Then, the vows. Felix goes first.
"Ember, I love you. I must've written at least fourteen different versions of these vows—"
"TWENTY-ONE!" Nyx shouts. "I counted!"
Everyone laughs.
“Thanks for that, Nyxie. Is it too late to un-invite you?" Felix clears his throat. "So yeah, twenty-one versions. I'm not an eloquent man, and I’m sure as heh—um, heck—no writer. I just know that you're it for me. You're my forever. I was so lost when I met you, Ember. I'd been drifting in the dark for years. And then you showed up, parked—sorry,stalled—in the middle of the road, half out of the engine bay of a violently orange 1967 VW Type Two, and I was gone. You have lit up my life every single day since then. I can't imagine life without you and I have no intention of finding out. My vow to you, Ember James, is that I will spend the rest of my life figuring out how to love you better. How to be the man you deserve. I’ll probably get it wrong more than I get it right, but you'll always have every single part of me until the day I die, and then some."
Ember blinks hard, tips her head back and blows out a breath through pursed lips. Shakes her hands out and then takes his again. "Felix." She waves a hand in front of her eyes. "There's no chance I’m getting through this without crying, but I’ll do my best."
"You got this, Sparky!" Nyx shouts.
Ember laughs tearfully. “Thanks, Nyxie.” She breathes sharply a few more times and then starts over. “Okay, here we go. Felix. I really struggled with what to say to you. I could promise to honor and obey you in all things, but let’s be realistic, here—I'm not good at doing what I'm told. Except when—well, never mind. That's for later." The crowd laughs, and the Reverend suppresses a disapproving frown. "I love you. You saved my life insomany ways." She glances this way. "Cole, you literally saved my life, but I can't marry you. Sorry."
Cole just laughs, looking like he wants to bury his head under the pew.
She returns her attention to Felix. “I’m lucky—so, so lucky. I mean, who gets a second chance not just at love, but life itself? When Dutchie died, I thought my life was over. I didn't see a point to anything. And then I met you, and you were…well, to be honest, annoyingly charming. I didn'twantto like you. I didn'twantto fall in love with you. Goodness knows I tried hard enough not to. And it’s not that you’re unlovable; it’s that I doubted I could ever feel that way again. And I almost died. I should have died." Her voice cracks, and she glances at Cole again. “If not for Cole, Iwouldbe dead. He…oh god, this is hard. He talked to me. Showed me pictures on his phone. Kept me awake until Chelsea and the firemen showed up—Rob, Marcus, Ellington, Marek." She glances at the four burly men in the front row, where she insisted they sit with Chelsea and Mike, Three Rivers' finest paramedics. "You all are heroes. I know, I know: you hate that word. But this is my day and I get to use it."
The firemen are pulling at collars and clearing throats, and Chelsea is trying like hell not to sob. Mike is stoic, but if I could see his face, I know he'd have red eyes, too.
"I owe you all my life," Ember continues, and then looks at the Black woman sitting next to Mike at the end of the front row. "Connie. You taught me how to walk again. Bullied me into getting stronger. Refused to accept 'I can't' for an answer."
Connie waves her off, but her shoulders are shaking, too.
Dammit, I've got something in my throat. And who turned on the allergies in here? My eyes are scratchy.
"I couldn't get up here and not honor all of you—Chelsea, Mike, Connie, Rob, Marcus, Marek, Ellington, and Cole. Thank you." She turns back to Felix. "They saved my life so I could be in yours. They didn't just keep me alive, they gave me my life back.” Another pause. “You know, in a way I'm thankful for the accident. I'm thankful, because in order to heal, I had to stay put. I had to let you take care of me. And you did. Day in and day out for months, you took care of me. And you did so without knowing if I'd ever come around to letting myself love you. You did it because you loved me. Selflessly and patiently, you took care of me because that’s just the kind of man you are."
Yeah, not a dry eye in the house. Even Nyx is intently studying the weave of his jeans.
"I love you, Felix. And the vow I’ll make above and beyond anything else is that I'm done running. I'm a Three Rivers girl for good."
There's a chorus of female cheers from the girls—Noelle, Raina, Lainey, and Layla.
Then comes the exchange of rings and the promises to love, honor, and cherish in sickness and in health till death do them part.
A very long, very wet kiss.
The walk down the aisle hand-in-hand. A rain of rice.
Photos in the cherry blossoms while the crowd heads to Noelle's parents' property—they're hosting the reception. There’s an hour or so of milling around their backyard in suits and dresses, chatting with…well, most of Three Rivers is here.
Raina, Noelle's best friend, corners me at one point and flirts pretty blatantly with me.
God, I wish. She's gorgeous. But she's good—inherently just a good person, like Noelle.
And I'm…well, me.
After a few minutes of Raina doing her best to make sure I don’t miss the fact that she's hitting on me—she even leaned on the table with her arms bracing in and propping up her magnificent rack—she lets out a frustrated sigh. "This isn't gonna happen, is it?"
I wish I had Nyx's gummy in my system right about now. I cover her hand with mine. "Raina, to say I'm honored and flattered that you're interested in me is a massive understatement. You're gorgeous, sweet, and funny. But trust me when I say you don't want any of this mess."
She frowns at me. "Shouldn't I be the judge of what I want?"
“Yeah, maybe. But I just…" I sigh. "Ican't. Okay? I respect you…alot. And the reality is, I'm just not cut out for what I know you want."
"Which is what?” she asks, her voice a little cold. "Since you’re the expert on what I want."
