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I’m tempted to go meet her halfway but force my feet to stay in place and let her come to me because that feels important. I want her to have her moment of being the center of attention for everyone, not only for me.
She’ll be the center of my universe for the rest of our lives.
In a few more steps, Janey’s in front of me. She hands her bouquet to Mason, her man of honor, and I whisper, “You look beautiful.”
“You do too!” she whispers back.
Everyone’s quiet, so they hear us both and laugh, which makes Janey blush. A year ago, I would have been pissed, but I’ve learned to read the laughter too. It’s the laughter of love.
When Janey looks around, she sees Gabriella holding up an iPad with a whole group of people from The Ivy on the screen. They couldn’t come but wanted to be here for us both, so live streaming it was a way to share with them. “Hi, guys!” she says, waving to her coworkers and patients, who wave back. “I’m getting married!”
They laugh, and there’s some chatter, and I’m pretty sure I hear Ace’s voice in the mix, “Protect the queen, kid.”
He doesn’t mean on the chess board. He’s talking about Janey, protective of her in a fatherly way even now, and I nod, having every intention of doing just that.
Janey turns back to me and we join hands. We decided to marry ourselves, and luckily, our state allows that, so there’s no officiant to make a big speech. It’s simple, it’s us, and that’s enough.
I swallow thickly and start. “I suck at words. And people. And talking to people. But you didn’t care. You climbed right into my cold heart and poured your sunshine in, making yourself at home there, fixing it with your love. You became my family and then gave me mine back.”
I risk looking away to scan the people around us. Mom is crying quietly, Dad’s stoic with his arm wrapped around her, Kayla’s smiling through happy tears of her own, and my brothers are tight-jawed. We’re such carbon copies of each other, and I don’t know how I didn’t see that before.
To Janey, I finish, “I vow to love you the way you deserve to be loved—wholly, intensely, with kindness, and my full attention. I will devote my days to your smiles, my nights to your dreams, and my life to your happiness. I love you, Janey.”
I exhale, relieved. I did it.
“Wow,” she breaths as tears run down her cheeks. I swipe them away gently, placing a kiss to each cheek. “You are good with words.”
I can’t help but beam at the praise. If only she knew how many scribbled napkins, papers, and deleted notes on my phone it took to write those few sentences for her.
“Okay, my turn.” She fans her face, drying her eyes as she blinks. “I should’ve gone first because I don’t know if I can say everything I want to say now. I’m all...whoo!”
It takes her a few seconds, but she gathers herself and her thoughts. She takes my hands back, holding them tightly as she speaks.
“At one of my lowest points, you picked me up, dusted me off, and propped me up when I couldn’t stand on my own. You made me feel special. You showed me I had worth and was valuable, exactly as I was. And when I could finally stand alone, you stoodwithme, not in case I failed but because you wanted a front-row seat to see me rise. Out of all the people in the world, no one has ever chosen me, but you did. You chose me.”
She sniffles, and I gaze into her eyes, acutely aware of the healing she’s done and the hurts she’s let go of.
“You think you’re hard to love, but the truth is, loving you is the easiest thing I’ve ever done because we belong together. You’re my home, and I’m yours.” She places my hand over her heart, where I can feel the steady thrum of her heartbeat, and lays her palm on my chest. “And I vow to spend forever telling you how much I love you until you have no choice but to believe it, because it’s the truth. I love you, Cole. With my whole heart, for my whole life.”
She takes a breath, and to be fair, I’m not sure whether she means to say more or not, but I need to kiss her. Right now.
So I do.
Stepping forward, I cup her face in my hands, feeling her cheeks puff up in my palms as she smiles, and we seal our vows with a kiss.
“Whoo-hoo!” Kyle shouts, the echo reverberating through the woods.
“Congratulations!” someone else says.
Of course, there’s a lot of clapping from our family. Because these people, all of them, are our family now. Janey is a Harrington, and as complicated as our family may be, we’re going to be the best family she’s ever had.
EPILOGUE
COLE
“This seems like a really bad idea,”Mom warns, sounding exactly like a worried mother should.
But I’m sure about this.
