“You guys are killing me. I need to see.” I go to stand, only to be pushed back down by Doug as his eyes take in my entire face, hair, body…
His smile is mischievous. “Our work here is done.” He dramatically steps back as Eve, Charlie, and Kitty come walking into the bedroom of the suite carrying Cristal champagne and some strawberries. Nicole, Eve’s daughter, follows them, her blonde hair swept off her face as she stops and runs over to me.
“You’re a princess, Auntie Belle!” Her hands reach out to touch my satin gown. “So pretty!”
Dolly nods as she grabs her shoulders and pulls Nicole in for a hug. “She’s like the real Belle, except this one hates reading and Cade is definitely no beast.”
Snorting at her, I retort, “No, my man is 100% beef hunk.”
As the others catcall me, I grin unrepentantly. But I can’t wait any longer. I walk slower than I’d like, so I don’t wreck my hair, toward the large full-length mirror Patricia had Lucas bring over this morning when Doug demanded one.
I just stare at myself, vaguely hearing the pop and screams as the champagne spills out and drips to the floor. Because here I am, wearing a beautiful dress on the day I have dreamed about my whole life.
I might have given up at some point, but Cade made me a believer again.
“Well?” someone demands, but all I can do is stare at my reflection as I lose myself in the past year.
In memories of the dates we’ve enjoyed in overpriced carriage rides and quick hookups in the back of our SUV after we tease each other in a fancy restaurant. The coffees we shared and the time he had the barista write “I love you” on my coffee cup instead of my name then, as I cried, whispered it as he spoon-fed me cake.
Cake—for the longest time, I didn’t share the negative connotations I have with it because of my dad, then I opened up to him later that evening and he held me as I cried.Again.
Just one instance of many where he consistently shows up for me.
I think about how he proposed in one of our favorite restaurants, Glas, and how we devoured the leftovers from takeout cartons later that night after we left no surface untainted in our apartment.
Sure, we’ve been through good and bad days, but somehow, with each moment, each second, we learned how to heal and trust.
With each day, we grow stronger, until here I am, on the brink of walking down the aisle to pledge my eternal love to Cade.
My partner.
My anchor.
There’s an irony in the fact that I’m a runner and when he fucks up, he’s used to losing people… It’s made us both aware of how easily we could ruinthis, and we work double hard to fix things before they can break.
So, when life’s trials hit us, I don’t run away from him—I run to him. If he fucks up because heisa man, he apologizes straight off the bat. No bullshit, no lies. He owns it. And we move on.
Together.
It’s a learning curve, but it’s working.
“Are you okay?” I blink at my reflection then down at Nicole who stares at me worriedly. “Auntie Belle?”
When I nod, she beams at me, which makes me feel weepier than before.
“Don’t you dare start crying.” Dolly sniffs as she takes a glass of champagne from Charlie. Both are a vision in their pale pink bridesmaid's dresses. “If you do, then I will, and we don’t have time to fix my makeup.”
“Why do you want to cry?” Nicole frowns at me then Charlie and Dolly as they both burst out laughing. “Isn’t it a good day?”
“You’re right, Nicole. It’s a great day. It’s just that Cin—Bellelooks so beautiful because she’s happy.” Charlie wipes under her eyes then gives her glass to Dolly as she throws her arms around me. “I miss you so much,” she chokes out. “But, God, it’s worth the distance just to see you like this.”
I nod, not trusting myself to speak, and squeeze her back, tighter than ever because I miss her too. So freakin’ much.
When Cade proposed, he said I could have the wedding wherever I wanted and that he would marry me anywhere, but New York felt like the right place to be. It’s where everything went wrong, but where it all came together too.
I’m lucky they could all make it up here.
“I miss you too,” I manage to get out. “Thank you for coming. I know it’s been a pain—”