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He burst out laughing at her question. “Only if they’re the ones filled with peanut butter.”
She pretended to think it over for a minute. Finally, with a small sigh, she said, “I guess I can live with that, but I’d rather have the mint ones.” Callie stared down at the diamond and emerald ring on her finger.
“I would like to wait. I don’t need a huge wedding, but I do want my family and friends there,” Callie said seriously, thinking for the first time since her mom’s death that she wasn’t as alone as she’d thought. Perhaps her mom had finally told Warren the truth so she wouldn’t be so alone.
Dylan kissed her again. “Whatever you want. As long as I have you, I don’t care about the rest.”
Epilogue
About One Year Later
This is it. Callie gazed at her reflection in the full-length mirror. In less than an hour, she would be Mrs. Dylan Talbot. She still found it hard to believe sometimes. It was like she was living in a dream and, at some point, she would hear her alarm go off and she’d wake up. But then again, she’d been feeling a bit like that every day since learning the truth about her father the year before.
“You look gorgeous,” Lauren, her maid of honor, said, coming up next to her. “He’s going to be speechless when he sees you.”
“Dylan might be looking at me, but every other man here will be looking at you. You look fabulous.” Callie wasn’t exaggerating either. The royal blue gown looked as if it had been designed just for Lauren.
“I doubt that. Everyone is going to have their eyes on you.”
Fidgeting, she tried to think about just Dylan and not the hundreds of guests waiting outside on the lawns of Cliff House. Though they’d tried to keep the guest list small, there had been too many people they had to invite. In the end, the list had maxed out at three hundred.
“Don’t do that. You’re going to spoil your lipstick,” Lauren scolded Callie as she began to chew on her bottom lip.
Callie smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress. “I can’t help it. I’m so nervous. What if something goes wrong?”
Lauren was about to answer when there was a knock at the bedroom door. “Is it okay to come in?” Warren called from the other side.
“All clear, Mr. President,” Lauren answered, picking up her bouquet to leave. “Everything will be perfect, you’ll see. I’ll meet you downstairs, Callie.” After giving her one last hug, Lauren left as Warren came into the room.
Warren didn’t immediately say anything. Rather he looked at her with misty eyes. Then after clearing his throat, he said, “Elizabeth and I are so happy you’re part of our family, Callie. I know it was strained between the two of you at first, but she has come to care for you like another daughter.”
Strained was one way of putting it. From the very beginning, Callie’s relationship with Elizabeth was awkward, and it only became more so immediately after she and Dylan had announced their engagement. But slowly, they had gotten to know each other, and now she thought of Elizabeth as almost a second mother. She’d been especially helpful planning the wedding, which had all of the paparazzi in the country interested.
“I just wish I’d learned about you sooner.” He paused as if overcome with emotion. “I feel as though I missed out on so much with you.”
Callie choked back some tears of her own. Warren had been wonderful to her since their first meeting, and their relationship had only grown stronger since then. “Me too.” She gave him a hug and then kissed his cheek.
“We’d better get you downstairs.” His voice was thick with emotion. “There is a very anxious groom waiting for you. If I don’t get you down there soon, I think he’ll come storming up here himself to get you.”
Warren handed Callie her bouquet of roses and calla lilies. “The two of you are going to be very happy,” he predicted. “You won’t find a better man.”
Callie linked her arm through her father’s. “I know.”
Arm in arm, they walked through the mansion and out onto the sprawling lawns. It was a picture perfect late May afternoon. Originally, they’d wanted a fall wedding, but had decided it was a bad idea to have the wedding so close to the election. A winter wedding had been out because Callie really wanted the ceremony to be held at Cliff House, where their relationship had essentially begun. So in the end, they had settled on late spring.
As soon as her cousins, Rachel and Allison, as well as Sara—Callie’s three bridesmaids—and Lauren reached the steps of the Tea House, which was serving as the alter, the orchestra began to play the traditional bridal march. She’d asked Sara to be in the wedding, not because the two had become friends, but because she knew Dylan would want her there. Callie suspected that was the only reason Sara agreed. In truth, Callie wasn’t sure she would ever have a friendly relationship with her half-sister.
All together, the diverse group of guests stood to watch Callie proceed toward Dylan, accompanied by her father. It was possibly the most eclectic group to ever attend a wedding. Schoolteachers, waitresses, and nurses sat alongside secret service agents, English aristocrats, and multimillionaires. Callie didn’t really see any of them though as she made her way down the aisle. She was solely focused on the tall, handsome man waiting at the altar.
He couldn’t take his eyes off the vision coming toward him. Callie was the most beautiful bride he had ever seen.
She’s mine forever. The single thought filled him with so much love and pride he thought his chest might burst.
Waiting for this day had been torturous. More than once, he’d stopped himself from trying to convince her to just elope. But he’d wanted everything to be perfect for her, so he’d somehow restrained himself. For the most part, he’d let her plan everything. The only aspect that had really been his idea was using the Tea House as the altar.
“I couldn’t be happier for you two,” Warren said, slipping Callie’s hand into Dylan’s. “I know you will take good care of each other.”
Dylan intertwined his fingers with hers. “You know it, Mr. President.”
