“Well, sit down,” I instruct, gently walking backward toward the bed as she holds a piece of my hair. As I sit on the edge of the bed, she sits behind me and sighs as she gets back to work.
“You look stunning, Tate. If he weren’t already barefoot, you’d knock Kodiak’s socks off.”
I catch sight of the scars on my arm and collarbone and sigh. Maybe I should have gotten a dress with sleeves. “I hope so.”
She follows my gaze and pokes the back of my head with a bobby pin. “Knock it off. You’re gorgeous and Kodiak is one lucky bastard.”
“Ow,” I mumble, rubbing my head. Physically, I healed from Devlin’s attack fairly quickly but the emotional side of it still haunts me daily. Of course I don’t know what I’d do without Lincoln. He wakes up each morning and the first thing he does is kiss every scar on my body, telling me how beautiful I am. If it wasn’t for him, I don’t even want to imagine where I would be.
After I was released from the hospital, Lincoln took me home and promptly moved in. Neither one of us was willing to be away from the other after we almost lost it all and I still needed a lot of help as I healed. Rodriguez came by a few days after we were settled in and delivered the news that they’d found Devlin’s body on the edge of town. They also found journals detailing all his plans at his house so as far as the police department was concerned, the case was all wrapped up with a tidy little bow. I thought I would find some peace in knowing who killed my mother but I don’t. Instead, I’m still haunted by the type of man my father is but I suspect that’s something I’ll have to learn to live with.
“Knock, knock,” someone says and I smile as Theo opens the door and pokes his head in. When he sees me on the bed, he sucks in a breath and a wide smile stretches across his face. “You’re beautiful, T.”
“Thanks, little brother.”
He growls. “The only reason you’re going to get away with that is because it’s your wedding day.”
“Uh, Tate?” I glance across the room as Carly ducks in through the sliding glass door. “I don’t want to alarm you but there are some dark clouds rolling in.”
“I’m done, you can get up,” Ali says, patting my shoulder. I stand and make my way across the room, pulling the sheer white curtain back to peek outside. She’s right. Dark, ominous clouds are rolling in toward the beach and I can’t help but smile. For some reason I can’t explain, it feels like Mom is with us here, which is the whole reason Lincoln and I decided to get married in Grand Isle where everything started for us.
“It’s perfect,” I whisper.
“Well, perfect or not, unless you want to get rained on, we should do this now.”
I nod, turning back to her. “You and Ali head down to the beach and get the guys ready, okay?”
Carly nods as she flashes me a smile. “I’m on it. Come on, preggo.”
“When I finally catch you, I’m smacking you for that comment,” Ali growls, struggling to climb off the bed. Theo rushes over and helps her up. “Thank you.”
The girls leave and Theo throws his arm around my shoulder, smiling down at me. “Ready to do this?”
“More than ready,” I answer with a nod.
“Me, too. After today, you won’t be my problem anymore.”
I roll my eyes and give him a little shove. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily, Teddy.”
“I told you to never call me that again,” he gasps and I laugh as I take one last look in the mirror, tucking one of the little white flowers behind my ear. When it came to the wedding, Ali kind of took over and I was happy to let her since I don’t know the first thing about planning a wedding. Honestly, if it had been up to me, Lincoln and I would have been at the courthouse months ago but now that we’re here, I’m glad she convinced me to let her plan things.
“Let’s go get me married,” I say, turning to Theo and he holds his arm out, allowing me to hook mine through it as he turns toward the sliding glass door. Speechless by Dan + Shay begins playing and I smile as Theo pulls the curtain back and we step out. All the guys, Rodriguez, Carly, Ali, Nix, Emma, and Mia are lined up on either side of our makeshift aisle and they all turn toward me but my gaze is solely focused on the man waiting for me by the water.
His smile lights up his face and his gaze never leaves mine as I slowly close the distance between us, my heart pounding and tears welling up in my eyes. A part of me can’t believe this is real – like maybe this is all just a dream and I’ll wake up any moment with only a figment of this happiness lingering in my heart. He bites his lip as his gaze drops down my body and warmth floods my system as my pulse spikes.
God, how did I ever get this lucky?
“You’re stunning,” Lincoln whispers after Theo passes my hand to him and a blush creeps up my cheeks. “I love you.”
“I love you,” I reply, staring up at him and the minister clears his throat.
“Shall we get started?”
Smith scoffs. “You’d better before we all get wet.”
“Yeah, maybe we should just jump right to the vows,” Storm says, glancing out at the ocean as the clouds roll closer.
“It’s fine with me if it’s all right with you two,” the minister answers, glancing at us and I nod at the same time Lincoln does. “All right, then. Lincoln and Tatum have prepared their own vows so I’ll let them take over. Lincoln?”
Lincoln clears his throat and pulls a slip of paper out of his khaki pants. “Tate, my gorgeous girl, I wasn’t looking for you when you walked into my life. In fact, I would even say I was actively avoiding what you represented but all it took was one look, one smile, the sound of your laugh and I was a goner. All my reasons for running didn’t matter anymore because running was no longer an option. You took me, a broken down man, and made me feel whole again. With you by my side, I know I can take on the world and for you, I would in a heartbeat. No one would ever say that you’re easy…” Chuckles ring out around us. “But you are emphatically worth it. Every time. I love you more than any words could express so I hope you’ll give me the next eighty years to prove it to you.”
A tear slips down my cheek and he grins as he reaches out and wipes it away.
“Tate?” the minister prompts and I pull the slip of paper out of the top of my dress. Lincoln’s gaze zeroes in on my cleavage and I roll my eyes, snapping my fingers in front of his face as everyone laughs. He meets my gaze again and blows me a kiss.
“Lincoln,” I breathe out, resisting the urge to roll my eyes at him as I recite my wedding vows. “I waited for you for so many years and along the way, I think I stopped believing in you – not you specifically – but I lost faith that you were out there, waiting for me. I lost faith that you and I would ever find each other and then you walked into my diner and pissed me the fuck off.” The minister coughs through his surprise as the guys laugh. “Even in that very first moment, you broke through my barriers and affected me like no one else ever had and I started to hope again. The road hasn’t been easy but it’s shown me the kind of man you are – one I can depend on, one I can build a future with – and I have faith again. Faith in you, in us, and faith that no matter where I go, you’ll always come for me because even when I was pushing you away, you never gave up on me. I love you with every piece of my soul and I’m so lucky to spend this life with you.”