“—which I do—”
“—then my Grand Tour is finished,” he said. “And I’m glad because my time overseas brought me to the conclusion that you’rethe only thing worth traveling for. I’ve loved you since I was fourteen, and I’ll love you for longer than eternity lasts. All I want is the chance to show you that and tell you that every single day.”
She blinked at him, speechless.
He bent and gave her a kiss so sweetly passionate that a lilac blossom felt its vibration and shook loose topingoff Britt’s arm.
Zander walked her backward until her shoulder blades settled against ivy. He planted one hand on the garden wall and continued to kiss her.
Their kisses flowed from hurried kisses filled with impatience, to soft kisses filled with exploration, to deep kisses filled with promises too profound for words.
She wrapped her arms around him and drew him closer. She wanted to weep and laugh and dance. But mostly she wanted to kiss him and kiss him some more—
A drumming noise and muted shouts interrupted them.
They both looked in the direction of the ruckus.
Her family stood at a window a floor above them, hooting and pointing at them and grinning.
This walled garden wasn’t quite as private as previously supposed.
“Never mind them,” Britt whispered, her lips hitching up at the corners. “Give me the longer-than-eternity-lasts speech again.”
“I’ll love you for longer than eternity lasts.”
“And all you want...” she prompted.
“Is the chance to show you that and tell you that every single day.”
She released a blissful sigh. “That’s a very, very good speech. I love you, Zander.”
“I love you, Britt.” Then he spoke the word that would become their shared pledge for the rest of their lives. “Always.”
“Always,” she murmured, in the instant before his mouth lowered to hers.
Epilogue
Written in Britt’s bridal scrapbook on the page titled Wedding Day Highlights:
Just five days have passed since our wedding. We left the Costa Rican beach where we were married the morning after the ceremony and drove here, to a resort built into a mountainside in the thick of the rain forest.
At the moment, Zander is off finalizing the details of the surprise he’s planning for me tomorrow—a chocolate-tasting tour. Since I’m here on our balcony, pretending not to know what he’s up to, and since someone more organized than I am (Nora) stuck this scrapbook in my suitcase, and since my memory isn’t as good as Zander’s, I figure it’s best to go ahead and record our wedding highlights now.
The perfect highlights:
The tears in my dad’s eyes when he arrived to walk me down the aisle.
The cool sand beneath my toes and the blues and buttery yellows of the sunset over the ocean.
Our vows.
The moment when I glanced to the side during the ceremony and saw Willow and Nora smiling back at me.
The prayer my mom spoke over us before we ate dinner under the stars.
The dance Zander and I shared with Willow’s baby girl and Nora’s baby boy clasped between us.
The imperfect highlights:
