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Betty gazed up into his dark eyes and cupped his face in her hands. “I want you to find real love, Matt. I want that for you. So badly.”
He smiled, a sad sort of thing and shrugged. “It’s not meant for everyone, Betty Jo. I gave up on that notion a long time ago. I’ll never be the kind of guy who could make a woman happy. You know that.”
She kissed his cheek and held him against her for several long moments. “Don’t you believe in Christmas miracles?”
“No.”
“I thought that once,” she replied softly. “There wasn’t much I believed in other than a line of coke and the bottom of a bottle.”
He squeezed her hand. “Then you met Beau.”
“No.” Betty shook her head, drawing away. “He’s part of it, yes. But the game changer for me was the simple fact that I finally decided to allow myself to believe.”
“Believe in what?”
Betty smiled. “In love. I decided to let myself matter to someone.”
For the longest time Matt stared down at her in silence. Then he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear with a smile.
“We should go,” he said roughly.
Betty frowned. “Where’s my bouquet?”
“Your what?”
“My flowers. I don’t remember Bobbi bringing it up.”
“Do you really need them?”
Matt sounded too sweet and Betty’s eyes narrowed.
“There aren’t any flowers, are there?”
“No, honey. There aren’t.”
“Was anyone going to tell me?”
He grinned. “I’m telling you now.” He kissed her cheek. “Besides, everyone’s gonna be looking at the handsome guy on your arm. They’re not going to notice no missing flowers.”
“You’ve got a pretty high opinion of yourself,” Betty responded, trying to hide a smile and failing miserably.
Matt pulled the antique veil over her head and tucked her arm throug
h his. “Don’t worry. Everything is going to be perfect.”
“What makes this day perfect is you here with me. Walking me down the isle.” Shit. There went her mascara again. She reached under her veil and dabbed the corners. “It means more than, well, more than anything.”
“No place I’d rather be, Barker.”
Betty and Matt walked toward the door, where they paused for one more second and then with a quick kiss to her cheek, Matt opened the door and Betty walked toward her future.
Chapter Thirteen
The wedding went off without a hitch. Sure, Betty stumbled over her vows, and she may or may not have muttered an expletive or two, but Beau pretended not to notice and let Betty think she’d won their bet fair and square.
The old converted barn was a candlelit masterpiece, with fresh pine, holly, and a massive Christmas tree in the corner, cut fresh from somewhere on the property. The menu was full of Betty’s favorites, and he enjoyed licking wing sauce from the corner of her mouth. The cake, though simple, was elegant and no he didn’t shove a piece in his new wife’s face.
Beau’s cousin Maverick performed a song he’d penned for the two of them, and along with Jack’s wife, Donovan, they brought tears to everyone’s eyes. The duet, In My Arms, was the newlywed couple’s first dance and one Beau was sure he’d be hearing on the radio in the coming days.
