The applause doubles as the family steps onto the stage, their son holding on to his mama’s hand while their youngest, and the sweetest little girl, wraps her arms tight around her daddy’s neck, trying to hide from the crowd.
Noah smiles, nodding his hello as Arianna moves closer, offering me a quick hug before taking her husband’s side and the mic.
With a quick, shy look at her man, she brings the microphone to her mouth. “Hi, I’m Arianna, or Ari, as most people call me.” She laughs nervously, and the crowd is already enamored by her with a single word. “We want to thank Noel for not only asking us to be a part of this weekend’s opening celebration but also for making such a place possible.” Ari glances my way before taking a small step forward and sharing her story with those in attendance.
“My freshman year of college, there was an accident that left me in a coma. When I woke up, I learned I had lost months’ worth of memories…” Her voice grows thick, and as if having sensed the heightened emotions would come in that exact moment, her husband is already at her side, his palm pressed to her lower back in silent support. “Including falling in love with the man of my dreams.”
Small gasps fill the room, and I hold in my smirk, Roman deciding to ignore my request of staying away and choosing that exact moment to join me on stage. He and I share a quick look, both of us thinking the same thing.
We knew this was meant-to-be magic.
I accept the champagne flute he offers but move my gaze back to the glowing woman with the mic.
“I had no idea if or when those memories would come back,” Arianna continues, “and unbeknownst to me, they were. I had no idea how I learned at the time, but something in me led me to cook one day, and the meal I made was one of Noah’s family recipes that before the accident, he had been… very patiently attempting to teach me how to cook. Guys, it didn’t work.”
Everyone shares a laugh.
“Seriously, he’s still the resident chef in our house, I swear.”
Licking her lips, she smiles. “Anyway, I’m going to leave you to wonder if I fell in love with him all over again, or if I remembered and simply fell harder, because this beautiful resort is about what came after.”
After a brief pause, she continues. “It was near the holidays when I had my accident, so Noah and I had missed so many firsts, and I knew, without a doubt, he was meant to have all my lasts. But even knowing so, and knowing he was the man I would marry, it didn’t settle the sting of all the time, all the moments, we lost.”
Noah shifts his daughter to his other arm, placing a quick kiss to her forehead, before leaning over his wife to add to the story, “So my brilliant wife gave me something I never thought a person could give back, seeing as I couldn’t find a way to give ours back to her when she needed them most.” Ari gazes up at him, smiling when their son tugs on the hem of her dress. Noah faces the crowd once more. “She gave me the gift of memories.”
Table after table, eye after eye, they all are transfixed on the family beside me, staring in awe and waiting for more insight, unaware the next part this man will share is the one they’re going to salivate over the most.
Ari passes the mic to her man and their daughter sneaks a peek, tapping at it and jerking her hand back when it echoes across the room. Noah chuckles, dropping his chin against her head in reassurance before speaking to the crowd.
“My wife and I were supposed to be celebrating our first Valentine’s Day, but when I walked inside the house, I would have sworn it was Christmas.” His features soften at his words. “And then I went into the kitchen, and suddenly, it was New Year’s, and then she led me to the back patio. It was much like this.” He looks around the room, at the pretty ball gowns and men in suits, at the twinkling lights beyond the windows. “She recreated a night that was meant to be special to me, but without her, it meant very little. The incredible woman at my side not only gave me the memories we didn’t get to make, but she reset one that was extremely painful for me, one that would sting at the thought alone. But now…” He smiles down at the brunette woman, who looks at him like he’s the air she needs to breathe. “Now when I think back to that night, all I feel is love and gratitude, and let me tell you, those were the last things I felt the first time that night in my life rolled around. She hit the reset button, and I’ll forever be grateful for it and for her.”