Ultimately, she didn’t pick. I did because she was trying to be frugal, and I wanted her to sparkle. I love the four-carat stunner she now wears.
Jess pulls away from me, smiling. We hold hands until our arms are stretched to the max, fingers sliding away from each other, and she moves to the closet again to grab her shoes.
?
My dad moves to my side and rests a hand on my shoulder. “Nervous?”
“A little,” I reply without hesitation. This is a big deal.
“Think I have a chance with Claire?” he asks, and my head whips his way.
“You really want to talk about Claire right now?” I ask incredulously.
“No.” His grin is big, eyes shining with amusement. “But I thought that would take your mind off being nervous.”
I smirk and turn my eyes back to the patio doors of my dad’s house. At any moment, they’ll open, and my life will really begin.
Rows of white chairs are set up with something white and frothy attached to their backs. A massive arch behind me is filled with fresh flowers, and in the middle stands a minister my father procured from God knows where.
All of Jess’s family and friends sit on one side.
My side is filled with Jameson people—front row, Bebe and Griff, smiling at me, and Joslyn and Kynan next to them.
Not all were able to come, but most did. Cruce, Barrett, Saint, Sin, Malik, Anna, Cage, Jaime, Corrine, Clay, Jackson, Camille, Ladd, and Greer. The list goes on with folks from the Vegas office who I don’t know as well, but some I do. Rachel in particular who holds her son Tony on her lap, but her husband Bodie is off on a mission and couldn’t make it.
The one person I wish was here is Kellen. He’s new to Jameson, and I barely know the dude, and yet he’s the one who’s really missed. He took on the very important job of protecting Claire and Thea so I wouldn’t have to worry about them. But he’s wrapping up his stuff in California for the permanent move to Pittsburgh. He’s sold his house, and he, Bubba, and his girlfriend will be driving across the country this weekend. I’ll fly to Pittsburgh soon if for nothing more than to take him out for a beer.
Music starts, and my eyes drift to the patio doors. They open and Thea comes out, wearing a peach-colored sundress nearly the same color as her mom’s. She has daisies tucked into her hair, and her gaze locks onto mine. She seems scared when she realizes all the people are turned in their seats looking at her, but I hold out my hand to urge her forward.
She’s carrying a basket and is supposed to drop daisies down the aisle, but instead she takes off running toward me. Everyone laughs and I scoop her into my arms. “You forgot to drop the flowers,” I tease as I kiss her cheek.
“Oh yeah,” she says and wiggles to be let down. Everyone is charmed when she runs to just between the first row of chairs, tips her basket, dumps all the flowers, and then runs back to me.
More laughter as I pick her up again. I figure it’s probably more appropriate for her to be with me and Jess rather than standing off to the side.
And then Jess is there, standing in the open doorway, ready to step out onto the patio. Her dad is on one side, her mom on the other.
“I seriously want your opinion on Claire,” my dad mutters low out the side of his mouth.
“Not now,” I say back, not taking him seriously. He’s only trying to lighten the mood, ease my nerves, and take a playful jab. Truth is, I think he and Claire are going to be very good friends.
Jess’s eyes laser onto mine, and we stare at each other the entire time she walks down the aisle. No traditional white dress, and I notice she ditched her heels because she told me they were hurting her feet on the drive over. We didn’t spend the night before the wedding apart, and we didn’t even engage in the planning of this event.
That was all my dad and Claire, who took care of everything except for the outfit Jess picked out. As for me, it’s Miami, and I’m staying cool in a pair of khaki linen pants and a white linen, short-sleeved shirt that’s casually untucked.
Jess and I didn’t bother writing vows. We’re both so easygoing about this whole thing, we decided to speak from the heart when the time came.
Both of us know we’ll say the exact right thing, because we’ve already said it all before. We’ve spent the past two weeks making sure to be truthful with all our feelings and catching up on things we should’ve been saying to each other for years.