by Debbie Mason
As he dabbed away his tears of laughter with a hankie, Sadie said, “I know all the changes Chase made this past year have been difficult for you to understand and accept. But none of them had anything to do with how he feels about you. He worries about you, you know. He wants you to move to Highland Falls.” She tentatively reached out to cover his hand with hers. “I’d like that too. I want you to be part of our family, Jonathan.”
He rubbed the corner of his left eye with his hankie and then cleared his throat. “I loved my wife. She was the best thing that ever happened to me. She was my best friend, the best life partner that I could have asked for.”
“You must miss her.”
“I do, very much so.” He handed her back the album. “She’d be disappointed with how I’ve behaved this past week. I’m sorry for how I’ve treated you, Sadie. I was rude and unkind.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry too. I should have come to you sooner. My only excuse is that planning this wedding has taken over my life.”
“And not only yours from what I understand,” he said with a touch of amusement in his voice. “Ellie was watching What Are the Groomzillas Up To Now? on your friend’s YouTube channel the other night and asked me to join her. It was…enlightening.”
Sadie smiled. “Living here has been good for him. Maybe it would be good for you too. The seniors in Highland Falls are very active in the community. I don’t know if you’ve heard from the mayor yet, but she mentioned that an opening is coming up on the town council, and she thinks you’d be a perfect fit.”
“I’ve heard from quite a few people in town, actually. Some with very interesting proposals.” His smile faded, and he looked down at his hands. “Only I’m not sure Chase wants me to stay here any longer.” He held up a finger when Sadie went to protest. “I know that he did. But he was also very clear that he wanted nothing more to do with me if I hurt you.”
“Trust me, he wants you here. We both do. And as much as I’d like to sit here all day and enjoy the view, we have things to do.”
“We do?”
“Yes. You need a tux if you’re going to be in the wedding party, and I think you should go to the pumpkin patch with the groomzillas. I don’t trust them not to change our wedding decor to pumpkins and bales of hay. And there’s the beer tasting at Highland Brew tonight. You definitely don’t want to miss that. Plus, who knows what those three will get up to? I need you to keep them in line, Jonathan. You have a way about you that I think they’ll respect.”
“My wife would have liked you, Sadie. Just now, you reminded me a little of her.”
“That’s the nicest compliment you could have given me. Thank you.” Her phone pinged, and she glanced at the screen. “Oh no, I forgot I was supposed to meet my grandmother at the bridal shop.”
“I thought you would have bought your dress by now.”
“You and everyone else. I haven’t found the one I want yet. They’re all so fussy and frilly. I just want a simple dress with elegant lines.”
“I may have what you’re looking for. I’ve kept my wife’s wedding gown. It’s very much like you described, and you’re a similar size. If you’d like, I can have it sent to you.”
Her throat tightened, and it took her a moment to get the words out. “I…I’d be honored.”
“You’re not going to cry, are you?” he said with a touch of alarm in his voice.
“No.” She sniffed. “I’m…” Despite her best efforts, she cried, throwing her arms around the judge. “Thank you. Now our wedding really will be perfect.”
Chapter Eleven
Sadie, Abby, and Mallory learned the hard way that weddings are never perfect. Something invariably goes wrong. In their case, it wasn’t the groomzillas taking over the wedding planning, it was the weather. Fifteen minutes before they were set to walk down the aisle, the skies opened up, the storm providing a light-and-sound show they could have done without.
Luckily, their guests and the other members of the wedding party made it into the barn in time and were relatively dry. The bales of hay their grooms had substituted for chairs didn’t fare as well. Now that the storm had passed, there was a mad scramble to set up the chairs that the men had stored in the barn.
Abby had already canceled her subscribers’ online viewing of the wedding, so the big screens hadn’t been set up. She hadn’t canceled only so that Nate could participate in the wedding. She’d done it for all of them. She wanted their actual wedding day to be special and private. No one had been happier with her decision than Hunter.
Her subscribers had been pretty good sports about it. Probably because Abby had promised she’d host an After the Wedding episode with the groomzillas in attendance—something she conveniently forgot to mention to Hunter, Chase, and Gabe.
