by Burke, Dez
I blink quickly to keep the tears in my eyes from ruining the carefully-applied makeup that Taylor has worked so hard on all morning.
“Don’t you dare cry!” she yells in a panic and quickly reaches over to hand me a tissue. “In case you can’t help it, there’s plenty more tissues,” she says, pointing to her tiny yellow purse that matches her bridesmaid dress. “I came prepared.”
“Hand me one too,” Mom says with a sniffle, unable to hold back the tears any longer. She takes the tissue Taylor offers and dabs quickly at the corner of her eyes.
“Okay, we need to stop this right now,” I say, smiling at the three of them. “Otherwise I’ll start crying and then I’ll be too choked up to say my vows. Everyone take a moment to collect yourself and then let’s go do this. I’m getting married today.”
Taking my own advice, I draw in one last, shaky breath to calm my nerves. I gather up the front of my wedding dress in my hands and head for the door.
Now that my wedding is finally here, I’m impatient to get on with it.
“Hang on,” Taylor calls out from behind me. “Let me grab your dress tail so you won’t be dragging it.” She picks up the long train of my dress and follows behind me as we make our way out to the wide front porch of the farmhouse.
The wedding guests in the side yard haven’t spotted me yet. They’re sitting with their backs to me in rows of white chairs, with my guests on one side and Levi’s on the other.
Multicolored wildflower bouquets and yellow ribbons decorate the end of each aisle. The air is sweet with the smell of roses cut from my garden.
Levi’s dad is seated on the front row with his favorite female caregiver. He’s smiling and dressed up for the occasion. He appears to be happy and relaxed. I’m overjoyed he’ll be able to share our special day with us. It means everything to Levi for him to be here.
At the head of the aisle is a big, flower-covered wooden gazebo my dad built for us as a wedding gift for our house. To one side are Levi and Cole, with their feet planted firmly and their hands clasped together in front of them.
“Why do they look so serious?” Taylor asks me with a giggle. “Is this a funeral or a wedding? From their expressions, I can’t tell.”
They’re both wearing black suits, white button-down shirts, black leather boots, and wide-brimmed black cowboy hats. Hands down, they’re the most handsome men in Lee County. I would challenge anyone to say otherwise.
The sight of Levi takes my breath away.
To know that he’s standing there waiting for me to be his wife fills my heart to overflowing.
Dad quickly ushers Mom to her seat then returns to wait with me. Once Mom is seated, the music changes, signaling the official start to the wedding procession.
Lily is restless at the end of the aisle, raring to be turned loose to do her special job. Her Sunday School teacher is standing beside her and trying in vain to hold her hand.
Lily was over-the-top excited when I asked her to be my flower girl and has been practicing for weeks. We spent several evenings surfing online trying to pick out an outfit for her. Together we chose a fluffy yellow dress with brown leather cowboy boots. Her tiny boots match the pair I’m wearing underneath my wedding gown.
After begging for a full thirty minutes, Taylor was able to convince Lily to sit still long enough for her to pull her curly hair back into a ponytail held by a single yellow ribbon.
Lily is fidgeting and carefully watching Cole for her signal to go. He smiles and beckons to her with his hand. She begins strutting down the aisle with a flower basket filled with rose petals slung over one arm.
At first, she speed walks down the aisle and then when she hits the halfway mark, she remembers not to walk too fast and slows down to a sloth’s pace. The whole time she’s dramatically sprinkling flower petals on one side of the aisle and then the other.
When she reaches the end of the aisle, she realizes there are several petals left in her basket. She hesitates in confusion, unable to decide what to do with the remaining petals. We didn’t go over this scenario in the practice run last night. Levi grins at her, and she walks over to dump the remaining petals at his feet.
“Thank you, baby girl,” he says, trying not to laugh and hurt her feelings. “You did a great job.”
“You’re next,” I whisper to Taylor, reaching over to give her one last hug.
She’s my maid of honor and is simply stunning in an off-shoulder, floor-length yellow gown. Her auburn hair is swept up into a delicate bun, with soft tendrils framing her face. She glides down the aisle and takes her place across from Levi and Cole.
The wedding march begins to play. Everyone stands and turns to look back at me. They’re smiling in anticipation.
I can’t believe it’s finally my turn to walk down the aisle with my father.
Becoming Mrs. Levi Hamby is my lifelong dream come true.
“Are you ready, honey?” my father asks, with a twinkle in his eyes.
I draw in an unsteady breath and slide my hand into the crook of his elbow. In my other hand is a huge bouquet of wildflowers. I grew them from seeds in a field behind the farmhouse especially for this day. Using greenhouse flowers in our wedding didn’t seem right.
My eyes fill with tears of joy when I see the loving faces of friends and family beaming at me as I make my way down the aisle. They well up even more when I walk past Edward, sitting in the front row with his cane, smiling from ear to ear. It’s the happiest I’ve seen him in a long time.
Those tears start to spill when I draw closer to Levi.
We smile at each other, and I see emotional tears forming in his eyes as well.
