by Alison Mello
“What are you thinking about?” Bella says as she walks into the room with her hair fully blow dried and ready to go.
“Yesterday’s spa visit,” I say, blushing. I’m still embarrassed that some stranger waxed my bits.
She shakes her head. “Come here, let me blow dry your hair for you. People are going to be getting here any minute to start preparing you for your day.”
I walk over and take a seat as she turns on the blow dryer. I close my eyes and let everything sink in. Today’s the day that I go from Patricia Fitzgerald to Patricia Montgomery. I promised Carter I would take his name, and we agreed I would keep my maiden name as my pen name.
Bella turns off the blow dryer, and we suddenly hear a knock at the door. We run out to find my mother standing there with a woman from the salon that’s going to do our hair and makeup.
“Are you ready, my beautiful girl?”
I smile and nod as the woman starts to set up her things. She’s even brought a special fold-up chair that puts me at a better height for her to work with. She has me take a seat and gets busy on my makeup. While she’s getting me ready, there’s a ton of activity going on around me. Food is being delivered, flowers have arrived, and Mia has joined us and has started snapping pictures. She said that she would put together some sort of book for me after the wedding is done. She has a ton of pictures from last night, and I’m sure there will be many more today.
About two hours later I’m finally done and can sit, have a bite to eat, and relax while Bella gets her glamour on. She’s decided on a much simpler hairstyle so she won’t take nearly as long as I did, but we’re starting to run out of time and it’s making me nervous. I promised Carter we wouldn’t be late to the church.
Once Bella’s hair and makeup is done, we move to my room to get into our dresses. As we’re finishing, the photographer arrives. She starts taking random action shots of Bella helping me with my shoes.
We finally make it out to the living room to take some pictures with our flowers, and when I open the box, I gasp. “Mother, they’re beautiful.” My eyes well as I fight back my tears. “Thank you for doing such a nice job of planning my wedding.”
I hug her, and as I do I hear the photographer snapping more pictures of the sentimental moment. The photographer has us pose a few more times, and then we wrap it up because we need to get going soon.
***
Carter
I’m standing in the church, and I can’t help but pace while I wait for my bride to arrive. Sandra has done an amazing job with the decorations, and I know Patty’s going to love it. I look at my watch, noticing that she should be taking her pictures with the ladies as we speak, when suddenly I hear my security guy speak into his earwig.
“Got it,” he says.
“What’s going on?”
“The bride is on her way, sir.”
Security is keeping an eye out for the media, but we’re hoping that the leak we sent out saying that the wedding is at a different church will keep the paparazzi from trying to get pictures and interrupting our day. That scheme was Sandra’s idea. She’s one smart cookie.
“Sir, she has pulled up,” my security guard tells me as I continue to pace the room. Suddenly there’s a knock on the door. He opens it, and my father is standing there.
“Are you ready, son? She’s here.”
I smile. “Yeah, I’m ready. I want to get this over with, and then I can take my girl away for our honeymoon.”
He pats me on the back. “You’ve come a long way since you got home, and I want you to know that I’m proud of you. I know you’ll continue to make me proud by being a good husband to Patty.”
“Yes, sir,” I say as I pull my dad in for a hug. The priest who’s going to marry us clears his throat to announce his presence.
“It’s time for you to take your place at the altar, Carter.”
“Thank you, Father,” I say with a smile as my father and I follow the priest out to where I'm supposed to stand by Derek.
***
Patty
I’m ushered into a small room to wait until it’s time to walk down the aisle. At this point I’m so nervous, my palms are sweating. As I’m trying to take deep, calming breaths, both my father and stepfather walk into the room with big smiles on their faces.
“I know we drove you crazy by not picking any jewelry for today, but we want you to know it’s only because we went shopping together to find you the perfect piece for you to wear on your special day,” my father says with tears in his eye.
“We both love you very much, and we wanted you to have something from us to wear as you walk down the aisle,” Richard says.
Now my eyes are welling, and I’m trying to hold the tears back. My father opens a box, revealing a beautiful necklace. It’s a huge heart shaped pink diamond with small diamonds surrounding it. He pulls it from the box and slips it around my neck. “This is to remind you that you have a beautiful heart and many people surrounding you that will always love you and be there for you.”
A tear escapes me as Richard opens another box to reveal a matching Hugs & Kisses tennis bracelet. The hugs are pink diamonds and the kisses have smaller white diamonds. “This will remind you that even when we’re not with you, we love you and are offering our support with hugs and kisses.”
Bella hands me a tissue, and I begin to pat my eyes dry. My mother steps up and opens a box containing the matching earrings and says, “These are because they couldn’t buy you the necklace and bracelet and not buy you earrings.”
I burst out into laughter as I slip them into place. My mother quickly hugs and kisses me, exiting the room to take her seat at the front of the church. As she’s leaving, Celia sneaks in. “I wanted to tell you quickly how happy I am for you. You look beautiful.”
“Aww, thank you so much Celia,” I say as I walk over to give her a big hug. “I’m so glad you’re a part of my big day.”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” She places her hands on either side of my face. “I’m going to go take my seat now. I love you so much, you sweet girl.”
“I love you too,” I say with a warm smile.
