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“Should we go upstairs?” Nick asked.
Gunner nodded again but then quickly looked at her for input. Better late than never, she thought. She didn’t care if they got married in the sanctuary or in the kitchen, but it was obvious what Gunner wanted, so she pointed at the ceiling.
Gunner exhaled in relief. He was nervous. She couldn’t blame him. He had a thousand reasons to be nervous.
On the way up the stairs, Nick asked, “Do you folks have vows prepared?”
Gunner had said no before she’d fully processed the question. “Can we just do something traditional?”
“Of course,” Nick said. “What about Scripture? Anything in particular you would like read?”
Again Gunner said no quickly. “Let’s just get this done.” He made it sound like an unpleasant chore, but she wasn’t offended. He was right. They had to get this thing done so they could get to Priscilla.
“Okay, let’s do something traditional then.” Nick took his phone out and started tapping on the screen. At first Nova thought he’d made some notes, but then she realized he was actually Googling traditional wedding vows. She bit back a laugh. Good grief this was going to be a story for the kiddos. The thought surprised her. It had been a long time since she thought about having kids of her own, but looking at Gunner made the idea seem irresistible. She didn’t know him that well yet, but she knew that this was a man who deserved to have kids to love and kids to love him. It was easy to envision how much those little ones would look up to their big tough ranching daddy.
They reached the sanctuary, which was pretty without all the lights on, only the daylight filtering through the stained glass. Her belly did a little flip, and it wasn’t nerves.
This is your wedding day, a weird voice whispered in her head. It was weird because it didn’t sound like her usual voices; this one was new. Yep, this was her wedding day, and this made her a little sad. She’d never once dreamed about a wedding day. She’d always been far too bohemian. She had never wanted to get married, and she’d figured that if she ever did fall so hopelessly in love that she couldn’t avoid it, then she’d get married on a whim in a field somewhere with her bare feet in the mud.
But she was in a church. This was it. She wasn’t going to get to do it for real. Ever. And that was okay because she was doing it for the kids. But it was still a little disappointing. It was still a little sad.
Because it wasn’t real.
You don’t know that yet, the voice whispered—and she had to admit that the voice was right. Ever since her mother had gotten sick, things had been moving so fast that Nova’s head had been spinning like a top.
She didn’t know anything about anything yet.
Nick turned and faced them. “Are you ready?”
She pivoted to face Gunner, and the look on his face did two things: make her giggle and take her breath away. She giggled because he looked pale. She stopped breathing because this man was gorgeous. His looks probably wouldn’t make him stand out in a crowd, but he was just so classically handsome and soruggedlooking. He was all man, this one—and he looked scared. She reached out and took his hand. “Ready,” she said to Nick without taking her eyes away from Gunner.
His lips curled into a small smile. “Yeah. I’m ready too.”
Chapter 23
Nick cleared his throat. “Okay, let’s begin.” He looked down at his phone and then began to read from some wedding script he’d found. Gunner didn’t even bother trying to focus on the words. He was too busy looking down at the beautiful woman who was holding his hand.
He felt a little guilty, like he was getting away with something, like he was tricking her into something. But he wasn’t. He’d been completely honest, and his intentions were pure. Still, he felt like he was getting the better end of the stick here. A kind, fun, gorgeous woman to call his wife and three kids to run around and enjoy the ranch? It was an insta-family. People would pay big bucks for this kind of thing.
The look in her eyes was making his knees weak. What was she trying to do, peer into his soul? But then Gunner realized that Nick was looking at him too—they were both staring at him. Gunner glanced at Ryker. Yep, him too. And Ryker had worry in his eyes.
Gunner knew he’d missed something, but this was his wedding. He couldn’t exactly say, “Huh?”
Nova stepped closer to him and grabbed his other hand. Now she held both of them. She caressed the back of his fingers with her thumbs and whispered, “All you have to do is sayI do—unless you don’t.” Her eyes sparkled with life.
“Yeah, I do,” he said quickly and heard Ryker exhale.
Sounding a bit amused, Nick asked Nova if she wanted to be his wife, and she smiled so brightly it rivaled the sun. “You bet Ido!” She let go of one of his hands to shoot a fist into the air, and Ryker laughed.
Oh good. Gunner had been worried that Ryker wouldn’t have a good time.
Nick told Gunner to repeat after him, and even though Gunner had asked for traditional wedding vows, now he interrupted the man. “If you don’t mind, I’m just going to wing it.”
Nova’s eyes widened at the words, which emboldened him, and Nick waved at him to go ahead.
Though it took some fortitude, Gunner managed to look into her eyes.
They rendered him speechless.
