Page 59 of Still the One

One Year Later

Izzy accompanies herself on the piano as she sings “A Breathless Place”. The words touch me deep inside. Or maybe I’m moved to my very core because of where I’m standing. In the same spot as Sandra and Tyrone stood a year ago. This time, I’m tying the knot. This time, I’m really marrying Gabrielle Mackenzie.

I look out over the small crowd that we’ve gathered. Our families and a select group of friends. Alan’s sniffling as though he’s at a funeral instead of a wedding. Charles puts an arm around him. Sandra’s head rests on Tyrone’s shoulder. Then my gaze is inevitably drawn back to Mac, the woman I’m marrying, against all odds. She looks magnificent in her white tux. Her hair is slicked back exactly the way I like it. Her shoes are bright red.

“As a small nod to our reacquaintance,” Mac said when she showed them to me.

I’ll never forget how stunning and unattainable she looked in that red dress a year ago, at this same resort. How she took off her shoes for that impromptu walk on the beach. How she hiked up her red dress so she could sit on the sand with me. How it very slowly, and then all of a sudden quickly, came to be. How Mac and I got back together again because it’s where we belong. How we had to get over all our issues, and there were many, but we made it, because, this time, we let love win.

A smile spreads on my lips when I look at her. I’m going to grow old alongside this woman, this beautiful person who lights up my life every single day.

The song ends and we applaud Izzy. I can call Isabel Adler my friend now. She just performed at my wedding. She and Leila have been a joy to get to know the past year.

“It’s time for the wedding vows,” the officiant says. “Jamie, you’re up first.” The officiant nods at me. We’ve rehearsed everything but this. Mac and I have kept our vows secret from each other, until now.

I take her hands, look into her eyes, block out my surroundings, and start.

“My dearest Mac.” My throat’s closing up already, but I’ve got this. I take a second to breathe, then start again. “To stand here with you today is at the same time so unlikely and yet so completely meant to be. This contradiction sums up a lot of our lives, together and apart.” I insert a short pause. “Marrying you is the biggest honor of my life, because you are…” My eyes are getting moist. “The most amazing woman I’ve ever met. You are strong, smart, and gorgeous. You are kind, loving, and capable of the kind of forgiveness that I may not deserve, but you’ve given me regardless.

“It’s a cliché for a reason that this is the most beautiful day of my life, but it’s a close second to that day when we were here a year ago, for Sandra and Tyrone’s wedding, and I saw you again for the first time, and my life changed all over again. Like it did the day we met.” I take another shaky breath. “It’s easy enough to believe you and I should not be together. That too much has happened. That I hurt you too much.” Tempting though it was to ignore that I once broke Mac’s heart in a million pieces, it would have been unbearably dishonest, because whether we like it or not, it’s a big part of who we are. “But the fact that we are together, that you still want to marry me, is a huge testament to the power of love. To the kind of love we have between us. I promise you, in front of everyone here, that I will always be the faithful, loving wife you deserve.” Mac’s blinking a tear out of her eye. She squeezes my hands. “I’m so lucky and proud to be able to call you my wife. I’m so thankful that you decided to give me, and us, another chance. I will never take that—or you—for granted ever again. I love you with all my heart.”

A short silence falls, only punctuated by sniffling sounds from our loved ones. The officiant gently prods Mac to recite her vows.

She clears her throat. “If you have butterflies in your stomach, invite them into your heart,” Mac begins, already blowing my socks off. “That's exactly what I did after I could no longer deny that you, my darling…” Mac looks deep into my eyes. She's so much better at this than I am, and it makes me go weak at the knees. “…are the cause of so many butterflies in here.” She brings a hand to her belly. “I’ve come to love you with my whole heart again. With a passion that can't really be expressed in words, only in kisses, glances, and years of adventure by your side.” She’s killing me—and doing a stellar job of expressing her passion in words, despite what she just said. Tears are streaming down my cheeks, but I don’t bother wiping them away. These tears, this emotion, is what we’re here for. “What I’ve learned from you, from us, is that to love is to believe, even though to believe is sometimes hard and always a little foolish, but nevertheless, it’s required. And I believe in us with everything I have.” Mac takes a beat to swallow something out of her throat. “After all this time, you are still my every dream come true, and I can't wait for the reality we finally get to build together.” Mac brings our hands together. “Give me your hand,” she says, “And I will give you forever.”

Chapter 35

Mac

“You put my vows to shame,” Jamie—my wife—whispers in my ear after the ceremony has ended.

“It’s not a competition, babe.” I curl my arms around her neck.

“If you say so.” Jamie kisses me on the lips. Everyone oohs and aahs. “What you said was so beautiful.” Jamie pulls me to her. “Almost as beautiful as you.” She leans into my ear again. “You’re one hell of a hot bride, Gabrielle Mackenzie.”

“Correction, it’s Gabrielle Mackenzie-Sullivan now, Jamie Mackenzie-Sullivan.”

“What a mouthful.” Jamie kisses me on the cheek. “I might just call you Mac, if that’s all right with you.”

I nod and take a breath. It’s done. Jamie and I are married. Hands joined, we walk by our family and friends. I spot a lot of moist cheeks and crumpled-up tissues. But I wasn’t going to marry Jamie using standard vows. We’re hardly your standard couple.

I asked her to marry me by hiding a ring in the dough she was working on. There was a small risk of Jamie baking it in the oven, ruining her bread—and the ring as well—but sometimes you just have to take the risk.

It was one of the first loaves she made in the brownstone we bought together. She was still finding her way around the kitchen, getting used to new locations for her ingredients. I was lingering around the kitchen, keeping an eye on her every move.

“The air in this house is no good for my dough. I don’t know what’s wrong with it.” She pushed her fingers into the dough, lifted it up, examined it, then let it drop into the bowl again. “It’s all over, babe. My career as I know it. Magic voodoo fingers no more.” She grinned at me, indicating she knew full well she was being overly dramatic.

“As long as you still have them where it counts.” I tried to keep a lid on my nerves, but my heart was hammering against my chest. Jamie was too absorbed by her failing dough to notice.

“You have such a one-track mind, Mac.” Jamie’s face contorted. “What the hell is this?” Her fingers dug deeper into the dough. “There’s something in here. What the—” She extracted the ring out of the dough—and lost the power of speech for an instant. She fiddled with it, removing as much sticky matter as possible. She glanced at me, then back at the ring. By then, I had the widest grin plastered across my face. “Is this what I think it is?” Jamie stammered.

My throat was closing up, so at first, I could only nod.

“You’re proposing?” Jamie’s voice was so incredulous, even though we’d just bought a house together, tying us to each other in another way.

I nodded some more, the grin wiped off my face. Tears pricked behind my eyes.

“Oh my god, Mac.” Jamie fixed her gaze on me. “A million times fucking yes.” She hurried over to me and looked me in the eyes. “Nothing would make me happier than to marry you.” She swallowed something out of her throat. “Although you ruined a perfectly good loaf of bread for it.” We burst into chuckles and the moment was perfect, because we were laughing and crying at the same time, for all the right reasons.