45. Chapter 45
Chapter 45
Rina
Ainsley is very suspicious right now.
She hovered over me as I finished up a personal project, and now she’s dragging me to her house for God knows what.
“What the hell is happening right now?” I ask for the fifth time.
“Just shut it and let me do what I need to do.” She hushes me again. I throw my hands up as we pull into her driveway.
I follow her inside, where she leads us to her bedroom, and it just makes me more confused.
“Put this on.” She tosses me a garment bag. I wearily open it up and see a cream dress, and I immediately throw it on her bed.
“I’m not wearing a dress. I’ll put on dress pants or something.”
“No can do. Put the damn dress on, Marina.” She glares at me, and it’s not her joking around glare; it’s her “do as you’re told, or there will be hell to pay” one.
“I’m here! Sorry I’m late!” Willow calls from the front door after it slams.
“We’re in my room!” Ainsley yells back.
What the fuck is happening right now?
“Shit, sorry. I was writing again and lost track of time,” Willow huffs as she busts into the room, carrying her own garment bag .
“Is this some kind of talent show? Why are we all dressing up?”
Willow looks at Ainsley, who just smirks.
“Fine. I’ll play along, but if this ends up being stupid, I’m leaving.” I go to grab the dress, but Willow stops me.
“Hair and make-up first.”
“No.” I go to reach for it again.
“Trust us. You’ll want hair and make-up done.”
“You know I hate everything about this. Surprises are not my friend.”
“We know, but this one is worth it. We wouldn’t steer you wrong,” Ainsley says.
“She” —I point to Willow— “absolutely would steer me wrong. Why don’t you ask her how many books she’s killed me off in?” I arch my eyebrow.
Willow snickers as Ainsley turns to her. “You haven’t killed me off, right?”
“Umm, no, of course not!” Willow says a little too forcefully.
“Damnit. I thought I was in the clear,” Ainsley mumbles.
“Well, this is fun and all, but if you want to do my hair and make-up, your window is passing. I only have so much patience for getting dolled up.” I grimace even thinking about a layer of make-up I’ll need to take off later.
In a half hour, the girls curled my hair and pulled it up into a soft up-do, and put very light make-up on me. I’m grateful it isn’t more, and I have to admit they did a damn good job. I don’t look like a woodworker; I look like a woman getting ready for a date or something.
“Okay, put the dress on while we change, and then we’ll be ready to head out.”
“I need to tell Arlo I’m going to be late for dinner,” I absentmindedly tell them as I pull my phone out and shoot off a quick text. What I really wanted was to set up the bed that I finally finished before he got home, but it looks like that’s not going to happen.
I look up to find them both staring at me. “What?”
“Nothing! Put your dress on!” they both say as they move to separate areas to get ready.
Something is going on, but I know these two and they won’t tell me anything until they’re damn well ready.
Pulling the dress fully out of the bag, I admire its beauty. I don’t wear dresses, but if I did, I would want to wear something like this. It has thicker straps with a fitted bodice covered in subtle jewels. The bottom is flowy enough that I don’t feel constricted, but it falls to the floor in a soft wave. I walk over to the full body mirror and turn back and forth, looking at all the angles, shocked to find a version of me I consider beautiful. It’s not that I don’t love my looks normally; it’s just not something I put effort into. This feels like an elevated version of me, and I love it.
“Shit, it’s even better than I thought it would be,” Ainsley says with a sniffle.
“Holy gorgeousness, you look amazing,” Willow echoes.
“Thank you. I assume I have you to thank for it, so high-five yourselves.”
I turn my attention to them and find them in knee length dresses, in different shades of blue but not the same style. They go together but they don’t match, confusing me even more.
“You both look beautiful,” I tell them.
“Thank you. We have two more things for you before we head out,” Ainsley says cryptically .
Willow brings over a shoe box and pulls out a cream pair of hiking boots, and I have to laugh. At least they aren’t trying to cram me into heels. I’d break an ankle for sure.
They help me lace them up so I don’t wrinkle my dress, and then Ainsley goes to her dresser and grabs a small box.
