by Amy Daws
A week after the New Year, we put our house up for sale and sold most of our furniture and possessions on Craigslist. It was surreal, boxing up all of our keepsakes and shipping them off with a London postcode on the box.
Frank was elated when I told him I was moving back to London with Brody. He said we were welcome to stay as long as we wanted and that he loved having extras in his house. Especially extras that looked like Brody. I told him that there wouldn’t be any more peepshows if I had a say in it, and he told me in no uncertain terms to buggar off. The cheeky bastard.
The biggest excitement that further secured our move to London was when Mrs. Adamson offered me a job at Faith’s Miracle Jewelry as their fulltime marketing representative. The second the offer came out of Mrs. Adamson’s mouth, I, albeit unprofessionally, squealed with excitement. She laughed kindly through the phone, obviously pleased with my eagerness to come back to London and work for her. My official title will still remain under the umbrella of Val’s company, because a job transfer is a lot easier to manage in terms of living in a foreign country.
I felt awful leaving Val, but she told me she saw it coming when I first left. She also said she was going to keep me busier than I could handle with extra freelance work, and I smiled and hugged her tightly. I owed a lot to Val. Not only did she teach me everything I knew, but she connected me with the best employers I could ever have hoped for.
Brody’s job situation was still up in the air. The fact that we were getting married was making things a lot simpler, though. He said he’d start seriously job hunting after the wedding once we were all settled. Thankfully, we had a decent little nest egg saved up, thanks to the big profit we made on our house sale, and since we sold most of our furniture. Not to mention, Frank’s continued refusal of accepting rent payments.
When we arrived at the house, all of our shipped boxes were in the master bedroom down the hall from the living room. Apparently, Frank had called his parents to ask them if he could rent out their room and they were surprised he had left it empty all this time. Brody and I were pleasantly surprised to walk into a gorgeous, fully furnished master bedroom with a master bathroom attached to it. It felt like a honeymoon suite we got to live in 24/7, dual shower heads and all. However, Brody and I missed our tiny purple twin mattress on the third floor. We may have missed it enough to christen it again…a couple of times. Four times, tops.
Brody adjusted really well to living in London. He and Leslie were already friends and he seemed to be developing some sort of weird bromance with Mitch that we all made fun of constantly. Brody introduced him to the TV show, Breaking Bad, and ever since then, they were nearly inseparable. All I had to do was say purple sheets and Brody would drop whatever he was doing with Mitch and come running.
I saw Liam about a month after Brody and I moved to London. He stopped by with Theo one Sunday afternoon. It was awkward and nerve-wracking at first, but he seemed genuinely happy for me and Brody. He actually shook hands with Brody and the two of them appeared to be able to tolerate each other. After the whole Jake fiasco in college, I would have never guessed Brody would be able to be cool and normal with Liam. But Brody and I really had come a long way. We were maturing together, and with that, came a newfound confidence in our relationship. I knew Brody wasn’t going anywhere and he knew I wasn’t going anywhere. We loved each other, through and through.
Liam told me he was glad I found my very own fixer, and I thanked him for being a great friend to me when I needed it most. The girl who ends up with Liam will be incredibly lucky.
***
The waves crash against the beach outside and I walk carefully over to the patio to enjoy the view. We chose Mexico to get married because it’s quick and easy. We waited until later in the spring to ensure that my sister was feeling one-hundred percent recovered and could fully enjoy the day with us.
The color of the aqua water crashing onto the white sandy beach is simply stunning. I can’t believe in fifteen minutes I’ll be walking down the sand to Brody. My husband. I reach down to touch a Faith’s Miracle Jewelry piece that Mrs. Adamson made for me especially for this day. Mr. and Mrs. Adamson and Sheila are even down here in Mexico for the big day, and I am excited to celebrate with them.
The necklace they made me has blue stones in an antique silver lattice setting. She told me it was my something old, new, and blue. My niece, Megan, loaned me a beautiful white flower hairpiece for my something borrowed. My long brown hair is curled, and pinned over to one side down the front of my shoulder, and her flower is the perfect accent. She blushed a fierce shade of crimson when I asked her if she thought Brody would like it.
“Oh, Finley,” my mother says, gasping as she walks into my hotel suite. “I’ve never seen a prettier bride. Don’t tell your sister,” she says, hugging me and trembling slightly from the silent tears she’s shedding.
“I’m sitting right here, Mom,” Cadence’s voice cuts through the moment.
“Oh, shut up. This is Finny’s day,” she says, pulling back and handing me a small bouquet of deep purple calla lilies.
“Dad’s waiting downstairs for you, sweetie. Are you ready?” she asks.
I nod, looking at myself in the mirror one more time. My dress is fierce. It’s a lightweight, soft taffeta material and has a huge, wide skirt, yet remains beautifully simple. The waistline hugs me in the perfect spot and there’s beautiful intricate beading adorned in the deep v-front. The back dips down incredibly low and has thin spaghetti straps that come to the front. I’m definitely ready.
My dad smiles approvingly at me when I enter the resort lobby. He leans over and gives me a soft kiss on the cheek. With one more deep breath, we head down to the beach where everyone is waiting.
The song playing me down the beach isle is I Won’t Give Up by Jason Mraz. As soon as I hear the song, my emotions take over and a small sob erupts from my throat. My dad pats my hand, soothingly, and we pass through two concrete pillars…and then, I see him.
