AFTER WE WERE BOTH DRESSED, Faith and I rode in a limo to the highest overlook in the Socorro Mountains. From up there, we could see for miles and miles. The sun was an enormous orb in the sky, slowly sinking into the Pacific Ocean, setting the entire evening sky on fire. To the south, we could see deep into the valley, the place I’d grown up, where everything I knew and loved existed. I’d never been to this lookout before, but now that I was there, I knew it was the perfect place. It was exactly what I’d described to Grant when I’d told him what I wanted for my wedding. I marveled at the fact that he must have had this place in mind, even back then when we’d been in the flower market in the city, me innocently telling him about my dream.
How had he known that all this was going to happen? How had he been able to plan for all of this? I’d been so confused at the time. I thought I was going to marry Rob. Had Grant really known that all this was going to follow? He’d bought the engagement ring as soon as he saw it, even though Rob was supposed to be the one buying it. Had he known then? He must have. Or maybe it was all just fate, our destiny, and it was God who was making it happen. It made my heart pound in my chest just thinking about it.
Sometimes you think you know what you’re doing with your life, you think you know what you need, and what you want, and it can be extremely overwhelming to realize that someone else is holding your entire future in the palm of their hand. To learn that someone else loves you, and they know what’s best for you, and they’re working on making it happen, making your dreams happen, before you’ve even realized you have them, that’s what it’s like to realize you’re loved.
How would I ever be able to repay Grant for doing all this? For knowing that it was what I’d wanted, even before I did?
I put my hand on my stomach and smiled. I knew how I’d repay him. I already was, and he didn’t know anything about it. I was giving him a child, I was creating life, right inside my body, and Grant had no idea. He was giving me a miracle, and the thought of it made my heart soar. But I was giving him a miracle too. A miracle that was going to make his heart explode with love.
I looked over at Faith. She was beautiful in a lace and bead dress designed to complement mine, and when she led me up the paved path to the overlook, the sight before me took my breath away. Overlooking a steep, sharp cliff, was a freshly built chapel of white wood.
Standing in a row in front of it were Sam, Jackson, Forrester and Grady. They all looked at me with such love and kindness, I knew they were my family, and would be forever.
Next to them was Grant, my groom. My heart leapt as I made my way toward him, following Faith. Music was playing. I looked to my left and saw a band next to the chapel. Beyond them was the magnificence of the setting sun. Where had all this come from? Had Grant built this chapel himself?
My eyes locked on Grant’s, and I could see that he was crying as I walked slowly along the path that led to him. It was like the path of my entire life. I realized that it had always been leading to him, and only him.
I saw Grant give a signal to Sam, and Sam pulled a string hanging from the roof of the chapel. Instantly, thousands of red roses, more than I could ever count, started falling from the roof. They fell in drapes down the front of the chapel like a waterfall. They’d somehow been attached to strings so that when they fell, they hung, creating curtains of beautiful crimson around the entire chapel. All its walls were covered. The sight took my breath away. Even the priest, the same Spanish priest who’d performed Faith and Jackson’s wedding, looked awestruck.
It was so beautiful. I continued walking toward the chapel, following Faith, everyone’s eyes on me, on my beautiful dress. Grant couldn’t have looked happier. A few yards from the chapel, Faith stopped, and I stopped next to her. The band stopped playing the beautiful music.
Grant stood next to me.
“Lacey, you look more beautiful than I even imagined,” he whispered.
“I can’t believe you planned all this,” I said. “Grant, it’s perfect.”
The priest started the ceremony, and it was all I could do just to keep myself from crying. Everything was so perfect. Standing next to me was Faith, my best friend in the entire world, and next to Grant were the men we knew would give their lives for us if we needed, Jackson, Forrester, Grady and of course, Sam. My father would have been so proud. This was the family he’d built, and maybe, if I played my cards right, I’d build a family just as strong.
I looked at Grant, my groom, tall and strong and handsome, the edges of his tattoos peeking out from his perfectly tailored tuxedo.