My heart sank.
“So I won’t be able to stay more than a few weeks?”
“If we just head to Florida next week, like we’ve planned, you can’t stay more than a couple of months.” His eyes met mine.
“Is there a but?” I asked.
“Kinda.” He scratched his chin. “Jesus, this is so not how I pictured this moment.”
“This moment?” I wrinkled my nose. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, I just…” His voice trailed off and he stared into my eyes as he reached for my hands. He pulled me against him and wrapped his arms around me. “We wouldn’t have to worry about it if we get married.”
“M-married?” I was probably gaping at him, but I was completely floored. “It’s been less than a month.”
“I know.” His eyes hadn’t left mine. “But I don’t want to be without you for any length of time and the only way I can keep you with me, no matter where I go or what I do, is if we’re married.”
“And…you want to?”
“Call me crazy, but yes.” There was the tiniest flicker of uncertainty in his eyes. “I’ll make you happy, Noelle. We’ll have a good life. I want this. I know it’s fucking crazy but I want you.”
“If I say yes, there has to be a prenup.”
“Okay.”
“And I don’t want a big wedding. Just you and me, at the outdoor rink. New Year’s Eve.”
I nearly choked. “What?”
“New Year’s Eve is my favorite holiday, the rink is where we met, and the outdoor rink is the most romantic place in Garland Grove.”
“Did Kingston put you up to this?” he demanded, though there was a smile on his face.
“Kingston?” I was so confused. “What are you talking about?”
“Never mind. Just an inside joke with Kingston and I…but seriously, will you marry me, Noelle?”
“Yes.” I closed my eyes as he kissed me, our bodies moving together naturally, as if we’d been doing this much longer than a month.
“I don’t think there’s a waiting period here,” he said.
“No. We just have to get the license.”
“Do you have a minister you’d like to perform the ceremony?”
I shook my head. “I’m not religious, so anyone you find is okay with me.”
“My mother and brother will have to be invited,” he said. “And while I don’t think Kingston can come back, he might if I charter a plane from New York.”
“And Connie and the kids.”
“Rudy and Vera.”
“Dwayne and Tandy.”
“Horace.” We said the bartender’s name together and burst out laughing.
“Oh my god.” I remembered something. “Horace is an ordained minister. I don’t know the details, but he performed the ceremony for a gay couple that frequents his bar so let’s have him marry us! The Twisted Tinsel Bar was our first date, right?”
He chuckled. “It was and if he can marry us, that works for me.”
“Oh my god.” I threw myself at him all over again. “Are we really doing this?”
“Yes.” He kissed the top of my head. “But before we do anything else, I have to tell you something.”
“Okay.” I looked up curiously.
“I don’t want to say the words yet.”
“What words?”
“The L-word.” He brushed his fingers across my cheek. “We’re rushing into everything, so let’s hold out on that until the time is right. Something romantic and private and just for us. I couldn’t surprise you with a ring or an engagement or even a wedding, but I’d like the first time I say those words to you to be the most personal, romantic, and wonderful moment in time we could ever imagine.”
I tried to blink away my tears but they fell anyway. “You are truly the most amazing man I’ve ever met.”
“And you’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever met.” He rested his forehead against mine. “So…you still want kids, right? Because if not, that’s okay, but you have to be the one to tell my mother.”
I laughed. “I do want kids. Not quite yet, but yes.”
“Are you going to be comfortable hosting big team parties in Florida?”
“With you at my side, I’ll be comfortable doing anything and everything.”
“Who should we tell first?” he asked, pulling me close again.
“Your mom. Then Connie.”
“Then we talk to Horace.”
“And Kingston.”
“We have a lot to do in the next few days.”
“But there’s only one thing I want to do right now.” I pulled my top over my head.
Remy’s eyes darkened. “That makes two of us.”
“I now pronounce you…man and wife!” Horace grinned at us. “You may kiss your bride.”
We were on the outdoor ice rink of the arena surrounded by a handful of the people closest to us. Kingston had arrived an hour before the ceremony and was taking a red-eye back to the east coast late tonight. He stood up for Remy and Connie stood up for me. Horace had kept the ceremony short and to the point, and when we kissed, everyone clapped.
Everyone in attendance was on skates, except Daphne, whom Ashton was holding since she’d taken a liking to him, and the moment we kissed we were immediately surrounded by everyone as they wished us good luck.
“Instead of a first dance, how about a first skate?” Dwayne suggested. “Pick a song, any song, and I’ll get it on the speakers.”
“Would you indulge me?” Remy asked me.
“Of course.”
“The Beatles’ ‘Here, There and Everywhere,’” he said softly.
“I love that song,” I whispered.
“And I love you.”
We both froze, our eyes locked.
“I…” He seemed at a loss for words, as if he hadn’t planned to say it.
“I love you too,” I said softly. “Pick me up.” I reached up and he grabbed me by the waist, lifting me so I could wrap my legs around his waist. “It’s been on the tip of my tongue all day, and as usual, you beat me to it. I love you, Remy Knight. And this was the absolute most romantic time to say it.”
He crashed his mouth to mine and I heard Kingston yelling, “We play in Fort Lauderdale in March, big brother!”
I felt my new husband groan.
“What’s that about?” I asked, chuckling.
“I’ll tell you later.” Then he kissed me again. And again.
Epilogue
Remy
One Year Later
* * *
It had been almost a year since the last time I’d been to Garland Grove. Noelle had been back and forth, keeping an eye on the arena and helping Connie get settled in her new life. Connie had broken up with Craig and moved into a small town house a few minutes from the rink, and from what Noelle told me, her life was a thousand times better than it had been.
It was Christmas Day and we’d driven in from Vancouver, including my mother and brothers. We had to get back to Fort Lauderdale by the thirtieth, so I’d arranged to meet up with the other owners of the arena, who’d also planned to be in town for the holidays. It would also allow me to give Noelle her final Christmas present in what I hoped was a romantic, thoughtful way. We’d spoiled each other for our first Christmas as a married couple, but I loved doing it and she was getting more and more comfortable with letting me.