When she makes it up to me, she smiles.
“You look…” I shake my head, struggling to find the right words. “Insanely beautiful,” I finally say.
Her cheeks flush, and her smile turns shy. “Really?”
“Yeah. Just, wow.”
With her free hand, she fiddles with the thin strap of her dress. “I found this at a random department store yesterday. I really lucked out.” She holds up the bouquet. “I thought daisies would be cute. Like that Justin Bieber song.”
I grin. “I like that song.”
She runs her gaze down my suit. “You look really sharp.”
I suddenly feel like a chump for not buying something new to wear, like Ellie did. I just pulled a suit from my closet. In professional hockey, we have to wear suits, ties, and jackets before every game we play, so I have a million of them pressed and ready to go.
I look down at the navy blue suit, white shirt, and navy blue tie I’m wearing. I should have bought something nicer for today.
“I should have worn a darker color,” I say.
Ellie just smiles and shakes her head. “No, I like this color on you. It matches the color of your eyes. Ridiculously blue.”
I can’t help but smile.
“What’s that?” She looks down at the jewelry box in my hand.
“Our rings.”
The soft blue color of her eyes brightens. “You got us rings?”
“Yeah. All married couples wear rings.”
I open the box and show them to her. She gasps. “You got me diamonds?”
“Of course I got you diamonds. What kind of husband would I be if I got you some crappy plain wedding band?”
She grins wide. A second later, it starts to fade. “Hey, um, did you invite your parents to the wedding?”
I shake my head. “No. Did you want me to?”
We didn’t talk about inviting anyone to our courthouse wedding. The thought didn’t even cross my mind, especially given the way my parents act every time they’re around each other. They fight like cats and dogs. No way did I want them here today. They’d probably argue and cause a scene.
But now I feel guilty because what if Ellie wanted to invite her parents?
She lets out a shy chuckle. “No, I didn’t invite them. My parents are on a big RV trip, making their way across the country right now. I didn’t want them to have to drop everything to come watch us get married. It’s been years since they’ve been able to go on vacation, just the two of them. I was going to just call them later and tell them.”
“That was my plan too,” I say. I check the time. “It’s almost time. You ready?”
She nods. I grab her hand and lead her inside the courthouse.
After checking in, the officiant, who’s a gray-haired man in his sixties, leads us down the hallway.
“We could do the ceremony in one of the private rooms, if you’d like,” he says. “Or we could do it at the top of the grand staircase.”
He stops and gestures to the huge marble staircase leading up to the second floor of the building. With the detailed carvings along the railings and ceiling, it looks more like a cool museum than a state government building.
I glance at Ellie. “What do you think?”
Her gaze drifts over the staircase. “Let’s do it here.”
