“You’re gorgeous, Hartley,” Eli whispers against my mouth.
“Thank you,” I whisper back, slowly opening my eyes open to stare up at him. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
He smiles slightly at that.
“We should get going.”
“Right,” I say, blinking out of the spell that his kisses always put on me.
My black clutch and a pair of heels are waiting by the front door, along with my hat and mittens. I hurry to tug them and my boots on before I take Eli’s hand and follow after him down the stairs and over to his truck,
Eli is just driving me, having already dropped his parents off this morning. Susan wanted to help set up and be there in case anything went wrong, so he dropped them off bright and early this morning.
“So tell me about your family. The ones that I haven’t met,” I say as Eli climbs into the truck beside me.
We spend the whole hour-long drive talking about his family, his cousin who is getting married, and about the work that I’ve been doing on the bakery. I laugh as he tells me a story from one summer when he was just a kid and his cousin and him got stuck in a tree. They had dared each other to see who could climb the highest and then had been too afraid to climb back down.
We pull up outside of the church and I see that it’s been decorated. There’s a hall next door and Eli points it out, explaining that the reception will be held there afterward as I tug off my boots and put my heels on.
We’re one of the last guests to arrive and I take Eli’s hand as we scramble out of the truck and hurry inside. Susan and Frank are sitting close to the front and they wave us over, scooting over in the pew to make room for us.
The ceremony starts a few minutes later and I stand with everyone else to watch the bride walk down the aisle.
She looks so happy.
I can’t remember the last wedding that I went to. Probably when I was just a kid, but I don’t remember the bride at that one looking this ecstatic. She steps forward, sliding her hand into her soon-to-be husband’s and he smiles down at her like she’s his whole world.
My heart thunders in my chest. It’s so loud that I can hear it in my ears and I wonder if the rest of the church can too.
Eli’s hand lands on my hip and he squeezes slightly. I glance back at him as we take our seats once more.
“You alright?” he whispers in my ear as the priest starts the ceremony.
“Yeah,” I whisper back, but there’s no missing the emotion in my voice.
“Hartley,” Eli whispers and I look up into his eyes.
“I want that,” I admit, my eyes searching his face. “I just want to be that happy.”
“You will be,” he whispers back.
He wraps his arm around my shoulder and tugs me tight against his side.
“I’ll make sure of it,” he promises and my heart flips over in my chest.
The ceremony doesn’t last long and soon we’re standing and clapping as the priest introduces them as Mr. and Mrs. Hurst. We cheer as they head back down the aisle and I grin wider when Eli tangles his fingers with mine.
“Let’s hurry next door,” Susan leans over to say. “I’m starving and I know that they set out some appetizers.”
We file down the aisle and head next door. Eli’s hand tightens on mine when I skid on some ice in my high heels. When it happens again, he swoops me up in his arms and hurries to catch up with his parents.
“I think only the groom is supposed to carry someone like this today,” I joke and Eli rolls his eyes.
“Can’t have you slipping and breaking your neck in those ridiculous shoes.”
“You don’t like my shoes?” I ask, pretending to pout.
“I’ve never seen anything sexier.”