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“How’s that?” he asked, turning to meet me with an eyebrow raised. “Now I have another friend in my corner?” he asked, using air quotes around friend.
“No. Now you have me to help you when things come up that your phone or pen can’t help you figure out. You have someone who understands that it’s a small facet of who you are, but it’s not the whole of you by any means. I’m not going to leave just because everyone else did, Lance. I’ve been in love with you since the first grade. Living and working with you the last few months has made me so incredibly happy I can’t even begin to describe how it’s healed my heart. Being with you, and I mean really being with you with nothing between us, told me that what I’ve been feeling all these years was real. The love I have for you wasn’t made up in my mind because you disappeared for years. It was real and it was just waiting for you to come back into my life.”
He pushed himself off the railing of the gazebo and stood to his full height. “You love me?”
I nodded, swallowing around the lump in my throat as he wiped away a tear that had fallen down my cheek. I grabbed hold of the lapels of his coat and offered him a shaky smile. “Is that okay?”
He grabbed my jacket and hauled me to him until our lips connected. We kissed there under the lights of the tree, taking the time to feel the emotions that flowed between us. His kiss told me he felt the same way, even if he was too scared to say it. I couldn’t blame him for not feeling secure enough yet to trust me with his secret. He’d been discarded by every woman he’d ever dated, but that was simply because he wasn’t with the one his soul was meant to have. Now he was, and I was going to prove it to him. I dug in deeper, taking control of the kiss. I tenderly held the back of his head until our lips fell apart naturally. I kissed him again, leaving my lips against his when I spoke. “I love you, Lance Garland.”
He pulled me closer to him and sighed. “I think I might be asleep right now and it’s going to suck when I wake up.”
I chuckled and pulled back enough to meet his gaze. “No, you’re not dreaming. We’re here together under the roof of the gazebo with the lights shining down on us admitting our feelings for each other. Well, I’m admitting mine. I don’t expect you to declare your feelings until you’ve had time to sort them out, okay? I just wanted you to know that I don’t care that you can’t read or write. I understand it’s beyond your control and I’m so damn proud of you for adapting to a life that you weren’t expecting to live. Not everyone can do that, Lance. A lot of people would have given up by now.”
His thumb stroked my cheek as he gazed down at me. “You love me. I’m still boggled by the idea, Gumdrop. I was willing to take you for as long as I could have you, even if you only stayed a few months. That was because I love you. I’ve loved you since the fifth grade when my mom helped me understand why I got so mad at you all the time for picking on me. I know we had a love hate relationship with each other for a lot of years, but I hope now we can drop the hate part and just concentrate on the love.”
I threw my arms around him and his strong arms lifted me from the floor of the gazebo to sway me back and forth. He loved me. There were never three words that sounded sweeter to my ears than those.
“Let’s just concentrate on the love and everything else will fall into place, okay?” I asked into his ear. A shiver went through him and he squeezed me tighter before he spoke.
“I sure hope so, because living without you now that I’ve had you, would be impossible. Should we go home?”
I kissed my way from his neck up to the scar at his temple. “Take me home and we’ll show each other our love in a way that can’t be denied.”
He set me on my feet, took my hand, and led me home.
The sleigh bells jingled as Ellis snapped the reins and the horses pulled the wagon through the tree grove toward the biggest tree on the farm. It was a special place at Evergreen Acres that everyone knew about now. For years, Cameron had kept the tree a secret, allowing it to grow undisturbed as a replacement for the Bells Pass Christmas tree in the park. If anything were ever to happen to it, he’d have a backup ready to transplant. The Bells Pass tree had been damaged in a spring storm a few years back, but it looked like Cameron had done a nice job and his repair had healed the tree.
“Are you nervous?” I asked the bride as we jostled our way through the fresh snow.
“Not even a little bit,” she admitted. “I trust you guys and I know you would never do anything to make me scared or nervous. Cameron is so happy that I picked a date, I know he’s not going to do anything to scare me either.”
“No, never,” I said, squeezing her hand at the same time Ivy squeezed her shoulder. “We’ve all got your back.”
“I’m the only one with a camera,” Ivy promised. “Everyone left their phones at the store.”
Becca nodded and I could tell she believed us. She was calm and her breathing was slow and steady. I understood now that when she was younger, she was taken advantage of by men with cameras, so seeing one aimed at her when she wasn’t ready for it always sent her into a tailspin. Cameron helped her understand that she had a condition called PTSD, and he got her the help she needed and deserved. She has learned coping mechanisms and how to trust other people. If Cameron hadn’t gotten her help, she likely wouldn’t have ever set a date for their wedding.
“I kind of wonder if I made a mistake, though,” she said, as she chewed on her lip.
“In agreeing to marry Cameron?” Ivy asked.
“No!” she exclaimed, her breath puffing white into the air. “I love that man. What I meant was with the camera. I’m worried that Cameron will be upset that we don’t have pictures of the actual ceremony. He agreed to pictures under the tree once the ceremony was over because he knows I need to be warned before a flash goes off, but like, that’s after the fact.”
Ivy rubbed her back and glanced at me for a moment with wide eyes. “Cameron will have his memories, Becca.”
“She’s right, and you could reenact the ceremony once it’s over, so you can be ready when the flash comes.”
The sleigh slowed and then came to a halt for a moment. Ellis turned to address us. “Sorry for interrupting but I couldn’t help but overhear what you were saying. I had an idea.”
“What’s that?” Becca asked, still chewing on her lip.
“Ivy has Cameron’s camera, correct?” Ivy nodded, holding it up. “Maybe she should record the whole thing.” Becca opened her mouth to object and he held up his hand. “I know that you don’t like someone to record you, but she has the only camera, and if she records the whole thing on Cameron’s camera, then no one will ever have a copy of it but you. Since we put up lighting in the field, the camera will be able to pick up the two of you with no problem.”
Becca was silent for a moment and then glanced at Ivy. “Would that work?”
“It would as far as the camera and the lighting is concerned. Would it work for you, is the real question? This is your wedding, and it needs to be what you want it to be.”
She nodded as Ellis started the horses again and we drew nearer to the field. “He’s right. No one else would have a copy but us if we use Cameron’s camera. I like the idea of having it recorded safely and I know Cameron isn’t going to put it on the internet.”
