“We all know how trying the quest to win New Haven was. So many things happened to Emmie and Eric that in hindsight had a good chance of ripping them away from each other. But the opposite happened. They grew more with each obstacle. Their devotion multiplied with each barrier that threatened to get in their way.”
Eric reached out and wiped some tears from my eyes.
“Their bond is the perfect example of how a marriage should be,” Archie said. “They stand by each other through thick and thin, support and fight for one another, and they never speak badly of the other. They talk out their problems.” He smiled. “And they do it rationally. They take the time to understand each other. Their relationship is built on faith and trust. They’re starting their marriage on a firm foundation that I have no doubt will remain intact.”
Archie’s voice trembled. He cleared his throat before he continued. “The same loyalty Emmie and Eric have shown to each other, they have shown to this city. New Haven wouldn’t be where it is today if it weren’t for them. They fought hard for our freedom, never backing down, even when their lives were in the balance. I think I can safely say on the behalf of New Haven that you will forever have a special place in our hearts.”
A small cheer broke out among the crowd. It probably would have been louder if it weren’t for Dee shushing the crowd. Eric and I smiled at each other.
“I believe the two of you have written your own vows,” Archie said.
Eric nodded, smiling at me. “Ladies first.”
I had no idea what I wanted to say. There weren’t any words to describe my feelings toward Eric or how much he meant to me. So, I did exactly what I had done for my father and Mack at their funeral. I followed my heart.
“Eric, I don’t think you know the impact you’ve had on my life. Before I met you, I wasn’t sure what I wanted in life or who I even was. I lacked confidence in myself and my abilities. But you …” I squeezed his hands. “You’ve never doubted me. Ever. You’ve always believed in me. You’ve given me strength when I thought I’d lost hope. You’ve given me something to live for. You’ve stood by my side through everything, never losing faith in me. What Archie said about our foundation we’ve created, it’s firm because of you, Eric. You’re my rock, you always have been, and you always will.”
I took one of my hands out from his and ran my fingers through his hair. “You’ve taken such good care of me and showed me love and constant devotion. But you’ve done it without treating me like I was weak or couldn’t do things on my own. I appreciate that more than you’ll ever know. I love you, Eric Greene, and I promise that love will never fade.”
Eric took a few deep breaths as he blinked back some tears. Bouncing up and down a little on the balls of his feet, he intertwined our fingers. “Maybe I should’ve gone first.” His mouth twisted and he gave me a mischievous smile like the one he gave me when I was standing in the Recruitment office the first day we met.
“Emmie, I’ve looked at you like you’re strong because you are. That’s what I love about you. You never back down to a challenge and I feel sorry for any person who tries to get in your way. I’ll never lose faith or hope in you or us. Given everything we’ve been through, I’m positive we can now stare anything in the face and come out on top.
“Emmie, I’m the luckiest guy in the world to have a woman like you. You’ve made me want to be a better person and gave me a reason to live when I thought everything had been taken from me.” He closed his eyes, probably thinking about his mother and father.
When he opened his eyes, a few tears fell down his cheeks. “I believed I had no reason to continue. No reason to live. I didn’t care what happened to me, so I became reckless. That changed in an instant with one look at you. To see the love and commitment you showed to your friend and your Recruitment partner blew me away. Your loyalty is unbreakable. You stand up for what you believe in and for what’s right.”
His smile twisted again. “Not to mention you’re downright sexy.” When I rolled my eyes, he put his hand on the back of my neck and pulled our heads together until our foreheads were touching. “I love you, Emmie Woodard, and I would do anything or go anywhere for you. I will always be here for you, no matter where life takes us.”
Eric kissed my forehead and intertwined our fingers again. Archie motioned for Marie and Mack to step forward. Still sucking on the pillow, Mack let go and blew spit bubbles at me when I untied Eric’s ring. I kissed Mack’s cheek, turning his spitting into laughter.
Eric’s solid band was made as the same metal as mine. Engraved on the inside was our initials, plus a small butterfly.
He held out his hand and I slipped the ring onto his ring finger. “With this ring, I pledge my love and commitment to you, never yielding, never wavering, and never-ending.”
When Eric took my ring from the pillow, Mack scowled at him. It quickly changed to laughter, though, when Eric blew a raspberry on his cheek. Mack took a fistful of Eric’s hair and started spitting bubbles again. Marie had to finally pull little Mack’s fist away from Eric's hair so we could continue. She gave me an apologetic look, her cheeks bright red, but both Eric and I were laughing.
After giving my ring made of twine a twist, Eric slid my real ring over it. “With this ring, I pledge my love and commitment to you, never yielding, never wavering, and never-ending.”
“I now pronounce you husband and wife.” Archie’s smile was the biggest I’d ever seen it. Mine was even bigger. “You may kiss your bride.”
Eric winked at me before he dipped me down and kissed me. I wound my fingers through his hair as we kissed, soaking in the warmth that spread through me.
Santiago whistled next to us, along with a few others in the crowd. When Eric finally pulled me back up, he winked at me again, making me smile.
Archie motioned to the two of us. “Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Greene!”
