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Angela headed out the door and rushed to the steps that led down to the beach. There stood Carter with a dozen red roses in his hands.
She ran up to him. She wanted to throw herself in his arms, but she resisted the urge. She couldn’t do that yet. First, they had to talk.
“I’m sorry,” they said in unison.
Her heart fluttered. There was a chance for a second chance.
“You can go first,” Carter said.
Angela would gladly go first. “I’m sorry I keep putting walls up between us. Ever since my mother died, I’ve been pulling away from you a little at a time. I didn’t know I was doing it until just now. But I’ve been afraid of losing you too. I just… I can’t imagine my life without you in it.”
He stepped closer to her. His gaze met hers. “Angela, I’m not going anywhere. I plan to love you until I’m a little old man.”
“That’s good because I plan to love you until my dying day.”
“And I’m so sorry for putting my career ahead of us. I won’t do it again. I might have to work some long hours, but we’ll talk about it and make sure there’s time for us.”
She reached out and cupped his cheek. “We can make it work.”
“And I’m sorry for what I said about the wedding plans. I didn’t mean it the way I said it. I had no idea you made all of those plans with your mother. Why didn’t you tell me?”
She definitely owed him an explanation. “At first, I didn’t mention it because we’d started working on it before you proposed. I think my mother knew we were meant for each other. She knew she was dying, and she didn’t want to waste any time.”
“What about later? When we were planning the wedding?”
She shrugged. “After she died, I just sort of shut down that part of my life. I didn’t want to cry every time we talked about the wedding.”
“I understand.” He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a great big hug.
It felt so good to be in his arms. It was like coming home. And, at last, everything was out in the open. Except for one thing…
She pulled back. “Today, I found a letter from my mother in the planner. I’d never seen it before. She told me to fight for our love—so that’s what I’m doing here. I’m sorry for being afraid to take the next step with you. I love you with all of my heart. And if you’ll give me another chance, I won’t let you down. I promise.”
“And if you give me another chance, I’ll put us first always. I promise. Starting by taking the rest of this week off and next week so we can have a honeymoon.”
Her eyes filled with happy tears. “Really?” When he nodded, she asked, “Where are we going on our honeymoon?”
“That’s a surprise.” He sent her a big smile.
That was it. She’d waited as long as she could. She lifted up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. This was only the beginning.
Epilogue
Themusicstartedtoplay.
Angela stood in the back of her church with her father by her side. Today was her wedding. Now that she and Carter had talked through everything, she was ready to take the leap into forever with him.
She could feel her mother’s presence there with them. Though the wedding plans had changed, she’d learned that the plans weren’t the important part—it was their love for each other.
Instead of the ceremony at the church where her parents had been married, they were getting married at the Seabreeze Wedding Chapel. With it being a much smaller building, only immediate family and close friends were included for the ceremony.
Her once-ruined wedding dress had been modified. Although she was still getting married in her mother’s dress, it was now knee-length and the sleeves had been removed. It worked well for a beach wedding.
As for the singer in the ceremony, Clara had ended up doing it. Their wedding planner not only had a beautiful voice, but she was like a magician the way she’d been able to pull this wedding together.
Angela had realized that she would marry Carter even if they were in jeans and in the middle of a pizza parlor. It wasn’t the details that mattered, just the love. Her mother had told her that.
“Honey, are you ready?” Her father’s voice drew her from her thoughts.
“I’ve never been more ready.”
They started down the aisle. There at the end, waiting for her, was the man of her dreams—her best friend—her future.
When she reached Carter, and he took her hands in his, she’d never been more certain about anything in her entire life. When the minister asked if she would take Carter as her husband, there wasn’t a bit of hesitation in her voice when she said, “I will.”
When they were announced as Mr. and Mrs., the bells above the Seabreeze Wedding Chapel rang out. Their dream wedding had been even better than she ever could have imagined.
