Chapter 38
CHAPTER 38
AUGUST
I t was finally the day .
Despite what tradition dictated—separate rooms and all that—they couldn’t stay away from each other. He’d come to her tiny home after a fire and they’d spent hours tracing bodies. The sex was always wild and passionate, but the night before had been something else. Almost like he was afraid that once they got married, everything would change. Nothing was going to change. If anything, she was going to be even more demanding in bed. At some point in the middle of the night, he’d kissed her before leaving. There was at least one tradition they were going to follow—showing up to town hall separately.
By the time she was up, showered and drinking her third cup of coffee, Roe arrived with her saree and a bag full of makeup. They spent an hour screaming over the ring, even though her best friend had seen it in a photograph and on FaceTime, then took Boots for a walk. Ever since they’d decided to try for a baby, Monroe had been tiptoeing around the topic. So during the walk, she pried every detail out of her best friend and was so excited to see her become a mother. The sadness she felt before was no longer there. Maybe because she was marrying the love of her life and getting a son in the process. Or because she’d finally accepted that this was what her life would look like. And if she was being honest, it was a pretty good looking life.
Back at the house, Daisy sat at the kitchen table as her best friend gasped over every hickey she uncovered. There were a lot . She was certain she’d left a whole bunch on Rafferty too, but when he had her bent over in front of the mirror, he’d been gnawing at her neck and shoulder. Like he was struggling to control himself.
“Hussy,” Roe teased, dabbing foundation above her right breast. “Tell me everything.”
She winced because even though it had been a few hours since he’d bitten her, it still stung. “The mirror played a huge part.”
“Oh my god. Those were handprints.”
She cackled, because with everything going on, Daisy forgot to wipe the mirror. She didn’t care, though. It had been some of the best sex of her life. Honestly, everything with her husband-to-be was turning out to be the best of her life. The intense and genuine way he loved her, the mind-blowing sex and of course the joy she felt.
“How many?”
She pretended to count, unfurling one finger at a time. Roe’s eyes widened when she shrugged. “I lost count after five?”
“You bitch. You really got dicked down, didn’t you?”
“And yes, his dick reaches all of my unchartered territories.”
Roe stared at her and then cracked up, making her laugh as well. She’d never shared this kind of information with anyone before, always assuming it would be considered TMI. With Roe, it was different. Daisy had been wary of sharing things with her at first, but twelve years into their friendship and there was nobody better to stand by her side.
“Oh honey, did his Godzilla dick hurt you?”
She snorted, then realized she was crying. “Fuck.” She wiped at her face furiously and sighed. “Thinking about us, you and me, and how far we’ve come. How glad I am to be your best friend.”
“Don’t make me cry,” Roe said, sniffling as she hugged her. “I knew at that singles’ event that you would be my soulmate and I was right. You’re stuck with me until we die.”
She squeezed her friend back and they stayed like that for a long moment. “Okay,” she said, blowing out a breath. “We need to finish getting ready or I’m going to be late.”
Roe smiled and they released each other, taking turns to wash their faces. Then her best friend resumed covering up her hickeys and applying a simple layer of makeup. Sitting there with her eyes closed as she was attended to, Daisy thought about how amazing her life had turned out to be. Who would have thought that she would reconnect with Rafferty at the beginning of the year and then end it as his wife? She couldn’t help the smile that tugged at her mouth at the thought, because it was absolutely ridiculous to think about how much her life changed.
“All right, get dressed,” Roe said.
She took a deep breath and stared at her reflection. “Wow.” She would never be absolutely comfortable in front of a mirror, but Rafferty was helping in small ways. It definitely didn’t hurt when orgasms were the reward for looking at herself in the full length mirror while completely naked.
Roe joined her a few minutes later and sat down on her bed where Boots was lounging half asleep. He was supposed to leave with Rafferty, but the furry horse refused to budge and neither of them forced him out of there. She pulled on her underskirt and tightened the strings at the waist to make sure it would hold the six yards that made up her wedding outfit. Monroe helped her into the sheer long-sleeved blouse and as she adjusted the arms, her best friend hooked the thin straps that held the whole thing up in the back.
With shaky hands—mostly from excitement than nerves—she wrapped the cream saree around her body. Roe stood by with safety pins and held the extra sections while Daisy did most of the work. A few days after the proposal, she’d shown up at the Bower house with her laptop and they went through every Indian store online until she found the perfect saree. She hadn’t told Rafferty what she was wearing, but she knew that a saree was the only outfit that would work for her big day. To hide it from him, she’d had the saree delivered to their residence and was glad that it arrived on time and looked as good as it did in the picture.
