Page 60 of Runaway Bride’s Husband

“I was going to say it symbolizes the till death do us part vow,” he finished, grinning at her. “I’m glad you understood that so immediately.”

She was practically glowing when she nodded at him. “It’s gorgeous. Honestly. There’s not a single part of it that I don’t love.”

Henry looked at her like he was about to burst into tears of joy. He pressed his hands together and gave us a little bow. “I’ll give you a minute to look around by yourselves, but I won’t be far if you have any questions.”

“Thank you,” I said, waiting until he’d meandered over to tug at a few weeds along the side of the chapel before I turned back to her. “Well, you’ve officially burned any bargaining power we might’ve had to the ground. Now that he knows how much you love it, he’s going to charge you⁠—”

“I don’t care,” she said in a dreamy, sing-song voice, her gaze even a little hazy now. “I’d pay double whatever his usual rate is just to be able to get married here.”

My eyebrows twitched. “Are you sure? It’s pretty pricey as it is.”

“Ryan.” She refocused on me, once again grabbing my arm. “Cost has never mattered to my parents. I won’t let them start pretending to care about it now. This is the most perfect place I’ve ever been.”

I swallowed hard, forcing a smile as I stared down into her eyes. For fuck’s sake. This is a conversation she should’ve been having with Daniel. Seriously.

“I’m glad you like it that much,” I finally managed. “Should we take some pictures for Daniel?”

She shook her head, but none of the excitement dimmed from her gaze. “I doubt he’d be interested. What do you think?”

“I think it has a haunted chapel and a graveyard.” I exaggerated a shudder. “Personally, I’ll be hoping that we’re well clear of this area before the sun sets.”

Maggie shot me a look that said she thought I was fundamentally incapable of appreciating anything important, but I grinned.

“We can put the carnival right around the corner.” I gestured toward the general direction. “The ghosts can come out for cotton candy. Have I mentioned that I’m washing my hair that day? I probably won’t be able to attend.”

Her lips pursed. “I haven’t even set a date yet.”

“Yeah, I know, but busy calendars refuse to be tamed.”

As she turned back to face the chapel, she elbowed me in the ribs. “Stop making fun of my wedding. You will be here, and if the dead would like to attend the reception, the least you can do is add them to the seating chart.”

I laughed. “I’ll do my best, but that’s a lot of gravestones, Maggie. How will I know who to seat and who will be left floating?”

She chuckled, and the sound made something deep inside me a lot too warm, but then she sighed and looked up at the chapel like she’d stumbled into her favorite storybook. “God, I didn’t know it was possible to be this in love with a wedding venue.”

I glanced up at it with her, the weathered stone walls now glowing under a few rays of sunshine that had broken through the clouds. “Yeah, it’s pretty special. Should we go check out the inside? I’m not convinced it can seat a hundred people.”

“That doesn’t matter. I don’t want to get married inside, remember? It has to be outside.”

“Fair enough.”

Together, we wandered around the chapel until we got to a small clearing behind it. The grass had been cut short, but the space itself was wild compared to the manicured lawns between the not-castle and the chapel. Stone walls enclosed one side of the clearing, sunlight filtering through the leaves in mottled patches.

Immediately, Maggie turned to me. “This is where I want to do it.”

Henry must’ve made his way around the chapel from the other side because he appeared next to her, considering the space with a professional eye. “It would be beautiful. We’ve done the canapes here before, but never the ceremony itself. You’re sure you want it outdoors? Weather can be unpredictable.”

“More sure than I’ve ever been about anything in my life.”

“Well, then.” He strode a few more steps forward, turning in a slow circle before he motioned toward one side. “We could have the aisle come through here with the chairs under the trees. If you want, we could decorate the wall with flowers and bring in an arch.”

“That sounds amazing.” She sighed, looking at him like he’d just made all her dreams come true.

Hell, I would have promised her a Ferris wheel on the roof if she looked at me like that, but Henry just gave her a professional smile and gestured toward the center of the clearing. “Imagine having your first kiss as man and wife right here.”

My heart pounded hard against my ribs because as he said it, my mind went straight there, imagining kissing her like she’d actually just become my wife. I heard Maggie suck in a soft breath at my side, too, but Henry just kept smiling at us.

“Right?” he urged when neither of us said anything. “Give it a whirl and see how it feels.”