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“Paige…” Pastor Walter said when she remained silent.
She gave him a nod and squeezed Joel’s hands. “Joel, you were always there for me. Whether it was at my mom’s funeral, or climbing a cliff, or holding me close when something didn’t feel right, you were always there. Falling in love with you was easy, trusting you felt so natural, but you did have onehugeflaw…you wouldn’t listen. After I left, I wondered if you had every really listened to a single thing I’d said because I waited for you to come get me, bring me home, but you didn’t, and I began to see that there was a world outside of the mine…shocking I know. When I joined the rescue team, I was still trying to prove something to you and Dad even though I didn’t let you know what I was doing but somewhere along the way it stopped being about proving something and became the single thing in my life that I knew without a doubt I could handle. When the pain of working the disasters got to be too much, I decided to change it up and start rebuilding them but really I was trying to rebuild myself. I felt this sense of dread when I got the call that you were trapped but I also knew there was no way I was going to let anyone else try and bring you all home.
“No matter how many times I tried to tell myself it wasn’t, this is my home,youare my home. I will never be the type to sit on the sidelines when something goes wrong, but I will promise to always think of you and our family before I react. You needed me to rescue you from the mine, but I never expected you to rescue me from the shadow that my life had become. I always thought my mom was a bit crazy, but she was right, you and I were meant to be. She told me the day she died that one day I was going to find the man who would make me laugh, cry, want to scream and tear my hair out, all the while wanting to hold him as tightly as I could and never let go.
“I never thought I could feel like that, so completely out of control but that was the way I felt the first time you kissed me. We’d been arguing…naturally, and I honestly had no idea why until you kissed me and then everything became clear. I will never stop wanting to feel like this because it means that I’m alive and you’re beside me. Without you I can survive but I can’t live and now that you’ve finally learnt how to listen, well, be prepared to feel the exact same way that my mother said I would about you. I love you. I’ve never stopped. If you don’t believe me there’s a whole group of people out there who can vouch for that statement but you’re wrong about being the lucky winner. That was me the day you gave me your heart. I will never run away from you or my feelings again that I promise you.”
Pastor Walter cleared his throat and she saw a shimmer of moisture in his eyes as he looked between her and Joel. “Do you, Joel Andrew,take this woman, Paige Elizabeth, to be your wife; do you promise to be a loving and loyal husband, to cherish and keep her in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, to be faithful only to her as long as you both shall live?”
“I do,” he stated.
“Do you, Paige Elizabeth, take this man, Joel Andrew, to be your husband; do you promise to be a loving and loyal wife, to cherish and keep him in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, to be faithful only to him as long as you both shall live?
Paige looked up into Joel’s face and pasted a smile so bright onto her lips that he wondered what she was up to. “Yes…I do.”
Joel threw back his head and laughed before breaking tradition and kissing her.
“We’re not quite there yet,” Pastor Walter stated. “Could we have the rings? Joel, please repeat after me. With this ring I thee wed.”
“With this ring,” he repeated sliding the band onto her finger, “I thee wed.”
“Paige, with this ring I thee wed,” Pastor Walter led.
“Withthisring, I thee wed,” she stated sliding the matching band onto his hand.
“Now by the grace of God I finally get to say what this entire town has been waiting for, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your bride,” Pastor Walter stated.
The eruption of cheers began before his lips touched hers and she couldn’t help but laugh. She heard Sam shout out across the yard, “Hey Lenny I won!”
“Unfair advantage…” Ben stated.
“Nothing’s unfair when it comes to love,” Joel said as he cupped her face in his hands.
“I’m surprised there even was a pool. After all, we’re a sure thing,” she returned.
“That we are,” he agreed as he kissed her again.
The evening sped by, and her cheeks hurt from smiling but she couldn’t help it. They were about to leave and the crowd had gathered around the back of the Jeep waiting for her to throw the bouquet. She grinned spying Matt and Hillary talking away and aimed the flowers towards her.
“When can we expect you back at work?” Sam inquired as his arm snaked around Kendra’s waist. “Some of us have families to get home to at night.”
“Well, some of us have wives who we’re going to have to watch so closely that I don’t know if I’ll have a spare minute to breathe. After all I can’t have my baby doing something stupid like walking across a valley full of machinery and building materials,” Joel countered kissing her temple.
“Why do you have to watch her so closely?” Jesse asked suspiciously.
“Because I’m not going to let anything happen to my babies,” he replied.
“Wait did you just say…” Tami questioned sending Paige a look. “You’repregnant?”
“I thought that was…” Kendra said pausing before she finished the sentence.
“Seems I got Dad’s selective hearing.”
“So, it’s true?” Cord asked as his entire body began to liven.
“Yes Dad, you’ll get to hold my baby long before you ever think of leaving us.”
“Take care of my little girl, Joel,” Cord stated giving her another hug.
