Chapter 32
That evening, I pace in the small parlor on the first floor of the bed-and-breakfast, unsure what exactly I’m feeling, much less how I can go about it. Nerves fill me, but that’s to be expected. I’m a bride. This is a new day, the mark of a date that will change me from a single woman to half of a married couple. Every year, from here on out, this will be my anniversary with Sawyer, signaling when we both took a chance on each other.
Hope is a close second. I rub my hand over my stomach, trying to quell the tension there. I’m optimistic that this is the right thing to do. I know where my heart lies, and with each minute that passes until I’m beckoned to head outside, I feel more and more convinced Sawyer meant it when he said this is real for him. We’re not marrying to beat my mother to my trust fund. We’re uniting in marriage because we love each other.
The door opens and closes behind me. I hold my breath, realizing the moment has come for me to exit and walk toward Sawyer.
It’s Marian, though. Dressed in a simple but elegant silvery-teal summer dress, she presses her back against the door. Her smile is sweet and encouraging, and I’m grateful she isn’t on the brink of tears this time. Her devotion to Lauren and Aubrey is clear. They are the daughters she wished she could always have. And yesterday, when she eyed me at my cabin when I showed them my hastily made dress, she proved that she considers me the same, crying tears of joy.
I’m not her daughter. My mother is in New York, racing to ruin my life. Little does my only parent know that her nefarious actions have pushed me to find my real love, but she doesn’t care either. Marian does. She’s present. And she somehow knew that I needed advice. Gentle encouragement. Something. I’m not hesitant to walk down the aisle to Sawyer, but…I’m overwhelmed with so many emotions I don’t know what to think, and I want a level head as I go to my groom.
“Nervous?”
I nod, then shrug.
“Excited.”
I give a firmer nod.
“Second thoughts?” She sits in a chair as I approach her.
“No.” I sit and sigh. “It’s just that it’s here. The moment is here.” I bite my lip and smile at her. “I’m just struggling to accept that this is really happening. I’m actually doing it.”
“And you’re okay with how it is?” She tilts her head to the side.
I shrug again. “I never thought I’d get to this point.” It’s all so rushed, but that’s not what’s bothering me. I lick my lips and lean forward. “It’s just that this will be it. This will be my wedding story. It’s what I’ll tell my clients when they’re nervous on their big days, if any of the brides I make a dress for are nervous and feeling so raw before they walk down the aisle. What if they ask me how I handled it? What if they ask me for advice on how I did it?”
Marian pulls out a slim flask from her pocket. “Ah. Then allow me to fill that role.” She’s considerate of my mother not being here, of none of my family or acquaintances here, other than Dalton. If this were a wedding my mother arranged, I would be readying myself to walk through a congregation of hundreds of guests.
“You’ll do this,” she says as she hands me the flask, “knowing that man is the man you love, who loves you, and both of you will never lose sight of that connection. It’s as simple as that.”
I arch a brow at her offering.
She shrugs. “I was scared to marry. It’s such a big day. My mother and mother-in-law did that, too.” She points at the alcohol. “Liquid courage. To stop thinking and just feel.” She winks, and I giggle, tipping it to my mouth for a quick shot.
“My John and I married quickly, too,” she shares. “We were friends, and we’d known each other for a while, but we didn’t date for long. It was a whirlwind, and when it was my wedding day, I kept thinking, ‘but I hardly know him!’”
I shake my head. “I haven’t even seen Sawyer’s house yet!”
“John and I hadn’t done the deed, and I was obsessed with worrying if he snored!”
We both giggle, and between her honesty and the shot, I feel warmer and lighter. I don’t feel as alone with this woman standing in as the mother I’ve always wished for.
“But that doesn’t matter. None of it matters. You and Sawyer will learn about each other and get to know each other over the years. You have a lifetime to learn and both of you will change over time and you will relearn with each other.” She pats my knee. “The biggest part is done. You love each other. And with that, the rest will fall into place.”
We stand together, and I pull her into a hug. “Will you…will you walk me down the aisle?”
Her eyes go wide before she smiles. “Me?”
I nod. She’s acted more like a loving parent than my mother ever has.