“We wanted to get you something that you could wear and remember today.” She hands me the box, and I carefully open it to reveal a stunning pair of earrings that have a main stone that looks like diamonds surrounded by smaller blue stones. They’re small and not overly showy, and perfect.
“I love them, but I can’t accept these,” I murmur as I run my finger over them.
“Yeah, we’re not doing that. Put them on, and let’s go!” They both have smiles on that light up their whole faces, and it’s infectious. I may not know what we’re doing, but I’m starting to get excited about it. I am still distracted, trying to mentally calculate when I’m going to have time to put the bed together and if I can keep Arlo out of the house until I do.
We climb into Ainsley’s car and make our way to a familiar area. I start to get suspicious when we park at the trailhead that leads to the waterfall.
“Guys…” I can feel my heartbeat racing.
“Follow us, please,” Ainsley says with a knowing smile, and the pressure of incoming tears hits behind my eyes.
It takes us fifteen long minutes to get to Arlo and my spot, but once we’re there, the tears start to fall.
Every single person in Bluebell Falls creates a semi-circle facing the falls. On the flat rock that Arlo and I frequently lounge on is an arch covered in wildflowers, with the man himself standing underneath it .
A sob breaks free as I cover my mouth in shock. I can’t believe he put all of this together. Ainsley and Willow quietly go to join the masses when another presence walks up next to me.
“Can I walk you down the aisle?” Ledger asks, and I don’t even care if I’m ugly crying because this is exactly what I’ve wanted since I was a teenager and never thought I would get.
Arlo has made every single one of my dreams come true, and I don’t know if there are enough words to articulate how I feel right now.
Overwhelmed seems to be the largest emotion, though.
“Of course,” I say, trying to pull myself together.
He holds out his elbow, and I hook my arm in his as we start walking down the split in the crowd. I don’t take my eyes off my husband, and when I’m close enough, I see his eyes glistening with tears.
We step in front of him, both of us smiling like lunatics when Ledger releases me and claps Arlo on the back.
“Take care of her,” he says with a smile.
“Always,” Arlo says, taking both of my hands.
Ledger walks away, and we’re left to face each other.
“What did you do?” I whisper, still in shock.
“You deserve a real wedding. You deserve the world knowing how much you’re loved,” he says simply.
His words melt me on the spot, and I lean forward to press a kiss to his lips.
A throat clears in front of us as I look up to find Jim Mathews clasping his hands, smiling.
“I believe we have to do the vows first.” He winks.
Everyone laughs as my cheeks heat and Arlo shrugs .
Jim continues with a very short and sweet ceremony, which is exactly what I would have wanted, and when he says, “You may now kiss the bride,” Arlo takes control in my favorite kind of way. He dips me down, holding me close to his body, and kisses the hell out of me. I’m glad the girls just put lip gloss on me because it would have been ruined.
Cheers and claps surround us, making me laugh against his lips.
“You are fucking amazing, Mr. Steel.”
“All you, Mrs. Steel. I hope I did okay.” He picks me up, and we stare at each other like it’s only us here.
“You did… I’m speechless. This is more than I could have ever imagined.”
“I love you so damn much.” The awe in his voice makes me want to strip him right here and show him my appreciation.
“I love you. I don’t know how you pulled this off.” I shake my head.
“Lots of help. Speaking of, let’s make the rounds, and then everyone will meet us at our house for the reception.”
He kisses me once more before pulling us off the rock and over to our friends and family. The well wishes and happy conversations are not something I thought I needed, but damn does it feel good to know we’re supported.
I see Lennox off to the side, and I let go of Arlo’s hand to talk to him.
“You didn’t have to come,” I tell him.
“I wouldn’t miss your wedding for anything, even if you are a pain in the ass.” He winks.
“It wouldn’t have been the same without you, so thank you. Are you coming back to the house?” Am I overly hopeful? Yes, but I’m concerned by his need to stay at home all the time .
“Not this time, sis.” I can tell he’s sad about it, but I also won’t be the one to push him.
“Door’s always open for you, Lenny. And I have something that’s almost done for you. I’ll drop it off next week, yeah?”
