As he pulled her close into his embrace, Nate buried his face in her hair, breathing in the familiar scent. She pulled back enough to press her lips to his. “I love you, too, Nate. I never stopped.”
The final barrier he'd kept in place broke down and the love he felt for this woman rushed over him. The fear that had held him back all those years was gone. He knew without any doubt that he could—and would—give Lily the priority she deserved in his life. God first. Then Lily. Then everyone else. She would never again wonder if she could trust his love. With God’s help, he would make sure of that.
EPILOGUE
Lily stared into the mirror as the makeup artist worked on her face and someone else worked on her hair. She was glad to not have to do all this herself, but bittersweet emotions still filled her.
Amy and Will were getting married. Just four short months after their engagement they were getting married. There was snow on the ground and Christmas was just around the corner, but the focus of the Collingsworth family had been the wedding.
Lily had been glad for the distraction. It had kept her from wondering why her left hand was still bare. She touched her ring finger as the makeup artist asked her to close her eyes. For some reason she’d assumed that as soon as they were back together again Nate would pop the question. Instead, though their relationship was strong and growing stronger, there had been no talk of an engagement, let alone a marriage.
Thankfully she hadn’t had any major attacks over the past few months. She’d made sure to find that balance in her life. She worked at Nate’s garage doing the admin side of thingsfor a couple of hours each day and had also become active in the MS support group in Collingsworth. Life was no longer clouded by what lay ahead for her in terms of her health. She and Nate had agreed to take it a day at a time.
With things going so well, it just made her all the more eager to begin their life together. Instead it felt like a repeat of what had happened four years ago when he had been reluctant to set a date. At this point she’d be happy with a wedding in Vegas. She just wanted to be Nate’s wife.
“You look beautiful!”
Even with her eyes closed, Lily recognized Jessa’s voice and smiled
“How’s Amy doing?” Lily asked. “She nervous?”
“Not sure nervous is the word. She’s pretty much over the moon excited.”
“You can open now,” the makeup artist told her.
Lily looked in the mirror again, a bit surprised at how much time they were taking with her. “You’ve done a wonderful job.”
“It’s easy when you give us so much to work with. Your cheekbones are to die for.”
Lily smiled at her. “Thank you.”
“Just a little bit more and you’re done.”
Sure enough, a short time later there was a cloud of hair spray and then they pronounced her perfect. Lily felt anything but perfect, but at least she knew she looked good.
“Where is everyone else?” Lily asked Jessa when the makeup and hair people left.
“They’ve gone to the bride’s room at the chapel to get dressed. As soon as you’re done here, you can go there, too.”
Amy had chosen to have her best friend from Dallas, Lily and Cami as her bridesmaids. The other two had had their hair and makeup done first. Lily thought they should havejust had their hair and makeup done at the chapel instead of the manor since that’s where they were getting dressed, but since it was Amy’s wedding, she was the one calling the shots.
There was a knock on the door of her room, and Jessa went to answer it. Alone, Lily sat staring at the mirror. Would Nate think she was beautiful? He told her often she was. He took care of her like he always had, and never let her doubt that he loved her.
So why didn’t he just propose already?
“Lily?”
Shocked to hear his voice, Lily turned from her makeup table, gripping the front of the dressing gown she wore. Her eyes widened when she saw the man who had dominated her thoughts so much lately standing there. “Nate? What are you doing here?”
He looked so handsome in the black tuxedo he wore. As a groomsman for Will, he also wore a dark green bow tie that matched the dark green of the dresses the bridesmaids were to wear. Even though he’d once made her promise he wouldn’t have to wear a tux at their wedding, he had been willing to wear one for Will’s.
He smiled at her, and her heart skipped a beat.
“You look beautiful,” he said as he moved to stand in front of her. “As always.”
“I need to get dressed. You shouldn’t be here.”
“Here isexactlywhere I should be,” Nate said. He brought his hand from behind his back as he lowered himself to one knee.