“Queen,” Roe whispered and Daisy turned slowly, making sure she’d gotten every pleat perfectly, and the length was right as well.
Turning to the dog, she smiled. “What do you think, Boots?”
He barked once and sat up, tongue hanging out and it definitely looked like he was smiling. She sat down beside him and he dropped his head onto her lap as Roe did the final touches to her makeup. She’d chosen to leave her hair loose, spilling down her back and over her shoulders in thick waves, vintage floral combs holding it away from her face. They’d also decided to skip her collection of necklaces and settled on the gold one Rafferty had given her. In her ears, she wore solitaires that belonged to Aunt Magnolia and other than Nonna Ames’s ring, she had nothing else on her hands.
“He’s going to die when he sees you.”
“That defeats the purpose of marrying him.”
“You can revive him with that vagina that he’s clearly addicted to,” Roe countered as Daisy’s phone pinged. “I’ll take Boots out to the car, meet you there in five?”
She nodded and reached for the device as Boots followed Monroe down the stairs and out of the house.
Hotshot
Wife. I cannot wait to see you. I can’t wait to begin this chapter of our lives together. I know I should save some of this for our vows, just know that today is one of the happiest days of my life.
To be yours, to be able to love you forever? What a fucking honor.
Cal is also antsy, so we hope you’ll be here soon.
He sent a picture of Callahan standing on the stairs to the entrance of the Wildes Town Hall.
Smiling, Daisy typed out a reply.
Daisy
Seriously, save that romance for when we’re committing ourselves to each other. Roe and I are heading your way soon. I can’t wait to see you. Give that kid a kiss from me.
Hotshot
I’ll be the one in a black suit with tears in my eyes.
Daisy
Love you, you ridiculous man.
Sliding her phone into her clutch, she grabbed her heels and walked downstairs to where Monroe was waiting at the front door. Her four Patch employees were standing outside and Eden grinned as she handed over the bouquet of tulips, peonies, carnations and of course, daisies.
“Congratulations, boss.”
“Thank you,” she said softly, smiling at each of them. “I’ll see you at the bistro after, yeah?”
“Absolutely, wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Ripley stepped forward to hug her and so did everyone else. Once they’d all congratulated her again, she slipped on her heels.
“All right, let’s get me married,” she announced and climbed into Monroe’s truck with Boots in the backseat.
Given how small Wildes was, and since they were keeping this a secret, they’d planned for her to sneak in through the back. So once Monroe was parked, the three of them hurried inside. As they were guided up to where the wedding would happen, Daisy flexed her hand around her bouquet. Her heart raced and tears pricked the back of her eyes, the excitement coursing through her was refreshing.
Right until the moment they heard Cal’s voice, she was doing fine. Boots barked a few times and rushed over to find his kid, causing absolute chaos. They’d barely come around the corner when everyone turned to face her. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Monroe join Wyatt to the side, but her entire focus was on the man she was about to marry. His eyes danced across her body like he was trying to find all the places where he’d marked her, then down the length of her saree before moving back to her face.
“Hero,” he whispered and she swallowed hard, struggling to keep it together.
“Raff.”
“Prettiest human in the fucking world.”
“You said a bad word,” Callahan supplied and when he turned to her, his jaw went slack. “You look like a princess.”
“And you look like my Prince Charming.”
He puffed out his chest and her eyes filled with tears. He was wearing a smaller version of the black suit Rafferty was wearing. No tie, because her boys didn’t like that kind of restriction. Where his father’s shirt was open to flash the tattoos on his chest, Cal was wearing a simple white v-neck T-shirt.
“Ms. Heroux, Mr. Ames. We’re ready for you.” She nodded at the staff member and walked towards her husband, who was still ogling her. She looped her arm through his and with Callahan by their side, they walked into the room where a justice of the peace was waiting surrounded by every flower imaginable.
“You went all out.”
“Only the best for my wife.”
“It’s rude to get me all hot and bothered in public, Daddy ,” she said pointedly.
He growled softly. “You should have thought of that before wrapping yourself up in that.”
The justice of the peace cleared her throat and smiled, which made Rafferty blush. She gestured for them to face each other and Daisy glanced at Roe and Wyatt who were serving as witnesses. Callahan stood with them, Boots beside him, splayed out on the floor.
The justice introduced herself as Evelyn and went into the legal jargon and process of what was happening. The whole time, Daisy smiled at Rafferty, who was furiously blinking back tears. She shook her head at his dramatics, but was also really touched that he got so emotional about marrying her.
“I was informed that you’ve prepared your own vows, so Ms. Heroux, if you would.”