“You didn’t have to make me anything.” His cheeks are tinged pink. A shy Lennox is one I haven’t seen since his adolescence.
“Well, tough, it’s almost done, so say thank you when I deliver it and brag about how awesome the piece is.”
He chuckles at that and gives me a hug before he wanders off down the trail.
“He’ll be okay,” Ledger’s voice sounds from behind me.
“I’m not so sure,” I mutter, more worried about Lennox than I was when he was released from the hospital.
“Come on, we’ll worry about him tomorrow. Today, your husband is waiting for you.”
I turn around and find Arlo looking on with concern, but I shoot him a small smile and make my way to him.
“He okay?” he asks, wrapping his arms around me.
“I don’t know.” Leaning my head on his chest, I watch as our town files out down the trail, leaving Arlo and me to our moment of quiet.
“You are quite the secret keeper, sir.”
“There’s one more surprise,” he says.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out what looks like a ring box but doesn’t open it.
“I wanted you to keep your original ring because I know it’s sentimental to you, but I also wanted to get you something that symbolizes our new future. It’s not an upgrade, just an addition.” He opens the top of the box, and I suck in a breath at the infinity band in front of me .
“Arlo…”
“It took me too long to get to this point. I know we’re not apologizing for the past anymore, but I want you to know that I will love you to the ends of the Earth and far beyond that. You are my heart and soul. Thank you for loving me just as much.”
“Jesus, are you sure we can’t kick everyone out of the house? You are not allowed to say things like that and not expect me to jump you.” Emotion clogs my voice.
“Sorry, Emmerdeur, you’ll have to wait a little longer for your orgasm tonight.” He smirks, and I rise up on my tiptoes to kiss him again.
“Take me home. Let’s feed everyone and then kick them out. I have a surprise for you too.”
“Alright, I kicked everyone out. What’s this surprise?” Arlo asks, sliding his arm around my stomach and yanking my back against him.
“You ready to get a little sweaty?” I ask.
“Hell fucking yes!” he says eagerly because he has no idea what he’s in for. I grab his hand and make him follow me to my workshop.
“Recreating fun times? I like it,” he jokes.
I don’t respond; instead, I pull him to the back corner where our brand-new bed sits.
“It took me longer than I thought it would. I promised you a new bed when we moved in together, and I'm about a month late. Sorry about that.” I smile. “I also had intended to move it into our actual room before you got home from work today, but you kind of spoiled that plan.”
“Rina… This is stunning.” He runs his hand over the natural walnut I built the bed out of. The headboard is a live edge slab with the most gorgeous striations. The rest is a fairly simple build, but the headboard proved to be one hell of a challenge.
“I know I didn’t get your opinion on it, but when I saw this slab, all I could see it as was our bed.”
“Is it cheesy to say I’m so damn excited to own a Rina Hutton original?”
I laugh at how adorable he is. “Honestly, it makes me feel way more important than I am, so let’s run with it.”
“Okay, let’s change and then figure out how to get this inside.” He rubs his hands together.
“Nope. When you take this dress off, it will be so you can give me multiple orgasms. I have two pallet carts that will hold the entire length of headboard. We just need to slide them under it as we disconnect it, then roll it over to the side door.”
It sounds simple, but it’ll take a bit of work to maneuver it in the house. The good news is we don’t have to carry the heavy ass slab of walnut.
“This is not the wedding night I had in mind,” he grumbles as he starts to roll up his sleeves.
“The faster we get this assembled, the faster you can show me what you had in mind there, Mr. Steel.”
“Grab your carts and let’s go.”
An hour and a half, a rip to Arlo’s shirt, and a bottle of champagne later, we’re standing at the foot of our new bed. We didn’t even put bedding on, just threw the mattress on top and decided that was good enough.
“It looks good in here,” I observe. I barely get the words out before Arlo shoves his hand in my hair and turns me to him, kissing me like he’s been starving for me.
We break apart, and he cups my jaw. “I’m going to spend every day worshiping the ground you walk on and making you so damn happy with our life.”
“You’re doing one hell of a job already. Just keep loving me,” I say against his lips.
“Forever, Emmerdeur.”