Chapter 19
Brooks
My palms are sweating as I stand at the front of the aisle and watch my daughter walk toward me.
She’s wearing a bright smile as she flounces down the aisle, throwing petals from the wildflowers beside our house in her wake. The guests watch her with a smile, and I turn my attention to them.
I’m thankful for each and every person sitting in the seats in front of me. While some people might find living in a small town cumbersome, I don’t. I never have, actually. After deciding I wasn’t going to let Emryn give this up, I went straight to Mrs. Evert with my plan. It was half-baked and ready to fall apart until she took the reins. She gathered her troops and got the ball rolling. She handled almost everything, although it was Avery who suggested that we have the ceremony here. She was around while I was making phone calls, trying to find a venue at the last minute. When she asked what I was doing, I explained that we were having a party to celebrate my love for her Mommy and her love for me but that I couldn’t find a place to have it. Avery had tapped her little fingers against her lips, lost in her thoughts, then shrugged and said, “If I were going to do that, I would do it at Papaw John’s house. I like sitting outside there.”
I’d chuckled because, to her, she just liked it because of the wide open space she had to play, but she was right. It would be the perfect place to hold the ceremony, in the backyard with mountains surrounding us.
Avery finally reaches the front and stands beside me, swishing her dress around her legs.
“Did I do good, Daddy?” she asks, looking up at me.
Dropping my hand on her shoulder, I smile down at her, “You did perfect, Bug.”
The music changes, and my head swings back to the end of the aisle, but I’m not ready for the sight that greets me. My heart stops inside my chest. Emryn is beautiful in a lace gown with a bouquet of wildflowers in her hand, but the smile on her lips and the contentment in her eyes make it hard to breathe.
I never knew it was possible to love someone as I do this woman. The whispered appreciation from the guest is muted in my ears. All I can focus on is the love of my life walking toward me. Her eyes stay on mine as she walks down the aisle, and it’s only when she’s standing in front of me, reaching her hand toward mine, that I remember to breathe again.
Leaning forward, I place a kiss on her cheek. “You look beautiful.”
“Thank you,” she whispers. “For everything. This is just—I don’t have words.”
“For you, pretty girl, anything.”
She squeezes my hand, and we both turn toward Pastor Evans.
Happiness radiates off the older man as he looks between us, then he looks out at the crowd. “Friends and family, we are gathered here today to celebrate the marriage of Brooks and Emryn. I met these two when they were young kids, and it has been a pleasure to watch them grow and find their way. Marriage is hard, but it makes it easier when the person you are married to is your best friend. Brooks and Emryn have prepared their own vows, so I will turn it over to them.”
Pastor Evans dips his head, and I clear my throat, hoping my voice doesn’t break. Emryn offers me an encouraging smile, noticing my nerves. The truth is, she’s probably the only one who does. I hide it from everyone—keeping my emotions tucked away behind a polite mask—but Emryn sees through it every time.
With the hand not holding hers, I reach into my pocket, pulling out the note card that I wrote my vows down on.
I glance down at the note card once, ready to read the words I prepared—or the ones I had Grayson help me prepare—but then I remember the note she wrote me a couple of months back. She wanted words to make her feel cherished, and maybe she would feel that way with what’s written on this card—but I can do better.
Crumpling the paper into a ball, I throw it over my shoulder and look back at her. Her brows are drawn together, and there is a hushed silence in the crowd.
“Emryn, the first time I married you, I thought all it took to make a marriage work was a ring and wedding. Granted, I was six and highly distracted by how your green eyes seemed to make my heart skip when I looked at them. I was older and wiser the second time I married you—or so I thought. I still was distracted by your green eyes, but I at least knew that it took more than a ring and a wedding for a marriage to work. But I was still deluded. I was in my twenties, and I thought as long as I loved you, things would work out for us. But I failed to realize that sometimes the work you put into a marriage is more important than the love you bring into it. I failed you in so many ways because of that. But we are here now, standing in front of each other a third time, and here’s what I’ll tell you—I’ll never claim to have marriage all figured out. Love and life and marriage are about the work you put in, and the thing about work is sometimes you’re going to make mistakes. I promise to learn from those mistakes and love you the way you need me to.”
When my vows are finished, I know I hit the mark with them. Emryn’s lower lip trembles, and she pulls one of her hands from mine to dab at the corner of her eye. Softly, so the crowd can’t hear her, she whispers, “I knew they wouldn’t disappoint.”
With a sneaky grin, I wink at her, and she giggles.
“Mommy, it’s your turn,” Avery calls from beside me, interrupting us.
The crowd chuckles, and Emryn’s face heats, red blooming up her chest.
