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“It wouldn’t be right to celebrate our wedding without mentioning someone who means so much to so many people here. So,” Radleigh paused and picked up his glass of champagne. “I’d like to make a toast. To Will.”
Everyone in the room followed suit, and had a drink to our friend.
When the moment of melancholy had passed, Radleigh looked down the table at Bryce. Bryce looked ridiculously handsome in his suit; and to everyone’s surprise, he had a date joining him for the party later. Being my wedding day and all, I should have had other things on my mind, but I couldn’t wait to meet this mystery woman. All I knew about her was that her name was Clare and she worked at the coffee shop Bryce sometimes visited on his way to work.
“Bryce,” Radleigh said, with a smirk that made me want to jump him. “I don’t need to do the serious, sentimental crap with you.” Again, everyone laughed, but then Radleigh tilted his head to the side and shrugged. “But I will, just for today. You have been with me through… pretty much everything over the last seven, eight years. I’ve lost count. I do know that I couldn’t have asked for a better team mate, wingman, and best buddy. Nobody has been better at telling me when I’m being an idiot, or helping me to figure out how to sort my life out. Leah and I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done for us. I know Leah couldn’t imagine life without you showing up unannounced for dinner now and again.” Laughter echoed around the room and Bryce threw his head back, chuckling. “Seriously. You’re like a brother to me, man. Thank you for everything.” Radleigh and Bryce exchanged grins that symbolised a true bromance. Radleigh was absolutely right. It was impossible to imagine a life without Bryce in it.
Radleigh started to turn away from Bryce, then turned back and said, “Oh yeah, and since I’ve been so nice about you, you can take it easy on me during the best man’s speech!”
Laughing
, Bryce shook his head. “Not a chance, buddy. I have a script, and I’m sticking to it!”
Radleigh shot him a mock glare then laughed before turning his attention to me.
The atmosphere in the room changed, and the laughter in the room died down.
Radleigh took another long breath and blew it out slowly then reached for my hand again. A shiver rippled down my spine as he looked deep into my eyes, and all of a sudden, just like when we got married, it was as if everyone else disappeared.
“Finally, and most importantly, I have some things I need to say to my wife.” The smile on my face as he called me his wife made my cheeks hurt, and he grinned back at me. “I’m never gonna get sick of saying that. See, there was a time not so long ago when I didn’t think I’d call anyone my wife. I didn’t want that. Didn’t think it was for me. And then, one day, this petite British woman waltzed into my life. Too bad she hated me on first sight.”
As everyone laughed, I said, “You weren’t so crazy about me, from what I remember!”
He nodded. “True story! But, I did know right away that there was something special about you. I might not have liked you, but I had a real hard time getting you out of my head.”
Sounds familiar. Radleigh had taken over my thoughts from the second I met him. Not always in a good way, but he’d very rarely left my mind.
“The truth is, Leah, nobody has ever gotten me the way you do. Nobody has ever made me as crazy as you did, and nobody has ever inspired me to buy a plane ticket to a place I’d never heard of, when I had no idea where I was going, in the hopes that I might find you, and you might give me a chance to fix some of the mistakes I made.” I squeezed his hand, tears pricking my eyes. “As it turned out, you kinda found me.” The fingers of my free hand reached up and curled around the locket he’d given me earlier; the locket that held a photo from that particular time in our lives. He smiled at my gesture, but it slowly faded from his face as he stared into my eyes again. “We’ve been through so much. I’ve put you through so much, and throughout it all, you’ve never given up on me, even though I didn’t deserve it. Didn’t deserve you. I need you to know that, even though I didn’t always act like it, I loved you.” Radleigh swallowed hard as he tried to regain his composure, and a tear slipped down my cheek. He didn’t need to tell me this. I knew it. Even when I doubted it, deep down, I knew the truth.
“So,” he went on, his voice wobbling a little, “I guess this is a thank you. For agreeing to be my wife. For giving me the most beautiful daughter. And for…” He seemed to choke on his final words as the tears in his eyes began to fall. Shaking his head, he turned away from everyone and hung his head as the emotion overtook him.
My heart felt like it was going to leap out of my chest – it wanted to go to him, and I stood and followed where it led me – right into his arms. We held each other tight, and even though I knew all eyes were on us, I didn’t care.
“Sorry,” he whispered in my ear. “I’m sorry.”
“What for?” I asked, looking up at him and wiping a tear from his cheek with my thumb.
“I wanted to give you the speech you deserve but… I couldn’t…”
I hadn’t seen him like this since he was in the hospital, and I knew that was what was on his mind. That we’d been through so much, and after all that, it could have ended if Jen had just stuck the knife in a little deeper. We wouldn’t have ever got married, and she’d have won.
But this day wasn’t about her. She had no place at our wedding, and I was damn sure the ghosts of the things she’d done weren’t going to haunt us anymore.
“Radleigh, baby, we’re okay. Everything’s okay.” He nodded, and I looked up at his beautiful face, my thumbs still catching his falling tears. “We’re okay.”
“I know.” He gave me a soft smile. “I know.”
I reached up and pressed a kiss on his lips. “Come on. Let’s go finish that speech. Then we can drink more champagne while Bryce tells embarrassing stories about you.”
Radleigh laughed. “Sure. But, Leah?”
“Yes?”
“You know I’m only letting the emotional stuff get to me because it’s our wedding day. You know tomorrow I’ll go back to being the emotionally stunted, arrogant douchebag you fell in love with, right?”
Keeping a straight face, I nodded. “Of course. But… I was kinda hoping Mr Arrogant might show up a little earlier than tomorrow. It’s just… it’s our wedding night, and he’s really good in bed.”
Radleigh’s lips curved back into that smirk I’d once hated, and he leaned in close to me, his lips just a fraction from mine. “That can be arranged.”
