I glanced into the rearview mirror and said, “Oh, holy hell.”
Billy pulled up next to us, honking his horn, and I rolled down my window.
Margie said, “The first dance!”
Emma yelled, “We’re coming back right now!”
I shook my head and quickly turned the truck around, making our way back to the church. The reception was being held in the basement, and by the time we pulled up, everyone was already back in the basement.
When we walked in, everyone began clapping, and Emma and I
both just smiled.
“I still don’t see how we forgot to do the first dance,” she whispered.
“I know why. Ever since we cut the damn cake, everyone has been talking to us. I’ve never fake-smiled so much in my life.”
Emma hit me in the stomach and smiled as we walked to the middle of the room. “Oh, Garrett. Did you remember to tell Billy the song you wanted for our first dance?”
I smiled as I reached down and kissed the tip of her nose. “Yes, Buttercup, I did.”
We were standing in the middle of the dance floor, and Charles was about to introduce us again.
“I don’t think anything else needs to be said. Ladies and gentlemen, here is Emma and Garrett for their first dance as husband and wife.”
Emma and I both laughed. Everyone knew we had been married for a year now, but it didn’t seem to matter. Emma turned and gave me that smile that made my knees weak every time I saw it. Then, “Can’t Help Falling in Love” started, and her eyes misted over with tears. I pulled her into my arms and began singing along with Elvis. The moment I’d first heard this song, I had known it was my song to her. She held on to me like her life depended on it.
“Emma, your smile melts my heart and makes me weak in the knees at the same time. Your laughter is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard, and I plan on hearing it every day for the rest of our lives.” I placed my hand on the side of her face and wiped a tear away with my thumb. “Your eyes…my God, your eyes cause me to lose my breath every time I look into them. Your lips are the sweetest things on your body, and I crave them daily. Every day I wake up next to you and hear your voice, my heart beats harder in my chest, and I fall in love with you more. I will give you everything, Emma. My entire world is yours—always and forever.”
I moved my mouth closer to her ear as I sang the last verse of the song, and Emma began crying harder.
Once the song ended, I lifted her chin and gently kissed her. “I love you, Emma Rose Mathews.”
She swallowed and closed her eyes before opening them again and whispering, “I love you more, Garrett Thomas Mathews.”
Elvis’s “Too Much” started playing, and we both laughed. I grabbed her hands, and we took off dancing. I knew how much my girl loved to dance, and no one could pass up an Elvis song.
By the time we were driving down our driveway, I was fighting to keep my eyes open. I leaned my head back and dreamed of getting out of this wedding dress. I couldn’t breathe with how tight the corset was. Garrett would like it, that was for sure. And the fact that I had been naughty and slipped off my knickers had me going crazy all night. I had tried to tell Garrett at least five times that I wasn’t wearing knickers, but every time I’d tried, someone had come up and started talking to me.
I slowly lifted my head and turned to look at my handsome husband. “I have a surprise for you,” I said.
Garrett smiled. “I have a surprise for you, too.” He drove right on by the house and started making his way to the west pasture.
I giggled and put my hand up to my mouth. I was nervous for what I was about to admit. “Garrett?”
“Yeah, Buttercup?” He looked at me sweetly.
I slowly licked my lips. “I haven’t had any knickers on this whole time.”
He brought the truck to a stop and put it in park. He slowly turned his body and looked at me. When the smile spread across his face, I couldn’t help but smile back.
“I’m so glad you didn’t tell me that back at the church because I would have taken you right then and there. I’m pretty sure the Lord wouldn’t have appreciated me causing my wife to yell out in pleasure in his house.”
My face blushed instantly.
Garrett turned and jumped out of the truck. “Wait here, and keep your eyes shut.”
I smiled and nodded my head as I closed my eyes. When I felt the truck move, I knew he was in the bed of it. The next thing I knew, my door had opened, and his hand was up and under my dress so fast that I let out a gasp.