She pulled back and nodded, “Right. I can’t wait to tell him!”
I turned to Leah who was holding back tears. She was my rock. She’d been with my almost every day of my life, for as long as I could remember.
She’d been my protector, the sister I never had, and the shoulder I needed when everything fell apart.
“I wouldn’t be here without you. You know that, right?” I said.
“You would have found your way eventually. I just gave you the push you needed to get you here quicker. The love you and Logan share isn’t a
coincidence. I’m convinced you would have found each other over and over until you realized you were destined for each other.”
Squeezing her hand, I asked, “And what about you? You don’t need to put your life on hold for me anymore. Start living again, Leah.”
She gave a faint smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, “I will, Clare-bear. I am. Don’t worry about me today.”
After one last hug, the coordinator the hotel provided came by and gave us the go-ahead.
It was time.
Maddie went first, holding her little basket of flowers. She was very serious about her flower girl duties and held off on dropping any petals
until the right time.
Ella went next, clutching her small bouquet of island flowers in her hand.
Before Leah was given her go-ahead, she turned around, gave me a quick wink and a kiss on the cheek, and she was gone.
“Didn’t think you were going to walk down that aisle without your old man, did you?” my father said, coming to stand beside me at just the
right time.
“I knew you’d make it,” I said, giving him a sideways grin.
“I knew you three needed some girly time, so I hung back in the hallway. But now you’re all mine. I love you, baby girl.”
My lip quivered and every minute spent with my father in my childhood came roaring back. The skinned knees when he was teaching me to ride my
bike, the yelling matches and frustration when I got behind the wheel for the first time, and that moment when he caught Ethan and I in the
kitchen and realized I wasn’t his little girl anymore.
“I love you too, Daddy.”
He held out his arm and I took it and we were on our way, down the path toward Logan and my future.
Logan
“Breathe, just breathe,” I silently chanted, as I caught my first glimpse of Clare walking down the path with her father.
She was a vision. Covered in lace that fit her like a glove, her dress blended old with new seamlessly. She had left her hair down and under
the sun, it shimmered with the fiery red glow I loved. There was too much of her to take in at once, and my eyes were everywhere, trying to
drink in every detail. I wanted to remember everything, sear it into my memory so I’d never forget the emotions that were welling up inside
me.
“Marry Me” by Train was being strummed softly by a lone guitarist as she came towards me. Our eyes locked and everyone disappeared. I barely
noticed when her father placed her hand in mine, still unable to believe this was my life. This woman was here. To marry me.
I heard a soft chuckle and I looked up briefly to see Tom shaking his head and taking his seat beside his wife.
The minister cleared his throat and Clare and I finally tore our eyes apart and turned our attention to him.
“I think we should begin, don’t you?” he asked, and Clare and I both looked at each other and nodded. Apparently the world disappearing
around us hadn’t gone unnoticed.
“I do. I absolutely do,” I said.
“I haven’t gotten to that part yet,” he laughed.
“Well, then hurry up,” I joked, which earned a few laughs from the guests.
The minister welcomed everyone and began with a reading. It was a quote or a passage about love. I honestly didn’t listen. It was something
Clare and I had picked out and I remember it being beautiful. But seriously, how could I focus on anything when Clare was standing in front of
me?
I did hear him say vows, and that’s when I started to pay attention.
“Clare and Logan have chosen to recite their own vows, and will do so now.” He turned to Clare and gave her the go ahead. She nodded, turned
back to me and gave me that shy smile I’d fallen in love with.
“You once said you didn’t think you were capable of love—that somehow that ability was lost on you. You were so afraid to let us in, scared
that you wouldn’t be able to give back what we could so freely offer. But I’ve never known anyone more capable of love than you Logan. It
shines through in everything you do, and there is no one on this earth I would rather be binding myself to than you.”