I heard his laugh above the sound of the rain and he tossed his umbrella aside. The rain pelted down on him as he ran down the aisle toward me. We met in the middle and I reached out to wipe away the rain that gathered on the lenses of his glasses. I had gotten accustomed to his glasses and now I loved them as much as I love him. They were a part of him, something that made Hunter the man I adored above anything and everything that I had ever known. He smiled at me through the rain and I knew that our wedding couldn’t be more perfect.
I heard voices as we started back up the aisle and I looked behind us to see our wedding party running down the aisle, speeding around us so that they could take their positions at the altar crafted from fallen branches, ivy, and flowers. Hunter and I laughed and paused to allow them to settle before going the rest of the way. I thought of my father as I walked, wishing that he could be there with me. There was another flash across the aisle and I saw my brother, Noah’s father, drop down to sit in the front row on my side of the seating.
At least he knows what he’s supposed to do.
Seeing him brought tears to my eyes and I concentrated on the feeling of my arm through Hunter’s to get me through the rest of the walk to the aisle. I could feel my other brother there with me, walking along beside me. Hunter and I had gone back to the lake the day before, leaving a wreath of the flowers that my brother would have worn as a boutonniere. It made me feel closer to him, connected even through the years, so I didn’t feel as though I was embarking on this new chapter of my life without him.
By the time that we got to the altar, many of our guests had rushed out of the tent to fill the seats and watch our ceremony. The rain continued to pour throughout and I could taste the drops on his lips as we exchanged the kiss that sealed our marriage. As we started our way toward the lounge tent, however, the drops slowed and the skies cleared, suddenly brightening into the rich glowing sunlight of late afternoon.
After the sun went down I sat on a log looking into the dancing flames of a campfire. Many of my guests stood around the edge of the fire, allowing the heat from the flames to dry their clothes. Those who built the campfire had had the foresight to cover the pit and the surrounding area with large, waterproof tents early in the day to protect it so the ground was dry and the fire was raging, creating the perfect backdrop for our reception. I could hear the music streaming from the dancefloor several yards away and the air was rich with the smell of roasting marshmallows and melting chocolate.
This was so far beyond anything that I would have imagined for my wedding, but that is precisely what made it exactly what I wanted. My first wedding had been everything that I had always dreamed of. The dress. The flowers. The elaborate parties. The lavish meal. Diamonds dripping from my guests. I had everything that I could have wanted, except for the groom. That wedding had been all that I had dreamed of, but had given me the marriage from hell. Maybe having a wedding that had only glimpses of what I would usually have planned would give me what really mattered…a marriage that would give me joy and fulfillment, and allow me to do the same for my husband. It was that intention that caused me to stop thinking about the strict traditions and etiquette rules, and instead plan a wedding that emulated Hunter and me and that our guests would actually enjoy.
Instead of sneaking out to the parking lot to drink liquor. With the groom. Damn. Red flags.
“Marshmallow?”
I looked beside me and saw Hunter settling onto the log holding a stick. A glowing marshmallow was impaled on the end and I was fairly confident that it was going to burst back into full flames any second. Thank goodness we had gone for metal sticks rather than being authentic to my childhood campouts. I reached up and peeled off some of the molten marshmallow, quickly sucking it off of my fingers to soothe the stinging of it burning into my skin.
“Thank you, Mr.” I said.
“You’re welcome, Mrs.” he replied, smiling at me.
I never thought that I was going to be a “Mrs.” again. For a long time, it wasn’t something that I thought that I would ever want again. Now, though, it was all that I could need. Rather than being a label, a collar that kept me tied down, it was a sense of fulfillment. I watched with amusement as he struggled to pull off some of the marshmallow and get it into his mouth without it sticking to all of his other fingers and his clothes. He finally conquered the treat and I saw his eyes flicker quickly to the edge of the woods and then back to me.
“Did you notice?” he asked.
“What?” I asked.
He repeated the flicker with his eyes and I followed it, noticing a figure lingering in the trees just barely outside of the circle of light from the fire. It stepped forward and I could tell that it was a man just before I noticed that it was Gavin. He met my eyes and nodded, and I nodded back before he sank backwards into the darkness of the woods. I didn’t know where he was going, but I knew that it would be a long time before I saw him again, if I ever did. Though I hadn’t noticed him at the ceremony, it warmed my heart to know that he had been there. After everything that we had gone through together, even the worst, darkest moments, it felt like he needed to be there, as if to prove that everything was going to be alright.
Before he could say anything else, I noticed Noah and Snow walking up to us. We stood to talk to them.
“I think it’s about time that I get these two ladies home,” Noah said, gesturing toward Snow.
She looked down briefly and ran the hand that wasn’t holding Noah’s over her round belly. Though she was smiling I could see the exhaustion in her eyes and knew that she had had enough of the day. She was only a few weeks away from delivery and I knew that she needed her rest.
“Thank you for all everything,” I said, opening my arms to her.
“Of course,” Snow said, accepting my hug warmly. “Congratulations.”
We stepped away from each other and Noah scooped me into his arms.
“Love you, Auntie.”
“Love you, too, Honey.”
He gave me a tight squeeze and kissed my cheek.
“Be happy.”
I stepped out of his arms with a contented sigh.
Be happy.
“I will,” I promised him. I wrapped an arm around Hunter’s waist and leaned over to rest my head on his chest. “I will.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Hunter
The final guest had left and the crew had gone back to scurrying around the woods removing all signs of the wedding so that by the time that they drove away it would look as though we had never been there. I was watching the carts driving toward the reception area when I heard footsteps coming up behind me. I turned and saw Eleanor walking toward me from the tent where she had gotten ready for the wedding. She had taken off of her gown and was now wearing a light pink dress with matching cardigan. Her hair had been brushed down from the style that she had been wearing during the ceremony and she had pulled it up into a ponytail at the back of her head to match the softer, more casual makeup that had replaced what had melted off in the rain during the ceremony. Though she had been a spectacularly beautiful bride, I felt myself drawn even more to her now. This was the woman I had fallen in love with.
I reached out and pulled her into my arms, giving her what felt like the millionth kiss of the night. I could have given her a million more.
“I’m going to have to find a new dry cleaner after leaving that gown with them,” she said.
“You should have just kept it the way that it was,” I told her.
“I should,” she agreed. “I could dry it out and put it in a shadow box to display in our house. Dirt streaks and all.”
“Are you ready to go to our luxurious honeymoon suite?”