“Oh, you guys, it’s so pretty,” I said.
“We wanted you to have something really special,” Seraphina said softly. “Something you’d wear every day to remember that you’re loved. Not just by Grady. By us too.”
“This must have cost a fortune,” I said. “Not that I’m complaining. It’s gorgeous. I’ll cherish it.”
Lila lifted the necklace from the box and moved behind me. I felt the cool weight of the chain settle against my collarbone, her fingers working the tiny clasp. The pendant rested just below the hollow of my throat.
“Before you were Grady’s sunflower, you were our sunshine,” Lila said.
“During all these years of friendship, it’s been you who has cheered us up when we’re down and celebrated us when we’re up,” Seraphina said. “Even when you were hurting.”
“That’s right,” Delphine said. “I don’t think any of us could have gotten through some of those dark days without you. I remember very clearly how you showed up for me after I lost my husband. I’ll never forget your generosity—being there for me when Madison was just a baby and your marriage was falling apart. That’s just who you are.”
I looked at each of them in turn. My friends in blush and pink and red and sage—a perfect bouquet. These women had carried me through the worst years of my life and delivered me here, to this room, to this day, to this man waiting on the patio below. I wanted to say something worthy of what they’d given me—not just today, but every day for nine years. The dinners. The babysitting. The wine on the bad nights and the good. The loans.The way they’d loved my children as their own and never once let me believe I was anything other than a good mother.
But all I could say was, “Thank you for being my friends. For being the family I always wished I had.”
“Oh no,” Gillian said, pressing both hands to her face. “I said I wasn’t going to cry.”
Delphine produced a blue silk handkerchief from her clutch and handed it to Gillian. Then she pulled out a second one and pressed it into my hand. “For later,” she said. “Just in case you need it.”
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s go get married.”
For the ceremony,white wooden chairs had been placed in two curved rows, angled to face the arbor and the ocean beyond. Grady and Vance had built the simple arbor with instructions they’d found on YouTube. I'd wrapped it in trailing greenery eucalyptus, jasmine, and ivy. Clusters of sunflowers, pink peonies and white roses were tucked in at the top and cascaded down the sides.
Sunflowers lined the aisle in mason jars. String lights crisscrossed overhead in lazy loops, waiting for dusk to come alive, just as the reception began. Beyond the last row of chairs, the garden sloped down toward the ocean, the raised beds green and blooming, the apple tree heavy with white blossoms. Our late afternoon sun made the ocean impossibly blue.
Madison went first, scattering pink petals down the aisle between the white chairs. The ruffled blossoms on her dress seemed to move with her. She reached the arbor, took her position, and gave Grady a thumbs-up.
Grace had offered to supervise our furry, floppy-eared ring bearer. She walked beside him, the rings tied to a small pillow attached to Trevor’s flower collar. He seemed to know his mission, heading straight toward Grady without hesitation. It probably had to do with the hidden treat in Grady’s pocket.
Robbie stood beside me, hands clasped behind his back, standing straight with his head held high, possibly wishing he were taller. His bowtie was centered perfectly and the beloved brown loafers gleamed. A sunflower boutonniere had been pinned on his lapel.
I glanced down at him, and he met my gaze.
“Mother, as you know, I’m no fan of hyperbole. However, you are most certainly the most beautiful bride there has ever been.”
“Oh, Robbie, that’s so nice. Thank you.”
“And although it is not tradition to have a son walk his mother down the aisle, I’m honored you asked.”
“It was you and me, kid, for a long time.”
“I know. But not anymore.”
I took a peak out to the patio. Delphine and Seraphina were next to each other, with Tyler and Annie on either side. Alex and Gillian sat together, with their three children. Dorian Flynn, who had become tight with Grady and the rest of the guys, had come alone, but sat next to Lila and Mia. Vance was serving as our officiant. Wearing a sharp blue suit, he stood in the middle of the arbor, with Grady next to him. We’d known his elegant ease with words would be a perfect choice for our special day. My mother and father were there too, behaving remarkably well. They’d come into town a few nights before and were staying at the inn. Thank the good lord! Grady and I had joined them for dinner at The Pelican the first evening, and it had gone better than I could have expected. No one could resist Grady’s charm. Not even my prickly mother.
Grady’s sister Mara and her husband Hank, along with their two children, had come up from L.A. for the wedding. We’d spent several long weekends with them over the last few months. I adored them both. And it was gratifying to see Grady’s love for his sister and his niece and nephew.
The first notes ofHere Comes the Sunreached me before I stepped outside. They came from an acoustic guitar, gentle and unhurried. Grady had left most of the wedding details to me and my girlfriends, but he’d asked that I walk down the aisle to the song that reminded him of me. I assumed Grady had hired a musician. However, I was shocked to see that it was Hunter Sloan, perched on a stool near the arbor, strumming a blue guitar, his big hands moving over the strings. I’d had no idea he was a musician or that he could sing. His tone was warm and clear, with a slight twang. Why had he kept this hidden?
As I began to walk, my hand in the crook of my son’s arm, any thoughts other than the man waiting for me vanished. It was his eyes that caught mine, pulling me toward him with the strength that’s born only from a deep love.
He was devastating in his cream linen suit, with his wavy hair tamed momentarily. But just as I arrived next to him, an ocean breeze, carrying the scent of the sea, fluttered through his hair, and the familiar locks, so dear to me, fell over his forehead.
Robbie let go of my arm, looking up at me, and then at Grady.
“I trust you will care for her from this day forward?” Robbie asked.
