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I fell down next to him and wrapped my arms around him, rocking with him. Crying with him. Being with him. And that was when I realized the past could be forgotten but not erased. It was a part of us. It made us who we were. It decided the choices that we made and the secrets we kept hidden. The past was our present and future whether we wanted it to be or not.
Brandt tucked the picture into his pocket and then pulled out a simple silver ring.
“What’s that?” I asked softly.
He took my ring finger and slipped the band on. “Marry me, Baylor. Be my life. Be my future. Be my everything. Be my wife.”
Fresh tears streamed down my cheeks. I cupped my hand on his cheek and said, “Yes,” without hesitation.
He pulled me in and kissed me urgently, wrapping all his strength around my body as if I might fly away.
“No matter what,” I whispered into his ear.
“Don’t move. I’ll be right back.” He raced back to his apartment and came back with a fresh smile and a pocketknife. He carved B & B into the trunk and outlined it with a heart. It was juvenile, and we both laughed about it, but now this was our tree where the next chapter in our life began. Where a little piece of the past fell away and our future was clearer.
I STARED INTOthe mirror, applying the last of my mascara.
"Oh, my gawd! I can't believe you got engaged last month and you are already getting married in two weeks," my sister said, barging into the room and throwing herself onto the bed. She was always full of dramatics. "You know, I should be pissed that you're crashing my college celebration." She was on her back, scrolling through her phone.
"No, you should be mad because I'm getting married before you." I pointed the mascara wand at her. She had been dating Grady for four years, and I had only been with Brandt for two.
"You're right. Whatever. I'm too young to get married."
I laughed. "You're barely two years younger than me."
"Exactly why you shouldn't be getting married yet. You're too young."
She loved teasing me about getting married, but she actually loved the idea and supported me. She was going to be moving away with Grady anyway, so the separation anxiety wouldn't be as bad. Who was I kidding? It was going to be terrible. Everyone always mistook us for twins. We had an uncanny likeness, but our personalities couldn't be more different. I was a little more put together. She liked to call it anal, whereas she was a wallflower. She followed her heart one hundred percent, with no regard for reason, except for in the case of marriage. She didn't like the idea of being tied down. At least not right now.
"I'm ready, and when you're ready, I'll remember to give you a hard time about it."
I looked back in the mirror, swiping the mascara over my lashes one more time. I rarely wore makeup. My sister and I were fortunate that our fair skin with freckles didn’t need it. Tonight was a special occasion, though, so I made my eyes dramatic and wore my hair down with soft curls. My sister came up behind me, putting her hands on my shoulders and joining my reflection in the mirror.
"You look stunning. I'm really happy for you guys."
I put my hand on hers and smiled. “Thanks, sis.”
Tonight was our pre-wedding reception party. We decided to keep our wedding small, so we were getting married up north while visiting my sister's new college. My parents couldn't imagine us not having a reception, and since we were going to travel for a month following the wedding, they decided to throw us one before. We didn't have any other family, but we didn't have a shortage of friends. My dad was well known in the community for his charity work, and my mom was a social butterfly. She organized all sorts of clubs in the valley. They were incredibly selfless and always put my sister and me first, so not having a big celebration was out of the question.
"You've completely raised the bar with that makeup. Now, I have to go slave for hours to look half as good." She bounced out of the room.
My nerves flared when she left the room, but they weren't over getting married. They were of leaving her. For twenty years, we had been inseparable, and now I was going on some wild adventure, and she was going eight hours north for the next two years. That is, if she ever came back. Starting a completely new life was overwhelming.
A knock on my door drew me back to my dad standing in the doorframe. "Hey, Dad." I spun around and gave him a big smile.
He was six-foot-two, built like a professional runner, and still had a full head of sandy blond hair, hazel eyes, and the best smile wrinkles ever. I was close with both of my parents, but I was a total daddy's girl.
"You look beautiful. You nervous?"
"A little."
"I hope you don't mind that we are doing this for you. I know it's a lot. You know how Mom is, though."
At the same time, we said, "Go hard or go home," and then we both started laughing.
"Yes, I really appreciate it."
"Are you going to ride with us?"
