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It was a mild day for April. You could smell spring. The grass was starting to green and trees were beginning to bud. The tulips would open up soon. They strolled hand in hand through the zoo. Every once in a while she would stop to look at something. He would hold her from behind and rub her little baby belly.
This wasn’t how he originally planned it, but that’s the thing about plans, right?
They walked to the lily pool and gazed out at the water. “It’s still beautiful here,” she whispered.
He tucked a wheat-colored strand behind her ear and smiled. “You’re beautiful.” Then he took her face in his hands and kissed her. “This has always been a special place to me, and it’s even more dear to me now. It’s the first place I brought you. I told you ‘I love you’ here…” With his hands holding hers he got down on his knee. “…and this is where I’m going to ask you to be my wife. I rehearsed the words in my head for months, but I can’t remember them now, so I’m just gonna ask…Katelyn, I love you, sweet girl. Will you marry me?”
She smiled through her tears. “Yes.”
He slid the ring he’d had made specially for her on her finger. A three-carat brilliant round solitaire surrounded by pave diamonds sat on a diamond band. It reminded him of a solar eclipse, when the moon passes between Earth and the sun, blocking out its bright light. That’s when the glowing corona can be seen.
Sometimes it takes darkness to see the light.
That’s how he saw her.
Katelyn was his light.
Brendan lifted her in his arms and kissed his wife-to-be, the mother of his child, right there in front of the lily pool. He was indeed the luckiest sonofabitch on the planet.
Easing her down, he gazed at her beaming, beautiful, tear-stained face. She glanced up at him. “It’s your birthday and I’m getting all the presents.”
He wiped her cheeks. “You just gave me mine. The only thing I wanted was to spend all of my birthdays with you as my wife.”
Once, he’d dreamt of a girl with long hair streaked in gold by the sun. It gently fluttered in the breeze. The beautiful face of an angel. Lips swollen from his kisses. Cheeks flushed pink. Eyes neither blue nor green, but the color of a stormy tropical sea.
She stood in front of him now.
And she was real.
She was his.
Holy Mary, mother of fucking God!
Does it count as blasphemy if you don’t say it out loud?
He sat in the chair, gritting his teeth while Katelyn held his hand.
A promise is a promise…
She said she didn’t want a big to-do, that she didn’t need a wedding. Brendan may not know a lot about girl shit, and heaven help him if they were having a daughter, he was in fucking trouble. But he’d been around Chloe and Linnea enough to know that every girl dreams of her wedding, so he got Linnea started on it before he even popped the question. If anyone could make Katelyn’s dream a reality, it was her.
Brendan only told her the wedding had to take place on Midsummer’s Eve at the exact spot in Coventry Park where they met. What a difference a year makes, right? They could have a backyard reception after. He wanted Katelyn to have everything—the dress, the flowers, the party. So with that, he left the details up to Linnea and his beautiful bride.
And Chloe.
And much to his chagrin, Kelly. She was Katelyn’s maid of honor.
On Friday, two days before the wedding, his aunt flew in from Dublin to celebrate not only his nuptials, but baby Chandan’s first birthday the following day. Brendan was bummed they were going to miss his birthday party, but in lieu of a honeymoon, he and Katelyn were going to enjoy a week at the lake house, just the two of them. At seven months along, she didn’t want to travel, so Paris would have to wait—probably until their kid was in college.
On Saturday, the day before the wedding, God help him, Katelyn’s family arrived. Her parents and Kevin were staying with them, and that was cool. Brendan got along really well with her father and brother. He’d have to learn to tolerate Kristie, but if she did or said one thing to make Katelyn feel anything less than beautiful, they were going to have words. Fortunately, the aunts were staying at Kelly’s. He didn’t think he could stomach all of them together under his roof.
The summer festival was going on out there beyond Park Place. Venery took an earlier time slot than usual and played their annual hometown gig. They all watched the concert together and did the rehearsal thing in the park, then headed over to Chloe’s. She was hosting a wedding eve backyard soirée, as she called it.
By this point, Brendan wanted nothing more than to fast-forward twenty-four hours and be alone with Katelyn at the lake house.
His aunt brought him a glass of whiskey and took a seat beside him. “Aintín, I am your favorite nephew, aren’t I?” He savored the aroma of the ruby port cask whiskey that she’d brought with her from Ireland.
“One of them.” Colleen winked. “Your Katelyn is just lovely. I can’t help but imagine my sister smiling down on the two of you. I know she’d have loved her and I’m sorry she can’t be here for ya, but I’m so happy that I can.” She hugged him then. “I feel her, though.”
