by Hagen, Casey
Would I ever be able to watch colors streak across the sky without smelling him, feeling his arms around me, and hearing his deep voice whispering in my ear?
He ruined other men for me. The day he walked into our door for the first time, I had no idea, but he’d begun carving the ultimate love story on my heart.
No fountain pen for him. No smooth glides like ink sweeping over paper.
He hammered that chisel into every part of me.
He etched a tear-jerker into my every cell, dumping our hearts out in pieces and scattering them like gouges over ancient stone walls.
The more I watched Casper and Cole struggle against circumstances doing their damndest to stand in their way, the more determined I became to say fuck you to the powers that be and meet them head-on.
They would have their happily ever after.
At this point, with nothing to show for Falcon and me but a pile of broken dreams and heartache, I needed it for them, and maybe a little for me too, just like he said.
But damn the challenges.
No wonder Casper was on the verge of tears every few minutes with only an hour left until the ceremony. Even the strongest heart would stare wide-eyed at the wreckage littering the road to their special day.
If I were a lesser wedding planner, they might find my ass crying under a table during the reception, tequila in one hand and a Pabst Blue Ribbon in the other.
Gross, but desperate times had driven lesser planners to worse.
“She’s crying again. Shouldn’t she be out of tears at this point?” Soraya said, crossing the sitting room outside the bridal suite to grab another box of tissues. “It should be like crushing a moth by now…poof! Nothing but dust.”
I sputtered out a laugh. “What’s hitting her now?”
“She’s convinced she’s bad luck and Cole should find someone else.”
“Okay, no amount of trying to calm her down is working so I have an idea; give me a sec.”
I ducked out of the room and called Graham.
“Hey, beautiful. Everything okay on your end?”
“It will be, but I need to borrow Cole. Can you send him to the bridal suite?”
“Does Soraya know about this—because she told me she’d cut my balls off if I slacked on my duties and Cole saw Casper in the dress before the ceremony. I’m fond of my balls, Emory.”
“He will not see her in her dress; your balls will stay intact, and as much as I love you, let’s not discuss the balls again. At least not unless you get me buzzed first. In all seriousness though, she’s cried her makeup off three times now; I’m hoping to avoid number four.”
“Three times?” he said, his voice turning serious and full of concern. “Okay, I’m on it.”
“I’ll be waiting for him outside the suite.”
Within minutes Cole came around the corner, his determined steps eating up the distance. “Where is she?”
“Whoa. Breathe,” I said with a palm to his chest. “I love the energy and determination, but when I take you in there, I’m going to need calm and reassuring Cole; you need to be her anchor. Got me?”
“Got you,” he said, letting out a shuddering breath. “Just—I need to see her, maybe as much as she needs to see me.”
I smiled and cupped his cheek. “That’s what I’m looking for. Come on, handsome.”
Bringing him into the sitting room outside of the suite, I knocked on the door before swinging it open slowly. “Ladies, if you could give me a few minutes with the bride,” I said.
“You heard her,” Soraya said, ushering Ridley, Kennedy, and Maria out of the room.
“Soraya, if you could hide the dress for me please, and if one of you could find Casper’s mom. She was supposed to bring me a little something for Casper.”
“On it,” Kennedy said, heading out of the room.
Soraya tucked the dress away in the closet and patted my shoulder. “I owe you, girl.”
“The pleasure’s all mine. I think I might have needed this as much as you needed me.”
The room emptied out, leaving the sound of Casper’s sniffles from the suite. “Knock, knock, honey.” Casper tried to give me a watery smile, but one look at the distress in her eyes and I knew I’d done the right thing. “You up for some company?”
“Who is it?” she said, her voice breaking.
“Hey, love,” Cole said quietly, making his way past me to reach for Casper.
She took a step back, her eyes darting around the room. “You’re not supposed to see me.”
“You’re not in your dress yet, it’s okay,” I reassured her. “Nothing about this has been traditional. Let’s not try to fit a square peg in a round hole now.”
Cole framed Casper’s face with his big hands and leaned in to brush a tender kiss to each damp cheek before he pressed the final one to her forehead.
Casper’s eyes slid closed. She exhaled a ragged breath and wrapped her fingers around his wrists, keeping him anchored there.
I stood back in an effort to give them privacy, but it didn’t matter, I’d all but disappeared in their world.
I watched them lean into one another, no words, only a thrumming connection holding them together. His strength flowed into her, and hers flowed into him just the same.
Neither was weak. This was just an inherent difference in how people expressed emotion. Casper let her feelings flow—I smiled—I recognized a bit of myself in her.
And Cole, he spotted her and everything aligned. There was no other way to describe it. Soft sunlight spilled through the gauzy windows, and although I didn’t have a high-tech camera, I snapped the picture with my cell phone so they could see this right here. The picture they made when all the pieces slid into place. When quiet settled over them and their connection made them one.
“Stay with me, Casper. Just hold on and I promise you everything’s going to be okay,” he whispered as he wrapped her in his arms.
“So many things are going wrong. It has to mean something,” she mumbled against his chest.
