His jaw ticked.
His throat bobbed.
The whole town could’ve vanished in that moment and I wouldn’t have noticed. All I saw was him.
Shane leaned over just before we reached the first row. “I love you,” he whispered. “And if he hurts you, I will bury him behind the waffle stand.”
I squeezed his arm. “Noted.”
We reached the front.
Beau stepped forward.
Shane kissed my cheek, handed me off, and disappeared with a wink—off to stand beside Delilah, who was already sobbing as if anyone had said a damn word. She had one hand on a bouquet and the other on Milo’s leash, Milo barely holding back the impulse to mug me.
Beau took my hands, his thumbs brushing the backs of my fingers like he needed to remind himself I was real. His mouth curved—barely, softly—and I watched his eyes roam over me like he was seeing sunlight for the first time.
“You’re the prettiest damn thing I’ve ever seen,” he said, voice low and hoarse.
I smiled through the sting in my eyes. “Right back at you.”
June stood beneath a canopy of strung lights, a battered Bible tucked under her arm and a wicked little grin playing ather lips. She was wearing a red dress, the ruby on her finger flickering in the twinkle lights.
She waited until the crowd had settled, then raised her voice—clear, proud, and more grounded than I’d ever heard her. “Welcome,” she said, “to this holy union between a man with more wrenches than social skills and a woman who once tried to make soup in a French press.”
The crowd burst out laughing.
Beau squeezed my fingers, and I didn’t even try to hide the tears in my eyes.
June smiled at us like she meant it.
“I promised Beau I’d keep this short,” she went on, “because y’all know he doesn’t love a fuss. But I also promised Noelle I’d make it weird enough to be memorable, so here we are. Between the churro truck and the Mothman cosplayer, under a sky that’s seen more than its share of hauntings, miracles, and moonshine.”
Laughter again…gentle,happy.
“This marriage,” June said, her tone shifting, “isn’t a new story. It’s the continuation of one. The joining of two people who already found each other in the mess. Thefastestfall I think I’ve ever seen—but if you know them, it makes sense, doesn’t it? Because these two…they’re in perfect balance. Sun and moon, dark and light…golden retriever and black cat.”
June’s smile softened, her voice dipping lower as the laughter faded. “But even the best matches need their own words. So I’ll step aside now and let them speak for themselves. Noelle?”
I reached back blindly, and Shane handed me my phone like he’d choreographed it like that. My hand was shaking when I pulled it up, already sniffling.
“Sorry…I was going to write these down in real life, but it just…”
“You’re good, baby,” Beau said. “I’ve got you.”
“Shut up or you’re going to make me cry more,” I laughed.
Then I looked at my phone.
And I did my best to put on my radio voice andnot cry.
“Beau Ward,” I began, “I don’t know how to tell you everything you’ve meant to me without sounding like I’m already halfway through an episode ofWhispers in the Dark. But you came into my life like some cosmic joke—this good-natured smalltown mechanic who thought Bigfoot was overrated and that I was probably insane. And maybe I was. Still am. But you made me feel like maybe that wasn’t a bad thing.”
I glanced up. His eyes were glassy.
“You didn’t try to fix me. You didn’t ask me to explain why the woods make me want to run or why I flinch when I feel safe. You just…stayed. With your dog and your shop coffee and your steady, quiet heart. You saw the worst parts of me and called them something worth loving. You made me believe this town could be home. ThatIcould be home.”
I paused to wipe my cheek. My mascara was running. I didn’t care.
