He took charge. “Okay, this is what we’re going to do. Michael, go put the chicken in the smaller coop by herself. That way when she shits, you get to be the lucky guy to sift through it. Tristan, you go take a walk for a couple minutes and get your head right again. Garrett,” he pointed, “shut up, this isn’t helping.”
Garrett held up his hands but did as Cole said. Michael gave me one last look over his shoulder before heading back to the chicken coops I’d built a few months ago when Anna said she thought she might like to have some.
Oh, how I regretted that now.
Dylan slugged me on the shoulder. “It’ll be fine, don’t worry.”
I nodded. “Thanks.”
“Good luck.” He went to find his seat next to his wife Kat, who was waiting with a happy smile on her face. She waved at me, and I lifted a hand in return.
Garrett gave me a back-thumping hug. “Sorry I laughed.”
“I expect nothing less from you,” I told him with utmost sincerity.
He grinned and wandered toward the lines of chairs facing the tree.
Cole gave me a serious look. “You okay?”
I took a deep breath and nodded. “I will be. I know it’s just a piece of jewelry. It’s replaceable, but…” I shrugged helplessly. “I wanted everything to be perfect.”
“No reason it still can’t be,” he said. He looked around at the yard full of people who loved me and Anna, who wanted nothing but happiness for us. “This looks like as perfect a day as I can imagine for you two. Ring or no ring.”
He nodded and walked away, leaving me alone for what seemed like the first time all day. Making sure I had time, I glanced at my watch before I walked beyond the chairs and past the tree so I could take a couple minutes to just breathe.
This wasn’t what I wanted to be thinking about less than ten minutes before I needed to take my spot.
I wanted to be thinking about Anna.
I wanted to be thinking about what she’d look like.
I wanted to be thinking about the sheer enormity of the fact that tonight, when I pulled her into my arms, she’d be my wife.
My wife.
The woman I’d loved for so long, so impossibly, hopelessly long, was going to be my wife. And I was going to be her husband.
For some reason, it surprised me that those labels might make it feel so different. But it did. Writing my vows to her had been far more difficult than I’d ever imagined. How was I supposed to put into words what I wanted to promise Anna? How was I supposed to sum it up into a few lines, said out loud in front of a hundred people, when she was the only one who needed to hear them?
If I could’ve gotten away with two lines, I knew what I’d say.
Whatever may come, Anna, I will be there. That is my vow to you.
But that wasn’t enough. It felt like I’d never be able to articulate my love for her properly. She often said the same thing to me. We were so equally yoked in how we felt.
I leaned back against the tree and took a deep breath, practicing the words in my head for the thousandth time.
* * *
Nothing in my life is clearer than you.
You are my vow. My love for you will never wane, will never waver, will never dim.
Every moment that I draw breath, I will support you, respect you, fight for you and for the things that matter to us.
Whatever may come, Anna, I will be there. It’s a promise that I’ll never break, will never go back on, will never regret.
I love you, and I choose you, today and every day.
The ring didn’t matter.
I took a long breath and knew that she’d feel the same way.
Carefully, I leaned down and plucked three of the longest strands of grass I could find. My fingers were steady as I wound them together in a tight braid and wrapped the edges in an impossibly tight knot.
The minister poked his head around the edge of the tree and gave me a kind smile. “Are you ready?”
My chest expanded on a deep, steadying inhale and I nodded. I followed him around the tree and carefully tucked the grass ring into the pocket of my navy suit, then straightened the burgundy tie that Anna had chosen.
Feeling generous and far more centered, I gave Michael a rueful smile and he returned it as he joined me.
From beyond the line of chairs filled with smiling people, I saw Rory start her slow walk down the aisle. She grinned at me, then winked at Garrett where he was sitting next to his and Anna’s mother, Kathleen, in the front row.
Kathleen was already dabbing at her eyes.
My heart was seconds away from exploding in my chest from the complete, mind-numbing torture of waiting to see her. I had to force myself to breathe evenly, and my fingers started tingling when the minister motioned for the guests to rise from their seats.
This is it, this is it, this is it, I chanted silently.
My head lifted and there she was.
Any air I’d had filling my lungs was gone. Poof.
She’d taken it.
Her lips spread into a wide smile and my vision blurred instantly, the press of tears hot and insistent, but I breathed slowly as she started in my direction.
She was holding flowers and wearing a dress in ivory, something I’d pay attention to later, but all I could see was her face.
Her perfect, smiling face, tears spilling unchecked down her cheeks.
I sniffed as one of my own fell.
Her hair was down, and my heart was hers, and the moment was perfect.
No, the ring didn’t matter.
Anna stopped to hug and kiss her mom, who was weeping audibly. It registered finally that about half the guests were already crying.
She took her place in front of me, mouthing, I love you.
I love you too, I mouthed back.
“Dearly beloved,” the minister started, and with those two words, our forever began.
The End
About the Author
Karla Sorensen is a wife, mother, writer and life-long hater of folding laundry. She lives with her husband, two sons and big, shaggy rescue dog in Michigan.
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Also by Karla Sorensen
The Three Little Words series
By Your Side
Light Me Up
Tell Them Lies
* * *
The Bachelors of the Ridge series
Dylan
Garrett
Cole
Michael
Tristan – www.karlasorensen.com/tristan
* * *
Standalone
Hooked (cowritten with Whitney Barbetti)
* * *
Coming on June 14, 2018
The Bombshell Effect – Add to Goodreads
Cocky Mafia
Rachel Van Dyken
Chase Abandonato loses his cockiness as his wife goes into labor reminding him of everything he's lost...
Copyright ? 2018 by Rachel Van Dyken All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Extra Epilogue Eulogy
Chase
I gasped awake, sweat dripped down my chest as I reached across the bed. Empty, it was empty. And it happened, faster than I could imagine, the pain, the agony, the thought that maybe it was a combination of the worst nightmare of my life followed by my greatest dream.
“Chase!” Luc yelled my name.
It jolted me out of my pity party though my adrenaline was still pumping loud as my brain told me lies that my heart wanted to burn to the ground.
Not good enough.
She’ll leave too.
I squeezed my eyes shut and ran in the general direction of her voice, she was in the bathroom, holding her very swollen belly. Fear gripped every part of my body until black spots appeared in my line of vision.
Fear had always been my friend because I’d never recognized it for what it was, because I’d never truly experienced its truth until I was forced to relinquish control to the universe, to a God who would send me to Hell given the chance, to a darkness that was ready to welcome me with every stolen breath.
Fear was putting my trust in the untrustworthy — it was watching my wife nurture a soul I didn’t deserve — it was praying that the ones I forced to leave this earth wouldn’t be counted against me — against my offspring.
Because it was what I deserved.
But them.
Never them.