“Of course,” she promises and presses a kiss to my cheek. “I’m honored.”
And that’s how I arrive to this spontaneous wedding that was pulled together in less than a day by these wonderful people I feel so blessed to have found. With everyone’s help, the backyard and gazebo have been turned into something from a fairy tale. The twinkling fairy lights and flickering candles lend a hint of magic to the impromptu wedding venue.
Marian rubs the top of my hand as we reach the back door. She pats it before I reach for the bouquet Lauren tied of blooms from the garden. A little girl has been holding them for me. She’s a guest with her aunt at the BB, and she was thrilled to be included with this big role of handing me the bouquet. Her aunt is up ahead, snapping pictures. She’s a commercial photographer, here on a vacation with her adorable niece. Upon realizing we were arranging a hasty wedding, she insisted on making herself our photographer. I’m sure Dalton’s paying her plenty, but I’m grateful she happened to be here to pull off that role.
With Marian at my side, I walk down the aisle.
This is it. This is the day.
I don’t trip once, deciding to wear my most sensible sandals over the grass. The lace skirt of my wedding dress trails behind me as I near the flickering lights of the gazebo. Marian squeezes my hand as we walk the short distance from the house.
I’m doing this. I’m really, really doing this.
My heart swells, and there’s no doubt in my mind this is where I’m meant to be.
An older man from town plays a gentle, sweet melody on his guitar. He looks like a doppelg?nger of Kenny Rodgers, but I think Aubrey said his name is Earl. Another local, I believe a former police officer, is the officiant up ahead, and his name actually is Ken. I don’t care. I’ll ask later. I’m simply happy both of them are here and willing to help make this wedding complete.
I don’t need an orchestra with a proper wedding march. I don’t want a fusty old priest asking me to recite long vows.
This is perfect.
Seeing the wide, smug smile on Sawyer’s handsome face ensures it. He looks like the embodiment of love, of being in love with me, and this is all I could ever want. With the birds singing in the distance, surrounded by the few friends who matter to us, I reach Sawyer at the gazebo.
Only then do I trip.
Sawyer catches me, and I roll my eyes at his chuckles.
“Full circle, huh?” he teases and pulls me in for a quick kiss.
“Hey, hey,” Kevin says, at the front with Jason next to him. “You missed a few parts before the kiss.”
Everyone laughs lightly as I hold Sawyer’s hand tightly.
Jason and Kevin had put their heads together to find vows for Sawyer, and Lauren, already surrounded with all things to do with weddings, located a simple vow for me to say.
It’s short, but no less sweet, and after we slide rings onto each other’s fingers, I gaze up at Sawyer and get lost in the love swirling in his eyes. All for me.
He mouths, I love you, as Ken tells our small crowd that we’re husband and wife. I mouth it back to him the second before he pulls me close and slowly dips me back, pressing his lips against mine and stealing my breath. This is the defining moment that makes us more than two people arguing over noise and swapping teases. With his soft, warm lips on mine, I sigh and welcome in this sweet sense of belonging.
I’m married. I have a husband. And as he helps me to stand after that dip with the kiss, I giggle and lean against his side.
“We did it!” I tell him as they clap and cheer.
He lifts our joined hands and grins at me. “We did. And I couldn’t be happier.”
Every minute leading up to our simple ceremony felt like a drag of time, but following it, they pass in a blur. We head toward the cake Marian made, and with a small outdoor setting, we dance and chat with our friends. It’s a toned-down affair, but still the actual thing. Aubrey catches my bouquet. The guest-slash-photographer snaps pictures of Sawyer and my first dance, and before I can realize it, hours have passed.
We leave in Sawyer’s truck, but before Sawyer closes the passenger door for me, I hold my hand out and point at Lauren. “Don’t forget. Your dress fitting tomorrow…”
She laughs. “I think we can delay it a day or two, newlywed!”
Once we leave, I sink into the cushion and sigh. I roll my head on the headrest and smile at Sawyer.
“Happy?” he asks me. He takes my hand and kisses my knuckles.
“Very.” I take a good, long look at him, checking him out.