As the first strains of Israel Kamakawiwo‘ole’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” drifted through the screen door and into the farmhouse, Abby turned to Sadie and Mallory. “I love you guys. You’ve turned a special day into an unforgettable one. I—”
“No. No more,” Sadie and Mallory said, waving their hands in front of their faces. “Don’t say anything else. You’ll make us cry,” Sadie added, close to tears. She’d already cried once today when she put on Chase’s grandmother’s dress. It was an antique-lace V-neck sheath wedding gown with three-quarter-length sleeves and a gorgeous rose sash adorned with pearls, crystals, and rhinestones. She couldn’t have envisioned a more perfect wedding dress.
Abby’s twin sisters opened the screen door, looking beautiful in their pumpkin-colored bridesmaid dresses. “Come on, Abs. It’s time.”
Abby took a deep breath and smiled. “Here we go.” Her mother and stepfather joined her on the porch, handing her Bella. Wolf was standing with Hunter, along with his brother.
As they began walking down the steps together, Mallory’s father came to stand with his daughter. “Are you ready, honey?”
Mallory, who looked stunning in a pale peach wedding gown, gave her father a watery smile and nodded. Her father surreptitiously wiped at his eyes, as emotional as his daughter. It was the first time he’d walked Mallory down the aisle.
“Look, look, here she comes!” Teddy cried as Mallory and her father walked down the steps. Snowball, the family’s tiny white dog, barked, making the five boys standing with their father laugh.
As Sadie’s grandmother and brother came to take their places on either side of her, Ellie, looking beautiful in her pumpkin-colored bridesmaid dress, handed Michaela to Sadie. In the end, it hadn’t been Sadie or Ellie who’d picked Michaela’s outfit, it had been Chase. She looked adorable in the creamy tulle dress, the sash and the bow in her hair the same plaid that Chase wore.
Finn, Nate, and Chase’s grandfather were his groomsmen. Sadie smiled, thinking back to the moment she’d dropped off Jonathan at the tailor’s. Chase had been as happy as she had known he would be. Although the judge hadn’t been as good at keeping the groomzillas in line as Sadie had hoped. Owen had delivered a wagonful of pumpkins to the farm early this morning.
As Ellie walked ahead of them down the leaf-strewn aisle, Agnes leaned in to Sadie. “Look at Nate. He can’t take his eyes off your cousin.” Sadie’s grandmother adored Nate and treated him like a grandson. She’d also been trying to set him up for the past three months so Sadie thought she’d better warn Ellie and Nate.
But then Chase turned to watch her walk down the aisle and thoughts of anyone else but him scattered. He looked beautiful in his black jacket, white shirt, and plaid bow tie that matched his kilt. But it was his smile that stole her breath. She blinked her eyes, afraid she’d cry. The last thing she needed was mascara running down her cheeks. Just when she thought she couldn’t hold the tears back any longer, Michaela saved the day. She yelled, “Dada, dada” and reached for Chase, making grabby hands.
Everyone laughed, including her grandmother and brother, who leaned in to kiss Sadie’s cheeks. “I love you, girlie.” “I love you, sis.”
“Love you too,�
�� she said, once again struggling to contain her tears as she went to stand with Chase.
“Hi.” She smiled.
“Hi.” He grinned, bending down to kiss both her and Michaela. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered in Sadie’s ear.
“So are you,” she whispered back.
“I love you.”
“I love you more.”
“Okay, you two,” Abby called over. “The sooner the mayor marries us, the sooner we get to the fun part.”
The mayor stood in front of a wooden arch draped in peach- and cream-colored roses and rust-colored vines. The flowers looked a little worse for wear after the storm but were still beautiful and smelled divine. Sadie cast Winter an apologetic glance.
The mayor gave her a no worries smile and began the ceremony. They said their vows together. Chase interrupted them in the middle of the ring exchange. “I need a minute.” He crouched beside Finn, taking a blue box from the pocket of the plaid tux the golden retriever wore. Straightening, Chase opened the box to reveal a tiny diamond ring on a delicate chain.
“Oh, Chase,” Sadie murmured.
“I wanted Michaela to have something special to remember today.”
“She has you.” Sadie sniffed, helping him fasten the chain around Michaela’s neck and then kissing him. “It’s beautiful.”
“Thanks a lot, Chase,” Abby said. “Now you’ve made us all cry.”
“I’m not crying,” Hunter said.
“Neither am I,” Gabe added.
“You kind of are, Dad. So are you, Hunter,” Teddy said.
The judge blew his nose and then shrugged as he tucked his white hankie in his breast pocket. “There’s nothing wrong with a man shedding a tear or two on a special occasion such as this.” He winked at Sadie. “I’ve gained a granddaughter and great-granddaughter, after all.”
