling my grandfather’s garage. Selling the house I grew up in. Moving to a town where I didn’t know anyone except the woman I loved.
It should have felt terrifying.
Instead, it felt like freedom.
This was the answer to everything. I’d felt stuck, wrong, for so long, and this was why. A fresh start, with the woman I loved more than I’d ever known possible. A life of my own. Something I’d built myself, something I could proud of because… I did it.
“There she is,” Booker said, nodding toward the entrance.
I turned, and there was Leigh.
She’d changed out of the dress she’d worn to the ceremony and was now in something simpler. A soft blue sundress that made her eyes look even brighter. Her camera bag was slung over her shoulder, and she was already scanning the crowd, probably planning her shots.
She was beautiful. And focused. And completely in her element.
And in less than twenty-four hours, I was going to see her in her other element. In Blue Point Bay. In her world. Where she thrived and built a life and belonged.
I couldn’t wait.
“Go talk to her,” Booker said. “Before she disappears into photographer mode and you don’t see her again until after dinner.”
He had a point.
I crossed the tent, weaving through guests and tables, until I reached her.
“Hey photographer,” I said.
She turned, and her face lit up with that smile that never failed to make my chest tight. “Hey groomsman. Shouldn’t you be with the wedding party?”
“Probably. But I wanted to see you first.”
“You saw me an hour ago.”
“That was an hour too long.”
She laughed, soft and warm. “You’re being very charming. It’s suspicious.”
“Can’t I just be happy?”
“You can. But you’re also nervous about something. I can tell.”
Of course she could. She always could.
“Tomorrow,” I said quietly. “I’m nervous about tomorrow.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re going to show me your whole life. And what if I don’t fit into it?”
She set down her camera bag and stepped closer, taking my hands. “Dex. You’re going to fit. I promise.”
“You can’t know that.”
“Yes, I can. Because I’m going to make sure you do. We’re in this together, remember? You’re not doing this alone.”
I kissed her forehead, breathing in the scent of her perfume mixed with something uniquely Leigh. “I love you.”
“I love you too. Now let me work. I have a job to do.”
“Slave driver.”
“I’m the one working!” Her head threw back as she laughed, and I marvelled at the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.
She picked up her camera and disappeared into the crowd, already snapping candid shots of guests laughing and toasting and celebrating.
I watched her work for a moment, marveling at how natural she was at this. How she made people comfortable, drew out genuine smiles, captured real moments instead of posed ones.
She was good at what she did.
And tomorrow, I was going to see just how good.
Toasts began after dinner.
Booker went first, as best man. His speech was funny and heartfelt and I couldn’t help but wonder if Reece had helped out our usually stoic brother. He talked about Trace’s journey and how love had transformed him.
Blake went next, as maid of honor. She cried through half of it, talking about how Delaney had become family and how happy she was to call her a sister.
Then it was my turn.
I stood, glass in hand, and looked at Trace and Delaney.
They were holding hands, looking at each other with so much love it was almost painful to witness.
This was the love I wanted. The forever kind. The choosing-each-other-every-day kind.
“Trace,” I began, “you’re not just my best friend. You’re my brother in every way that matters.”
He smiled, his eyes already getting misty.
“When I first came to Willowbrook, I was lost. I was a kid who’d just lost his dad, trying to figure out how to survive in a town where I didn’t know anyone.
You and your brothers gave me a home. You gave me a family.
You taught me what loyalty means. What friendship means.
What it looks like to love someone completely. ”
I glanced at Leigh. She was watching me, her camera lowered, tears on her cheeks.
“And Delaney,” I continued, “you made him happier than I’ve ever seen him.
You brought light into his life when he was living in darkness.
You were destined for each other. Even when others got in the way, tried to keep you apart, you still sometimes found your way back to each other.
You gave him a family—Cade and Barrett and this whole beautiful chaos we call home. ”
Delaney was crying now too, Billie passing her tissues.
“Watching you two find your way back to each other gave me hope,” I said, my voice getting thick. “Hope that sometimes the right person is worth fighting for. Worth changing for. Worth choosing, even when it’s scary.”
My eyes met Leigh’s across the tent.
“To Trace and Delaney,” I said, raising my glass. “To second chances. To love that never gives up. To home being a person, not a place. And to forever.”
“To forever!” the crowd echoed, raising their glasses.
I sat down, my heart pounding.
Leigh was still looking at me, and the expression on her face was one of love, understanding and promise.
She mouthed: I love you.
I mouthed back: I love you too.
After the toasts, the band started playing.
Trace and Delaney took the floor for their first dance, swaying together as the band played something soft and romantic.
Everyone watched, transfixed by the sight of these two people who’d found each other twice and refused to let go.
When the song ended, the band opened the dance floor to everyone, and people flooded out to join in.
I stood and went looking for Leigh.
I found her by the edge of the tent, changing lenses on her camera.
“Dance with me,” I said.
She looked up, surprised. “Dex, I’m working.”
“Take a break. Please. Dance with me.”
She hesitated, looking at her camera, then at the dance floor, then back at me.
“One dance,” she said finally.
I took her hand and led her out to the floor as a slow song started.
She fit perfectly in my arms, her hand in mine, her head resting against my chest.
We swayed together, and for a moment, it was just us. No wedding. No guests. No tomorrow waiting with all its uncertainty.
Just us.
She pulled back to look at me, a smile on her face. “Tomorrow we drive to Blue Point Bay.”
“Yeah.”
“You’re going to see my whole life. My apartment, my studio, my friends. Everything.”
“I can’t wait.”
“What if you hate it?”
“I won’t.”
“But what if you do? What if you realize…”
“Leigh.” I stopped dancing, cupping her face in my hands. “I could live anywhere. In a mansion or a shack, in the city or the middle of nowhere. As long as I’m with you, I’m home. That’s what you need to understand. You’re my home. Not a place. You.”
“I love you,” she whispered.
“I love you too. Forever.”
We started dancing again, and I held her closer this time, feeling the weight of what I was about to do, the magnitude of the change I was making.
But for the first time in my life, I wasn’t afraid.
I was choosing this. Choosing her. Choosing us.
And that made all the difference.
The song ended, and another one started, something more upbeat.
“Go back to work,” I said, kissing her forehead. “Capture the rest of this night. I’ll still be here when you’re done.”
“Promise?”
“Always.”
She squeezed my hand once more, then grabbed her camera and disappeared into the crowd, back to documenting other people’s love stories.
But tomorrow, we’d start writing our own.
A fresh beginning. Our own happily ever after.