But no longer.
Her father gives me her hand. “Take care of my little girl, son.”
“I will,” I vow.
Lark looks up at me, laughing slightly.
“What?”
She jerks her head up to where the officiant would be, but instead of the pastor we asked, my father is standing there, next to the pastor who looks completely mystified.
Oh hell no.
“Dad?”
He grins. “Don’t worry, I have it all planned.”
“Go sit down.”
“I’m a minister now, thanks to the online website that Sadie showed me.”
Of all the damn things…
I look to Lark. “I’m so sorry.”
She shakes her head. “This is the best wedding I could’ve asked for. As long as it ends with me being your wife, I don’t care about anything else. Let your dad marry us. It’ll be something we can tell our grandkids.”
I bring her hand to my lips and kiss it. “I hope you feel that way at the end of this.”
“I will, forever.”
And our forever starts now.
Epilogue Two
So, I have a confession to make.
The concept of this series was really special to me. As many of you know, I'm a Swiftie. I love the whole idea of the song "Mastermind". Like, what if someone was really pulling the strings the whole time? What if every situation wasn't just chance, but someone was behind it, trying to make it all be what they want?
What if that person is the one person you never thought it was? How about we hear from the mastermind now?
I hope you enjoy!
Corinne
Clyde
I make my way out to the family plot, where I go whenever these fools can’t seem to find me. Why anyone wouldn’t look here is beyond me, but then again, I like that they’re a little dumb.
Allows me a chance to come and sit with my wife.
My legs aren’t as strong as they used to be. Things are breaking down, both physically and metaphorically. What usedto take me ten minutes now takes twenty, but there’s one thing that I will do until they put me in the dirt, and that’s come here on the day before her death. I don’t want to remember the anniversary. I want to remember when she lived.
The headstones come into view, and I walk over to the last one on the left. It faces west so she can always watch the sunset. It was our favorite thing to do together. We’d sit out on that front porch swing and watch another day pass, grateful we got the chance to love each other.
“Good evening, Ginny,” I say as I drop into the chair I brought out here a few years ago. “Sorry I’m late, my darling, but my back hurts a bit today, and my knee is giving me some problems. I know, I know, I can hear you now—I’m old and what do I think is going to happen. On one hand, I’m told I’m too old to do things, and then I have Harper up my behind about things I need to be doing, but she’s just fussing at me for no damn reason,” I grumble.
Seriously, these kids need to make up their minds about what they want. One day I’m not allowed on the roof, and then the next I’m putting shingles on a new chicken coop.
