“Yeah?” Manning asked. “How come?”
“It’s so easy to get caught up in the details of making sure tomorrow goes smoothly. I want to look back and remember everything. It’s good to slow down and take it all in.” Smiling, I opened my eyes. “Feel free to remind me of that throughout the weekend.”
“Traditionally,” Manning said, “I’m not supposed to see you most of tomorrow, either. At least not until we’ve said ‘I do.’”
I sighed. “I’m thinking I’ll be doing away with some of these silly rituals at my next wedding.”
“Your next wedding?” He dropped the paddles and stood, rocking the boat hard enough that I squealed and grabbed the sides. “Take that back.”
“Or what?” I teased.
“I tip this boat over. It’d serve you right for antagonizing the bears.”
In the dark, looming over me, he almost did look like a bear. “You wouldn’t,” I said.
“I might,” he said, “if we weren’t here.”
“Where’s here?”
“Middle of the lake. Best spot to see the show.” He reached for me. “Come.”
Taking his hand, I let him guide me forward to sit between his legs.
He enveloped me, hugging my back to his chest. “Look up.”
I relaxed against him, resting my arms on his as I scanned the countless stars. In the pitch black, they shone especially bright. “They’re beautiful,” I said.
“You know I’ll always move the stars for you if need be,” he said. “Whatever it takes.”
Though I appreciated the warmth behind his words, wasn’t it possible some fates couldn’t be rearranged? The vastness of the black sky and the sheer number of stars overhead made me feel small and insignificant—but not in a bad way. Did the universe have plans for us? Or had Manning and I really defined our own destiny? And what did either of those realities mean for our future?
It’d been many months since Manning and I had thrown out my birth control. Weeks since I’d had to stop making excuses not to get my wedding dress tailored. I supposed most women would’ve been happy not to walk down the aisle with a baby bump, but I’d almost planned on it. Manning wasn’t worried. When it came up, he reminded me we had time. That it would happen. I wished I had the confidence he did, but I hadn’t expected it to take this long.
Manning bent his mouth to my ear. “Lake?” he asked.
“Hmm?”
“Did you hear me?”
Whatever it takes. It occurred to me as we sat under the glittering stars that Manning would do anything in his power to move them in our favor—but what would it do to him if he couldn’t?
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
“No. I just want you to know I don’t take tomorrow lightly. My vows to love and care for you are a promise—always. No matter what comes our way.”
“I know,” I said.
“Open your hand.”
I flipped my palm up, and he put something small and cool in it. I lifted it to my face. “I haven’t seen this in months,” I said, admiring the mood ring. “Where’d you find it?”
“In your jewelry box. I thought you might want it for tomorrow.”
I slid it on, flexing my hand so we could both see it. “Madison would be standing up there with me if she were still alive,” I said.
“I know.” He held me a little more tightly, and we sat in silence until light streaked across the sky. “Look,” I said, pointing. “A shooting star.”
“Not quite,” he said.
The timing was almost too perfect. As more silver stars sliced the blackness over our heads, I sat up straighter. This really was a show. “What’s going on?” I asked.
“Moving stars.”
I glanced over my shoulder at him. “What?”
“The Perseid meteor shower. Happens every August.”
“The night before our wedding?” I asked.
“Technically, we’re getting married today.”
Hearing him say that, I got chills. By this time tomorrow night, Manning would be my husband. With happy tears in my eyes, I burrowed deeper into him as more and more meteors painted the sky. “Wait—is that why you insisted on this weekend when I suggested summer?” I asked.
He shrugged underneath me. “Once in a great while, we get the timing right.”
“You’re such a romantic.”
“Only for you,” he said, “but that’s no surprise to anyone.”
I twisted my head up to him. He kissed me slowly, deliberately, without spilling a drop of the overflowing love between us.
Above our heads, the sky moved and rearranged. It couldn’t have been a more perfect way to start forever together. Perhaps our timing had always been right, and like Manning, I needed to let go and trust that in the end, we’d get everything we were supposed to.
9
“You aren’t worried Manning will get cold feet?” Behind me, in my master bathroom, my sister wielded a curling iron in one hand and plucked at my hair with the other. “He could be halfway to Mexico by now. We’d have no idea until you were headed down the aisle.”