Live Like There's No Tomorrow (Summer Lake Book 12)

by SJ McCoy

“You don’t need to try, Charlie. You make me happy just by being you, by being with me. And I don’t want us to try to make up for the years that we lost. That’s impossible. We can’t change yesterday and we know better than anyone that we’re not guaranteed tomorrow. All we can do is live the hell out of every day we get together.” He opened up the box and showed her the ring before taking it out.

  “Oh my God! It’s beautiful, Ben. It’s just like I always dreamed about. When I was a girl I used to look at rings like that.”

  “I know,” he said as he slid it onto her finger. “I remember.”

  Tears rolled down her cheeks as she smiled up at him. “Ben Walton, you are the most amazing man. I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you. I don’t feel like I do deserve you, but I’m going to do my best every day to make you happy.”

  “I’m going to do my best every day to make you happy. I want to be your husband, and I don’t want to wait any longer. I want us to get married.”

  She nodded. “Then let’s do it, let’s do it soon. It’s not like we need anything big or fancy, we just need our friends and our family. We should organize it as soon as we can.”

  Ben smiled, hoping that she meant that. “How about next weekend?”

  Her eyes widened. “Next weekend? But how …? What will we …? Yes! Let’s do it!” She laughed. “You’re right. We don’t need to waste any more time.”

  Ben hugged her to him. “I already called your parents and mine. Just in case you said yes.”

  She slapped his arm. “As if there was ever any doubt.”

  Ben shrugged. “I’ve learned to never take anything for granted. I will say that for the first time in my life I’m happy that our parents are willing to travel at the drop of a hat. They all said they’ll be here next weekend, if that’s what we want.”

  Charlotte kissed him deeply and then sat back on her heels and smiled at him. “It’s what we want. It’s what we’ve always wanted.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Charlotte looked in the mirror; she loved the dress. She was so grateful to Holly for helping her find it and for getting it here in a week.

  “You look gorgeous, Beanpole,” said Missy with a smile. “But you’d better hurry your ass up. The last thing you want to do is be late. Poor Ben would probably have a heart attack, thinking you weren’t coming.”

  Emma laughed. “Poor guy probably would, too. Whenever I’ve seen him this week he looks as though he’s walking on air. He still can’t believe it’s really happening.”

  “I’m not sure I can, either,” said Charlotte. “I mean, yes, this is what I always dreamed about. But it’s hard to believe that he pulled it all together in just a week.”

  “Well,” said Missy, “the two of you have wasted enough time already.”

  “Missy!” Emma scowled at her.

  Missy shrugged and grinned at Charlotte. “Well, it’s true.”

  “It is,” said Charlotte. “And I don’t plan on wasting anymore. What time is it?”

  Emma looked at her watch. “It’s time to go.”

  Charlotte sucked in a deep breath. She wasn’t trying to calm nerves; it was more a case of keeping her excitement in check. She hugged first Emma and then Missy and linked arms with them. Once they were outside, the three of them walked down the steps that way. Charlotte was so happy that not only was she getting back the only man she’d ever loved, she was also getting back the two best friends she’d ever had.

  ~

  Ben stood by the railing. They’d set up the back deck of the restaurant for the wedding. Rows of chairs faced where he was standing, and someone—he had no idea who—had set up an arch woven with flowers. He would never have thought of it, but it did look nice. It was weird, standing here staring out at a sea of faces. So many friends, his parents, and Charlotte’s—it seemed the whole town was here.

  “You doing okay, son?”

  He turned to smile at Joe who was standing beside him. “I am. I’ll be doing better when she arrives. I want to say I’m not nervous, but that would be a lie. I know she’s coming, but there’s that tiny little doubt in the back of my mind and the pit of my stomach.”

  Joe smiled and grasped his shoulder. “There’s no doubt at all. She’ll be here.”

  Ben nodded. In his heart, he knew Joe was right. “You’ve got the rings, right?”

