I miss her.
It was strange waking up to an empty house before practice today.
I wonder if she misses me, too.
We head up to the groom’s suite, and shortly after that, Ms. Winston tells me it’s time. I head downstairs, and I walk into the ballroom to find that a few of the chairs are occupied.
She had once asked me for a guest list, and we both kept it small. All the same, I spot her mom occupying one of the chairs with the one beside her empty—likely for her father,who’s about to walk his daughter down the aisle. Her brother, his wife, and their baby take up others. Everleigh sits beside them.
That’s it. She’s the only representative from my family, and she’s here alone.
I wasn’t expecting her to be here, and my chest warms that someone cared enough to show up.
It makes sense, really. My brothers are in season, so they can’t just hop on a plane to Tampa in the midst of playoff runs. Archer could have, but he wouldn’t have.
My father isn’t here, most likely because he’s not allowed to leave the state since he’s out on bail.
I wouldn’t have wanted him here anyway.
I didn’t invite anyone from the team aside from Cole. I’m close with many of them, but this was never meant to turn into a spectacle, and inviting pro football players would have made it one.
So that’s it. A few witnesses. We’ll dine together afterward, and everyone can head home. Maybe they can even make it home before the clock strikes midnight, ringing in the new year.
I walk down the aisle as my eye catches Everleigh’s, and I take my place up at the altar. The pianist begins with some instrumental piece I recognize but can’t name as Cole escorts Kenzie down the aisle.
Once they’re in place, there’s a soft pause that causes my heart to thunder. The music changes, and another instrumental piece begins. I think it’s “Clair de lune.” I remember Tatum saying once that she always dreamed of floating down the aisle to that song.
The front doors burst open, and Tatum appears on the arm of her father.
She’s positively breathtaking. She’s wearing a white lace dress, simple and elegant, with long sleeves. Her hair is pulledback into a low bun with romantic waves and delicate flowers woven in.
My chest tightens, my heart thunders, and my nerves race.
She’s about to become my wife.
Mywife.
The door closes behind them as she walks along the aisle toward me, and as her eyes connect with mine, a feeling of calm settles over me.
The thundering subsides, the nerves quiet.
It’s just the music, her, and me in this room.
She stops in front of me, the flowers in her hands trembling a little as if she’s trembling. She smiles at me, and it feels like everything is going to be okay.
We’re really doing this.
“Good evening, and welcome to the wedding ceremony celebrating Ford Bradley and Tatum Barker. Who gives this bride to be married to this man?” Cody asks.
“Her mother and I do,” her father says, and he reaches over to shake my hand. I pull him in and give him a hug.
This man is about to become my father-in-law. I don’t know him all that well, but I know he raised one hell of a daughter, and I know he’s a better father than the one I got.
He hugs me back before he joins his wife, and Tatum hands her flowers to Kenzie before turning to me and taking my hands in hers.
“Today Ford and Tatum will begin the next chapter of their relationship. They’ve known each other since high school, over a decade now, and they have spent much of that time getting to know one another. When you know, you just know.” Cody glances at his wife, and she smiles. He turns back to us. “Let’s get to it, shall we?”
He flips the page in his book, and he starts to read from the script. “Do you, Ford, take Tatum to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
