“Oh my God! It’s beautiful, Ben. It’s just like I always dreamed about. When I was a girl I used to look at rings like that.”
“I know,” he said as he slid it onto her finger. “I remember.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks as she smiled up at him. “Ben Walton, you are the most amazing man. I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you. I don’t feel like I do deserve you, but I’m going to do my best every day to make you happy.”
“I’m going to do my best every day to make you happy. I want to be your husband, and I don’t want to wait any longer. I want us to get married.”
She nodded. “Then let’s do it, let’s do it soon. It’s not like we need anything big or fancy, we just need our friends and our family. We should organize it as soon as we can.”
Ben smiled, hoping that she meant that. “How about next weekend?”
Her eyes widened. “Next weekend? But how …? What will we …? Yes! Let’s do it!” She laughed. “You’re right. We don’t need to waste any more time.”
Ben hugged her to him. “I already called your parents and mine. Just in case you said yes.”
She slapped his arm. “As if there was ever any doubt.”
Ben shrugged. “I’ve learned to never take anything for granted. I will say that for the first time in my life I’m happy that our parents are willing to travel at the drop of a hat. They all said they’ll be here next weekend, if that’s what we want.”
Charlotte kissed him deeply and then sat back on her heels and smiled at him. “It’s what we want. It’s what we’ve always wanted.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Charlotte looked in the mirror; she loved the dress. She was so grateful to Holly for helping her find it and for getting it here in a week.
“You look gorgeous, Beanpole,” said Missy with a smile. “But you’d better hurry your ass up. The last thing you want to do is be late. Poor Ben would probably have a heart attack, thinking you weren’t coming.”
Emma laughed. “Poor guy probably would, too. Whenever I’ve seen him this week he looks as though he’s walking on air. He still can’t believe it’s really happening.”
“I’m not sure I can, either,” said Charlotte. “I mean, yes, this is what I always dreamed about. But it’s hard to believe that he pulled it all together in just a week.”
“Well,” said Missy, “the two of you have wasted enough time already.”
“Missy!” Emma scowled at her.
Missy shrugged and grinned at Charlotte. “Well, it’s true.”
“It is,” said Charlotte. “And I don’t plan on wasting anymore. What time is it?”
Emma looked at her watch. “It’s time to go.”
Charlotte sucked in a deep breath. She wasn’t trying to calm nerves; it was more a case of keeping her excitement in check. She hugged first Emma and then Missy and linked arms with them. Once they were outside, the three of them walked down the steps that way. Charlotte was so happy that not only was she getting back the only man she’d ever loved, she was also getting back the two best friends she’d ever had.
~ ~ ~
Ben stood by the railing. They’d set up the back deck of the restaurant for the wedding. Rows of chairs faced where he was standing, and someone—he had no idea who—had set up an arch woven with flowers. He would never have thought of it, but it did look nice. It was weird, standing here staring out at a sea of faces. So many friends, his parents, and Charlotte’s—it seemed the whole town was here.
“You doing okay, son?”
He turned to smile at Joe who was standing beside him. “I am. I’ll be doing better when she arrives. I want to say I’m not nervous, but that would be a lie. I know she’s coming, but there’s that tiny little doubt in the back of my mind and the pit of my stomach.”
Joe smiled and grasped his shoulder. “There’s no doubt at all. She’ll be here.”
Ben nodded. In his heart, he knew Joe was right. “You’ve got the rings, right?”
Joe patted his pocket. “I think so. Though why you trusted such an important job as this to a forgetful old codger like me, I don’t know.” His eyes glistened as he added, “But I’m glad you did.”
Ben nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He’d always thought that if he got married he’d ask Pete to be his best man. Pete or Chance. Since Charlotte had come back, he’d even considered asking Smoke. He would have liked to have any of them standing beside him. But when it came down to it, he wanted the best man in his life standing beside him today. And there was no question who that man was. It was his grandpa, Joe.
