Instead of teasing me, Kent gave me a smile. “Good. Finally got your head on straight. Women like that don’t pop up often.”
“Sounds like you have a crush on my wife.”
He shrugged. “She got a sister?”
I rolled my eyes. “Only child.”
“Damn.” He slammed down his drink playfully. “If her parents can make beautiful babies like that, they should have made more.”
“You’ll find someone, Kent. You can have whoever you want.”
“But I don’t want just anybody. Sabrina was a good lay, by the way. But she’s totally a bitch.”
“Oh, I know,” I said with a chuckle. “It’s a turn-off to see a woman go after a married man.”
“Never cared about that before.”
“Well, I care now.” I’d never respected the institution of marriage until I’d participated in my own. Then I started to understand the depth of love, the real meaning of commitment. There was nothing stronger than the love between a husband and wife. The fact that someone would come in between that…was disgusting. If another man tried to steal my wife, I’d be devastated.
“So, is this more of a vow renewal?”
“I guess. But it feels like a wedding to us.”
“She going to wear her old wedding dress?”
I nodded. “And I’ll wear my suit.”
“Where are you going to do this?”
“At the house.”
“Like, in the middle of winter?”
“Yep.”
Kent took another drink. “Shit, it will be cold.”
“Yep. So we’d both better drink a lot.”
“We?” he asked. “I’m coming to this thing.”
“I would hope so. You’re my best man.”
For a short span of time, he dropped his joking manner and allowed himself to actually feel the moment. His eyes softened, and an unstoppable smile spread across his lips. “Even though I think your wife is hot?”
I shrugged. “Everyone thinks my wife is hot.”
“I’ll probably think she’s sexy in her wedding dress.”
“That makes two of us.”
He held up his glass to mine again. “Then I’d be honored, man.”
“Me too.”
We got lucky with the weather. Not a cloud in the sky. It hadn’t rained in a week, so the soil wasn’t muddy. The sunlight provided an extra few degrees of temperature, but the lack of a cloud bank made it considerably colder.
But that didn’t dull the warm feeling inside my chest.
I woke up that morning next to my wife and then got ready to marry her again.
Not a bad way to start my day.
It only took me thirty minutes to get ready, so I stayed in the dining room downstairs with Kent and my family so Arwen could take her time getting dressed. I hoped she wouldn’t let the memory of her parents overshadow her happiness. Obviously, she would be sad they both weren’t there to witness this important event in her life, but I hoped she would know they were watching anyway.
Now that Lily had settled things with my father, she’d left the rehab center and moved into my apartment in Florence. I never used it, so she may as well take advantage of the vacancy. She was at the house now, wearing a long-sleeved dress with her hair done in curls.
I took a seat and stared at the bottle of scotch in the center of the table.
Kent got my attention from across the table and mouthed to me, “Your sister is cute.”
I rolled my eyes.
My father noticed what Kent said, so he gave him the death stare.
Kent brushed it off by refilling his glass of scotch. “So, nervous?”
“No.” I drummed my fingers against the table. “I feel like I’m getting a second chance to make this right. When we first got married, it was a terrible day for us both. It took a long time for us to respect each other, to tolerate each other. But now, I’m already in love, and I’m looking forward to the future.”
“Wow, my brother isn’t an asshole after all.” Lily smiled at me, telling me she was teasing me.
“Not anymore, at least,” I replied.
“Nah, he’s still a dick if you ask me.” Kent took another drink from his glass.
My father sat there, still like a statue and quiet like death. “Arwen is a lucky girl. And you’re a very lucky man.”
I still wasn’t used to compliments from him. Hard to believe they were real.
A few minutes later, heels echoed on the hardwood floor before Arwen made her entrance. In the same white wedding dress she wore on our wedding day, she looked just as beautiful.
Actually, she looked more beautiful.
I stared at her for a couple seconds, treasuring the way the sunlight hit her so perfectly. It made her dress glow and her happiness shine. Her hair was done the way I liked, and her dark eyeshadow made her look mysterious and sexy. I’d taken her to bed many times, but now it felt like it never happened. Now it felt like the first time all over again.
Everyone else was quiet, speechless from her appearance.