Epilogue
VICTORIA
A few months later
“ H old still,” Avery says, forcefully holding my head in position. She has one bobby pin between her teeth and jabbing another at my scalp.
“Then stop stabbing me,” I say, narrowing my eyes at her in the mirror.
“I never said I was good at doing hair. I just said I could do it. There’s a difference. One more.”
I huff, causing the strand of hair hanging in front of my face to flutter up before falling back down in front of my eye. I want to move it, but I’m also scared of moving and getting jabbed with a pin again.
“There, what do you think?” she says, stepping back and looking into the mirror proudly.
She’s placed my hair in a curled updo, with two strands framing the sides of my face. I smile brightly, seeing that she's captured exactly what I wanted, even though it was not the most pleasant experience.
“It looks perfect.”
I stand and turn, pulling her into my arms, willing the tears away from my eyes. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Even if you did beat me to the altar,” she jokes.
“You know James and I had to get married before training camp. Plus, I hardly think a backyard wedding is going to compete with your Christmas wedding extravaganza.”
She rolls her eyes as she laughs. “Hardly an extravaganza.” She holds me at arm's length, giving me a final once-over. “You’re perfect. James is going to fall over when he sees you.”
“Well, I hope not! I’m in a hurry to get down the aisle to him, but not at the expense of that!”
“Then let's get you out there and see what happens.”
When James proposed to me at the end of the hockey season, we knew we didn’t want to wait until next summer to get married. Everything about our relationship has been a whirlwind, and getting married was no different.
We both wanted our wedding low-key, so we were thrilled when his parents offered us their property. The ceremony overlooks a rolling grassy hill with beautiful magnolia trees, and they’ve ordered tents for us to have the reception closer to the main house, creating the rustic and casual ambiance we wanted.
Both sets of parents questioned the urgency of getting married, but seeing how in love we are and how hectic our schedules are, they quickly got on board with the planning and accepting everyone into their lives. James and I couldn’t be more grateful for how everyone in town worked together to make this happen.
“All right, Mr. Bell. She’s all yours,” Avery says, taking my hand and placing it on my father’s arm. “I’m going to get in place and just hope there are no accidents in front of me.”
She takes her bouquet from Hannah, who’s standing next to the trellis, hiding us from the guests–and James.
“Please explain again why we have an alpaca and a llama as the ring bearer and flower girl,” my dad asks, eyeing the animals wearily.
“Why wouldn’t Al Pacacino and Llamelai Gilmore be a part of the wedding?”
He just shakes his head. Avery’s right. I also hope there aren’t any accidents down the aisle.
The music starts, and Al Pacacino and Llamelai Gilmore make their way down the aisle. They’re decked out in matching blankets of soft pink with bells and hockey sticks embroidered on them. People gasp and then laugh as they make their way down. The rings are held on a small pillow attached to Al Pacacino’s blanket, and Llamelai Gilmore has baskets attached to each side of hers that drop red rose petals as she walks.
I can’t wait to see the pictures of those.
Next, Avery walks down with her bouquet. And then it’s my turn.
“You ready?” Dad asks.
“You bet.”
I don’t hesitate. There are no cold feet. No doubts. I know marrying James is what I want to do, and I can’t wait to become his wife.
The Wedding March starts, and I let my dad lead me down the aisle. As soon as I round the trellis, my eyes lock on James. No one else is with us here. No family and friends. No teammates. No farm animals.
Just us.
“Hi,” he says as I reach him.
“Hi.”
My dad exchanges a few hushed words and a handshake with James before kissing me on the cheek and sitting next to my mom, who’s already wiping tears from her eyes.
“You look beautiful,” James says. “Are you ready to do this?”
“I’ve never been more ready for anything in my life.”
“Not even Christmas?” he asks with a smirk.
“Well, maybe Christmas. But there’s one thing for sure,” I say, leaning in so the pastor can’t hear.
“What’s that?”
“As much as I love Christmas, I might love Easter a little more.”
“Why’s that?” he asks, taking my hands in his, a knowing smile on his face.
“Because I’ll never be able to look at a chocolate bunny, knowing it’s the reason why I get to marry you.”
He gives me a smile as tears fill his eyes. His mouth hovers over mine when the pastor says, “It’s not time for that yet.”
Everyone lets out a laugh.
“I think we can bend the rules, just this once,” James says.
“We’ll toss the mitts and celly our style–no cookie-cutter stuff,” I say.
His eyes open wide. “Did you just speak hockey to me?”
“I may have been brushing up on it.”
“Victoria Louise Bell, I love you even more.” He kisses me, and the crowd cheers.
We may not have said our vows yet, but with our friends and family surrounding us with so much joy, it feels like our forever has already begun.