Far behind the gazebo, way off in the distance, I can see the house he’s building for us here on the farm. A house big enough for children, pets, family, and friends. A house where Cole, Lily, and Edward can call their own too and visit every day. The start of a bigger Hamby family compound we have planned. Soon we’ll be adding a recording studio and a horse-riding ring so Lily can learn to ride.
I reach the end of the aisle and join Levi under the gazebo. He takes both my hands in his.
“The blue-eyed girl of my song is finally here,” he says. He reaches up to gently brush a lock of my hair back behind my shoulder.
I smile back at him, feeling loved and cherished. We interlace our fingers tightly together and turn toward the Reverend Tom Smith, who is standing before us.
He opens the old family bible that belonged to Levi’s Mom and begins the ceremony. We say the traditional wedding vows, then we exchange simple gold wedding bands.
“It is my pleasure to now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride,” Reverend Smith finally says, spreading his arms wide.
Levi steps closer. For a long moment, we simply stare into each other’s eyes, grinning like the two excited little kids we once were.
“I love you, Annie,” he says, leaning down to kiss me softly. “We did it.” When the crowd breaks out into cheers and applause, he wraps his arms around me, dips me over his arm, and goes in for another real kiss this time.
The music begins to play, and he reaches for my hand.
“Are you ready to start our happily ever after, Mrs. Hamby?”
“I’ve been ready all my life,” I tell him.
We head down the aisle together as man and wife, followed by Cole and Taylor. Lily is already skipping ahead of us and running toward the barn where the reception is being held. The guests are filing out of their chairs and trailing behind the wedding party.
Along the worn path, we pass a sign with an arrow pointing to the barn with the words, ‘This Way To Happily Ever After’ carved into the wood.
“Did you carve that?” I ask Levi, squeezing his arm and leaning against him. “You’ve been a busy man. I love it!”
“We’ll put it alongside the road to our house,” he replies. “To show visitors the way to our home.”
When we arrive at the wide doors to the barn, Levi steps in fron
t of me and holds up his hands. “I have a surprise for you inside,” he says. “It’s something I’ve been working on with Cole’s help. I hope you like it.”
Cole can’t stop grinning beside him. He swings open one of the big red barn doors and Levi grabs the other then waves for me to go in.
I step inside the barn and stand there speechless, stunned at what I see.
The interior of the old barn has been completely transformed into a magical room filled with twinkling white lights, beautifully decorated tables with glowing candles, and flowers everywhere. A massive chandelier hangs from the barn rafters where once there was only a bare light bulb dangling from a dangerous extension cord.
The dirt floor of the barn has been covered with a shiny dance floor with an elevated stage for the band in one corner. The food buffet line runs down the full length of one side of the huge barn while an open bar loaded with bottles of champagne, beer, wine, and liquor lines the other.
Someone is planning on having a big party.
In the middle of the room is the massive multilayered wedding cake. On the top stands a man with a cowboy hat and a guitar singing to his bride who has long blonde hair. The wedding topper was specially designed for us as a wedding gift from Harry.
“Well? What do you think?” Levi asks, sliding an arm around my waist.
“I can’t believe you did this. How in the world were you able to pull it off? This is amazing! I’ve never seen anything so beautiful. It’s perfect. I can’t even recognize the old barn now.”
“It’s a hit!” Cole says, slapping Levi on the back. “All of our hard work sneaking around in the dark for weeks was worth it.”
The wedding guests slowly file in behind us and let out gasps when they see the renovated barn. After shaking our hands in the reception line, they search for their names written on personalized Mason jars indicating the place settings at the tables.
The next two hours are a whirlwind of best wishes, speeches, never-ending glasses of champagne, and happy laughter. My jaw grows sore from smiling so much in pure happiness.
Cole saves his toast for last after we’re all seated for dinner. He raises his glass and turns to face us from his place at Levi’s side.
“Levi is my baby brother, but I always admired him,” he says. “Levi went after his dreams and never let anything slow him down. He always refused to settle for anything less than genuine happiness. He’s found that now with Annie.” He reaches down to give Levi’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “We’ve all heard the songs about their love story, now we can watch it play out in real life. To Levi and Annie Hamby! May your life always and forever be the inspiration for love songs.”
“To Levi and Annie Hamby!” The beaming wedding guests lift their glasses to toast us.
After we’ve eaten dinner and the multiple wedding cakes have been cut and served, the guests move to the side of the dance floor in anticipation of our first dance.
Before the dancing begins, I walk over to kiss Edward on the cheek. He’s seated close to the action so he can see everything that’s going on.
“You’re pretty tonight,” he says to me, reaching out to take my hand. His eyes are clear, without their usual glaze of confusion. “Evelyn always said you would be our daughter one day. She loves you.”
I notice he’s using the present tense to talk about Levi’s mom.
“And I love her,” I tell him, once again blinking back tears. “I love you too, Edward. Your son will make a fine husband and father.”
He nods back at me. “Levi’s a good man,” he says. “And a good son. I’m proud of him.”
I walk onto the dance floor where Levi is waiting for me and take his outstretched hand. He pulls me close and we slowly sway together in our first dance as a married couple.
