Em’s eyes fill with tears at the last line and I swipe the trails from her cheeks with my thumbs. “You okay?” I ask.
She nods. “Fine.”
She pulls a folded piece of paper from her sleeve, and I wince. I know she struggled with this all week. She used colored paper, because the words are more legible to her that way, and she spaced the words really far apart.
She sniffs and starts to read. “Logan,” she says. “I… pro…mise…” She looks up at me a little frantic, and I want to save her. I want to help her.
Suddenly, she tosses the cards in the air and they fall to the floor like confetti. She smiles at me. “I don’t need cards to tell me how much I love you, Logan.” Another tear rolls down her cheek, and I can feel my eyes getting misty too. “It all started with a tattoo,” she says. “You took my idea of perfect and made it better. You added a key to my guitar. My guitar and my music were my life, and you thought the key would be a superficial addition, but it wasn’t. You were the key, Logan. You were the only thing I needed. If I couldn’t play another note again, I’d still be happy because I have you.” She takes a breath and smiles at me through her tears. “I promise to love you above all else, in the best way I know how. I promise to let you read to our children while I teach them about music, just because we can. I promise to trust you and to be trustworthy.” She bends down and picks up a piece of her vows. She reads it. “I love you, Logan,” she says. “The end.”
“Nope,” I say. “Just the beginning.”
“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the preacher says. “You may kiss your bride.”
I grab her quickly and pull her to me. She falls against me and wraps her arms my neck with a laugh. I touch my lips to hers. She’s Mrs. Logan Reed now. Mine forever. And a day.
I look over and see Henry. He wipes a tear from his eye, and I read his lips as he says, “It’s the only thing that matters, Logan.”
“What is?” I ask.
“Love,” he says. “It’s the only thing that matters.”
Paul claps his hands together. “Let’s eat cake!” he cries.
We celebrate for a few minutes, and then I see Pete and Reagan in the corner together and it looks like she’s crying. I walk over. “What’s wrong?” I ask.
Pete looks up like he’s sorry. “We don’t want to ruin your day,” he says. “I’m so sorry.”
“Tell me what’s wrong.” I want to know. Now. After what happened last week with her attacker, we’ve all been sitting on pins and needles waiting to see what would happen. His DNA matched to several other rapes in the area, so he’d definitely going to be locked up for a while, but no one knows how long yet.
“My dad just called,” Reagan says. “My attacker committed suicide in his cell today. He’s dead.” She sniffles.
“Does that make you sad?” I ask. I kind of fucking love that he’s dead. I’m afraid to say it out loud, though.
“I wanted justice for his victims,” she admits. “But this way works, too.” She grins. “It works just fine.”
“I’m glad that fucker’s dead,” Pete says.
I clap my hand on Pete’s shoulder and lead them back to the group. We’re going to raise a glass to justice. I pick up a glass of champagne and lift it in the air. “They say revenge is sweet,” I say. “But Sam’s cake is even sweeter. So, let’s enjoy!”
“To the happy couple!” Paul cries.
I pull Emily close to me and she tips her face up for a kiss. “I love you,” I tell her.
“I love you better,” she says with a grin.
The Red Door Reads ‘Who’s Ben Skrewd?’ Novellas
What do you call eleven books ranging the gamut of Romance, from Regency Historical to Contemporary, to Paranormal, Urban Fantasy and beyond, all releasing on April 15, 2014 (tax day!) and each featuring a Red Door and a mysterious figure named Ben Skrewd? You call it a novella series like none other, all from the fabulous writers at Red Door Reads!
Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness by Deb Marlowe
A Half Moon House Series Novella
Hexed by Andris Bear
A Deadly Sins Novella
Dances with Demons by Lori Handeland
A Phoenix Chronicles Novella
Firebird by Linda Winstead Jones
A Columbyana Novella
In the Stars by Ava Stone
A Regency Encounter Novella
Her Muse, Lord Patrick by Jane Charles
A Muses Novella
Cross Springs In Bloom by Caren Crane
A Cross Springs Novella
The Earl’s Passionate Plot by Susan Gee Heino
Touch of Trouble by Susan Sey
A Blake Brothers Novella
Reagan’s Revenge by Tammy Falkner
A Reed Brothers Novella
Accidentally in Love by Claudia Dain
A More Courtesan Chronicles Novella
You can find them all at http://www.RedDoorReads.com!
More by Tammy Falkner:
Regency Faeries
A Lady and Her Magic
The Magic of “I Do”
The Magic Between Us
Contemporary Romance
Escaping the Past
Smart, Sexy and Secretive
Calmly, Carefully, Completely
Just Jelly Beans and Jealousy
Finally Finding Faith
Coming May 1, 2014 – Maybe Matt’s Miracle
Reagan's Revenge and Ending Emily's Engagement Page 4