Saturday

 

The Wedding

 

“Do you want to go and check everything out before everyone gets here, Ellie? If so, now would be our time to go.”

Jenny was amazing! The way she was handling everything and doing such a great job at it! I had no doubt everything was going to look beautiful. She really needed to start a business doing this stuff with the way she made the cabin look when Gunner asked me to marry him. My heart was beating a mile a minute.

She took us down to the wedding site first. It was a good thing my makeup was not done yet. It was exactly how I wanted it. The first thing I noticed was our tree, hung with about fifty small flower vases that we spent days making out of old bottles and mason jars. My fingers were almost raw from wrapping thin wire around and around the jars so that we could hang them in branches. Daisies and other wild flowers were in each one. They looked beautiful. Then I saw all the hay bales. They were set in rows and had old quilts and blankets over each one. The way Gunner and Jefferson set them up, there was a small back to them so that people would be able to lean back while sitting down. Emma and her quilting club had made pillows to put on the hay bales as well. The little fans on each row were perfect! They each had the letter M on them. I almost cried just thinking about how my name was going to be Ellie Mathews in just a few short hours.

The aisle that was made for the wedding party to walk down already had a few dozen red and pink flower petals spread around. Ari’s little cousin Lauren was the flower girl, and her little brother Matthew was the ring bearer. They would both look so cute walking down the aisle.

I wanted the wedding site to be very simple, nothing more than the vases hanging in the tree. I did not want to take away from the beautiful location where we were getting married. I walked around and smiled. The memory of that night beneath the tree flooded back to me. The endless talking about our favorite movies, singers, songs, the beautiful stars, my first orgasm. I felt the heat rush into my face and I had to look around to see if anyone was watching me. I’m sure I was as red as those rose petals. This place was so special to me. Someday we would bring our kids here and show them the nighttime stars, just like Gunner did for me.

“Is everything how you want, Ellie?” Jenny asked as she walked around with a clipboard and her ever-present cell phone in her hand. I just smiled at her.

“I can never, ever repay you for how wonderful you have made this day for me, Jenny. It’s perfect. Thank you so much for listening to me when I said I wanted to keep it as simple as possible. I just . . . I just love it.”

Jenny smiled her shy little smile and shrugged her shoulders.

“I’m so happy you like it, Ellie. Do you want to go up and see the reception area?”

“Is it safe? Where will Gunner be?”

Jenny laughed. “I’ll make sure that Aaron knows to keep him in the house and not to let him peek out the window.”

We headed up to the ranch house and to the main barn. Drake, Aaron, and Dewey spent days cleaning out the barn so that the slab floor would be ready for the reception. I was going to have to do something special for them.

We turned the corner and I saw three large white tents set up right outside the house and the barn. I sucked in a breath of air.

“Oh. My. God! It looks beautiful . . . it all looks so beautiful.”

We got out of Jenny’s truck and started walking around. Ari grabbed my arm and we set off to explore. Each of the white tent legs were wrapped in white silk mesh tulle with soft pink ribbon wrapped around each leg. The white tables had white linen draped over the whole table, with a smaller soft pink linen cloth on top of that. I was so glad Jenny kept the white chairs plain, though. She wanted to tie large pink bows on each, but I wanted to keep it simple. I liked it simple and plain—it was more me, I thought. Each table had a centerpiece of wild flowers in mason jars with a few small white votive candles.

I looked over to one table with mason jars set all over, which would offer lemonade, sweet tea, and ice water. Next to that was a giant trough that would have ice in it and filled to the max with beer. Last night Gunner was drilling holes and putting some tubing in it for the ice melt to drain out and away from the area. I smiled thinking about how handsome he looked last night. I looked back toward the house. I couldn’t wait to see him.

The other table had the wedding cakes on it. The groom’s cake was a four-tiered chocolate cake that had an orange longhorn on the front of each layer. There were chocolate covered strawberries on the edge of each layer and on the top of the cake. All along the bottom of the cake were small chocolate footballs and helmets. The bride’s cake was a three-tier white buttercream cake with silver beaded accents on it. It was sitting on a piece of oak that Gunner had cut from a tree that had fallen in a spring storm. It was perfect! I wonder if Gunner had seen it yet.

