Page 74 of Forget Me Not

“Relax. It wasn’t cold feet. He was freaking out about his vows.” She giggles. “Kind of messed up you made him write his own, if you ask me. What with Gun always being so forthcoming with his feelings and all.”

“Hey, he’s gotten a lot better at that.” I smirk. “Besides, the practice will do him good.” Not that I need him to verbalize much of anything anymore these days. Open book, that guy. At least, for me.

“Alright girls,” Mags grips the side of my waist and smacks a loud kiss on my cheek. “I’m going out there to find my seat. I’ll catch you both on the flipside.” She squeezes Cammie in a tight hug on her way to the door, and then, she’s gone and it’s just us.

“You ready?” Cammie asks, a tentative smile on her rosy lips. It’s the perfect shade to compliment the petal pink gown she’s wearing. I let her choose. And I was right to, her taste is always impeccable.

I’m about to answer yes, when I catch a glimmer of worry, growing in her eyes the longer I stay silent.

“Cammie,” I say quietly, “you can’t really still wonder. Not after everything that’s happened.”

She musters a smile. “I thought I was okay with it, but somehow today is stirring everything up. Seeing you in this dress. Knowing Reed is here. I just keep having this horrible flash of him standing up in the middle of the ceremony to object.” She laughs, but it’s drenched in doubt and a lingering sorrow. “I hate that I feel this way.”

I take her hand and hold it tight. “Cammie, Reed McAllister is so completely head over heels in love with you, the only person he’s going to be looking at when we go walking down that aisle, is you. He’s not going to object to anything because he’ll be far too busy imagining the day you two are standing up there, exchanging your own vows.”

She wipes her eyes with her free hand. “How can you be so sure?”

“Because. I know what love looks like now. I can recognize it when I see it on someone else.” I take one of her long braids, twined with pink for the occasion, and gently drape it back over her shoulder. “Meeting Reed was fate. I’ll always believe that for as long as I live. But whatever silly ideas we had about being soulmates, they were just that, Cammie. And I know that, because I’m about to marry mine.”

“What made it fate? You think it took believing it was Reed to finally see that it was Gun?”

I nod. “Yeah. But that’s not the only thing I think was destined to happen.” I smile, thinking about all the amazing things that have unfolded in the last year and a half.

“No?”

“No.” I release her hand and start to walk toward the long table along the wall where our bouquets are waiting. I love this room. It’s ours. Mine and Gun’s. In our house.The perfect house.For three...and maybe more down the road. Unlike all the other houses that came before it, we found this one together. Fixed it up, together. And, even though it wasn’t easy being right on the beach, we created a little oasis for a backyard together. The only task Gun took upon himself this time, was planting pansies, right up front. Softly, my fingertips dance over the soft petals of my favorite flower, picked from my own garden and providing the perfect touch of color in an otherwise white bouquet. I smile, thinking how obvious it all seems now. Gun. Me. Even Reed.

“I think,” I continue my train of thought out loud, “the real reason Reed came to find me, was ultimately to get to you.” I give her the banded flowers, ribbons draping over my hand and spilling nearly down to the floor. I love everything about today. Every conversation, every beautiful detail in the decorations. All of it is damn near magical.

“Thank you,” Cammie breathes, relief and joy pooling together in her golden eyes, making them sparkle.

“Wow. Did the tables just get turned or what?! That was some seriously solid therapy I just dished out there.” I tap her shoulder playfully with my bouquet.

“That was pretty good,” she admits, laughing. “I can’t believe that happened. You’re the bride. You’re supposed to need talking down or talking up or talking something. Don’t you have any last-minute fears? Any sudden concerns? A run in your hose? Anything?”

I lift my dress enough to show off my bare legs and bare feet, perfect for a beach wedding. “Nope. I’m good.” I giggle, wiggling my toes.

“You really are.” Cammie smile swells to fill her face. “You’re glowing.”

“Love will do that.” I take a deep breath and reach for the door. I can’t wait to go meet Gun outside in the sand, under the setting sun, the limitless ocean dancing behind us, reminding us how easy it is to get caught in the waves, how hard things get when you fight them and how perfectly you can wind up on course when you just go with the flow.

I’m ready. Ready to make promises I learned to keep a lifetime ago. Because we’ve been in this together from the first moment we met. We just didn’t always understand that, didn’t always have words for it. And maybe we still don’t need them. Maybe I won’t call him my husband any more than I’ve ever called him my boyfriend. Because he’s more than any sort of label can contain. He’s mine.

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Gun

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“You have the ring?” I ask Ed for the hundredth time. He’s said yes during every one of my previous ring interrogations, but I’m anxious, so I’m asking again.

“No, man. It’s gone. I threw it out,” he deadpans. “Only way I could see to make this madness stop.” His hand retrieves a small velvet box from his pocket. “Got it right here. Now stop it. She’ll be out any second and then you’ll feel really stupid you let your nerves get to you.”

“I just want it to be perfect.” I tug at my vest. It fit perfectly when the tailor was working on it, now it seems tight and awkward. But I don’t have time to worry about that any more. The music just began to play. It’s starting.

“Itisperfect. Every last thing happening here today, is perfect,” Ed assures me under his breath.

I nod, turning my attention to the gate leading to our backyard. Our backyard. Our home. We’re getting married just a few feet away from the place we’re going to live, where we’re going to raise our family and where I’m going to wake up every morning next to my best friend, the most beautiful woman in the world, for the rest of my life. I can’t think of a better place to promise her a life together, than the place we’re going to live it.

Then I see her. Ed was right.Perfect.Everything about her. Her long, copper curls swept up off her shoulders, single strands of wavy hair framing her face. Her stunning face. Every freckle, every sweet dimple, permanently with me, emblazoned in my mind. Just like every moment of our lives together, entangled memories of heartache and pure bliss. Forever a part of who I am. With her.Always with her. And after every painful step we took to get here, that’s not something I’ll ever forget.

The End.