Page 118 of Jetmir

Golden afternoon sunlight spilled through the tall windows, turning the polished hardwood floors into ribbons of amber. White roses and gardenias filled every room with their soft fragrance, while the warm breeze drifting in from Biscayne Bay carried the scent of salt and summer through the open French doors. Somewhere below us, a string quartet played a melody so achingly beautiful that it wrapped itself around my heart before I could take my first step.

Everything felt suspended in time, almost as if heaven itself had paused its activity to watch us tie the knot one more time.

I looked around the hallway one last time.

The family photographs were evidence of a happy childhood. My parents on their wedding day beneath this very roof. Family vacations. Christmas mornings. Birthdays. A lifetime of ordinary moments that had quietly become extraordinary simply because we had lived them together.

And soon this wall would show one of a happy life for both my brother, Gabriel, and myself, and our families.

When I was a little girl, I used to trace my fingers across Mama and Papa’s wedding photograph and wonder what it felt like to stand where they had stood—to promise forever to the person God had chosen for you.

Back then, forever had seemed like such a grown-up word. Now it nestled against my heart.

Papa covered my hand with his. When I looked at him, his eyes were already shining.

“My little girl,” he whispered, his voice breaking before he could say anything else.

This wonderful man—the man who had been the center of my universe until Jetmir showed up—had fussed over my scraped knees and my broken heart. He was the one who’d forged the way for impossible dreams and fairy-tale love in the future he believed I was worthy of. This was the man who had carried me on his shoulders when I was too tired to walk. The first man who had loved me and showed me what true love was every day by the way he treated my mama.

“Are you ready?” His voice cracked.

“I am. I love you, Papa.”

He blinked his eyes and swallowed hard. “I love you too, my baby girl.”

My eyes burned with emotions and I struggled to keep tears at bay. It would ruin my makeup.

I nudged his side.

“It’s a happy day. No tears allowed,” I said in a trembling voice.

He laughed softly and said, “Roger that. Now let’s do this.”

He brushed away a tear slipping down my cheek.

“He better be everything my little girl deserves or I’ll…” He trailed off at my scolding look and sighed. “Okay, okay. I won’t kill him, but he better be good to you every day.”

My heart clenched. “He will be.”

The music shifted and he smiled.

“It’s time.”

Papa offered me his arm, and together we stepped toward the staircase. Dozer trotted behind us as we made our way across the elaborate ballroom toward the terrace. There were rows of seats, filled with people who would witness the most important day of our lives. I saw every person who had helped shape both Jetmir and me. Friends. Family.

These people had witnessed the hardest chapters of our lives and stayed with us through it.

My attention landed on my brother who watched my movements, grinning. Our gazes met and he mouthed, “Go get him, sis.”

I smiled, my eyes darting to the most important person in my life at the end of the terrace where Jetmir was waiting for me.

He was standing beneath an arch woven with white roses and olive branches. It was a cloudy day, but everything seemed so bright that I swore there were rays silhouetting him.

Our eyes met and I drowned in his possessive, obsessive, loving gaze.

Everything around us disappeared. The music. The guests. The flowers. The ocean beyond the terrace. There was only him. Waiting for me.

He must have been impatient because he met us halfway, taking my hand into his. His thumbs brushed across my knuckles.