“But one thing is going so very right,” I said quietly as I approached them. I gave Casper a reassuring smile. “Want to see what I see?”
Casper held on to Cole tighter and shook her head against his chest.
I held up the image I’d taken and they both gasped. “This is not a mistake,” I said, glancing at the screen. “This is perseverance. It’s strength. The four of you in this moment…it’s miraculous. No more doubts. Kiss your bride and let’s do this.”
Cole, the good guy he was, he took everything I said to heart, cupped Casper’s chin, and kissed her with so much confidence—stepping into her and curling around her—protecting the lives he held in his hands.
“I love you,” he whispered over her mouth, pressing one more soft kiss against her lips before smiling and letting her go.
I ushered him out and waved the wedding party back in with Casper’s mother in tow.
“Did you manage to find something I could use?” I leaned in and asked Mrs. T. while Soraya, Ridley, and Maria surrounded their now-smiling bride.
“I think so…when the girls were little, they had matching blankets they’d used every day since they were born. Four years old and they still took them everywhere,” she said with a smile and a faraway look in her eyes. “Casper’s went missing when we were out one day. We never managed to find it. The closer they got to bedtime, the more upset Casper got. Then Cassie brought her blanket to us and said she wanted it cut in half so Casper could have it too.”
Tears danced on the edge of Mrs. T’s eyelids. “They never lost their half after that,” she said, giving me a sad smile. “And then Casper lost her other half.”
Casper’s life had been sailing along with hardly a problem in the world, and then her twin sister died and ever since, she’d been plagued by more and more dominoes toppling over around her with seemingly no end in sight.
Not today, Satan…not on my watch.
“This will be perfect…I
know just what to do,” I said, taking the soft, threadbare material in my hand and running my fingers along the silky trim. “Do me a favor and make sure they get her into her dress and get her makeup fixed. Give me a few minutes.”
I ducked into the small sitting room down the hall and set up my portable sewing machine. In less than ten minutes, I had the machine ready to go and the petal-pink silk dangling between my fingers.
Tucking the ends, I tacked down each side so the fabric wouldn’t unravel, it only had to hold up for the day so I didn’t do anything too crazy.
All I had to do is tack it by hand to the dress and we’d be good to go.
I found them in the bridal suite, Soraya making Casper laugh while she fastened the back of her dress and Kennedy smoothed a little loose powder over Casper’s skin.
“You look stunning,” I said, wondering if what I was about to do would undo all of their hard work.
But still…she’d have the memory.
Casper smiled. “Thank you, Emory. Thank you so much. Seeing Cole, it’s exactly what I needed.”
“You’re welcome. Now, about this dress, it looks like it might be missing a little something.”
Mrs. T. smoothed a hand over Casper’s hair, giving and taking comfort for what was about to come.
“Really?” Casper said, glancing down, a flash of panic in her brown eyes.
“Yes, but I’ve got just the thing,” I said, taking her shoulders and turning her to the full body mirror. “Lift your arms for me.”
Casper lifted her hands and glanced around her. “I really don’t think anything’s missing.”
“A lot of things have spiraled out of control for you. Most of it I could manage, but there’s one thing I didn’t have the power to give you,” I said quietly, meeting her gaze in the mirror. “Your sister.”
Soraya stepped up and handed a tissue to Casper.
“But I talked to your mother and she brought me the blanket Cassie shared with you. It’s nothing fancy,” I said, bringing the thin folded fabric up around Casper’s empire waist and holding the ends together behind her. “But you can carry this piece of her with you,” I said, glancing at her again. “Right under your heart and right over those babies so she’s with you every step of the way today. What do you think?”
“Oh,” she breathed before looking over her shoulder at her mother, her bottom lip wobbling. “Mom…”
“It looks just right, honey,” Mrs. T. said, squeezing Casper’s shoulder and blotting her tears.
“Give me a second to tack this into place.” Armed with a needle and thread, I tacked the satin down while the ladies fussed over Casper, making sure I didn’t go and undo their work.
I pushed to my feet and met Casper’s eyes. “There’s one more thing.”
Casper laughed, the sound a little breathless and a whole lot emotional. “I don’t know if my heart can take one more thing.”
“Soraya said you’ve threatened to scoop Cole’s heart out with a rusty spork. So I thought, my job wouldn’t be complete unless I made sure you had the tool to follow through. You know, if he steps out of line,” I said, pulling a rusty spork I’d found at an antique shop from my purse.
Soraya, Kennedy, and Mrs. T. burst out laughing.
Ridley's laugh turned to groans as she held her stomach, nursing the wound from the attack the night before. “Guys, have mercy on me. Wounded here.”
“You said you only got stabbed in your fat. Slow your roll,” Soraya said with a smirk.
“Rolls sound good right now,” Casper said, getting a dreamy carb haze in her eye.
“Focus,” I said with a laugh. “I added a discreet pocket on the right side under the organza. You just tuck that right in there and the minute he steps out of line, you show him you mean business,” I said, handing her the gritty metal. I gave her a gentle hug, waited for her to tuck the spork away, and clapped my hands together. “Okay, ladies, what do you say we have a wedding?”