Chase wiped at his eyes, sharing a laugh with Sadie when Nate did the same.
“Hurry up and marry them before they flood us all out, mayor,” someone called from the back row.
They were all still laughing when Winter declared them husbands and wives. “You may now kiss your brides.”
Gabe and Mallory’s boys started groaning seconds into their kiss, Wolf started howling minutes into Hunter and Abby’s, and Nate told Sadie and Chase to get a room.
But when Sadie’s grandmother cried, “Look, look,” they all broke their kisses to follow the direction of Agnes’s pointed finger. And there, over the farmhouse, was a gorgeous double rainbow.
Standing in the circle of Chase’s arms and holding Michaela close, Sadie caught her best friends’ eyes and shared a smile. Mallory and Abby nodded, believing, like her, that it was a sign. The three of them had each gone through a storm and had come out the other side to be blessed with the men they had just married.
About the Author
Debbie Mason is the USA Today bestselling author of the Highland Falls, Harmony Harbor, and Christmas, Colorado series. The first book in her Christmas, Colorado series, The Trouble with Christmas, was the inspiration for the Hallmark movie Welcome to Christmas. Her books have been praised by RT Book Reviews for their “likable characters, clever dialogue, and juicy plots.” When Debbie isn’t writing, she enjoys spending time with her family in Ottawa, Canada.
You can learn more at:
AuthorDebbieMason.com
Twitter @AuthorDebMason
Facebook.com/DebbieMasonBooks
Instagram @AuthorDebMason
Also by Debbie Mason
The Highland Falls series
Summer on Honeysuckle Ridge
Christmas on Reindeer Road
The Harmony Harbor series
Mistletoe Cottage
Christmas with an Angel (short story)
Starlight Bridge
Primrose Lane
Sugarplum Way
Driftwood Cove
Sandpiper Shore
The Corner of Holly and Ivy
Barefoot Beach
Christmas in Harmony Harbor
The Christmas, Colorado series
The Trouble with Christmas
Christmas in July
It Happened at Christmas
Wedding Bells in Christmas
Snowbound at Christmas
Kiss Me in Christmas
Happy Ever After in Christmas
Marry Me at Christmas (short story)
Miracle at Christmas (novella)
One Night in Christmas (novella)
PRAISE FOR DEBBIE MASON
“Debbie Mason writes romance like none other.”
—FreshFiction.com
“I’ve never met a Debbie Mason story that I didn’t enjoy.”
—KeeperBookshelf.com
“I’m telling you right now, if you haven’t yet read a book by Debbie Mason you don’t know what you’re missing.”
—RomancingtheReaders.blogspot.com
“It’s not just romance. It’s grief and mourning, guilt and truth, second chances and revelations.”
—WrittenLoveReviews.blogspot.com
“Mason always makes me smile and touches my heart in the most unexpected and wonderful ways.”
—HerdingCats-BurningSoup.com
“No one writes heartful small town romance like Debbie Mason, and I always count the days until the next book!”
—TheManyFacesofRomance.blogspot.com
“Wow, do these books bring the feels. Deep emotion, heart-tugging romance, and a touch of suspense make them hard to put down…”
—TheRomanceDish.com
“Debbie Mason writes in a thrilling and entertaining way. Her stories are captivating and filled with controlled chaos, true love, mysteries, amazing characters, eccentricities, plotting, and friendship.”
—WithLoveForBooks.com
“Debbie Mason never disappoints me.”
—FictionFangirls.com
“Mason takes her romances to a whole new level…”
—CarriesBookReviews.com
“If you enjoy multi-layered characters, humor, emotional twists and turns, and heart-tugging romance that will leave you eager for more, I enthusiastically recommend a visit to Highland Falls, North Carolina.”
—TheRomanceDish.com
“I loved the world of Harmony Harbor and all of the characters that reside there.”
—CrystalBlogsBooks.com
“The Harmony Harbor series is heartfelt and delightful!”
—RaeAnne Thayne, New York Times bestselling author
“Take another trip to Christmas, Colorado, and you’ll be guaranteed a wonderful time.”
—RT Book Reviews
“Christmas, Colorado, will get you in the spirit for love all year long.”
—Jill Shalvis, New York Times bestselling author
“I’m a big fan of small town romances and the Christmas Colorado series is amazing.”
—WithLoveForBooks.com
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