Page 108 of Runaway Bride’s Husband

I nodded, stepping forward with him and walking around the chapel to the start of the aisle. The sunset washed the clearing in shades of gold, the old stone sparkling and the wildflowers we were surrounded by turning it into everything I’d ever dreamed of and more.

It’s perfect. Utterly perfect.

For a second as my father led me down the aisle, I had tunnel vision, so completely in awe of it all that I almost didn’t see anything else, but then I caught a glimpse of Ryan and my heart stopped. Somehow, he looked different from the last time I’d seen him, a little older, a little wiser, and maybe even a little sadder.

When his eyes found mine, however, I forgot all about that. I forgot about everything other than him and that he’d shown up for me. Again.

I kept walking, but it took a minute before I managed to actually look at the man I was about to marry. I was mere feet away from my future husband, and yet, when I finally glanced at him, he wasn’t even looking at me.

He was staring at Ryan too. Strangely, Daniel’s shoulders, which had been rigid since we’d arrived here two days ago, dropped just a little. He also gave Ryan a curt, almost imperceptible nod, and a barely there smile touched his lips.

What the hell does that mean?

The whispers started just as I reached him, the ripple moving through the crowd finally making me look back again. All heads turned, mine included, to face Ryan… who was suddenly on his feet.

CHAPTER 47

RYAN

As I stood there, I wished briefly, but very sincerely, that I would have thought about rehearsing this. I hadn’t, though. Mostly because I hadn’t actually known I was going to do it until Daniel had looked at me a minute ago.

I didn’t know the guy well enough to presume to know what had run through his mind when his gaze had met mine, but it was almost like I’d felt him begging me to speak up while simultaneously granting me permission to do so. Or maybe just letting me know he’d be okay with it if I did.

Naturally, however, my tongue now felt like it’d been glued to the roof of my mouth. I suddenly couldn’t remember how to formulate a single meaningful word in the entirety of the English language, but then I saw Maggie staring at me too and I turned to look only at her.

I saw Cliff in my periphery too, scowling like I’d committed several felonies and he’d been the detective tasked with finding me for the last decade, but I ignored him. I also ignored Maggie’s mother, who was sitting in the front row, looking like she was about to faint.

Maybe if they’d actually listened to their daughter before, it wouldn’t have come to this. Either way, we were here now and I was already standing. I guess I might as well shoot my shot.

“Mags, I know that on paper, you and Daniel have every reason in the world to get married,” I finally started. She looked so fucking gorgeous in that dress that she’d knocked the breath clean out of my lungs when she’d appeared, and with her eyes on mine now, words finally just appeared in my brain. “In your hearts, however, there’s absolutely no reason to go through with it. We all know that.”

My heart pounded wildly in my chest, but I pushed past it. “You and me, though? We have every reason to promise each other forever. How we feel about each other? That’s not something a person finds every day. Maybe we don’t look as good together on paper, and sure, it’ll be a rocky ride for a while. I know that, but…”

I raked a hand through my hair and took a breath. “Damn the expectations. Damn the big show and what people are going to say tomorrow. Damn it all. None of it means anything if you’re not by my side anyway.”

Maggie’s face crumpled for half a second before she pressed a hand to her chest and I smiled. “These last few months have been the best ride of my life. I spent a truly unreasonable amount of time organizing a carnival for you and I still had more fun than I could have doing anything else, and if I don’t get to ride one of those terrifying roller coasters with my girl tonight, it’ll be a great injustice.”

Her father finally snapped. “Get out.”

I barely moved my eyes away from hers. “No. I’m good exactly where I am, actually.”

“Ryan!” he seethed. “You need to leave. Now.”

“You can throw me out as soon as I’m done. You can have me escorted off the property by security, and hell, you can make sure I never set foot in any boardroom in Manhattan ever again, but I’m finishing this before I go.”

His face turned an unnatural shade of scarlet while Adelaide whispered frantically to someone beside her, probably trying to contain the social catastrophe I’d just launched the Pembrokes into, but honestly, I was pretty sure it had already achieved nuclear status.

The guests seemed to be loving it, though. I could practically hear their collective appetite for gossip screaming, Feed Me!

The drama was just delicious, but as I looked at Maggie, still focusing only on her, and she looked back at me, all the nerves and the fear inside me settled. “I’m in love with you, Mags. I’m madly, wildly, painfully in love with you.”

She sucked in a sharp breath, but I wasn’t done yet. “I love you exactly the way you are. You’re my weird, quirky, haunted-carnival-loving freak, and I’m completely obsessed. I don’t care if anyone thinks that makes me insane. They can think whatever the hell they want, but I love you.”

Her hand came up to cover her mouth, quiet tears streaming down her face as silence fell in the wake of my extremely over-the-top confession. Since everyone was too busy staring between the two of us, they missed the tiny, relieved smile that flickered across Daniel’s face, but I didn’t.

When he moved, however, taking the final two steps between them, they seemed to remember he was here and every head turned toward him. Slowly reaching for Maggie, he took both of her hands in his.

Cliff looked genuinely shell-shocked beside her as he watched them, but not even the mighty Cliff Pembroke could stop this train anymore.