Chapter Twenty-Four
Erica
Three long weeks of picking out the perfect daisies paired with earth toned wild flowers, the cutest wedding dress, secretly getting our marriage license from someone Max knew at the courthouse, finding out the perfect location, secretly getting my hair done yesterday, along with my nails, and all of it being completely worth it to surprise Chase.
Our friends had done so much to help get this ready, from the guys hoarding Chase’s time when I had to go to an appointment or the girls running out to get the flowers during lunch one day. It was all almost too perfect how it worked out, but there was something about how Chase and I worked together that just brought out the perfection of it all.
Jack pulled up to the building where we would be having the ceremony in front of. The Ink Well used to be in an old warehouse, but apparently a few years ago, some company bought the property and renovated the area, so here we were parking in front of an office building that didn’t really look like one. The building was lined with these old stone bricks that made it seem like it was meant for uptown Atlanta, not downtown. The shrubs around the building gave it this feeling that whomever worked here wasn’t even going to work, but walking into a paradise, which it was.
I had coaxed the owner of the building to let me have our wedding ceremony on the side of the building, explaining the situation and us having worked in this building before. He happened to know who Max was and gave us the go head.
I stepped out of the car and headed over to where Lilly and Alexa were waiting for me off to the side. They both had on cream knee-length dresses and Max, Greg, and Jack all had on khaki pants with white button-up shirts.
I hadn’t wanted to go all out for this, but wanted some semblance that I had planned this.
“Erica.” My mother’s voice came from behind me and I spun around to see her standing there with a hand over her mouth and tears streaming down her face. It was the first time she was seeing my dress and I laughed, assuming she approved of it.
“You look beautiful.” My father came up to me and embraced me in a hug, followed by my mother strangling me with her arms, not wanting to let me go.
“My baby girl.” The words came out choked as she tried to get herself together.
“Mom.”
She placed her hands on my face and kissed my nose.
“I’ve dreamed about this day for so long. To see you this happy.”
“Len.” My dad tried to pull her away, but it was no use. “He is one lucky man.”
“I would say the same thing.” It was Addison’s voice that had me looking past my mom.
She stood there with Tabitha, but her husband, George, was nowhere to be seen.
“It’s just us,” Addison answered my unasked question. I had no idea what had happened between Chase and his father, but it had to have been bad enough for him not to be here. Chase wouldn’t tell me. He said he didn’t want that kind of negativity in our relationship, so I went along with it. But now, I was going to have to pry it out of him. This was the most important day of his son’s life, and he couldn’t even be here for it.
“You look stunning.” Tabitha took me in her arms, after my mom moved over to let them in. “My brother is going to freak out when he sees you.”
She looked up and down at my wedding dress. It was a full-length white gown with a silk top that dove down the front of my chest with a small slit. Then it bellowed out at my waist with a tulle overlay. I felt like a princess and Lilly made sure I looked like one too when she got me my veil, which was on top of my head. The daisy flower crown fit the setting perfectly, with tulle spilling down my back and a matching bouquet of daisies and wild flowers in hand.
“Speaking of Chase, where is he? He hasn’t been answering my calls all morning.” Addison looked around the parking lot for his car. Chase had been adamant about not talking to his parents these last few weeks, but even with that, I didn’t tell them and Tabitha until last night, in fear that someone might slip up. It was hard enough keeping the secret from my parents until this morning, but I had to make sure this went off without a hitch.
“Funny thing.” I played with the bouquet in my hands and let out a nervous laugh. “Chase doesn’t know.”
“This is a surprise?” Tabitha bounced on her feet, excited as could be, but Addison’s smile turned into a straight line. She was clearly one who wasn’t up for surprises.
“He’s around the corner,” Max announced. He had shown Chase the find location app on his phone last week, teaching him how we could locate me in a case of emergency. And today that’s what this was acting like. I hadn’t answered my phone all day and had left the house before he had woken up. I knew the second he got to work and saw that no one was there and he wouldn’t be able to get ahold of anyone, he would use the app to find me.
“Shit. Come here.” Lilly pulled me away from where I stood on the curb and placed me along the building, where the guys stood in front of me, blocking me from view. I heard the squeal of tires, the slam of a door, and then footsteps approaching our little group.
“What the hell is this?” Chase asked. “Where is Erica? Why are you all here? And what are you guys wearing?”
I could hear the panicked tone in Chase’s words as he tried to get each question out in one breath, so I decided to not wait long to let him know what was happening. I pushed on Max’s shoulder and revealed myself to Chase.
A hand slapped over his mouth and tears pricked his eyes as he stood at the edge of the sidewalk where all our family and friends stood.
“Marry me, Chase.”
Chase