She nodded and pushed her shoulders back. “The sixteen year old version of me that kissed you under the sparkling stars the night before she left would not believe that I’m standing here right now, seconds away from becoming your wife. It’s all she wanted and now I get to do that for real. You always say I shouldn’t thank you, but I really should. If it wasn’t for you, I don’t know where I’d be or what my life would be like. You gave me flowers, you showed me there’s more to life than being perfect and you found your way back to me. Today and forever, you and me, hotshot. Always.”
He sniffled and nodded, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand. “Calling you Hero was never because you couldn’t say your surname, but because you saved me too. You were my hero even when we were kids and you continue to inspire me everyday. Loving you is the easiest thing I’ve ever done and it will continue to be the one thing I’m good at, even when I fail at everything else. You bring me the kind of joy I thought only my son could make me feel. You make me look forward to every single day and darlin’, marrying you? It’s what I’ve wanted for as long as I’ve known you. Today and forever, sweetheart. Always.”
Now she was crying, echoed by Monroe and Wyatt’s sniffling. Evelyn asked for the rings and they went through the process of repeating what she said as they slid the rings on. When the band bumped against Nonna’s engagement ring, everything felt complete.
“Daisy and Rafferty, you have made the declarations required by law and have made a solemn and binding contract with each other in the presence of your family and the registrar of marriages. And it gives me great pleasure to pronounce you married. Congratulations, you may kiss!”
She barely had a moment to catch herself before she was swept into his arms, tipped back and kissed like nobody was watching. She could hear cheering as she looped an arm around her husband’s neck, pulling away briefly to catch her breath before going back in for more. After what felt like hours, he straightened up and broke the kiss, their foreheads resting together. Then a small body was crashing into their legs.
Laughing softly, she squatted so she could hug Cal, who pressed his teary face into her neck.
“Does this make you my mama?”
Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. “Is that what you want?”
“Yes.”
“Okay,” she whispered and he was hugging her again, which knocked the wind out of her. Rafferty had asked if she would want to adopt Callahan and got all the paperwork, but she hadn’t done anything beyond that.
Breathing out shakily she stood up and smiled at her best friend. “Proud of us, Roe.”
“For snagging the two hottest men in the world? Fu— heck yeah.”
Everyone, including Evelyn and her staff, laughed. They posed for photographs—once Monroe had touched up her makeup—and thanked everyone who had made the day a success.
Clinging to her best friend as Rafferty, Wyatt and Callahan walked ahead, Daisy whispered, “Twenty years.”
“Worth it, right?”
Glancing at her husband as he looked over at her, she smiled. “Absolutely.”
“So happy for you, Daze. You got everything you wanted.”
“So did you, Roe. I’m happy for us .”
They walked down the stairs into the main lobby, then her best friend released her, taking her bouquet, and latched onto her own husband. Callahan and Boots went ahead with them as Rafferty turned to her.
“You did good, hotshot.”
He grinned. “I request to be called husband from now on.”
“Hotshot husband.”
“I can live with that, Darlin’ Daisy.”
She shook her head. “Absolutely not.”
“We’ll work on it.”
Wrapping her arms around his neck loosely, she smiled up at her husband.
“I love you.”
“I love you too,” he whispered and pulled her closer with his arms around her waist and kissed her softly.
She sighed into his mouth and leaned back. “We should probably get to Truffles.”
He nodded and stepped back, taking her hand as they started towards the entrance. The minute the tall doors opened, all she could hear were cheers and hooting. Her eyes widened as she stepped outside and found their friends standing in lines on either side of the stairs, while all dressed to the nines and beaming at them.
“What the hell?” she muttered, stunned at what she was seeing.
Frankie stepped forward, hand on her hip. “Did you really think you could get married in my town secretly?”
“Or that we wouldn’t show up to celebrate your big day?” Ginny added as she stood beside Frankie.
“And seriously, why would you let someone else make your cake?” Clementine asked with a scowl.
“I’m sorry, man. I tried to keep it a secret,” Mack said as he offered them sheepish smiles.
Everleigh came over with flower crowns and a beautiful smile. “I’m really happy for you two,” she said and handed them the floral circles. “Congratulations.”
Then everyone descended on them, hugging and congratulating them. Any hope she had of not crying again was gone the minute her girlfriends wrapped themselves around her. They took their places on either side of the stairs and as she and Rafferty walked down, confetti and flowers rained down on them.
At the bottom of the stairs, everyone stopped for a photograph and she glanced at her husband. She had the love of her life, a kid she loved with every fiber of her being, the greatest best friend a person could ask for and a group of incredible humans who showed up on the biggest day of her life because they wanted to support her.
What more could a girl who didn’t have anything ask for?