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“You saw me at my worst and stayed right there. You sat beside me when I couldn’t speak. You held me when I couldn’t stand. You made me laugh when I thought I’d forgotten how.”

His eyes fill.

“You never tried to fix me. You never asked me to be anything other than exactly who I was.”

My voice breaks.

“You have the most beautiful soul and the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever known, and I am the luckiest woman on this earth because I am loved by you.”

I take a breath.

“And because I am so completely, ridiculously, hopelessly in love with you.”

His smile appears.

The one that’s mine.

“You are home to me, Jude Hawthorne.” I squeeze his hands. “I love you, Grumpy.”

He mouths it back.

I grin. “Now say yes and make me yours forever.”

Everyone laughs. Jude shakes his head.

“Bossy.”

“You love it.”

“Do.”

The words are said. The rings exchanged. And when I’m asked the question I’ve already answered in a thousand different ways, I look straight into those green eyes.

“I do.”

On my bouquet, the white butterfly opens its wings, then lifts away. I watch it rise into the golden evening light until I can’t see it any more.

My eyes return to Jude. He’s smiling at me, and I smile back.

Then someone tells him he can kiss his bride.

Jude doesn’t need to be told twice.

One arm wraps around my waist and he pulls me against him.

“Finally,” he mutters.

I laugh. “Grumpy...”

His mouth crashes onto mine.

Cheers explode around us. Someone whistles. Someone else yells something I can’t understand as Jude bends me backwards, one hand holding me securely against him while I laugh into his kiss.

When he finally pulls me upright, I’m breathless. His forehead rests against mine, his green eyes finding mine.

“Love you, wife.”

My heart feels so full it could burst. I touch his face.