Brody looks simply perfect in his light linen trousers and white button-down shirt with a few buttons undone. I blink my eyes, rapidly, trying to clear them so I can see his face better. His brown, curly hair is slightly longer, just the way I like it, and his sleeves are rolled up his forearm. His fresh Mexico tan makes him look sexier than I ever remember him looking. I feel my dad pulling me back, preventing me from running down the aisle and jumping into Brody’s arms, which is exactly what I want to do. Then again, the other part of me wants to continue walking down this aisle for the rest of my life. The complete look of adoration on Brody’s face is something I could stare at forever.
When my dad hands me over to Brody, I reach over and hug him tightly, fighting myself not to kiss him. His eyes are red when I pull away and he smiles back at me like he’s the proudest guy in the whole universe.
I don’t hear much of what the minister says, except for the part where he tells us it’s time for us to exchange vows.
I go first.
“Brody. Today I get to call you my husband. My man,” I smile, and two tears slip out. “Thank you for loving me through all my craziness and for seeing me better than I’ve ever been able to see myself. Only you could have made me feel like the woman I am meant to be and not like the work in progress I really am. Thank you for forgiving me when I didn’t see us for the truly special thing we are together. You are remarkable, Brody. You are my absolute world. You have given so much to me, and I promise to give you all that and more. I’ll do whatever it takes to continue making you…and us…happy in our marriage. And I promise to be honest and open with you for the rest of my life. I love you.”
Brody looks down, wiping tears out of his eyes. The air around us is utterly still as he takes a moment and clears his throat before he begins.
“Finley. My Finley. My forever,” he says, with a smile and looks down. “Today I marry you and thank God that I get to keep you. I would have fought forever for you, Finley, and I’m so happy that today I get to call y
ou my wife. I will never need anyone in my life, more than I need you. I will never love anyone in my life more than I love you. I will never cherish anyone in my life more than I cherish you. Finley, I want to travel the world with you. I want to experience life with you. And I want grow and change with you. Together, Finley, if we’re together, I will be the happiest I can ever be in my life. And I’ll do everything in my power to make you the happiest you can be in your life. You are all I’ll ever need in this world. My Finley. My wife.”
He gives me a large smile and reaches his hand over to wipe the tears streaming down my face.
The minister says a few last words that I don’t bother listening to, and then, we kiss.
Brody takes my face in his hands and claims my mouth the way he’s always done. He holds my face like it’s his most prized possession, and rubs his thumbs on my cheeks, soothingly, while he deepens the kiss. My hands ball up his shirt as I attempt to maintain some semblance of control in front of our family and friends.
We pull apart, and smile at each other as we hear the loud cheers of Frank and Leslie over everyone else. We look out to all our friends and family and smile proudly at everyone that’s watched us on our journey. Our journey of changing us to you, heartache to hope, and broken love, to our love.
THE END
THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A huge thanks to my editor, Heather Banta. You truly are wonderful at what you do and I’m so grateful I got to work with you again. I honestly don’t think I could do all this without you. Thank you for not yelling at me too much for throwing too many “justs” in a sentence or for making into in to two words. There I go again. Or for using CAPS too much. You tolerate me and I appreciate you. And sorry I like the word “familiar.”
Thanks to my plethora of beta readers and proof readers that helped grow and develop these characters into real people that I’m sad I can never sit down and actually hang out with. Seriously, Frank would be so much fun. To my “Sioux Falls Mom,” Becky, my sister Abby, and my bestie, Ashley, thanks for going on this journey with me, chapter by chapter. Your time and input on my story and characters really helped mold this into something I am very proud of.
Big thanks to all the book bloggers out there that donate their time to help indie authors, like myself, get our names out there. Your jobs can be thankless at times, but I promise you, we see what you’re doing and we are super duper appreciative. In particular I want to thank, Angela Pratt from ifeeltheneedtheneedtoread.com and Patricia Green from roomwithbooks.com. Both of you have been extremely generous with your time for me and I can’t thank you enough.
And last, but certainly not least, thanks to my family for their support of this writing gig of mine. I had no idea what a true passion this would turn into. I know, without a doubt, that I couldn’t do it without the support of my husband, Kevin, and my little peanut, Lolo. Thank you guys for being all the inspiration I need to continue pursuing my dream.
And as always, shout out to my angel babies that will forever hold a special place in my heart. Not a day goes by where I don’t think of each and every one of you. You and Lorelei were my inspiration to start writing and it amazes me still that you are able to give me such a tremendous gift when your lives were so short. I love and miss you all. I’ll see you someday.
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MORE BOOKS BY AMY DAWS
Becoming Us
The PREquel to A Broken Us. Brody and Finley…college days.
Part of the London Lover Series…where it all began.
(Releasing January 2015)
London Bound
The tumultuous story of Leslie and Theo. And a big, fat dose of Frank!
A stand-alone contemporary romance. Part of the London Lover Series.
(Releasing Summer 2015)
Chasing Hope
A memoir by Amy Daws
A mother’s story of loss, heartbreak, and the miracle of hope.
(now available)
Chasing Peace
A memoir by Amy Daws
The sequel to Chasing Hope. Part of the Memoir Chasing Series.
(2015)
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