Page 356 of Saving Forever with the Hockey Captain

Not the dress. Not the vows. Not even the guests.

I worried about our families.

Jamie grew up surrounded by people who had loved him his entire life. His parents had welcomed me without hesitation. Coach and Becca had somehow made me feel like I'd belonged in Frostholm long before I believed it myself.

My parents...

Well...They'd raised a daughter who had spent years chasing the next opportunity, never quite certain where she belonged.

In the end, I shouldn't have worried about introducing our families.

Within an hour of meeting, our mothers were trading recipes, and by dessert, my dad was teasing Jamie's father about finally admitting hockey players could learn something from baseball. Coach leaned back in his chair, looked around the table, and smiled.

"Looks to me like we've got room for a few more around here."

No one argued.

It no longer felt like Jamie's family and mine.

It simply felt like ours.

***

Now a soft knock sounds at my door raises me out of my thoughts.

"Annette?" Keisha calls through the wood. "You decent?"

I laugh.

"Barely."

"Good. Because your wedding crew just arrived, and Becca already has coffee in one hand and a checklist in the other."

"That sounds about right."

"It gets worse."

"Oh?"

"I think Sadie brought pastries."

I grin. "Now you're definitely teasing."

"The woman owns a bakery."

"Exactly."

Keisha laughs. "Open the door before I eat your wedding breakfast."

I reach for the doorknob, my heart impossibly light.

Not just because today is the day I become not Mrs. James Patrick Monroe Walker, but simply Mrs. Jamie Walker.

Because somewhere along the way without even realizing it, I'd already become part of a family.

***

I pull open the door. Keisha is standing there with two coffee cups balanced in one hand and the biggest smile I've ever seen.