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Tears threaten to spill from my eyes as I process his words. This day has been a dream come true. I can’t believe all the work and planning Finn put into this moment. Words cannot even describe the love I feel for this man. “Of course, today is going to be perfect no matter what I wear because I’m going to be marrying you.”
“As much as I want to stay here with you reliving this moment over and over in my mind, we have a schedule.” He laughs. “Wow, I am starting to sound like my sister back on her wedding day. Lord, help me.”
“Say that again?”
We begin walking to the car with his arm around my shoulder and my arms wrapped around his waist. “What, that my sister was a total bridezilla in regards to keeping on schedule?”
I shake my head. “No, I am totally telling Kelsey that you called her that.”
We reach the car quickly, having parked upfront. “Meanie,” Finn calls from the driver’s side, sticking his tongue out at me.
“No, the other part,” I respond, buckling my seat belt and leaning over the center console.
Finn meets me halfway, his mouth barely touching mine. “Oh, you mean the part where today is my—no, our wedding day.”
My face beams. “Yeah, that part.” With one last kiss, we continue on our journey for wherever our family is waiting. I don’t even bother Finn asking for more details like I had on the ride up here. I glance down at my ring and process his words. He has held on to this ring all this time. Today I finally become Mrs. Griffin Reynolds.
I assumed we were headed to a hotel, but instead, we pull up to a charcoal gray-and-white-trimmed beach house. I notice the row of familiar cars parked around the driveway.
“What are we doing here?” I ask as I undo my seat belt and take in the house and its size.
“It’s ours,” he says as he exits the vehicle.
“Ours?” I scream, chasing after him. “What do you mean ours?”
“Okay, not ours.” He shrugs. “I rented it. Our family arrived last night, which was why your sister was ignoring you, not because she had work deadlines. They’ve been setting up everything for us.”
My eyes begin to fill up as I process all that Finn is saying. He has gone through so much this weekend to make it perfect for me, for us. “We can’t afford this.”
“Yes, baby, we can. It’s all taken care of. You deserve your happily ever after.”
Finn wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me into him. I kiss Finn slowly, savoring the way he tastes, but it quickly turns heated. He kisses me back in a way that makes me forget that my heart was ever broken, that we had spent anytime apart, and for a moment that we are about to get married.
“Lauren Elizabeth Lawson, you better get off that man, not get him off!” I hear my sister yell behind me.
I groan, which only makes Finn deepen the kiss more. Kate and our family can wait as I continue to assault my fiancé’s mouth. Oh my God, the butterflies I get in my stomach calling him that, and in just a few short hours, I get to call him husband. After years of scribbling “Mrs. Lauren Reynolds” in my notebook, my dream is finally coming true.
I turn to face our family, who is taking up the entire front steps of the beach house, still in Finn’s arms.
I can’t hold back my smile or the tears as I hold up my left hand, showing off the diamond ring that had finally found its way home to my finger. Our families erupt in cheers and celebration, rushing to us both.
After all the congratulations, hugs, and kisses, the women whisk me away to a wedding dress boutique in town in search of the perfect wedding gown.
Standing in the dressing room, I stare at myself in the mirror. How did I go from Lauren Lawson, plain old second-grade teacher, to soon-to-be Mrs. Finn Reynolds searching for the dress I will wear when I say I do?
This is now dress number four I tried on; I just didn’t love any of them. This dress is beautiful, don’t get me wrong, it’s just not the one for me.
“Well, are you going to stay in there all day, or are you going to come out and show us,” my sister shouts impatiently.
I sigh before I come out from behind the curtain. A collection of “oohs and ahhs” from Finn’s mom and sister, as well as my mom and Dani, greet me as I step up onto the platform. I spin in the mirror but chew on my bottom lip, feeling disappointed from this experience. I want to marry Finn today, and hell, I would marry him in leggings and a T-shirt if I could, but now that I’m here trying on dresses, I want to find the right one.
“What do you think, sweetheart?” my mom chimes in.
I shrug. “It’s nice, but…maybe I’m just not going to find it.”
Kate is watching me intently in the mirror, sensing my disappointment. I hold her gaze, but my attention is quickly drawn away to a mannequin standing in the corner. It has on a simple halter dress covered in white lace and an empire waistline. Through the reflection, she follows my trail of sight, landing on the dress. The corners of her mouth turn upward.
“I believe we found the dress,” she says, rubbing her hands together in excitement.