Eric took my hand and raised our arms in the air as everyone stood and cheered. We started to walk down the aisle, but Eric swept me off my feet and carried me down instead.
The rest of the evening was filled with dinner, laughter, and lots and lots of dancing. They had strung up lights around the park like the ones Eric had used during his official proposal. Hanging from the strings of lights were paper butterflies that the children at the school had decorated. Overall, everything was simple, yet so perfect.
I was off to the side drinking some water when Derek approached, took my drink, sat it down, and pulled me out onto the dance floor. Right when we started dancing, he pulled out one of the paper butterflies from Eric's proposal.
He turned it over in his hands. "Did you ever look at my butterflies?"
"Sorry," I said with a shake of my head. "I never had the chance."
Taking my hand, he twirled me a few times. When I came to a stop, he held the butterfly in front of my face. On the back, in Derek's terrible handwriting, was a . In the bottom corner was a .
I raised my eyebrows. "Okay. What does that mean?"
Derek pointed to the . "Three E's. Emmie, Eric, Eternity." He then pointed to the . "Of course, I had to trademark my marvel so everyone would know it was done by Captain Awesome." When I didn't respond right away, he sighed. "Okay, it's cheesy. I wanted to add something to set mine apart."
I pulled him into a hug. "It's wonderful, Derek. Thank you."
"Oh." He cleared his throat. "You're welcome."
Someone tapped on Derek's shoulder, so he pulled away. Luke stood there with an awkward smile on his face. "Do you mind if I cut in?"
Derek shrugged. "Sure. I'm done with her." He high fived me. "Have a nice life, sis." He scanned the crowd until his eyes settled on Eric. "I need to have a talk with the groom anyway."
"About what?" I asked.
Derek adjusted his tie. "A little thing called the birds and the bees."
Before I could stop him, he was gone.
"Well, that's going to be awkward," Luke said, pulling me in to dance. He put
one hand on my waist and took my other hand in his. "First of all, Emmie, let me say you look beautiful tonight."
"Thanks, Luke." Since my free hand was on his shoulder, I took a moment to fix his shirt collar. "You look quite dashing yourself."
He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Has Tina talked to you at all?"
"About what?" I asked. That was a pretty open-ended question.
"About us," Luke said. When I raised my eyebrows, he continued. "I mean, about me and Tina, not you and me."
I shook my head. "Not recently. Why? Is everything okay?"
He looked over my shoulder and when I turned around, I noticed Tina was behind us talking with Dee and Will. She waved at us when she saw us staring.
Luke shifted his gaze back to me. "Yes. Everything's fine. It's just." He sighed. "Everyone's getting engaged or in your case, married. I'm just not ready for that kind of commitment. We're only nineteen—"
He would have kept on going if I hadn't stopped him. "Luke, it's fine. Tina hasn't mentioned anything about marriage. She's happy with the way your relationship is right now. Just because other people are getting engaged doesn't mean you have to. You need to do what's right for you and Tina. I know Eric and I are young, but we were ready. Don't ask Tina to marry you unless you know for certain that you want to be with her for the rest of your life."
Luke nodded, looking only slightly relieved. "I guess you're right."
"I'm always right," I said.
Luke finally relaxed and laughed. "True. Hey, have you ever told Eric about me and you? I mean, what happened during that challenge?"
I thought back to when Luke and I were trapped in that room, thinking we were about to die. We had shared a pretty intense kiss. "No. There never was a good time to tell him. This past year has been crazy. And now …" I glanced over at Eric who was talking with my brother. Derek was using very animated hand gestures and Eric had a look on his face that was a mixture of being entertained, yet horrified. "Too much time has passed to bring it up now. I say we just take it with us to the grave."
Luke nodded. "I like that idea."
"Although," I said, "never tick Joshua off. He knows about it and could use it as a weapon against you."
"Good to know," Luke said. The song ended, so we pulled away, clapping softly toward the band.
A faster song began, so I went to walk to the side, but Eric was suddenly at my side, pulling me close. “Your brother is officially crazy. I’m signing your ‘Derek is crazy’ document myself and putting about a thousand stamps of approval on it.” He spun me out and then pulled me back in, setting his hand on the small of my back and resting his cheek against mine as we danced.
“This is a fast song,” I said.
“Um, hmm.” Eric held me close, swaying back and forth slowly.
I pressed myself closer to him. “Do I want to know what he said to you?”
“No.” Eric kissed my cheek. “But he did make me start thinking about tonight. I think I’m ready to leave.” He turned his head and pressed his lips to mine.
Running my fingers through his hair, I stared up at him. “Where are we even going to go?” I shook my head, surprised I hadn’t thought about it earlier. “If we go to my place, Derek and Joshua will be there. If we go to yours, Luke and your father will be there.”
The corner of his mouth turned up into a smile, his eyes telling me that he was hiding something. “I’ve taken care of it. But first, we need to get you out of this dress.”
“Wow. Can you at least wait until we’re not out in public?”
He tsked. “My goodness, Emmie. That mind of yours is always in the gutter.” I rolled my eyes as he laughed and guided me off the dance floor. He took me to Dee and Tina, who were talking with Luke and Will. “Dee, Tina, can you get her out of this dress.” He eyed the buttons on the back of my dress. “It looks way too complicated for me and I don’t want to ruin it.”
