“He always ran out.” She looked at me with that direct, unhurried gaze. “You look like yourself. And that’s the best thing you can look like. You finally look like your beautiful, happy self, my sweet girl.”
She took my other arm. I stood between them—my brother and my great-aunt—the two people who had always been there.
Harper caught my eye and pressed her lips together, still holding her tears back. Then she straightened and looked at Bella.
“Ready?”
Bella slid off the bed, checked her basket one last time, and looked up. “Ready.”
Matt glanced at me. “Ready?”
“Yes,” I said.
He gave my hand a small, steady pat, then we walked out into the evening.
The path to the river shifted from gravel to soft pine needles to damp riverbank earth. We walked it together—Matt on my left, Aggie on my right—with the campground still quiet around us, the cold, clear air sharp in my lungs, and the river’s gentle murmur growing louder.
White wooden folding chairs had been arranged in neat rows along the riverbank, each one tied with a simple cluster of wildflowers and sage at the back. Soft pink and white petals already scattered the aisle where Bella had begun her careful work.
Just before the chairs, Bella stopped. She turned to face us, basket held high in both hands, chin lifted with the serious focus of a child entrusted with an important mission.
Harper gave her an encouraging nod. “Follow me.”
Bella walked ahead with measured, deliberate steps. She didn’t toss the petals—she placed each handful with careful intention after checking the wind. When she reached the front, she turned, gave me a satisfied nod for a job well done, and stepped neatly into place beside Harper.
I pressed my lips together hard.
At the end of the aisle, Matt stopped and turned to me. He studied my face for a long moment, his expression heavy with feeling too large for casual words.
“Good man,” he said simply, meaning Levi. From Matt, those two words carried complete approval.
“The best,” I replied.
He almost smiled, then offered his arm again. I took it. He walked me the final steps to where Levi waited at the river’s edge, placed my hand in Levi’s, and stepped back. Aggie took her seat in the front row between Elizabeth and Eileen. Matt sat at the edge of the row.
I turned to face Levi.
Jude stood beside him in his dark suit, best man in every sense, clearly fighting to keep his composure and failing. He glanced at Levi, and a wordless understanding passed between the brothers.
Levi reached for my other hand. We stood facing each other as the river flowed steadily behind us, its surface catching shimmering ribbons of rose and amber from the sunset sky.
“Hey,” he said softly. “You look like the rest of my life,” he said, voice low and warm. “Beautiful. Like every dream I never dared speak out loud, finally standing right here in front of me.”
My throat tightened.
The officiant spoke the ancient words that had been said at rivers and under open skies for generations. I let them settle deep inside me.
When it was time for the vows, Levi looked at me and spoke with quiet devotion.
“I have loved you for most of my life,” he said, his voice warm and steady. “From the quiet moments when I first realized my heart belonged to you, to every day since you let me close again. You are the light that makes every ordinary day feel extraordinary. I promise to cherish you, to make you laugh, to hold you close through every season, and to choose you with my whole heart, again and again, for the rest of our lives. You are my greatest joy, my deepest peace, and the home I’ve always longed for. I will love you endlessly, Becca. Cross my heart.”
From the front row, Rosemary pressed her handkerchief to her eyes. Jude coughed back a sob. Harper let quiet tears fall, chin high. Bella watched her mother, then reached over and took her hand. Dahlia cried openly and warmly, the way a mother cries when a long-prayed-for moment finally arrives.
I spoke my vows, the ones I had written alone at Aggie’s kitchen table with Gerald watching from the armchair and coffee growing cold beside me.
“You make me feel seen in a way I never knew was possible,” I said. “With you, I want to fill every room with laughter and light. I promise to reach for you first, to stand beside you through every season, to build a life with you that feels like coming home every single day. You are my safe place, my greatest joy, and the love I choose for the rest of my life. Cross my heart.”
The river continued its steady course behind us, its surface glowing with soft ribbons of rose and amber. The pines swayed overhead in the cold evening air.
