The giggle that escapes has everyone else cracking up too. “Yes, I promise,” I reply with a mock salute.
“And lastly, do you promise to put the caps back on all of your pens so my friend here doesn’t have a heart attack from something so ridiculous?”
“Hey!” Hayes interjects. “These are my vows from her. You don’t have to understand them, you just need to say them for her to agree too, alright?” he fires off at Silas.
“Sorry, bud… but that pet peeve makes no sense to me.”
I place my hand over Hayes’s heart, shifting his gaze back to me. “I will try my best.”
“That’s all I ask, babe.” His smile lights me up from the inside out, but now I’m eager for him to say his vows from me.
“Hayes, do you promise to have a comedy special ready for the two of you to watch when either of you has a bad day?”
Hayes’s face softens as he hears the first of the vows I wanted from him. “Yes, I do.”
“Do you promise to cook dinner for her sometimes, especially something besides the chicken dish you first learned to cook together because she’s getting sick of it?”
I giggle again, but Hayes narrows his eyes at me. “Yes, I can do that. Although, I’ve perfected that recipe now.”
“Do you promise to play the piano for her whenever she asks and reap the benefits from it afterward?”
Hayes waggles his eyebrows. “Absolutely.”
Our friends and family snicker and laugh in the chairs on the lawn.
“And lastly, do you promise to close every cupboard and drawer you open in the house so your wife doesn’t knock herself out while walking by and leave you feeling guilty when she ends up in the ER?”
“Now that’s a bit dramatic,” Hayes retorts. “But in her words, I will try.”
Hayes installed those self-closing hinges when we got home from Aruba, but they were more annoying than when he left the cupboards open. Try putting away dishes when the damn things would just keep closing! So, now we’re back to him leaving cupboards and drawers open around the house, although he is getting better about it. But he’ll still do it sometimes just to piss me off and make me laugh.
“Then by the power vested in me by the state of California, it is an honor to pronounce you as Mr. and Mrs. Hayes Weston… again! You may kiss your bride, Hayes!”
“Damn right I can,” he declares before rushing me and smashing his lips to mine.
And this kiss—it’s everything I wanted in the kiss I shared with my husband in front of our family and friends. Passionate, emotional, a strong declaration of how we feel for one another.
The past two months have been magical—at least that’s what it’s felt like—even though I know there will be low times again for us eventually because that’s just how life works. But the confidence I have in us to handle those moments is worlds away from where it was back then.
I went to the interview with Designs Unlimited a few days after we got home from Aruba, and Victoria was extremely impressed with the rest of my portfolio. She offered me a job right on the spot, but I declined. I didn’t want to work in Vegas, even though I knew it could be months before I had another job opportunity and Hayes insisted that we could make it work. But the truth is, I didn’t want to be away from my husband. I know Hayes said he would support me and split his time if necessary since he did have investments in Vegas, but that’s not the life I wanted for us.
However, Victoria quickly informed me that the firm has a branch in southern California, and she’d be happy to find a place for me there. As soon as she said the words, I signed my contract and have been busy working ever since. Hayes insisted I work on a few clubs with him as well if my time allowed, and now I get the best of both worlds working on my own but also with my husband from time to time.
Hayes kept his former position with his dad’s company but branched out into other forms of real estate as well—office buildings, commercial warehouses, and even small businesses—broadening his investments and taking over more responsibility in the company. He was scared at first when his father suggested the idea, but I encouraged him to do it, knowing that he needed some kind of challenge. And he’s not once shut me out about how different his job has been, but how he actually is happy to have something new to learn as well.
“Waverly! Hayes! I am so happy I could cry!” Rebecca comes up to us in the receiving line as people head inside the house where the food is ready to be served. “My heart feels full now that I actually got to witness the two of you being married.”
When Hayes and I started planning our wedding, we both agreed we didn’t want something extravagant. That was never the aspect that I felt I missed. It was just the celebration, and we wanted it to be intimate, but not as small as Wes and Shayla’s wedding ended up being. So, we invited our closest friends and acquaintances, and Hayes’s parents offered their home to host it at. Catering staff is in the kitchen serving up food buffet style, and large white tents are staked into their lawn where people will sit at round tables of six to enjoy dinner before all the other festivities.
“I know, Mom. I’m glad we did this,” Hayes says, planting a kiss on his mother’s cheek.
“This is what I wanted. To see you two say your vows, share your love with us and the people that mean the most to you.”
“We’re glad we did it too, Rebecca,” I reply, clenching the lapel of my husband’s jacket before planting a kiss on his
