“Lynn!” Kim hollered through a cascade of laughter, reaching from inside the house to grab her by the arm. “Let them say goodbye!”
“Go away!” Bryce barked in mock outrage, gently steering Lynn back inside. He reached past her and slammed the door shut with a satisfying thud.
Then, with a wicked grin, his arms were around Beth again pulling her close, like nothing and no one could interrupt this moment twice.
Beth couldn’t hold it in—she broke into helpless giggles, the mood completely wrecked, but somehow still perfect. Her face was on fire, and Bryce? He looked absolutely smug.
He kissed one cheek. Then the other. Not rushed. Not teasing. Just… sweet. Intimate.
By the time his lips found hers—soft, warm, unhurried—she was smiling against his mouth. Beth sighed, heat spreading through her like warm honey.
“I really should go in…”
But she didn’t move. Instead, she rose onto her toes and brushed a kiss against his mouth needing just one more.
“…They’re probably watching us through the window,” she whispered against his lips.
Bryce grinned. “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”
Beth gasped, nonplussed, blinking at him.
Before she could recover, the front door burst open again.
Lynn stood there, red-faced and breathless, clearly having just wrestled her way free from Kim. “NOPE!” she declared, pointing a finger straight at Bryce. “You—beat it, buster. You get her tomorrow. Tonight? She’s ours.”
She grabbed Beth by the arm and began dragging her backward into the house.
Kim was doubled over, laughing so hard she could barely stand.
Beth sputtered, still halfway in a dreamy daze. “But… but—”
“No buts!” Lynn shouted.
The door slammed shut, and the last thing Bryce heard—muffled through the wood—was Beth’s stunned voice saying, “He just quoted Gone with the Wind!”
Bryce chuckled, turning to jog down the steps toward his car, heart full and pulse ticking with anticipation.
Tomorrow was their wedding.
Tomorrow night was for them.
CHAPTER 39
Waking up in her childhood home, Beth marveled at how she felt—calm, rested, steady. Not jittery. Not overwhelmed. Just… ready.
Wanting a moment to reflect, she quietly slipped off the couch and tiptoed around her sister’s body sprawled across the floor like a starfish—wondering when she had joined them in the night. The scent of coffee drifted in from the kitchen, warm and inviting, but Beth reached for her Bible and headed to the porch swing instead.
The new porch swing.
A sleepy smile pulled at her lips as she stepped outside. She settled onto the swing, pulling her feet up and wrapping herhands around the Bible like it was a favorite blanket.
“I can’t believe he actually replaced the old one,” she murmured, laughing softly to herself as memories from the night before flickered behind her eyes.
She flipped to Ephesians and let her eyes fall to the words at the end of chapter five.
“For this reason, a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” “This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church…”
Beth’s eyes paused on verse 33.