“I don’t want you to ruin it, either,” Dee said, taking my hand. “Or then I’d have to kill you, which would create an awkward wedge between me and Emmie.”
As Dee and Tina worked at getting my dress off me, I thought of something. “What am I supposed to put on once you get this off?” I rubbed my forehead. “I really didn’t think ahead.”
“That’s why you have me, my dear Emmie,” Dee said. I put my hand on Tina’s shoulder as I stepped out of the dress. Dee opened a box sitting on one of the desks in the room. She pulled out a pale green dress and brought it over to me. “Arms up.”
I threw my hands in the air and Dee pulled the dress over my head. It was made of a light cotton material that fell nicely against my curves. I was relieved to see sleeves and slightly dismayed to see it only came to my knees. I looked at my white legs. “Are you sure about this, Dee?”
Dee waved her hand. “You have nice gams. Get over it and flaunt those things.”
“Gams?” Tina asked.
Dee grinned. “Legs. Gam is another word for leg.”
“You sound like my Great Grandma Mae,” I said, still eyeing my legs.
“She’s right, though,” Tina said. “You do have nice legs. You need to get over your insecurities.”
Dee clapped her hands. “Speaking of insecurities.” She looked around the room until her eyes settled on a bag in the corner. She went over, grabbed it, and brought it back over to me. “A little something to wear tonight. Let me know what Eric thinks.”
Tina and I glanced in the bag and I gasped when I saw a very limited amount of silk material in there. “I’m supposed to wear this?”
Dee nodded. “Yep. It’s called lingerie. Vivica was telling me about it.”
“Oh,” Tina said, her smile mischievous. “I’m positive Eric will like that.”
I started laughing.
“What?” Dee asked with a frown on her face. “You don’t like it?”
“It’s not that,” I said. “I was just imaging how bright red Will’s face would be if he saw you in something like this.”
“I know,” Dee said. “He’d probably faint.” She smiled. “I’m already working on mine.”
I kicked off my wedding shoes, wiggling my toes around. “Much better. Now I’m ready to leave.”
Eric was waiting at the door to the school when we came out. He eyed the bag I was holding. “What’s in there?”
Dee slapped his arm. “Something you’ll be thanking me for.” She hugged me and kissed me on the cheek. “Have fun, kids. I don’t want to see you for at least a week.”
“I’m keeping her for three,” Eric said, pulling me off the ground and holding me in his arms.
“See you in three weeks, then,” Tina said. She smiled at us before she and Dee walked away.
I kissed Eric’s cheek as he carried me to a jeep. “Shouldn’t we say goodbye to everyone?”
Eric shook his head. “No way. The goodbyes would never end.” He opened the door to the jeep and set me inside.
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll have to wait and see.” He ran over to the other side, hopped in, and started the jeep. We drove through town until we ended up near the cemetery. I stared at the sky as Eric drove up the mountainside. It was a beautiful night with stars painting the clear sky.
When the jeep came to a stop, I pried my eyes away from the stars and saw a log home sitting up against the mountain. It was two stories, with large windows on the front and sides of the home. In front, a bench hung from the covered porch that wrapped around the home. From my seat, I could see the cemetery clearly, along with a perfect view of New Haven.
Eric opened my door and pulled me into his arms. “Welcome home.”
My eyes darted back and forth between him and the house. “Is that?”
He nodded, his perfect smile glowing in the moonlight. “Our home. It’s a little secret project Archie, Dante, Santiago, Luke, and I have been working on.”
I stared at the log home with my mouth slightly open. After a moment, I turned to Eric. “It’s
wonderful.”
“I’m glad you like it. I’m going to put the arch used in the ceremony on the top of the steps, so we have to go under it every time we enter our home.” He carried me to the front door and turned the knob, kicking the door open with his foot. “Welcome home, Mrs. Greene.”
I kissed him gently on the lips. “Thank you, Mr. Greene.”
He held me close as he carried me over the threshold and into our home.
The End of the New Haven Series
Other Books by Sara Jo Cluff
YA Dystopian:
NEW HAVEN SERIES:
RECRUITS
RECKONING
RISE
YA Contemporary:
Filler Friend
The Kiss List
Middle Grade:
THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF COTTON WYLEY
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A big thanks to everyone who loved and supported the New Haven series. It was by far my favorite books to write, probably because I wrote them for myself.
I went through a phase where I was mad at every series I read because they never ended the way I wanted. So, I decided to write a series myself. And, hey, it ended exactly how I wanted! I never thought anyone would read them. They were my preciouses. But you did read them, and you loved them. Thanks for all your support. Because of you, my beloved series is now in print.
Now I just need them as a Lego videogame, and my life will be complete.
Chad, you’ll always be my favorite person ever. Your support means the world to me. You’re the Eric to my Emmie, and I love you more than life itself. You always know exactly how to cheer me up on my bad days and handle my craziness so well. I’m excited for the many adventures we still have ahead of us. I’m lucky to share eternity with you.
Rise (New Haven Book 3) Page 29