The band is playing the background music to his latest number one hit song, ‘One More Summer.’ The single exploded up the charts when his label released it the day after he sang it to me on stage.
When Levi holds me in his arms, I’m happier than I ever could’ve believed possible.
“You were always the one, Annie,” Levi whispers in my ear. “I should’ve asked you to marry me when we were eighteen. Think of all the time we’ve wasted when we could’ve been doing this.”
I pull my head back and smile up at him. “Back then we would’ve taken our love for granted. Now we know every moment together is special, and we’ll never forget it.”
“Never,” he agrees, twirling me around then pulling me close into his arms again. When the song ends, he leans down and grabs my lips in a long kiss. “I’m so glad we’ll be living here on the farm. I can’t imagine my life without you. You’re the best part of me. Thank you for giving me a second chance.”
“Thank you for convincing me to give us one more summer,” I reply, reaching up to graze his soft beard with my fingertips. “You believed in us even when I was doubting. I’ll never doubt again. I love you, Levi.”
The wedding guests move to join us on the dance floor and the music tempo picks up. I turn to dance with Dad, then Cole, and even Lily until I’m dizzy from spinning, the champagne, and joy.
Then it’s the moment Taylor has anxiously been waiting for: the bouquet toss. The single women gather behind me on the dance floor. I can feel Taylor’s eyes laser-focused on the flower bouquet I’m holding up high in front of me. I know she’s slightly to my right, so I try to aim that way without seeming obvious.
I throw the bouquet back over my head and hear the female guests shrieking behind me as they almost knock each other over to grab it.
Then only silence before loud cheers break out from the crowd.
I whirl around, fully expecting to see Taylor triumphantly clasping the bouquet. Instead, it’s little Lily who holds onto the bunch of flowers, smiling in delight.
Taylor throws up her hands in defeat and comes up to me with a teasing grin. “I wouldn’t trample a little child,” she says. “Not even for a husband.”
I laugh and hug her in consolation. “You know, Levi’s band member Maverick might need a drink refill,” I say, pointing to him taking a break up on the stage. “You always did have a thing for guys in bands.” Her eyes light up and she happily heads in his direction.
Lily holds her flowers up to me with a big grin on her face. “I got the flowers! I caught them!”
I bend down to whisper to her. “Maybe we should ask your daddy to watch those for you, so you can dance without worrying about smashing them.”
Taking Levi’s hand, we follow Lily to the edge of the dance floor where Cole is drinking a whiskey. He’s smiling contentedly from the sidelines, watching everyone having fun around him.
Lily pushes the flowers into his hands. “Hold these for me, Daddy. I want to dance.”
Cole takes the flowers from her and places them on a table beside him with an amused smile. “If Lily gets married next, I’m not doing a very good job as her father.”
I laugh and pull out a chair to sit next to him. “You know, I think the rules of catching the bouquet only apply to adult guests. Which would technically mean that you’re the first one to touch the bouquet. Should I start planning another wedding?”
He raises his eyebrows, a smile playing on his face. “I pretty sure that’s not how it works, Annie.”
“It’s not what I heard,” I tease.
“No way am I getting married again,” he says. “One time did it for me and I’m never going down that road again. Though I will say, this is a fantastic wedding.” Cole gestures around at the decorated barn, the lively dance floor, and the guests who are having a blast. “Everything turned out perfect. I’m happy for you two. You deserve all this and more. And we’re all thrilled you’ll be living here on the farm. You coming back into Levi’s life was the best thing that could’ve happened to the Hamby family.”
Levi draws up a chair beside us. He takes the bottle of champagne out of the ice bucket sitting next to each table and pours three glasses.
“I’d like to propose a toast,” he says.
I happily take my glass and lift it in preparation.
“What are we toasting to this time?” Cole asks with a smile, lifting his. “Many more toasts and we’ll all be crawling out of here.”
“I saved the best toast for last,” Levi says. “To family, second chances, and happy endings.”
The three of us smile at each other, lift our glasses, and drink.
“To family, second chances, and happy endings.”
Are you ready for a new hot, sexy romance series coming this summer? Check out the ‘Call Me Sugar’ preview next. Sign up for my newsletter list here for cover reveals and updates. I rarely send emails and promise not to spam you.
Part I
Call Me Sugar Preview
Trust me, I’m a magician.
Famous last words…for me to hear.
The moment he crammed me inside a dark box, whispered in my ear and clicked the lid shut, I knew I was in deep trouble.
What am I doing? Have I lost my mind?
I’m a MIT graduate in Vegas for a weekend to make quick cash.
Falling for a blue-eyed hunk with messy, blonde hair isn’t in the cards.
Not for a geeky, numbers nerd like me.
So what if he can do amazing things with his hands?
I’m sure he can make a dress fall to the floor with a sexy wink too.
His tricks don’t impress me because I’ve met men like him before.
Yet no matter how many times I ignore him, insult him and even hide from him.
He still looks at me like I’m the one who is magic.
1
Jade
“Can I get you something to drink, honey? You haven’t moved in three hours.”