Walking over to the bed, I set the box down and opened it, finding a good-sized, perfectly arranged bouquet of dried flowers. These weren’t just everyday flowers like daisies that you could simply find almost everywhere. There were some roses, indigo, tulips, daffodils, and tons of others that I couldn’t even name.
I couldn’t even remember picking any of these.
“I still have boxes of roses and whatever those white flowers are that you keep getting Brooke in the attic.” Colinnodded toward the bouquet of dried flowers. “But I figured these were more interesting.”
Not the prettiest bouquet, but the most interesting, indeed.
“You can’t turn around yet,” I heard Brooke say when she finally got out on the balcony. Once again, she knew me better than I did because the second I heard steps coming from behind me, I was ready to turn around.
“This isn’t fair,mi princesa.” My heart was pounding with anticipation, eager to look at my bride, knowing it was likely going to be the death of me.
She chuckled in return. “I just have to adjust something, then you can look.”
“I can adj?—”
“No, I have to look perfect before you see me,” Brooke interrupted.
“Baby, you look perfect in a burlap sack. A misplaced hair won’t ruin your look now,” I said, yet I waited impatiently for her okay.
“Stop, I’m going to cry!”
For months I’d been waiting for this moment—when I couldfinallysee the love of my life in her way too expensive wedding dress. It felt like the dress had been the center of attention in most of everyone’s conversations forweeks, and I was the only one who had no idea what kind of dress Brooke got. I wasn’t even allowed to be in the room when they all talked about the dress.
For all I knew, Brooke could’ve gotten a sleek, purple dress just to throw me off. I doubted it but it was a possibility.
We were getting married in a castle in France, spentthousandson this stupid location, only for Brooke to wear asimple dress? Yeah, that was impossible. She must’ve planned something big, so now she had to look perfect when I first got to see her.
She would’ve looked perfect no matter what she was wearing.
“Just… one more second,” she said, her voice quieter this time.
I began to fidget slightly, adjusting the cuffs of my shirt without ruining the delicate flowers in my other hand. I tried my best to conceal my nerves and took deep breaths to keep the excitement that bubbled inside me under wraps.
My breath got caught in my lungs when Brooke laid her hand on my shoulder. “You can turn around now.”
I turned around without hesitation, and the moment my eyes met hers, every ounce of nervousness I seemed to have a moment ago evaporated into thin air.
Brooke, my beautiful Brooke, stood in front of me in herenormouswhite wedding dress. The world stopped spinning as I took her in: her anxious but radiant smile, the delicate lace of her dress, her beautiful makeup, her perfectly styled, curly hair, and the tiara she wore which was attached to the longest veil I’d ever seen in my entire life.
She was even more breathtaking than I had imagined.
But what captivated me the most were her eyes; the way they sparkled with unshed tears, and that perfect smile of hers.
“Brooke…” I whispered, a mix of emotions forming a lump in my throat. “You look…” How was I supposed to describe perfection other than showing Brooke a picture of herself? “Like a real-life princess.”
Her tears began to fall as her smile widened and her rosy cheeks deepened in color. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”
My hand reached out to gently touch her cheek. “You’rethe most beautiful person I have ever seen,” I said, sincerity in my words. “I can’t believe I get to marry you.”
Brooke leaned into my touch, her eyes closing for a moment as she savored the warmth of my touch. “I can’t believe it either,” she whispered softly. “I’ve been dreaming of this day for so long.”
“Almost eight years.”
She shook her head. “Almost twenty years.”
How had it been almost twenty years since we first met?
According to my brother, I’d definitely fallen in love with Brooke right then and there. I couldn’t even remember a single day in my life that I hadn’t loved Brooke.
