"We don't really know how these things work, but we read the schedule," Mr. Thomas said. He shook my hand. "Seems like you're top billing on a lot of the events."
"See, I told you he was a professional gamer," Quinn said.
"Quinn told me the story about you and the little white chapel," I said. The words just jumped out and I could not take them back.
Mrs. Thomas laughed. "Oh, it was so romantic. Mostly because it took all the pressure off the big to-do we had planned. It would have killed my family not to have had the big white wedding, so it was fun to run off on our own right before."
Quinn took my hand and squeezed hard. "I always thought it was romantic, too. I mean, you two had planned that big wedding for months and months. You really knew what you wanted."
I took a deep breath. Quinn was right. I knew what I wanted and there was no reason to rush it. We were together, our hands linked, and her parents smiling at us.
"So, I did a little check up on your playing, and it appears there are lots of bets to be made," Mr. Thomas said. "Better get down to the book before you get started."
"Betting against me?" I asked.
"No," Mr. Thomas said, "I always bet on family."
Chapter Twenty-Four
Epilogue
I focused on the wine-colored carpet to keep my eyes from tearing up. The bouquet of white roses was fragrant and heavy in my hands, and I turned to study the petals as the pastor began talking.
"No matter what family, friends, or life has planned for you, there is nothing like letting love make the decision. It just feels right," he said. "Sure, some people call it spur of the moment and some people say that only fools rush in, but when I see two people as in love as you are, I know there is no room for doubt."
I heard my mother sniffle and I finally looked up. She was stunning in the white satin dress we had found in a small boutique inside the Venetian. My father wore a dove gray suit and a smile so bright he looked like a new man.
"Of course, a few decades of successful marriage and grown children also help to remove doubt," the pastor said. My parents laughed.
Owen laughed too. He stood next to my father as his best man. As my parents began to renew their vows, he winked at me and my heart soared.
Earlier, my father had joked that Owen was funding their second Vegas wedding. It had been two years since my father won a cool 3,000 dollars betting on Owen in the Dark Flag tournament. Since then, "bet on family" had become our family motto.
We threw rice as my parents walked arm in arm down the aisle. They disappeared to have their photographs taken outside. I moved to follow, but Owen grabbed my arm.
"I know you have this whole big backyard white wedding plan," Owen said, "and I love it, but we could always just get married now. I mean, you haven't even set a date yet. The way you've been working, I'm going to have to marry you on the side of the road or in the back of an ambulance."
"March," I said. "Just after your birthday. How does that sound?"
Owen kissed me, and I could feel his warm smile against my lips.
"Where are our witnesses?" my father called. He smiled broadly as we jumped apart. "Come on, now, you aren't thinking about following in our footsteps, are you? I thought you were much more independent than that."
"Oh, she is, believe me," Owen said.
We joined my parents outside. Traffic driving by honked congratulations as my parents posed under the sign. Finally, we raised plastic champagne flutes in a toast.
"To family – those lost, found, and forgiven," my father said.
"And to a happy future, together," I said, finally feeling whole and happy in the hot Vegas sunshine.
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