I know he’s right. Margot may not be known for her punctuality, but my sister-in-law is almost as excited as I am that this day has finally come.
To distract myself from the ticking hands of my watch, I look out at the winter wonderland my new friends and family have helped me create for our wedding. It’s pitch black outside, but the white lights hung throughout the new growth of Christmas trees lead a clear path to where I wait by the pond. The dock has been covered in a deep green velvet that reminds me of soft forest moss. It glows like a living thing in the ambient light flickering from the hundreds of lanterns lining the dock.
In the very small crowd that’s gathered to witness our ceremony, I see nothing but smiling faces. Family and friends—new and old. I wouldn’t want it any other way. And it warms my heart to see them all decked out in the lodge’s famous ugly Christmas sweaters. I’m even wearing one under my suit jacket.
Some might find the sweaters tacky, but to me, they mean family. And being part of this one means the world to me.
I take a deep breath and ponder how lucky I am as I stand under an archway of evergreen boughs dripping with mistletoe and white orchids—Chloe’s favorite flower. I know I’ve chosen the perfect place. It wasn’t even a choice, really. This is where I asked Chloe to marry me.
Well, the first time.
I asked her again a few days ago. But that Christmas morning proposal was more of a formality. I was pretty sure by surprising Chloe with a wedding, I’d found the perfect Christmas gift ever. But still, I wanted to be sure.
Thankfully, she’d said yes—again.
We’d been engaged since college . . . but it was worth the wait.
For Chloe, I’d wait forever, but I’d realized I didn’t have to. That’s what today was all about.
I want her to know that I’ll always love her like I do today. That for the rest of our lives, she’ll be my best friend, my family, my number one.
It wasn’t too long ago that I would’ve laughed at the idea of a love like this. But meeting Chloe changed everything. She taught me to open my heart and that even though I’d lost my family, that didn’t mean I would never find a place where I belonged again. With her I had found that place—by her side.
She gave me a new home, a new sense of the word family. And after losing my mother, that meant everything to me.
I knew I’d always have Owen, but I wanted a family of my own. And I knew Chloe would give me that, too. She already had. Our pup, Darcy, her sister, her parents who trusted me enough to let me not only marry their daughter but help run their business.
Sometimes I can’t believe how blind I was before I met Chloe. I thought I had it all—money, looks, the ability to travel the world . . . But in all my wandering I never found happiness. Not like I’ve found with this incredible woman whose kindness unlocked my heart.
Chloe is priceless. And I can’t believe in a few minutes, she’ll be joining her life with mine.
As if on cue, the doors to the lodge swing open. It’s a beautiful backdrop to our wedding venue, but I only have eyes for the woman slowly walking in my direction.
I can’t see her yet. Not fully, anyway.
Margot loads into the horse-drawn sleigh first, then Mr. and Mrs. Price.
My nerves come to a head as the sleigh drives my bride the short distance from the lodge to the pond where I’m waiting. I can’t hear anything over the sound of my heart hammering in my chest. I don’t know why I’m so nervous.
Actually, I do. It’s because all of this feels too good to be true.
And maybe it is. Because no one man deserves this much happiness. I feel like it’s bursting from my pores like sunlight as the bridal party approaches.
Margot walks down the aisle first, grinning from ear-to-ear. She looks beautiful in her sleek wine-colored gown. My niece, Ava, is by her side in a matching dress, tossing rose petals as she walks. Owen points to his watch and winks at them. Margot’s triumphant smile makes me laugh, easing a bit of the tension in my chest. But then I see her . . . Chloe . . . and my breath lodges in my throat and my heart stops beating.
When it picks up its rhythm again, it’s different, forever changed because now it beats only for her, for the woman who from this day forward will be my wife.
Chloe moves toward me, nestled safely between her parents. She has an arm linked through each of theirs until she reaches the dock. That’s where she’ll have to leave them and make the rest of her journey on her own.
She pauses to let her parents kiss her on the cheek and when they take their seats, she stands there for a moment and I’m so damn thankful she does, because I need a moment. Hell, I might need a hundred, because the way she looks right now . . . her white dress, her long brown hair spilling over her fur wrap . . . She’s so beautiful it brings tears to my eyes.
The string quartet music swells and Chloe begins to move toward me.
I know I’m supposed to wait here at the end of the dock for her to reach me, but I can’t. My feet are moving of their own accord and before I know it my hands are in hers. We both laugh and I’m grinning so wide it hurts.
“Hi,” I greet.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “Have you been waiting long?”
I want to tell her I’ve been waiting my whole damn life, but I only take her hand kissing the back of her knuckles with my lips. “For
