I walk to her door and knock loudly.
Melody opens it, her face blotchy, her eyes swollen from crying.
Before she can speak, I snap one of the cuffs around her wrist and put the other one on my wrist, linking us together.
I hold up my arm, and it lifts hers too. “This is how we started and this is how we’re going to be. Locked together. Don’t tell me to let you go. I won’t do it.”
“But I’ll always be a reminder of the past and?—”
I put my finger against her lips. “You’ll always be a reminder that rainbows can follow storms. That good can follow bad. I look at you and see a woman who loves me. I see a woman who’s funny and sexy and beautiful. I see my future.”
Melody starts crying.
I wipe her tears with my fingers. “A woman I’m going to have a family with. A woman I’m going to get old and gray haired with. I see hope. And I see laughter. Don’t take that from me.”
“I love you so much,” she says between sobs.
“I love you, too. And we’re getting married just like we planned. Nothing’s going to stop me from making you my wife. Now get your sexy ass in the truck and let’s go home.”
“Okay,” she says with trembling lips. “Unlock these.”
“Uh…I don’t have a key.” I grin at her.
She grins back. “Then maybe we should make good use of them and find the key later.”
I laugh and my heart lightens. Everything’s going to be okay now because we’re okay.
When we walk out of the building, the rain has ended. I see that as a picture of us. The storms of life are strong, but love is stronger.
Chapter 13
Melody
A week later, our wedding day arrives. Jonas and I did exactly as we’d talked about and kept it small by inviting only his family and a few friends.
I didn’t invite my family because I’m not ready to deal with everything and I don’t want Jonas to either.
There’s a knock at the door of the bedroom at Gavin and Frances’s ranch where I changed into the simple white wedding dress I bought for the ceremony.
I cross the room to open it and Raven steps in. I’d asked her to walk with me down the aisle in place of my father.
She hugs me. “I’m so happy for both of you.” Then she leans back and admires the dress and the white cowgirl boots I paired it with. “You look perfect. Are you ready?”
“I’ve been ready to marry Jonas for years only I didn’t realize it,” I say. “I didn’t even know I loved him.”
“That’s the way love works when it comes to a Richford cowboy. One minute you’re minding your own business and the next, you’re tying the knot.”
I laugh. “This is one knot I don’t mind getting tied.” I reach for the bouquet of gardenias and baby’s breath I put together yesterday. Raven had tucked a tiny sprig of blue wildflowers tucked in the center.
“Are you sure about not taking time off for a honeymoon?”
I nod. “I traveled a lot as a kid when we’d go on family vacations. None of those places compare to Lucky River. This is where I found everything I ever wanted.”
“I feel the same way,” she says linking her arm with mine.
“Lead me to my cowboy,” I say.
We leave his parents’ house to head to the pasture where the ceremony is set up.