  Joe patted his pocket. “I think so. Though why you trusted such an important job as this to a forgetful old codger like me, I don’t know.” His eyes glistened as he added, “But I’m glad you did.”

  Ben nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He’d always thought that if he got married he’d ask Pete to be his best man. Pete or Chance. Since Charlotte had come back, he’d even considered asking Smoke. He would have liked to have any of them standing beside him. But when it came down to it, he wanted the best man in his life standing beside him today. And there was no question who that man was. It was his grandpa, Joe.

  “I think she’s here.”

  Ben watched as the white limo he’d hired made its way across the square. Heads turned to watch, but he knew he wouldn’t see her until she came out of the back of the restaurant. When she finally appeared, he let out the breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. She was more beautiful than he’d ever seen her. She made her way slowly down the aisle between the rows of chairs, holding his gaze the whole way. Her dad walked by her side, and Ben was pleasantly surprised by the encouraging smile he gave him as he approached. It felt like that short walk took forever, but eventually she reached him. Her dad came to Ben and hugged him. “I’m sorry; this should have happened years ago.”

  Ben was so stunned by those words he stepped back when Charlie’s dad let go. He sure as hell hadn’t expected that, but he didn’t have time to think about it now. Charlotte smiled at him and they turned to face the officiant.

  As they listened to him talk, Ben’s mind was hazy, he couldn’t focus on the words, just on the fact that he and Charlotte were here and they were about to be married. The way she was smiling at him told him she was feeling the same way; the words might be going over their heads, but the meaning was binding their hearts together forever.

  It took him a moment to realize that the officiant was giving him his cue. It was time for him and Charlotte to read the vows they had written. He scrabbled in his pocket for the piece of paper he had ready, not trusting himself to get it right without it.

  He took hold of Charlotte’s hand and looked into her eyes. In that moment, he knew he didn’t need any prompt or paper, he was simply speaking from the heart.

  “Charlie, I wish that we had done this sixteen years ago, but we didn’t, and we can’t change that. All we can do is make the most of what is. I’ve learned a lot in these sixteen years, and especially in the last few. Today what I promise you is that I will bring all that I have learned to our marriage and our life. And I will try to live by these lessons.”

  Charlotte nodded. “I make these same vows to you. I promise you I will try to: Love like I’ve never been hurt. We can’t let the pain of the past steal the joy of the present.”

  Ben smiled. “I promise I will work like I don’t need the money.” He smiled at the ripple of laughter that raised from the crowd. “It’s not about the money, it’s about being happy. And I will dance like nobody’s watching.” He sought out Dan and smiled at him. “We need to be true to ourselves, no matter what.” Next, he sought Smoke’s face in the crowd. “I will fly like I’ve never been grounded.” He squeezed Charlotte’s hand. “You are my wings.”

  “I promise you we will learn to laugh like we’ve never cried,” said Charlotte. “There will be more tears, no doubt about it, but I hope we’ll always find ways to laugh again. And I promise you I’ll sing like nobody’s listening. I will never try to hide my truth from you.”

  Ben smiled. This felt so right. “Whenever I smile, you will always know that I mean it.” He nodded at Gabe and Renee.

  “Now that we’re together a
gain,” said Charlotte as she smiled at April, “We have proof that we were right to dream like nothing’s impossible. And I promise you I’ll never stop dreaming.”

  “Our life has been quite the ride.” Ben looked for Lily and saw the tears streaming down her face. “We fell down in a way most would never recover from, but I promise you that from this day forward, we’ll ride like we’ve never fallen.”

  Joe stepped forward with the rings.

  Charlotte smiled and looked deep into Ben’s eyes. As she slid the ring onto his finger, she said, “With this ring I promise you that from this day forward I will love you and do all that I can, each and every day to make you happy.”

  Ben nodded and slipped the ring onto her finger. “And with this ring I promise you that I will make the most of each and every day, and that together we will live like there’s no tomorrow.”

  The pastor smiled. “And by the power invested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife.”