“The way you’re looking at me, wife, is going to make me pull over, and I’ll never show you our home.”
A shiver traces over my skin. Wife. “I like the sound of that.”
He arches his brows, giving me just as hot of a look. “Pulling over?”
“No. The other part.” I unbuckle my seatbelt and crawl toward him to cup his face and kiss his cheek without making him look away from the road.
He grins, growling in need. “Wife?”
I sigh and slide my hand over his chest. “Say it again.”
He stops at a stop sign and turns to grab me closer and kiss me hard. “My wife,” he whispers against my lips. He pulls back and looks at me with a grin. “Buckle up that middle seatbelt if you’re going to be sitting so close. That way, I can kiss you again at the next stop sign.”
I shiver again and smile.
“We’ll never get there,” he says as he drives again.
“Ha.” I kiss along his neck, unable to keep my hands or mouth off him as I snuggle against his side. “That’s not us. We rush forward, too impatient to get what we want.”
“You got that right.”
“And now, I want you, husband.” I lower my hand to grip him through his pants.
“Is it the tux? Seeing me all dressed up and proper that’s making you wild?” he teases.
“Just you.” I tug at his tie. “And knowing you’re all mine forever.”
He swerves a couple of times on the road, but he speeds us all the way to an elegant and modern condo.
It’s not what I was expecting, but with how turned on I am, I don’t care. All I can focus on is getting inside and having him inside me, filling and stretching me with that delicious burn of friction.
I kiss him as he picks me up out of the truck, and I giggle as he carries me over the threshold. “We’ll move. We’ll get something bigger. I’ll build you anything you want, Claire.”
I silence him with a kiss. We’re married, and like Marian advised, we’ll learn about each other and make our home wherever we want.
“And now, the moment I’ve been waiting for,” he says as he sets me down in the bedroom. The lights are dimmed, and I can’t look away from him. All the details can be seen later. Right now, he’s my whole focus, and I sure like the way he’s slowly taking off his tux.
“Now, I get to see the first and original Claire Cameron creation.” He twirls his finger to prompt me to spin, and I smile wide. He’s so sweet, so considerate, to know the dress I’m wearing is important to me. No matter how quickly I made it, I will treasure it forever.
He’s down to his boxers, shoving them off as he stares at me, moving close.
“Wanna know the best part?” I ask, breathing hard as desire consumes me.
He growls, reaching forward as he steps out of his boxers. His fingers slip under my hair. He holds the back of my neck and kisses me hard. “What?”
I pant after that drugging kiss and turn, giving him my back. “One zipper. Easy to take off.”
He takes the tab and drags it along the track. The dress peels off me, parting as it flutters to pool at my feet, and the feel of cool air on my body chills and excites me. He chases away the chill as he spreads his hot hands over my sides and across my stomach, hugging my back to his chest until his heat radiates through me.
“I love you, my wife.” His hand cups my breast as he leans me back to him.
I turn around, kissing him deeply. “And I love you, my sexy husband.”
He maneuvers us, bringing me down onto his bed. I don’t take my lips off him once, and with the wetness so sticky at my core and the hardness of his erection pushing against my stomach, I know neither of us will last for foreplay. The entire evening of seeing him in his tux has been a tease that had me hot and bothered all night, and now, as he hovers over me and gazes into my eyes, I smile at knowing he’s mine.
“I love you,” I tell him again. I can’t get enough of saying it, and as I part my legs to get him closer to where I need him, he groans and kisses me soundly.
“I love you, too,” he swears as he slides in.
I shudder around him, hugging him close and arching my back up as he fills me fully. It’s perfect, the same intense connection I know I’ll never tire of. But different, too. Not only is this the first time we’re making love as a married couple, but it’s also the first time he’s entered me without a condom.
“And I will never stop being in love with you, Claire,” he gets out around hard, mind-numbing thrusts. His words are all I need. I come, gripping him tight and crying out.
After he finds his release and we lay together in a sweaty tangle of tired limbs, I smile and stroke my finger along the muscles of his bare back.
“And I will always be in love with you, Sawyer,” I whisper gently before we ease off into sleep.