* * *
They married facing the Atlantic under an arch of delicate calla lilies. The weather held, the breeze stayed gentle, and the temperature stayed in the low sixties, thankfully, until we all made it inside to the reception.
I managed small hiccups, but mostly my focus stayed on Casper, looking for signs of distress so I could swoop in and talk her down, but so far, her new husband hadn’t done anything spork-worthy.
Fairy lights filled the two-story post and beam reception hall with a soft glow as family and friends found their seats, mingled near the open bars, and wandered out into the wide corridor running alongside the reception hall facing the ocean where the cake stood on display.
I’d requested two extra waiters to stand with the cake, just in case. I had enough challenges for ten weddings, and my heart ached at the thought of anything else stealing away precious moments for Cole and Casper.
“Heads up, Meme said there’s something off with the cake,” Soraya said, nodding toward the corridor.
“Dammit, I even have it under guard. I’ll be right back,” I muttered, plastering a smile on my face, purposely walking at a normal pace so no one realized there was something amiss.
Passing through the columns, I glanced over to find the same two waiters guarding the cake who’d been there the entire time. “Is everything okay, guys?”
They glanced at one another and shrugged. “Everything’s fine. Why?”
“You grew up good, kid.”
I froze, the smooth, deep sound of Falcon’s voice washing over me. Goosebumps broke out over my skin. And my heart, God, it ached and sighed all at the same time at the nuances in the way he said the line this time.
No anguish.
No venom.
This time, the gruff, almost shy words oozed with a hint of charm.
That’s just how I knew the minute I turned around, I’d find a changed man.
I loved the one I’d left behind and for just a second, the thought of him being gone had trepidation skittering through me.
But this man, playful and a bit humble, and so unexpected, he spiked my curiosity until I had no choice but to turn around and see if I could love him just as much.
Falcon stood with his shoulder propped against the column, his ankles crossed, one hand in his charcoal-gray slacks pocket and the other holding a glass of whiskey.
The noise fell away, replaced by the humming in my ears as blood surged through my veins. My heels clicked with each step, my eyes never leaving his, until I stopped inches from him, his heat reaching out to me once again.
Sliding my fingers under his, I took the glass from his grip and brought it to my lips. “Did you find what you were looking for out there, flyboy?” I murmured into the glass right before taking a sip, appreciating the warm slide down into my belly.
“Not so much, no,” he said, leaning into me, lowering his face until his lips hovered above mine. He slipped the glass from my fingers and set it on the windowsill. “I’d already found what I was looking for… I just had to let go of a few ghosts if I had any hope of being a good enough man for her.”
“And did you? You know, let go of those ghosts?” I asked, sucking in a breath and holding it.
“I did,” he said quietly, two words so full of promise my heart threatened to burst in my chest.
His clear eyes stayed on me, full of longing and heat. The tension seemingly taking permanent residence in his shoulders and bracketing his mouth had faded away.
I didn’t have to spend another day without this man, as long as I was willing to jump.
Smiling, I bit my lip and brushed my finger over his full, kissable mouth. “I’ve never seen you without the shadows in your eyes. I think I could definitely like this you.”
His eyes slid closed and he kissed the pad of my thumb as I glided over his lip. “Could you love this me?” he asked, his voice low and gruff, the edge of uncertainty telling me how much rode on my answer.
“The feelings are there,” I said, using the same words he used
with me the night he bandaged my foot.
Pushing up on my tiptoes, I wound my arms around his neck, my mouth waiting below his. “I wouldn’t even know how to stop.”
His hands dove into my hair, and I didn’t even care I was on the clock. Everything fell away as this once-broken man kissed me hard, craving and sweet relief colliding in beautiful homecoming. He stole the breath from my lungs and seduced me with his warm, insistent tongue, his whole heart bared to me, no secrets, no ghosts, and not one single regret.
Pulling back, he pressed his forehead to mine, his gaze darting to the reception hall. A laugh bubbled from his throat. “I brought company.”
I glanced over and spotted my mom and dad peeking out from behind a column. The next column over, Graham and Soraya.
I sucked in a breath, my smile wobbling. “You went home,” I whispered.
“I did. Now I want to go home with you and do this the right way.” He pressed his lips to my forehead.
“We already did. I think we did everything just the way we were supposed to,” I said, tipping my head back and leaning up to kiss his chin.
“I still want my shirt back,” he said, his lips roaming along the edge of my jaw to that soft spot below my ear.
“Um, about the shirt…”
Epilogue
Emory burst through the door, her sketchpad in hand, a bundle of energy bouncing on strappy sandals crisscrossing over her ankles to her sexy calves.
Her shoes should’ve been innocent with the lack of heels, but those fucking straps, the way they dug into her skin and tied behind her legs, they made a man short-circuit.
They made me embrace the salacious room I’d swear had been staring at me since we checked in.
“Are you finally done for the day?”
“I am,” Emory said, dropping everything on the dresser.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her pink-stained cheeks as the color rushed to the surface of her skin, leaving her rosy and flushed.
It happened every time inspiration struck…
When she laughed with her whole body…