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A new adventure. I’m up for one of those too.

I glance over and find Noble watching me.

I don’t know what the future looks like for us. I don’t know if he’s going to move back or if he’s realized he actually does want to defend his title. Maybe both things can be true. Maybe the not knowing should scare me more than it does, but instead, I’m filled with a quiet sense of excitement and a confidence that we can figure it out.

Together.

“Do you guys want to see the ceremony site?” Noble says, pulling me from my little daydream.

Raya and Finn exchange a quick look, and they both nod.

“Yes, please,” Raya says.

“We can walk from here,” I say. “That way you can see how it’s all laid out, how the flow of the guests will go, where people will mingle and congregate.”

I’m confident I’ve thought of everything, but I want to give them a chance to tell me if I haven’t.

We start out toward the lodge, quietly chatting as we go. I point out the wooden signs we made to help lead people from spot to spot. “West put them all out earlier this week, and I think they’ll keep people moving in the right direction from the ceremony to the cocktail hour to the reception.”

“And we have maps,” Rowe says. “They’re on the back of the programs.”

“I hired a watercolor artist in town to make them,” I say. “They’re really pretty.” They turned out better than I could’ve imagined, and we’ll be able to use the graphic for any other weddings we host in the future.

The thought makes me giddy. I’m at the start of something amazing, and while I’m a little nervous, mostly, I’m excited, and I can’t wait to see what happens next. It was never a dream I had growing up, but being a part of people’s celebrations and vacations—that’s exciting.

And fun.

And meaningful.

So much so that the risks don’t seem as scary anymore. Especially since I know I’m not doing any of it alone.

As we come up to the lodge, I explain some of the logistics—parking, bathrooms, how the schedule will be communicated to the guests. I stop in the yard to point out the area where the cocktail hour will take place. “We have tall tables to put out tomorrow morning, and we’ll serve drinks out of that shed—” I point to the small shed we cleared out a few weeks back. “Quent built a counter that fits right in the doorway, and the catering company is going to staff it for us.”

“It’s like a lemonade stand,” Eloise says with a smile. “For adults.”

I turn to her and say, “Okay, that’s brilliant. Can I steal that?”

“Of course!” she says. “My ideas are your ideas.”

I smile and turn to Raya. “Once you’re done with the after-ceremony photos, you can mingle out here with your guests until the reception.”

“It’s amazing, Hattie, really,” she says. “The photos didn’t do it justice. It’s just so . . . wide open. We don’t have places like this in Chicago.”

“So you’re not regretting getting married on a ranch?” Rowe says.

Raya shakes her head. “Not one bit.”

“Oh, also, the string quartet from the ceremony will come out here too,” I say. “Like ‘music in the garden.’”

“Gotta admit,” Finn says. “Never thought the place could look so fancy.”

“It’s still not fancy,” I say with a smile. “But we clean up nice.”

He laughs, and we make our way out to the sunken forest, stopping by the sign we screwed into a tree at the top of the stone steps. “We named it the ‘Woodland Forest,’” I say, knowing to me, it will always have a different name. “It’s my favorite spot on the entire property.”

I step aside and let them walk down the stone steps, watching them take it all in. I feel immense joy knowing that tomorrow, when Raya’s dad escorts her down this aisle, it’s all going to look like a fairytale, and I’m more convinced than ever that keeping the sunken forest for myself was never the right idea.

Beauty is meant to be shared.