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“Okay then, I said what I came to say. I guess I’ll go.” She stepped forward as though she intended to hug Gray, but he stepped back. Suzanne stopped forward movement and gaped at him, which looked comical on her face. A slight shake of her head and she held her hand out to Sam. Gripping her hand in a firm handshake made Suzanne raise a brow. She smirked, and that was it. Suzanne turned and walked out the door.
Watching her walk out and close the door, Gray wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and laid his head on top of hers and rocked her back and forth.
“Are you okay?”
Sam took a deep breath. “Yes.” She turned in his arms and looked deeply into his eyes. Long moments passed before she found the words. “How do you feel?”
His brows furrowed slightly. “Fine. Great.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I’m getting married tomorrow, so excellent.”
His kissable lips parted in a smile and the breath caught in her throat. “I am too.” She stepped back, but stopped and looked into his eyes. “I’m proud of you. You didn’t let her manipulate you.”
He winked and softly replied. “I’m proud of you too. You didn’t let her get to you.”
She stepped into his arms and wrapped hers around his waist. The close contact with him soothed the little bit of fraying her nerves had just suffered. Hearing Jessie clear her throat, she stepped back, a smirk on her face.
“Okay. Well, I brought Pam and Jess back to show them the fourth floor, so I’m going to take them up.”
34
Gray peeked in on Sam. She’d fallen into bed as soon as they arrived home— thing was exhausted. She’d been running like crazy this past week trying to wrap up one job and get herself into a rhythm in her new job at Kinkaide & Associates. Not to mention bachelorette parties, wedding planning, and of course, Cheryl. She’d handled it all with grace and dignity. She just took it on the chin and kept moving forward. It was one of the things he loved so much about her—she just kept going. He’d fallen asleep with Sam in his arms thinking about how much he loved this woman. And he couldn’t wait until tomorrow when she became his wife.
He sat on the edge of the bed, and gently brushed his fingers through her hair. “Hey baby, time to get up.”
Her sweet eyes slowly opened and a sleepy smile stretched across her face. “Hey. What time is it?”
“Six-fifteen.”
She sat up and scrambled to the edge of the bed. “Oh, my gosh, we’re going to be late. Honey, you shouldn’t have let me sleep so long.”
“They can’t rehearse without us—we’re the bride and groom.”
She nodded. “Yeah, but it doesn’t look good that we ask everyone to be there and we show up late.”
She trotted to the closet and pulled dress pants and a blouse from hangers. He chuckled as he stayed out of her way. He sat on the edge of the bathroom counter and watched her powder her face, add mascara, eyeliner, and lip gloss. She curled her hair and chatted with him while she got ready and his heart felt like it would burst from happiness. This is what he’d wanted his whole life. Just everyday things spent with a person he enjoyed talking to, sharing with, planning with.
They arrived at the church at five after seven. Not too bad. Pam and Jessie walked over to Sam and gave her a hug.
They continued walking into the church and up to the stage where they would stand while saying their vows. Mary and Harry were sitting in the front row. They each took a seat in a pew and waited as Caleb walked in with Pastor Jay. As soon as Pastor walked up to the stage, he turned and looked at their small group and smiled.
“Hello, everyone. Are you ready to rehearse tomorrow’s nuptials?”
They nodded, and Pastor briefly explained how it would work. “Caleb, Jamie, and Gray will walk out in front of the stage and stand on the left of the stage facing the congregation. Once you are in place, Jessie, Pam, and then Sam and her boys will walk down the aisle. As the girls reach where the men are standing, the girls will grab their partner’s arm and walk up on stage using the center steps,” Pastor said, pointing along the path they would take.
“Once on stage, you will separate and walk to your respective sides of the stage.” Pastor returned to stand in front of them.
“Now, shall we practice?”
They belonged to a community church which had a full-fledged band that usually played every Sunday. The band had agreed to come in for the weddings here tomorrow and play for each of them. Sam had sent the music over a couple days ago.
The girls and Sam’s boys all walked to the back of the church. They were all walking her down the aisle. The groomsmen and Gray walked around to the side of the stage by the door leading out to the hallway where they would walk in. The pastor gave the signal and just then a door opened, and a man walked in with a guitar.
“Sorry, I’m a little late. I’ll be here tomorrow with the band, but thought it would help a little to have the music to help you rehearse. If you don’t mind, I thought I could play the guitar for you while you rehearse. My name is Jon Davis.”
“That’s very kind of you, Jon, and thank you very much. That will help a lot. I’m Sam.”
Sam smiled at him, and he nodded his head at her and headed up to the stage. It only took him a couple of minutes to pull his guitar out and sit on a stool. He played the acoustic version of one of tomorrow’s songs, Blake Shelton’s “God Gave Me You.” Gray picked it out for Sam for the processional. She’d never heard the song before, and he told her she would love it.
Jon started playing and singing the song.
