Tammy whistled as she took my hand and watched the light sparkle off the huge gem. “It’s gorgeous! Well, I guess we have a wedding to plan, don’t we?”
“You’re the best at that sort of thing,” I said and settled against Charlie as he rested his arm around my shoulders. “Think you can help a girl out?”
“Anything to help you two stubborn-ass lovebirds move things along,” she said and patted my hand. “Oh! And I’ve got this great idea for an ice sculpture!”
“We only have a week, Tammy.”
“What!? Oh my gosh! In that case, I’d better start moving my ass.”
I smiled as she grinned. She then hurried out of the room to go get my parents.
“Well, that settles it,” I said.
“What?” Charlie asked.
“We won’t have to make any formal announcements. Before she even gets to her car, this whole town will know we’re engaged.”
Charlie laughed. “You’re probably right. We should consider it tweeted and posted, shared, liked.”
“She’ll probably take an ad out in the local penny saver too,” I joked.
“Wouldn’t surprise me.”
I closed my eyes as my future suddenly fell into place.
Charlie kissed my lips. “I’m so damn happy, baby.”
“Me too! Why did we wait so long?”
“Like Tammy said, we’re stubborn,” he said before his lips crashed into mine in a passionate kiss.
“Since the invention of the kiss, there have only been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind,” I thought, recalling some of my favorite words from one of my favorite movies. “Wove, twue wove...” I said with a smile.
“You got that right, Buttercup,” Charlie said with a wink.
He kissed me again and again, and I knew his kisses couldn’t lie. He poured every ounce of himself into them, all the emotion he’d felt, all the things we’d both waited far too long to say. Finally, Charlie was mine, and he would be mine forever.
Chapter 23
My wedding gown was perfect in every single way. Beautiful. Simple. Magical. Romantic. I wore a white, full-length, mermaid gown with a sweetheart neckline and delicate beading.
Tammy helped place my veil on my head, then tears welled up in her eyes.
“Hey! Don’t you dare start that,” I said, sniffling and softly wiping at my own eyes. “You’re going to give me raccoon eyes.” It was bad enough that my mom hadn’t stopped blubbering since that morning, but crying was better than the yelling we had to deal with when we explained the deadline to her. Of course she assumed I was pregnant, but I quickly shot that down before my dad ran off to find his shotgun.
“I can’t help it,” Tammy said, voice wavering. “I’m just so happy for you.”
Music began outside the door, and Tammy glanced up when someone knocked. “That’s your cue, Cinderella,” she said.
I followed her out the door and found my dad waiting for me at the back of the aisle, holding his arm out to steady me. He smiled proudly down at me and tried to speak but couldn’t get the words out; it didn’t matter, because I knew exactly how he felt.
The music changed, and I laughed along with the crowd when my four babies, including Max, happily trotted down the aisle of the small chapel, looking adorable with bowties around their necks. They plopped their butts down one by on
e next to Charlie before Dad escorted me down the aisle runner.
Charlie’s eyes met mine, and he sucked in a breath. The tears in his eyes were visible from the very back of the church, and I could no longer hold mine back; they fell down my face as my dad handed me over to him.
“Ready for this?” Charlie asked quietly as the pastor told everyone to take their seats.