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“Never, ever let me hear you say something ridiculous like you ‘don’t deserve me.’ Because that’s flat-out wrong. You’re strong, courageous, and kind. I’d be lucky to call myself your friend, let alone something more.”
I felt myself start to warm, his compliments filling the sad, dreary place in my heart that had been there since our conversation at the bistro. I had known that I missed him, but I hadn’t noticed how thirsty I was for his love and affection.
He cradled my face, his eyes searching mine and peering into my soul. “Monica, I couldn’t stop myself from loving you. Even when I wanted to give up, terribly afraid our love had been lost in the blink of an eye with your memories, I couldn’t stop loving you. And I never will.”
I pressed up into his kiss, my heart rejoicing as we connected. Every doubt and fear and reservation had been hiding in the shadows of the memories I’d fought so hard to reclaim. Jake banished them completely, his lips fused to mine and his hands gentle on my skin.
Why had I fought this? How had I ever forgotten how perfect this was?
“I love you so much,” I breathed between kisses. “I’ll never forget how much, I promise.”
He kissed me again and pulled away. His lips curled into a smile, and he pressed them to my forehead before pulling me into his arms. “I’ll always be here to remind you if you do.”
Epilogue
JAKE
Fifteen minutes later, I held my speech and a microphone as I waited for the applause to die down. Monica had just given her maid of honor speech, full of sweet stories about her big brother Bryce and her hopes for their future. She was gracious and beautiful and I couldn’t keep my eyes off her.
But now it was my turn.
“You sure know how to bide your time, Bryce, I’ll give you that.” Laughter frittered through the barn, and I grinned. “I’m just kidding. You know, contrary to popular belief, Bryce didn’t actually spend the last fifteen years pining away for Krystal.”
I paused, giving time for the anticipation to build. “No, he spent it becoming the man he needed to be for her.”
My throat grew thick with emotion as the weight of my next words struck me fresh. “The very best man I know,” I added, pushing past the tears that threatened. “Krystal, you couldn’t have chosen a better husband. And, Bryce? Well, you couldn’t have chosen a better best man,” I said with a wink, drawing laughter from the crowd again.
I waited for a moment and watched as Krystal and Bryce joined hands and looked back up at me with broad smiles. I glanced at my notes, unsure about where to go from here. I had planned a pretty generic speech for them, unable to put my whole heart into public congratulations when it was busy questioning the purpose of love and commitment and whether someone could truly accept someone imperfect.
But as I looked just past Krystal, I could see Monica. And I set the paper down and grabbed my champagne flute instead. That speech wasn’t what I needed to say.
“Krystal, I have some news for you. This might come as quite a shock. Come here.” I leaned in and whispered into the microphone. “Bryce isn’t perfect.”
Laughter rose from the crowd again, and Krystal gave a pretend shocked face.
I stood up and kept going. “I know, I know. I didn’t believe it either, but it’s true. Trust me, I’ve lived with the guy, and we’ve walked through some pretty hairy situations. I mean, he’s saved my life, but the guy saws logs like a lumberjack.” Bryce buried his face in his hands and his shoulders shook with laughter.
I let the laughs fade and my voice grew serious. “But here’s what I know: If you’ll stand by him, respect him, and love and encourage him, there is nothing he won’t do for you.” I glanced at Monica for a moment, wondering if she knew I was talking to her as much as I was talking to Krystal. “I know Bryce better than I know myself, and the way he loves you is beyond compare.”
“And, Bryce? If you’ll adore, love, and build up Krystal, she’ll continue to think you hung the moon. More importantly, she will thrive as a wife and a woman of God. She’ll grow to a deeper understanding of how amazing she is, because you will show her every day.”
If I had anything to say about it, I was going to spend every day of my life showing Monica exactly that. I kept going, casting a vision for Bryce and Krystal while thinking of me and Monica.
“Your love may have taken fifteen years to come together, but I know it will never come apart. Together, if you choose those things—unconditional love, respect, gratitude, encouragement–the two of you, with God leading you, will be able to withstand any challenge that life throws your way.”
I smiled down at my newly-married best friend. “You are each pretty great on your own, but together? Wow. Together, you’ll be something else entirely. You’ll be a family. You’ll be a picture of what can happen when you trust God to lead you. And because neither of you is perfect, you’ll be a picture to the world of what forgiveness and grace looks like.”
I raised my glass and turned toward the rest of the wedding guests. “To Bryce and Krystal!”
NATHAN WELLS
I took another sip of my drink and wondered if it was too early for me to leave yet. If it wasn’t Bryce’s wedding, there was no chance I would have come at all. Not when I felt the eyes of every person on me. I could practically hear the questions they were desperate to ask.
Why did you move out, Nathan? How could you leave your kids? What about Rebecca? Don’t you love her?
Listening to the wedding sermon had been tortuous. Yet another reminder of my failure as a husband and father, this time with scripture to back it up. More Bible-thumping rhetoric here in Minden. What else was new?
Once upon a time, I accepted all of that as blindly as everyone else. Where had it gotten me? My life was a house of cards just waiting for me to stumble and have it come crashing down.
