AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My heart hasn’t hurt at all since I started dating Nick.
I know I’ll face stress and anxiety again. The business I’m in—making movies—it is competitive. Demanding. Fast-paced and cutthroat. But I’ll get through whatever comes my way, because now I’m not alone.
And I never will be again,
I have Nick. My best friend and—soon… within minutes—my husband.
Pansy shuffles the pages. “Ah. Here we go. The beginning. That’s the best place to start, don’t you think?”
Nick nods. He gives my hands a gentle squeeze.
I know what he’s thinking.
We both know beginnings are important. But Nick and I have always liked endings the best. When we watch movies, we like to see things get wrapped up, neat and tidy. We like big finales, where everyone comes together to form a happy whole.
I catch his eye. This wedding is the happy ending of a big chapter of our lives. The chapter where we let ourselves really fall in love.
It wasn’t easy, but we took that leap.
Now, we’re going to start a new chapter.
For a woman new to officiating weddings, Pansy does a rock-star job of it. She walks us through our vows without a hitch, then reads a few verses of poetry with so much clarity, it’s like she’s speaking straight from her heart. When I peek out at our audience, I can’t find a dry eye in sight.
“And now, Nicholas, you may kiss your bride.”
Nick sweeps me into his arms. He lowers his lips to mine, and I swear, there are fireworks going off in this healthy young ticker of mine.
I’m breathless, spinning with joy, overwhelmed with happiness.
The future is spread out before us, and I can’t wait to step into it with my best friend at my side.
Chapter 31
Nick
Six months later
It’s8:51 on Friday evening.
I walk down Main Street at a brisk pace, eager to get to the diner. I haven’t been this late for a club meeting in months.
It took some doing, getting out of the clinic tonight, but I managed.
As soon as I step through the diner doors, Candice spots me. She breaks away from her game with Maria to join me by the door. “You got out!”
I chuckle and shake my head. “Much to Doctor Merriweather’s dismay. He’d have kept me all night.”
“We’ll get him to come here to have some fun one of these days. All he needs is to play a little.”
“I think he’s intent on being a grouch until the day he retires.”
“Let’s hope it’s soon,” she says with a wry smile.
I shrug off my coat. Now that it’s spring, I barely need it. It’s warm here in the diner. I sniff the air and catch a whiff of cherries.
“What’s Bertie Senior baking?” I ask, as Maddie joins us near the door.
My wife loops her arms around my waist. “That would be cherry pies. Three of them. Due out in twenty minutes.”
