“My business is about sane adults getting married.”
“But what’s sane about getting married? Nothing. Trust me, I’ve given it a lot of thought. Two grown people, promising each other that from this day forward, they’re going to forget everything else about the world, and put each other first. They’re going to try and merge their two, completely unique personalities, and create something new that combines the best of both. They’re going to wager their lives against everything the world can throw at them, and promise God and everyone they love, that no matter what, they’re going to stay together, and look after each other, and cherish each other. Impossible? That’s impossible. Love is impossible. It’s supposed to be. That’s the point. Because when two people believe in something impossible together, because of love, that’s when magical things happen.”
“Magical things?”
“Think about it. A family is magical. Something that comes about where nothing existed before. That’s real magic. And that’s what love and marriage create.”
The woman looked me over.
“You’re really serious about this, aren’t you?”
“Lady, you bet your British ass I’m serious about this.”
Chapter 45
Grant
FORRESTER CALLED NEXT.
“Grant.”
“Forrester.”
“What the hell’s going on?”
“What do you mean?”
“Jackson told me I need to pick up an entire refrigerated truck’s worth of chilled, fresh roses from the dock market.”
“An entire truck’s worth?”
“Yes.”
“That must have been expensive.”
“You don’t want to know.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“Well, there’s no problem. I just need to know where to take them.”
“So you got them?”
“Yes, I did.”
I smiled. “Thank you, Forrester.”
“So, where am I taking them?”
“You know the mountain top by the valley pass, where you can watch the sun set over the ocean?”
“The one off the Pacific highway?”
“Yes. Take the flowers there. There’s a little white chapel there, built of fresh-cut pine.”
“There’s no chapel up there.”
“There is now, Forrester. I know. I built it.”
“You built it? When?”
“When no one was looking.”
“It must have taken months.”
“I started the night of Jackson and Faith’s wedding.”
“What are you planning, Grant?”
“What does it look like I’m planning, Forrester? I’m planning a wedding.”
“You’ve got some balls, brother. You know how mad Lacey is at you right now?”
“I know it,” I said, with a sigh.
“All right. I’ll take them there. And what do you want me to do with them?”
“Will the truck keep them cool over night.”
“Yeah, it will keep them at the optimal temperature for up to four days.”
“Okay, so tomorrow afternoon, before sunset, I need you to go up there and get things ready. Make the place look nice.”
“Make it look nice?”
“Faith will help you. Get the flowers set up. Scatter them around. Get that priest from Jackson’s wedding, the Spanish guy.”
“Grant, this is crazy. What if Lacey loses her shit?”
“That’s her right. Now, go, and get the priest to bring the paperwork too. And tell the others to be there. The wedding will take place at sunset. They should dress nice.”
My heart was pounding. I had the dress. I had the flowers. Things were starting to come together. I still didn’t have the girl, though. What on earth was Lacey going to say when I dropped this bomb on her? The way I saw it, it could go one of two ways, and it was a risk that I had to take. Either, she’d freak out and tell me to go to hell. It wouldn’t be the first time Lacey and I didn’t see eye to eye on something. I could take it if she got mad at me. I just couldn’t take it if I let her slip through my fingers again. I had to make her my wife. She was my destiny. She was my soulmate. I knew she was. If I didn’t make her my wife, my life would be incomplete forever, no matter what else I achieved.
The second way it could go, was that she’d say yes. She’d want me. She’d agree to marry me. And then she’d be amazed that everything she’d ever wanted for her perfect wedding was all there, waiting for her, ready to go. It was worth the risk. It was worth the chance that it might shock her. The perfect wedding, as a surprise? What girl wouldn’t want that?
My phone rang again.
“Grant, it’s Grady.”
“What is it, Grady?”
“The dove guy says he can deliver a thousand doves if you can pay for them.”
“A thousand doves?”
“You should see this place, Grant. It’s an entire flock of doves.”
“Do you think that many will be too much?”
“Honestly?”
“Yes, honestly.”
“Grant. Honestly, I think a thousand white doves, flying over the ocean into the sunset would be the most beautiful freaking thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
I laughed. “Okay, order them. Call Forrester for the details of when and where they need to be.”