“On that note, it’s time for me to walk down the aisle. Are you ready?” Bella asks as she moves to the door.
I nod, patting my eyes dry one last time. She quickly hugs me and leaves the room.
“Do you like them?” my father asks.
“I love them. Thank you both so much and thank you both for being a special part of my day.” They each take their place on my arms, and we all take our place behind the closed door in preparation for walking down the aisle.
“You look beautiful in that dress, princess,” my father says.
“You sure do. Carter is one lucky man, and he better remember we will kill him if he ever hurts you,” Richard adds.
I giggle as the doors open. We all have huge smiles on our faces as we begin our walk. The church is packed with hundreds of people, and that’s when I catch myself praying that I don’t trip and make a fool of myself, trying to smile at guests as I go. I’m quickly brought back to the present as I notice a tear slip down my soon-to-be-husband’s face. He looks so handsome in his gray tux, standing proudly as he waits for me with Derek by his side.
As we approach the altar, my fathers both kiss me on the cheek and hand me off to Carter.
The priest asks who gives me away, and as rehearsed they both say at the same time, “We do,” and then they take their seats. We turn to the priest, and he begins the service, which I’m thankful he kept somewhat short.
We have a very traditional wedding ceremony with traditional vows and a candle lighting ceremony. He finally says the words Carter and I have been dying to hear. “You may kiss your bride.” The entire church erupts into applause as we share a short but intimate kiss. As we finish our kiss, the priest tells us to face our guests and announces, “I am honored to introduce to you for the very first time, Mr. and Mrs. Carter Montgomery.”
We bot
h smile as everyone again claps and takes pictures. The music begins to play as Derek and Bella meet at the middle aisle and begin their walk out of the church. My mother and Richard follow, and then my father and Claire. Lastly, Carter and I hold our hands in the air, full of excitement as we make our way out the door. We’re both smiling as we go straight to the limo with the intentions of thanking everyone for coming to the hall.
Once Carter and I are comfortably in our own limo and the driver has pulled away, Carter pulls me into his arms and says, “Thank you so much for making me the happiest man alive today.”
He kisses me softly, and I say, “Thank you for being forever mine. I love you, Carter.”
A huge smile spreads across his face. “I love you, Patricia Ann Montgomery.”
The End
Stay tuned as Love Conquers Life continues with Derek and Bella’s story. A Soldier for Bella.
Bonus!
Get Instant Access to A "Secret" Bonus Chapter From Forever My Soldier by Alison Mello Now!
Click HERE.
BEFORE YOU GO…
DON’T MISS OUT!
Would you like to be a part of our FREEBIE FRIDAY LIST and get 5 FREE E-books sent to your inbox each week? Every week we send out different e-books including ALL different genres such as Romance, Suspense, Thriller, Westerns, Paranormal, New Adult, and much more! If you’d like to join over 9,500+ subscribers and growing, click below to be a part of FREEBIE FRIDAY…
Join FREEBIE FRIDAY!
Acknowledgements
I want to give a huge shout out to the ladies of Bonded By Books! As you read in the dedication to book one of this series, my writing began with this group, and if it weren’t for Bonded by Books I may have never started. Thanks to them, what was supposed to be a standalone book has turned into a series, Love Conquers Life. Some of you have read for me, some have allowed me to pick your brain, and some have promoted for me. No matter what you’ve done, you’re always there for me, so thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your love and support!
I also want to give another shout out to my mom. Thanks Mom, for all of your love and support. It means the world to me that you not only buy my books but you brag about them to all of your friends. I’m so lucky to have such a supportive mom who’d drive two days to see her daughter attend her first author signing event. You’re the best! I love you to the moon and back.
To my hubby, who gets a shout out in every book. I wouldn’t be able to do what I do without you. Thank you for working so hard to take care of our family so I can stay home and do what I love. I love you more than words can say. I thank you a million times over for all of your love and support.
About the Author
Alison Mello is a wife and stay at home mom to a wonderful little boy. She lives with her amazing family in Massachusetts. She loves playing soccer, basketball and football with her son.
After having her son, Alison started reading again and fell in love with Contemporary Romance. Reading made her happy and gave her something to do when she had downtime. As she started to read more, she started to noticed things she really enjoyed in a book and things she didn’t. She began to have ideas for writing one of her own. One day she literally woke up and started writing. She realized that if there was ever a time for her to write, it was now. She had a part time job to give her something to do. The hours at work were slow and she was bored with what she was doing, so while her son was off enjoying his friends over summer vacation she got started.
Alison finished the first book in two weeks and decided that she really enjoyed writing, so she kept going. She already had ideas in mind for books two and three, so she kept writing. That is how the Learning to Love Series was born. Somewhere along the line, one of my Beta readers convinced me that Michael, a character from Finding Love, needed his own story. That is when Alison added the fourth and final book. Alison hopes you enjoy her books as much as she enjoyed writing them.
She’s so glad she started this writing journey and hopes you will stay with her for the ride. Chasing Dreams is scheduled to release in April and the first two books of the Love Conquers Life series will be out this summer!
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/alisonmelloauthor
Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/alisonmelloauth
Website:
http://www.alisonmelloauthor.com/
Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/alisonmelloauthor