“Fuck yes, I am.”
With his arm wrapped around me, Brooks leads me around the house to where there’s a tent set up with tables, food, flowers, balloons, and music. There’s even a table full of desserts.
And every person that we love is here, including Jackie, all of the Lexingtons, the Wild family, most of whom I haven’t seen in a long time, all of Brooks’s family, and even Ava and Tucker are here.
It’s aparty.
“How did you do this?” I ask Brooks. No one has noticed we’re here yet.
“I called my mom while you were in the shower.” His lips twitch into a smug smile. “And she put everyone to work. Charlie and Connor made calls. Everyone scurried. Happy wedding day, Wildfire.”
“Oh my God! They’re here!” Billie is the first to notice us, and then we’re engulfed by hugs and chatter. Everyone wants to see my ring, and I can’t even count the number of times someone says, “It’s about time.”
I couldn’t agree more.
“Oh, my sweet girl,” Brooks’s mom, Becca, says with a kind smile as she wraps me in a hug. “I just couldn’t be happier for the two of you.”
“Are you sure?” The question is a whisper, and has her backing up to frown at me. “Are you sure this is okay? I hurt him so bad before, and then I made him marry me without any of his family there, and he’s your oldest son. I’m sure you would have wanted to be there, but I was selfish, and?—”
“It’syourday,” she says, cutting me off. “And it should be exactly how you want it. That’s the only thing that matters. Yes, you hurt him, but honey, you were both so painfully young. I’m so happy that you found each other again. This is where you belong, you know. With all of us to love you.”
“Welp, looks like I’ll just be crying all day today.”
Becca laughs with me and then hugs me again. “You’re such a gorgeous bride. Let me see your ring.”
I proudly hold it up to her, and she sighs. “He kept it for you.”
“You saw this ring? Before?”
“That wasmyring, once upon a time.”
My jaw drops. “No.”
Her brow furrows. “I hope that’s okay.”
“No. Yes. Oh shit,of courseit’s okay. I love it so much. I just can’t believe … you know what? Never mind. I love that I have your ring. I’m surprised you gave it to Brooks since you’re still married and everything.”
She snorts out a laugh. “Well, for our tenth anniversary, Brandon upgraded my ring for me, and Brooks asked if he could have the original when he decided to propose to you.”
“That’s sweet.”
“What’s sweet?” Brooks wraps his arm around me and kisses the top of my head. “Mom, you’re monopolizing my wife.”
“Well, we can’t have that.” Becca winks at me. “Let’s get together soon, Jules.”
“I’d love that.”
She walks away, and I turn to look up at my husband.
“Not as bad as you thought, is it?”
“Not bad at all.”
“Every single one of those desserts is safe for you, by the way.” He kisses my nose. “And all of the food is brunch food, since a certain someone couldn’t wait until the afternoon to get married.”
“Good. I like brunch food. And I’m starving to death, remember?”
“Then let’s feed you, Wildfire.”
