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Thankfully, they’d managed to find things to do they both liked and could live with, and she sure did like spending time with him. Time doing things and slow, Southern time where they simply sat on her back deck and watched the water lap up on the shore.
She lay in his arms, on a loveseat her Supper Club friends had bought for her deck, and he stroked her hair. It was a beautiful life, and Sage did enjoy her time with him. Perhaps that was enough. Did they have to get married?
Bessie and Wyn went out the back door to go to the altar, but Sage went with the other women out the main door and down the hall to another exit. Ty, Grant, Blake, Harry, and Scott waited there, and Shelby tipped up onto her toes and kissed her daddy’s cheek before she left first to go sit in the audience.
Sage’s lungs shook as she took a breath, her eyes locked on Ty’s. He was a handsome, handsome man, and she didn’t want to stand in her own way. She’d heard his stories about his ex, and she didn’t want to hurt him either.
“Wow,” he said almost under his breath. “This is the most gorgeous dress I’ve ever seen.” His eyes dripped down to her knees and then climbed again. “It’s short.”
“A little scandalous, right?” She grinned, glad Bessie hadn’t said anything about the length of the dress. She knew it wasn’t exactly traditional for a wedding, but Bessie had said she wasn’t trying to be conventional.
Ty took her into his arms and pressed his lips to her cheek. Even that was a passionate touch, and Sage leaned into it, silently telling him that she’d like to be alone with him to do more. Their eyes met as he pulled back, and oh, the devilish glint in those light hazel eyes…
“Ladies and gentlemen,” the employee said. “We’re ready for the procession. Let’s go.” She opened the glass door on the left, and someone else did it on the right. With them both open, they could proceed, and Cass and Harrison led them out.
Sage and Ty were last, right where Sage wanted to be. She didn’t need people seeing her first, and she didn’t need to make an impression. She absolutely loved Bessie, and she wanted to be there to support her. Plus, she did like getting all dressed up for an event. A glow seemed to come alive inside her when she did, and she thought she should do it more often, just to go to the grocery store or the beach. Just for fun.
Pavers led the way down the middle of the chairs that had been set up, and the sun had started to paint the sky in all the colors Mother Nature had to offer. They streaked through the deepening blue and got caught in the puffy clouds that floated through the sky. The orange could only be described as burnt, and the pink could only be called vibrant. Some violet and indigo streaked through that, with bands of light as well.
In the distance, past the altar where Oliver stood in a pristine suit of black, his dark hair slicked just-so, and his hands clasped, the world opened up.
Positively the whole world, with just sky and ocean and freedom. Sage closed her eyes and felt herself soaring through it for two steps. Then Ty’s presence at her side grounded her, and she looked over to him. He wore a smile too; he wore the dark suit too; he knew a lot of people here at this wedding too.
A lump formed in Sage’s throat, and she had no idea why.
When she reached the altar, she turned to the left while Ty went right, and she looked back down the aisle as Bessie and Wyn stepped to the head of it. They’d linked arms too, and they looked at one another for several long moments, each of them saying something, before they faced the crowd that had gathered and took the first step toward Oliver.
His smile grew and grew and grew with every step the women took, and when they reached him, he opened both arms and took them both into the safety of his chest. It was one of the most tender moments Sage had witnessed, only enhanced by the fact that she knew how grumpy Oliver Blackhurst could be.
For Bessie, though, he wasn’t. He attended to her every need, and Sage wanted that for herself. Didn’t she?
Or could she take care of herself?
In so many ways, these past years since her divorce, Sage had gotten so many things she’d wanted for so long. She didn’t have to consult with anyone about what color to paint the bathroom or which rug to put in the living room.
Yes, Cass had come with her and offered her opinion, but in the end, Sage got to decide. And she liked deciding. She liked that she could eat whatever she wanted for breakfast, without any comments about how she ate too much fruit, or that she hadn’t rinsed her bowl and put it in the dishwasher. Heck, if she didn’t want to cook, she didn’t. If she didn’t want to do dishes one day—or two days, or three, or a week—she didn’t.
The truth was, she’d been enjoying her independence in a way she hadn’t anticipated.
You’re still lonely sometimes, she thought as the ceremony started. She blinked, trying to clear her thoughts so she could be present for Bessie and Oliver.
“I always love seeing a couple at this altar,” the reverend said. “Especially a pair of people who can’t stop themselves from holding hands, and who aren’t in their thirties anymore.”
A ripple of chuckles moved through the crowd, though Sage wasn’t sure what age had to do with marriage. Plenty of people got married young and had great marriages. Some people didn’t, but the same could be true for people who’d gotten married later in life. Age didn’t matter.
Sage felt like she should know more than she did. She was fifty years old, for crying out loud. Why was she standing at her best friend’s wedding, wondering what to do with her life?
“I believe you two wrote some vows for each other,” the pastor said, and Bessie and Oliver turned toward one another.
Bessie shone like the moon, the stars, and the sun all in one, and she said, “Oliver, I know you like things to be short and sweet. You don’t want to listen to a lot of words when a few will do. So I’ll just say this: You came into my life right when I needed someone to challenge me, move me out of my comfort zone, and support me every step of the way. That person was you, and while sometimes I wanted to throttle you, I somehow fell in love with you instead.”
She grinned at him and placed both of her hands on his chest, gripped his lapel, leaned into him. “I love the way you take care of me, and I love the way you love me.” With that, she turned toward the pastor, then looked back at Oliver.
His throat worked as he swallowed, and Sage found herself tearing up too. A man who could show emotion ranked high on her chart, and she wished she still stood next to Ty, so she could cuddle into him.
She glanced at him and found him watching her too. His eyebrows went up, and she knew what he was asking. Did she want to stand at an altar like this…with him?
She gave him a smile and focused back on the couple. Oliver reached over and cradled Bessie’s face. “I love you with everything I have,” he said, his voice gruff and husky. “You are the ray of sunshine I’ve been searching for, and I can’t believe you love me.” His voice broke, and he shook his head, his smile there but wobbling. “I love you.”
