She said jokingly that after everything she’s done for me, she was entitled to one surprise on the day of, and this is it. Because I have no idea who is standing on the other side of that barn door.
“How long is this going to take?” I ask. “Because the wedding’s supposed to start in five minutes, and if I’m late, Holden’s going to worry, and I don’t want him to.”
“Don’t worry,” she assures, “I sent Tammy to pass on that you might be a few minutes late.” She stops us just in front of the barn and guides me on where to stand, how to hold my flowers, and then adjusts my dress just right, and when she’s happy with everything, she stands back, and it’s only now I see how emotional she is. Her eyes are clouded with tears, and her breaths are ragged when she says, “Gosh, you look so beautiful.”
“Maggie…” I start toward her, but she holds up a hand.
“Don’t move. I got you perfect. Don’t ruin it.”
I laugh once.
“Okay, I’m going to open this door now!” she shouts to whoever is inside. Then she pushes open the door, and the first thing I notice is the videographer trying to catch the moment. And then I see him, and the emotions that take over are instant and overwhelming.
Zeke stands in a suit with his hands at his side, his hair and beard perfectly combed, and I recognize the way he’s looking at me, because I’ve looked at him that same way so many times before. With pride. With love. “Ah, shit, Jamie,” he says, his chest puffed, holding his breath to keep in his cries. But he can’t do the same with his eyes, eyes that release a single tear. He wipes it away quickly and steps toward me, but keeps his hands down. “I want to hug you, but I don’t...” He motions to my dress, then my face. “I don’t want to mess you up. You look so beautiful.”
I practically fall into his arms, and I don’t care about my makeup, or my hair, or the dress. All I want is to hug a man who was there for me in ways no one could ever understand. And he didn’t just care for me; he cared for my mother too. I was just thirteen years old when we entered his diner, and he knew… he knew we needed saving, and so that’s what he did. No questions. No regrets.
I pull away, trying to catch my breath, and he does the same. After one long, final exhale, I link my arm with his. “Are you ready to walk me down the aisle, Mr. Ezekiel?”
I see nothing else.
No one else.
As soon as the door to my garden opens, the only thing I can see, I can feel, is Holden. And as Zeke walks me toward him, I know deep in my soul that he feels the same. It’s not until I’m standing beside him in front of the water fountain that I take a breath, and then another. “I do,” Holden says, and I don’t even recall the local pastor saying anything.
“What’s that?” the pastor asks.
“I said I do,” Holden repeats, and the air fills with quiet snickers.
“Holden! You have to wait!” I recognize the voice as Mia’s and glance in her direction. She’s standing behind her best friend in a fitted tux that matches his, her hair slicked back in a low ponytail.
“Yes. I’ll take her as my wife, or whatever it is I’m supposed to say,” Holden rushes out. “Can I kiss her now?”
“I do too,” I announce. I don’t even bother hiding my smile as I look up at my soon-to-be husband. “Can he please kiss me now?”
More laughter from the guests and Holden’s lifting my veil, grabbing my face in both his hands the way I love. He dips his head, his mouth almost on mine when the pastor yells, “Wait!” Whatever look Holden and I give him has him throwing his hands in the air. “Bla bla bla bla, man and wife, you may now kiss—” Holden kisses me with the strength of a dozen kisses, a hundred promises, and a thousand tiny puzzle pieces that brought us to here. To now. To be husband and wife.
It’s true what they say about wedding days. It all happens so fast and then it’s over, and the only thing you have to hold on to are a few standout memories. Well, that and photos and videos, I suppose.
And as Holden and I sit side by side at a table in the barn that’s been converted to a reception with twinkling lights and white linen, Maggie standing on a makeshift stage holding a single dahlia as a microphone will definitely be one of my standout memories. “I forgot her shoes!” she says through a laugh, and if my calculations are correct, she’s about five glasses of wine into the night. Good for her. “You know what else I forgot? I forgot to write a speech!” She raises her glass in the air. “So here it is, Jameson Eastwood!”
“Ooh, I like that,” I giggle.
“Not as much as I like it,” Holden murmurs into my neck, his voice deep, husky, recognizable. The moment we’re alone, this dress is coming off, and his tux better not be a rental because I’m ripping that shit right off his body.
He kisses me just under my ear, making me squirm in my seat, and Maggie says into the dahlia, “You, my dear child, are the fucking tits.” The barn fills out loud laughter as her eyes widen. “Sorry, Granny Eastwood,” she mumbles. “Goodnight!” She drops the dahlia like a mic and saunters off “stage.”
“I like her,” Gina says, sitting beside me.
“She’s the best,” I reply.
Mia’s next, far more composed than Maggie. She even has her speech down on paper. “Hello,” Mia says, waving. “For those of you who don’t know me, which is, like, maybe three of you… I’m Mia Preston, but a lot of you would know me as Mia Kovács, or Mia Mac—a name given to me by the groom.”
“You’re hot!” Dean shouts.
“She’s also married!” Leo yells back.
Holden and I lean into each other as we laugh quietly.
Mia straightens herself, continues her speech. “Holden and I have known each other since we were in diapers. Literally. And we grew up together as toddlers, and then as kids, and now, as adults. And because of this, I’d always considered him my brother.”
“Dammit,” Holden hisses, sitting taller. He’s trying to hide the emotions we both know are coming. Under the table, I hold his hand in mine.
After clearing her throat, Mia adds, “For a long time, he was the other half of me. He was my rock. My salvation. He gave up his entire life, even his love for Jamie, to be there for me and my son.” She pauses to look at my husband. “And I can never repay you for that.”
Holden shakes his head, while a few sniffles can be heard.
“Holden… he taught me a lot things,” Mia says, raising her voice. “I think my first memory of him was when we were around four or five, and he convinced me to hide in the crawl space under his house to scare his parents into thinking we were kidnapped.”
“Oh, I remember that!” Tammy shouts.
Mia giggles at Tammy’s response. “I’m not sure how long we were there. It felt like hours, but it was probably only minutes. That’s when he taught me my first curse words. And no, it wasn’t a light one. I remember thinking how was it possible he even knew those words, but then above us, on the floorboards, we could feel Big H stomping around, yelling, “Where the fuck is that little shit?!”