“Thanks for the reminder, Avery,” she says, not taking her eyes off me. “Brooks, you’re my best friend, and part of being my best friend means you don’t judge me for the things I fail at. A year ago, I failed at being your wife, but you didn’t give up on us. For that, I will forever be thankful. So, as I stand before you today, I vow to always come back from my failure, to listen to you even when you aren’t speaking, and to understand that we are different people with the same love. I promise you my forever—for however long that may be.”
I can’t wait any longer. Leaning down, I seal her lips with mine. The kiss is soft and gentle until the tip of her tongue swipes across the seam of my lip, and then it becomes heated. My whole body becomes heated, and a throat clears behind us.
With one more peck to her lips, I lift my head. Emryn’s eyes are glossy and unfocused. My lips pull into a smirk at the sight.
“Well,” Pastor Evert starts, “I would tell you to kiss your bride, but I think you’ve already got it covered.”
Emryn’s whole face turns red, and the crowd erupts in cheers and laughter. My smirk turns into a full grin as I hook my arm around Emryn’s waist and pull her to me. Avery comes to stand beside us and lifts her arms so I can pick her up. Dipping down, I scoop her in my arms, place a peck on her cheek, and turn toward the crowd with both my girls in my arms.
“I now present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Brooks Montgomery—again,” Pastor Evert announces to the crowd.
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Music filters through the speakers, and I stand offering my hand to my wife. “May I have this dance?”
Emryn smiles up at me, taking my hand and standing. “As long as you promise not to step on my feet.”
Smirking, I say, “I think I can handle that.”
I lead her to the dance floor, and she is content to follow behind me. Avery is already on the floor, dancing with Grayson. The song before, she was out here with Tayte. She loves having uncles she can boss around—and they are both dumb enough to let her, too. I chuckle, thinking about all the ways Avery has them wrapped around her little finger, and it will only get worse as she gets older.
On the dance floor, Emryn wraps her arms around my neck and looks up at me. “What’s that smile for?”
I shrug. “I’m just happy.”
“Me too,” she says, laying her head down against my chest, and I wonder if she can hear how my heart beats just for her.
We dance like that, me holding her and her holding me together, until the song ends and a throat clears behind me.
Emryn lifts her head and stands on her tiptoes to look over my shoulder, and when she sees who it is, a grin spreads over her mouth.
“Hey, Kip.”
I spin, turning to face my dad. He’s in a wheelchair—the events from today too much for him to handle on his own post-surgery. Emryn’s dad, Jonathan, stands behind him with his hands on the handles. Both men are dressed up and sport secretive smiles.
“Your dad has something to tell you,” Jonathan says, placing his hand on my dad’s shoulder.
Worry turns my stomach, but when I glance down at my dad, happiness shines on his face. “I’m cancer-free. The biopsy came back—the mass was benign.”
It takes a second for what he’s saying to sink in, but then the pressure that I’ve been on my chest since learning that my dad might be sick lifts at his words.
“Oh, Kip,” Emryn says, rushing forward to squeeze his neck, “that’s such great news.”
My dad returns the hug, enveloping her in his arms, and the two hold each other tight.
“Have you told Avery?” I ask, clearing my throat and trying to hold back my tears.
Emryn lets go of his neck, and Dad looks at me. There’s a wariness in the wrinkles of his face that tells me the answer. “Not yet. I can’t lie—I was a little nervous. I know it’s good news, but she avoided me there for a while.”
“Dad,” I say, my voice gruff, “I think she’ll be happy—especially if she hears it from you. Do you want me to come with you?”
He glances over to where Avery is still dancing with Grayson. Keeping his eyes on them, he shakes his head. “No. I think I want to do this on my own. Besides, I need to tell your brother too.”
Jonathan starts to push him toward the dancing pair, but deep in my gut, I know I need to say something.
“Dad,” I say. Jonathan stops, and my dad turns his head toward me. “I—I love you.”
Tears well in his eyes, and I have to blink several times to prevent the same from happening to mine.
“I love you, too, son.”
With a gruff nod, he is wheeled away, and I watch as he approaches my daughter. He stops in front of her and bends down to tell her the news. Avery’s eyes go wide, and she starts jumping up and down. Grayson smiles at our dad, clapping him on the shoulder.
A hand winds around my waist, and I tuck Emryn against my chest.
“I’m proud of you, you know,” Emryn says.
I look down at her. Her green eyes stare back at me, twinkling with the fairy lights around her parent’s yard. “For what?”
“For being willing to see past people’s mistakes. For being a good dad and husband,” she shrugs. “For all of those things and so much more. You take your pick.”
“I love you, Emryn Montgomery.”
She smiles, pushing up to kiss my lips. “I love you, too.”