I smile.
I’m happy too. I’m not as nervous as I thought I’d be. I guess I want to see him, so the nerves aren’t gripping me whole or taking me over. Grasping my mother’s hand, I give it a small squeeze—knowing she’s happy, knowing I am happy. I’m about to marry the man I love and in doing so, I’m about to make my parents happy also. This is what they have wanted for me for so long.
I guess it’s a win-win.
“I love you, Mother.”
She kisses my cheeks and the doors open as the stylists take their leave. May hands me my bouquet as my mother leaves to take her seat, and when I walk out, my father is standing there waiting for me.
“The color,” he mutters and shakes his head. “It’s beautiful,” he manages to say even though I know he hates it. He expected me to be in all white. I hope Gunner doesn’t expect the same even if he did mention to the saleswoman that it had to be white. Too bad, I like the dress—no, I love the dress. They got their part of the deal, now it’s time to make my own.
“What if I told you right now that I won’t be having any kids?” I say smiling while taking my father’s hand as two ushers hold the doors ready to open.
I can feel his stare on me because he’s itching to say something.
“You are the best thing I ever did. I would hope you would want the same joy.”
I turn to him, my heart happy at his words. “You really believe that I’m the best thing that happened to you?”
Father’s other hand that isn’t holding my hand covers mine. “Quite simply, yes. You may not believe it because I push the old ways onto you, but I do that because I want you to have them as well. But I also want you to be the best you that you can be in this world. And you have done both. I am extremely proud of you.”
The doors open and I’m still looking at my father, speechless at his words. It’s the most sincere thing he has ever said to me. Not once has he told me he was proud of me. Instead, it was always telling me what I should and shouldn’t be doing.
“Everly,” he says with a shake to his voice.
I turn, and when I do, the backyard is the most spectacular I’ve ever seen it. Fairy lights dance with a soft glow, decorating the sky as the sun sets. I can see that the seats are rose-gold color as everyone stands to stare at me, and at the end, is a man dressed in a suit and he’s smiling.
Is he smiling, or is that his trademark smirk?
My father starts walking over a trail of white flower petals lying on the ground. May stands at the end smiling up at me. Nerves take root now that I’m about to be married to a man that I fell way too hard and fast for.
“He loves you. It’s the most I could ask for,” my father says quietly, so only I can hear him. The smile on my face is so big that when I reach Gunner, I don’t know how it can grow any larger, but somehow it does when Father places my hand into his.
“Black? You vixen,” he whispers into my ear then stands tall as if he never said anything at all.
The wedding service goes by quickly. He grips my hand the whole time and doesn’t relent. When it’s time for the rings, two simple gold bands are presented, and we kiss. When he leans in, his lips seal mine for all the promises that are to come. When he lifts me back up and everyone’s clapping, he whispers in my ear, “All mine.”
And I am.
All his.
It’s not long until we are alone for a few minutes, after we walk out of the chapel as husband and wife. And once we are, he pulls me into a room and shuts the door then pushes my back against the wall, hard.
“You’ll let me own you now, won’t you?” he asks with feverish kisses.
“You already do,” I whisper just as desperate as I kiss him.
“You’ll let me do things only a husband can do, correct?”
I nod, not having any idea what he’s talking about.
“And you’ll never leave me. Correct?” He pulls back this time and stares into my blue eyes.
My hand reaches up and touches his cheek. “I’ll never leave you,” I say confirming it to him, hopefully providing the comfort he needs.
“I would find you if you did leave, Everly. And you wouldn’t like the outcome. Do you understand? You can never leave me. You are mine. Forever.”
His words are so serious.
His eyes so dark and stormy.