Ethan
The wind settles just enough for the chimes on the porch behind us to fall quiet. The sky is that wide Wyoming crimson at sunset that always makes me feel like God is leaning close, watching. My palms sweat inside my gloves, and my heartbeat does not so much beat as quake through me.
Asher stands beside me, my best man. His wife, Leona, sits in the front row while their baby boy, Liam, sleeps in her arms. My mama is here too, sitting proudly in the front row, her hands folded in her lap, smiling like she has never stopped believing in me.
Cas elbows me once, gentle, grounding. Dex and Jude stand steady beside him, Jace on the end with his usual smirk as he scans the crowd in search of tonight’s conquest. They are all lined up next to me, holding me upright.
My brothers, my whole damn backbone. Behind them, my men from the firehouse stand tall, part of my crew, my family, my team.
But when the music changes, everything else disappears.
I look up.
And see Mia proudly walk down the aisle, her smile radiant as she throws wildflowers around, a detail Summer and I had agreed on.
Then Karen, followed by Cassie, Grace, Penny, and then…
And there she is.
Summer steps into the aisle on my father’s arm, sunlight catching the baby-blue of her eyes until they look almost unreal.
Her long dark hair spills in soft waves over her shoulders, her dress hugging every curve as if it were sewn from a prayer I once whispered in secret.
She looks like the answer to every quiet hope I never dared speak out loud.
My breath stutters. Something inside me, deep and old, comes undone.
I let the tears flow as Asher pats my shoulder.
“You’re one lucky bastard,” Jace says, making the others laugh.
Dad walks slow, proud, steady beside her, and for a heartbeat I swear I’m ten years old again, watching him lead colts around the corral, teaching me gentleness by example. Now he’s bringing me the woman who is about to become my whole world.
Grace, holding Mia’s little hand, tries not to cry among the bridesmaids as she takes her place, but she fails and wipes at her cheeks with the back of her hand, grinning at me like she cannot believe this is happening.
Penny nudges her. Cassie sniffles. Karen beams like she has been waiting for this day just as much as we have.
But all of that blurs at the edges.
Because Summer looks at me, just me, and her lips tremble as if she is holding back her own tears.
Her eyes meet mine, and in them I see every piece of our story: the nights under the open sky, the fights we faced together that made us stronger, the way she looked at me the first time I kissed her, like I had unlocked something inside her she didn’t even know was there.
My chest pulls tight. My vision wavers.
Dad leans in close to her, just a small whisper, and she laughs through her tears. Then he guides her the last few steps, placing her hand in mine.
Her fingers are warm. Real. Home.
“Take care of my girl,” he murmurs, voice thick.
“Always,” I manage, though my own voice breaks right down the middle.
Summer looks up at me, eyes shining. “Ethan,” she breathes, like my name is something holy.
And right here, with Wyoming spread wide around us, with the scent of sage and horses drifting on the air, with my brothers and sister at my back, my men from the firehouse standing tall, my parents smiling proudly in the front row, my daughter grinning brightly at my side, and the woman I love standing in front of me, I swear my soul settles into place.
Because I did not know I was missing a part of my soul until Summer made me feel complete.