He meets my gaze and brushes my hair out of my face. “It’s up to you, darlin’. If you still want to get married in six days, I won’t let anything stand in our way.”
I gaze around the room to see that most everyone’s eyes are on me and I suck in a breath as I glance back up at him and nod. “Let’s do it. He doesn’t get to control my life anymore.”
“That’s my girl,” he whispers, tightening his hold on me as he presses his lips to my forehead and I close my eyes.
It’s something I’ve waited so long for and I can’t believe in just six days, I’ll finally be Mrs. Noah LeBlanc.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Kady
“Kady,” Hannah sings in my ear and I groan, rolling away from her as I pull the covers over my head. She shoves me. “Time to get up sleepy-head. It’s your wedding day and there are donuts and coffee in the kitchen.”
Throwing the covers back, I peek open one eye and glare at her. “I’m only getting up for the coffee and donuts.”
“Oh?” She arches a brow. “Not even for your wedding in two and a half hours?”
“Okay, maybe that, too,” I admit as I sit up and swing my legs over the edge of the bed. “But, you know, donuts first.”
She laughs. “Yeah, okay. Why don’t you jump in the shower and when you get out, Quinn can start on your hair and I’ll have breakfast for you?”
I agree as I climb out of bed and yawn. She goes back out into the living room as I duck into the bathroom and turn on the shower. It quickly fills with steam and I strip out of my pajamas before stepping in and sighing. Oh, this is exactly what I need. The whole planning a wedding in a week thing has been stressful, for sure, and I have no idea how I would have done it without all the help from the girls. I’m amazed at the way they’ve welcomed me into the fold and for the first time, I can see the family that this club is - the kind of family I always wanted it to be. When I say “I do” to Noah today, I’m not only gaining a husband but also a bunch of wild, crazy brothers and sisters who would do anything for us.
Like last night.
Noah and I had plans to go out to dinner to celebrate our last night as single people, not that we’ve ever really been single, when we got a call from Streak that we needed to get over to the clubhouse right away. We, of course, assumed it had something to do with Oliver but when we got there, they had a surprise dinner set up for us to celebrate our wedding today. It was so sweet and really just reinforced all the ways that the club has changed in the last seven years. After dinner, I told Noah he had to stay the night at the clubhouse with the boys while the girls all came over to my house for a sleepover. He wasn’t happy about it but he’s also been pretty agreeable the closer we get to the wedding so he wasn’t all that hard to convince either. Although, he did make sure I knew that Streak would be monitoring all the security measures at my house and he’d know the second anything went down. I’m choosing not to focus on that, though. Today is my wedding day and I’m finally marrying Noah so I have nothing but positive energy. Everything is going to work out just fine.
When I’m done showering, I step out and dry off before slipping into the wedding lingerie I picked up to surprise Noah and the silk robe that says “Bride” across the back that Hannah gave me. I open the door and Hannah smiles as she hands me a donut and a cup of coffee. I practically moan as I take them from her.
“Bless you.”
She laughs before walking over to one of the kitchen chairs positioned in front of my full length mirror as Quinn walks into the room. “Have a seat. We need to get started on your hair.”
“‘Kay,” I mumble around a big bite of my jelly filled donut as I sit down and set my coffee on the bedside table next to me. Hannah pats my shoulder before leaving the room again and Quinn pulls out a brush and a blow dryer.
“So, what are we thinking?”
I twist my head back and forth as I stare at my reflection. “I think just curled. Let’s keep it simple.”
“I can do that,” she says. She gets down to work, blow drying my hair first and we chat about her daughter and how she met Smith before she cuts off the blow dryer and pulls out a curling wand. This time, I tell her the story of how I met Noah and how ridiculous he was, even back then, and she has to stop because she’s laughing so hard.
“Oh my gosh,” she whispers. “I mean, he seemed a little…”
“Cocky? I think the word you’re looking for is cocky.”
She shakes her head. “No, but just… so damn sure of himself. I mean, you should have seen him before he actually found you. He was absolutely miserable but no one could tell him that it was hopeless and believe me, people tried. He knew he would find you.”
“That boy,” I sigh and she laughs as she gets back to work, telling me about what he was like when he was still searching for me and the more I learn, the more my heart aches. God, I was so consumed with keeping myself safe and hiding from Oliver that I never stopped to think about how crazy he must have been as he searched for me and to know that his faith never wavered… I didn’t think I could love him more but Quinn just proved me wrong.
“Okay, what do you think?” she says as she steps back. Taking the last sip of my fourth cup of coffee, I set the mug down on the nightstand before turning toward the mirror and smiling. I’m glad I didn’t go with a more “traditional wedding” style. This day is all about Noah and me so no one is going to care that we just curled my hair instead of doing some elaborate up-do.
“It’s perfect, Quinn. Thank you.” I give her a hug and she beams at me as I pull away.
“Glad I could help and thanks for letting us all stay over last night.”
I nod. “Of course. Y’all have been so much help in planning this thing.”
“Don’t mention it. I think Hannah’s ready to do your makeup,” Quinn says, checking her watch. “Then, we’ll get you in your dress and take you over to the cabin.”
“Is everything ready over there?”
Noah and I went back and forth on where we should have our wedding before settling on Kodiak’s cabin. He hasn’t been living there since he met Tate but he hung onto it and it has a beautiful pond in the front yard that I thought would be perfect to get married in front of. Kodiak agreed without much of a fight and the girls got to work putting everything together, which was a relief since I had no idea what I was doing.
“Yep. Ali went over and double checked it last night and Tate went over there with Jack early this morning to make sure everything runs smoothly. All you need to worry about is looking gorgeous.”
I lean back in my chair. “Well, I suppose I can handle that.”
“You want me to bring you more coffee?” she asks, pointing to the empty mug and I shake my head.
“No, if I have anymore, I’ll start getting the jitters.”
She nods. “How about I bring you some tea to calm your nerves a little?”
Before I can object or tell her I don’t really like tea, she leaves the room and I sigh, unable to wipe the smile off my face. I can’t believe today is really the day. It feels so surreal after all the years I spent thinking this would never happen but in just a little over an hour, I’m going to be married to my best friend.