Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 66233 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66233 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
“You’re getting married?” Her eyes ping between the two of us, and I honestly don’t know what to do with the expression on her face, because it’s a mixture of concerned and elated.
“Surprise.” My nose scrunches.
“Are you pregnant?” she gasps, and I take a step back.
“What? No, we are definitely not pregnant.”
“Not yet,” Jace adds, and I glare at him. “What? It’s going to happen one day.”
“We’re not pregnant, Mom. We’re just in love.”
“Just in love.” She looks between us.
“Yes,” I say quietly.
“You’re getting married?” she asks, and I nod, then watch her eyes fill with tears. “Oh my God, you’re getting married!” Her arms wrap around me, and I close my eyes as she rocks me from side to side.
Maybe I should have known she would be okay with this. My entire life, she’s always pushed me when I’ve needed motivation and supported me when I’ve needed approval.
“I love you, mom.”
“Are you sure you’re not pregnant?” she whispers against the side of my head and I can’t help but to laugh.
“I’m one hundred percent sure.”
“All right.” She leans back and cups the side of my face and shakes her head before letting her hand fall away. “I want to know everything.” She slides her arm through mine.
“Okay.” I agree knowing there is no way I’m telling her everything.
I look up at Jace when he rests his hand against my lower back and we share a secret smile.
Maybe one day when I’m old and grey I’ll tell our kids the story of how I really fell in love with their dad but for now I’ll keep all of that information to myself even if it’s a love story for the history books.
Epilogue
Standing in an off-white lace dress in the bedroom Jace and I shared last summer before we even really liked each other, I look over at my mom and sigh. All day, she’s been a blubbering mess, and the poor makeup artist we hired has had to clean her up more than once.
“Mom, please don’t start crying again,” I whisper, and she attempts to quickly dry her eyes with a tattered tissue she has in her hand.
“You just look so beautiful.”
“You really do,” Janelle agrees from where she’s standing, as Haylee and Christy both work on the tiny buttons on the back of my dress.
“How are you feeling?” Janet asks, then continues, “Getting cold feet?”
“My feet are nice and warm,” I assure her.
Really, if I could have married Jace months ago, I would have taken him up on his offer to fly us to Vegas and get it over with. But sadly, his mother and mine would never allow that to happen. Both women took over wedding planning like it was their jobs after they met, and neither of them would be denied making today everything they dreamt it could be.
The only questions they really asked me were what colors I wanted and who I’d want to invite; the rest, they took care of.
Not that I’m even a little upset about that, but between starting a new job teaching history at the high school near the beach house and spending as much time with Jace as his job and mine allow, I haven’t had the energy or the time to plan a wedding—or at least not one as grand as the one I will be attending today as the bride.
When there is a knock on the door, Haylee steps away to answer it, and a moment later, I hear Dash’s sweet voice say, “This is for Aunt Penny.”
“You can give it to her,” she says, and I turn to smile down at him.
“You look like a princess,” he whispers, and I squat down in front of him as he holds out a thin square box toward me.
“Thank you.” I touch his cheek, and he hugs me quickly before rushing right back out the door.
Standing up, I open the box and read the note scribbled on a piece of lined paper sitting atop of a daisy chain crown, and tears fill my eyes for the first time today.
When I saw you in a white dress sitting on the grass with a circle of daisies in your hair, I knew I was going to marry you, and today is finally the day I get to make you mine.
I love you, Cupcake.
Now and always.
Folding the note up, I tuck it in my bra and take the flowers carefully out of the box.
“What did the note say?” Mom asks as I turn to the mirror and place the flower crown on my head.
“He just asked me to wear this,” I reply quietly, and I see her face soften when I look at her in the mirror.
“Done,” Christy says, stepping next to me.
“And just in time. We need to be downstairs.”
With one final look at myself in the mirror, I take the bouquet that Janelle hands me and step out the door when Haylee opens it. When we get to the kitchen, I wait for everyone to exit before me, then look at my mom when she laces her arm through mine. With my dad not here, I asked that she be the one to walk me down the aisle to Jace, and of course, she agreed.