“No problem,” he assured me on a raspy growl.
My dad must’ve rushed over because he gripped my arm and asked, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I probably should’ve gone with a smaller heel.” I lifted the hem of my dress and wiggled my foot. “Luckily, someone was here to rescue me from myself.”
“Who?”
I glanced over my shoulder and realized it was just the two of us in the hallway now. It was as though the guy had disappeared into thin air, reinforcing my belief that he was someone Hudson worked with. But it didn’t really matter who he was because the music shifted to the bridal march. “Never mind, we need to get in there before anything else goes wrong.”
“Be careful, sweetheart. You don’t want to jinx yourself,” my dad rumbled as he tucked my hand in the crook of his elbow and guided me toward the doors.
My dad’s warning was the first thing that popped into my head less than ten minutes later when we were in the middle of the ceremony and the fire alarm went off. “You’ve got to be freaking kidding me,” I cried as Hudson swept me off my feet and rushed me out of the building.
The wedding planner guided everyone across the street, where we all waited until a fire truck came racing down the street and screeched to a halt in front of the building. Hudson held me close as a bunch of firefighters ran inside, while my mom and Faith each had one of our twins. Hope, my youngest sister who wasn’t even a full year older than my babies—because of course my dad wasn’t done knocking my mom up yet—was trying to get my dad to put her down.
Laughter bubbled up my throat, and I buried my face in Hudson’s chest while the chaos of our families surrounded us. My husband made soothing noises, stroking my back while I blocked everything else out except for the feel of being close to him. We stayed like that for however long it took the firemen to clear the building. When one of them crossed the street to speak to us, Hudson tucked me into his side.
The firefighter pulled his helmet off and wiped his brow with his forearm before announcing, “It was a false alarm. You’re cleared to reenter the building.”
“Of course, there was a freaking false alarm right in the middle of the ceremony,” Faith sighed, drawing the fireman’s attention. A muscle jumped in his cheek as his gaze dropped to where she was holding Kate, who wasn’t paying any attention to him because she finally caught sight of me and started to shriek for her mommy.
“I’ve got her.” Hudson dropped a quick kiss on the top of my head before striding over to grab Kate. He lifted her in the air until she squealed. I searched the crowd for Audrey, hoping she still had the little bride care kit that she’d put together on her because I really could use an ibuprofen right about now. I didn’t see her anywhere, though. I couldn’t imagine that she’d gone very far since the fireman had just announced it was safe to go back inside. Hopefully, I’d be able to find her soon.
“C’mon, Rush,” one of the other firefighters called, jerking his thumb over his shoulder toward the truck. “We can’t leave without you since you’re the one driving the rig today. Quit gawking at the pretty girl and get your butt over here.”
Faith didn’t tear her eyes away from the guy who’d been shamelessly checking her out until he climbed into the driver’s seat and slammed the door shut. Mindful of the fact that our dad was standing only a few feet away, I lowered my voice as I teased, “Maybe you’d better start researching the best places to elope sooner rather than later.”
My sister rolled her eyes and huffed, “I’m not even eighteen yet.”
“True.” I pointed at our mom, who was holding Joshua, and quirked a brow. “But I got pregnant with twins the day I turned eighteen, so you never know what’ll happen when you fall in love.”
“Whatever.” Faith gave one last look at the fire truck as it pulled away from the curb. Her shoulders slumped a little as she wandered over to take her niece back from my husband.
Hudson sidled up next to me and flung his arm over my shoulder. “Ready to head inside and get back to our ceremony?”
“I have a better idea.” Tilting my head back, I grinned up at him. “How about we bypass saying our I do’s again since we’re already married? Celebrating with everyone we love is what really matters, so I think we should just skip straight to the festivities.”
“Whatever you want, baby.”
I wasn’t surprised that Hudson agreed so quickly. My gorgeous husband had always been all about giving me what I needed.
Epilogue Hudson
Four Years Later
As I walked downstairs after getting our two youngest to sleep, I heard the twins squabbling in the living room. This wasn’t anything new for Joshua and Kate. Ever since they hit the terrible threes, they started to show their love for each other by bickering. Sibling rivalry was alive and well in the Kendall household.
“You’re such a boy,” Kate grumbled with a stomp of her foot.
“You’re such a girl,” Joshua retorted, rolling his eyes.
Our children echoed the back and forth that Grace and I had been saying to each other for years, but their version was meant as an insult. “Okay, kiddos. That’s enough.”
“But Dad—”
Joshua’s complaint broke off mid-sentence when he caught the glare I leveled his way. “I don’t want to hear it. Especially not when your mom is trying to hit an editing deadline and needs quiet.”
“It’s not like she can hear us,” Joshua argued, crossing his