  Ben felt as though his heart might burst in his chest as they walked back down between the rows of chairs. This was it! They were finally married;

  A Note from SJ

  I hope you enjoyed coming on this journey with me and following the gang as they found their way back to the lake and to each other. Please let your friends know about the books if you feel they would enjoy them as well. It would be wonderful if you would leave me a review, I’d very much appreciate it.

  I hope you loved Ben’s story—and that it was worth the wait! I have to be honest, I feel a little lost now that he’s made his way out into the world. But there are so many more stories still to tell, and it’s not like we won’t ever see him again. I will be writing more stories set at the lake and I’m sure we’ll bump into him and the others around town.

  I’ve had to keep myself busy after saying farewell to Ben, but that’s okay, Chance was more than willing to step into the breach ;0) I’m already writing and he’ll be getting his own three book series very soon. I’ve even set him up his own page on my website – check it out here for updates.

  Be sure to check out my Remington Ranch series, if you haven’t already. You can get started with book one, Mason, which you can download for FREE here.

  If you’d like to keep in touch, there are a few options to keep up with me and my imaginary friends:

  The best way is to Sign up for my Newsletter. Don’t worry I won’t bombard you! I’ll let you know about upcoming releases, share a sneak peek or two and keep you in the loop for a couple of fun giveaways I have coming up :0)

  You can join my readers group to chat about the books on Facebook or just browse and like my Facebook Page

  I occasionally attempt to say something in 140 characters or less(!) on Twitter

  And I’m always in the process of updating my website at www.SJMcCoy.com with new book updates and even some videos. Plus you’ll find the latest news on new releases and giveaways in my blog.

  I love to hear from readers, so feel free to email me at AuthorSJMcCoy@gmail.com. I’m better at that! :0)

  I hope our paths will cross again soon. Until then, take care, and thanks for your support—you are the reason I write!

  Love

  SJ

  PS – Project Semicolon

  You may have noticed that the final sentence of the story closed with a semicolon. It isn’t a typo. Project Semicolon is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and love to those who are struggling with depression, suicide, addiction, and self-injury. Project Semicolon exists to encourage, love and inspire. It’s a movement I support with all my heart.

  “A semicolon represents a sentence the author could have ended, but chose not to. The sentence is your life and the author is you.” - Project Semicolon

  This author started writing after her son was killed in a car crash. At the time I wanted my own story to be over, instead I chose to honour a promise to my son to write my ‘silly stories’ someday. I chose to escape into my fictional world. I know for many who struggle with depression, suicide can appear to be the only escape. The semicolon has become a symbol of support, and hopefully a reminder – Your story isn’t over yet

  ;

  Also by SJ McCoy

  Summer Lake Series

  Emma and Jack in Love Like You’ve Never Been Hurt FREE!

  Holly and Pete in Work Like You Don’t Need the Money

  Missy and Dan in Dance Like Nobody’s Watching

  Smoke and Laura in Fly Like You’ve Never Been Grounded

  Michael and Megan in Laugh Like You’ve Never Cried

  Kenzie and Chase in Sing Like Nobody’s Listening

  Gabe and Renée in Smile Like You Mean It

  Missy and Dan’s wedding in The Wedding Dance

  Ben and Charlotte’s backstory in Chasing Tomorrow

  April and Eddie in Dream Like Nothing’s Impossible

  Nate and Lily in Ride Like You’ve Never Fallen

  Ben’s story Live Like There’s No Tomorrow

  Coming Next

  We will be visiting the lake again, I promise. There are still a couple of weddings I’d Like to invite you to AND there is a whole bunch of new characters who have been not-so-patiently waiting for their own stories.

  Remington Ranch Series

  Mason FREE!

  Shane

  Carter

  Beau

  Four Weddings and a Vendetta

  Chance

  Chane is a guy with a whole lot of story to tell. He’ll be getting his own three book series in late spring / early summer 2017. Check out his page here for updates.