She slid the ring over his knuckle and seated it on his finger, whispering so it wouldn’t be picked up by the camera, “I also bought you a silicone ring to wear on the job.”
Tony smiled broadly. “Already taking good care of me.”
“Always. As long as it’s not expected in the kitchen.”
“That’s my domain, woman.”
“No complaints from me!” she laughed, all the tension gone from her body.
Tony glanced down at his notes in his hand. Certain he’d be able to say his vows without a script, he tucked the paper into his pocket, took her left hand in his, and stared into her eyes as she’d done with him moments before.
The sun was setting behind the camera casting a warm glow over Carmella’s face. She’d never looked more beautiful.
“Carmella, I vow to be vulnerable with you when I’m afraid or feeling lost—or at least to try.” He gave a lopsided grin. “I vow to be playful with you, to celebrate with you, and to laugh with you—often.”
Tony’s throat closed up a moment and his eyes stung. “I will honor and respect you, and I promise to encourage, protect, and love you.” A lightness came over him. He’d have no regrets for the decision to marry this woman, the love of his life. Tony reached into his pocket to retrieve the white gold band from the matched set he’d bought with her engagement ring and grew serious again.
“With this ring as a token of my love and devotion to you, I give myself to you and only you, Carmella, to be your husband until my final breath, in good times and in bad.” He placed the ring on her finger.
A gust of wind blew up out of nowhere and the veil covered her face until Tony captured the lace and secured it behind her head. They clasped each other’s hands and looked into each other’s eyes.
In unison, they declared, “Together we pronounce ourselves married.” Those life-altering words were followed with a soul-deep kiss. Afterward, they turned to look at the crimson light shining on the Maroon Bells. Carmella pulled out the license.
“Oh no! I forgot the pen,” she said.
Tony reached into the inner pocket of his suit coat and pulled one out. The look of relief on her face made him smile. Then they finalized their marriage ceremony with the camera running to record this momentous occasion.
With his arm around her, they stood together and watched the light fade while looking at the Bells. “I’m going to cherish and protect you, Carmella, and provide you with everything you need to be happy.”
She smiled up at him in the twilight. “All I’ll ever need is to have you by my side.”
“This might be a good time for us to have our first dance as husband and wife.”
Her eyes opened wide. “That would be lovely, but we didn’t bring any music, did we?”
“We have the water from the stream, the birds, and the wind as our orchestra.”
Tony took her into his arms and danced with her for several minutes. When she rested her head on his shoulder, he laid his face against her hair. He hoped he could always be there for her. He wanted to grow old with Carmella, to see their kids grow up, and maybe even their grandkids, if they were fortunate enough to have both.
Carm shivered as the wind picked up more intensely.
“I think we’d better get into the tent before you freeze to death. Let me get the camera, and I’ll meet you inside.”
“I’ll grab our things.”
Minutes later, they were inside the cozy tent that was big enough for them to be able to sit up. Tony opened his pack to pull out a bottle of champagne, two glasses, and the large slice of Italian cream cake he’d picked up at Angelina’s café on his way through Breckenridge. Pippa, who’d made the cake, and his sister were both used to Tony dropping by for food, so neither had questioned him about it.
Their families sure were in for a surprise tomorrow.
“Cent’anni! Salute! Evviva gli sposi!” he toasted them.
“To the bride and groom!” she echoed the ending.
They clinked their glasses, each took a sip, then emptied the flutes before setting everything aside and feeding each other chunks of the cake with their fingers.
Earlier, they’d zipped together their sleeping bags. Before crawling between the layers, they stripped out of their clothes.
Mostly. Carmella did leave on one item.
“You kept it?” On her thigh she wore the blue garter from Angelina’s wedding.
“I guess that silly garter reversal wasn’t as silly as I thought at the time. Whenever I looked at it in my underwear drawer, I thought of you.”
Tony reached for the blue garter to remove it this time, but Carmella held up her hand. “Oh, no! Not so fast, T.G.! I want you to remove it with your teeth!”
He grinned. “Anything to please my bride.”
She shivered. “On second thought, snap to it before I freeze to death.”
Chapter Forty-Three
“I don’t intend to let anyone steal our thunder this time,” Tony said as he parked in Marc and Angelina’s driveway.
Carm hoped their announcement wouldn’t ruin the Feast of the Seven Fishes for everyone, but the longer they waited, the worse it would be.
“I’m a nervous wreck, Tony.” They walked hand in hand toward Angelina and Marc’s house as a brisk wind whipped at their faces. They’d left Maroon Bells at noon to go to Tony’s. He’d carried her over the threshold, surprising the hell out of her, but also thrilling her.
I’m married!
Until they’d gotten under the warm spray of the shower, she hadn’t realized how cold she was from their night in the tent, not that Tony hadn’t tried all kinds of ways to keep the blood flowing.
With the Feast still hours away, they’d made love and fallen asleep, but ended up sleeping longer than planned. Now they were probably going to be the last to arrive, judging by all the vehicles in the drive.
“Relax.” Tony gave her