Then I saw the fire pit that Gunner, Jefferson and Josh built yesterday. I smiled as I saw the table that had all the small pails with s’mores fixings in it. I laughed when I thought about how me, Ari, Amanda, and Heather got so drunk while painting the pails with chalkboard paint and then tried to write “s’mores” on them all. Gunner and Jefferson ended up having to finish them all. That was a fun night. The kids would have so much fun making s’mores, and it reminded me of our first unofficial date at the coffee house.

The trees were all filled with white lights that would turn on right at dusk. I could not wait to see what it looked like! I looked around at all of the games that were set up everywhere—horseshoes, croquet, washers. It was perfect. I had to giggle at the quilt on the ground with the chess set on it. That must have been Garrett’s idea.

“Ellie, honey, it all looks so beautiful,” Ari said as we started to walk toward the barn. Oh my God, this did not look like the same barn. I don’t know how Drake and the boys did it, but the slab floor was cleaned and white lights were everywhere. The band was already setting up in the corner along with the DJ. I was feeling overwhelmed, yet so happy. I couldn’t hold it back anymore. I started to cry. I was going to be Gunner’s wife in just a few hours.

“Ellie! What’s wrong?” Ari said as she took me in her arms.

“Nothing! It’s all just so beautiful. More beautiful than I could have ever imagined . . .” I was crying like a baby. Oh God, I was starting to hyperventilate. What the fuck was wrong with me?

“Ellie, breathe! Sweets, you have to breathe! Umm, Jenny, can you come here?”

I didn’t even notice Ari and Jenny taking me back outside. I couldn’t catch my breath. What the fuck was wrong with me? They walked me up to the ranch house and set me down on a chair. Emma walked out right then.

I can’t get enough air . . . Oh my God, I’m going to die before I even get married!

“Ellie, darling, look at me. Look right at me,” Emma said as she grabbed my face to look at her.

“Ellie, take a deep breath in and blow it out.”

I tried, I really did. All I could take was small gasps of air and that was starting to not be enough. Emma turned to Ari.

“Arianna, I want you to calmly go in the house and get Drew.”

Ari turned and ran into the house screaming out Gunner’s name.

Not thirty seconds later, there he was. He came out of the screen door and our eyes met. He came running over to me and landed on his knees in front of me.

“Ellie, baby, what’s wrong?” Gunner said with nothing but panic in his beautiful blue eyes.

He grabbed my hands and I felt that familiar jolt of electricity. I instantly felt the tightness in my chest let up, and I was able to take a deep breath. I threw myself at him and hugged him as hard as I could. He got up and lifted me up with him. I wrapped my legs around him and he started to walk off to the other side of the porch away from everyone. God, I loved to be in his arms like this. It was my favorite way for him to hold me.

He was running his hand down my hair. “Shhh, baby, it’s okay. I’m here, sweetheart. Can you tell me what’s wrong, baby? Are you having second thoughts?”

What? Never!

I kept my face buried into him. My God, he smelled so damn good. I was starting to get that ache in between my legs.

“Never! I want nothing more than to marry you, Drew Mathews. I’m not sure what happened, to be honest. All I know is I needed to see you, and the thought of not being able to see you at that moment, I guess it made me panic. I love you. I love you so much.”

“Jesus, baby, you scared me. I love you too, Ellie. I love you so damn much it hurts.”

I pulled back and looked into his eyes. “I feel the same way.”

He just laughed.

“You know we’re not supposed to see each other before the wedding. They say it’s bad luck.”

“I know for a fact that’s not true. Emma told me that she and Garrett saw each other the morning of their wedding. Look how happy they are!”

Gunner just smiled at me as he pushed me into the side of the house and started to kiss me with so much passion I thought I was going to explode. Oh, shit, I couldn’t wait to spend the night with him tonight.

“Can we sneak off somewhere real quick?” I asked as I pushed myself into him.

“My greedy, greedy little girl. What am I going to do with you?” Gunner asked as he bit my lower lip. I let out a low slow moan.

“Um, Ellie, we really need to get you back and start getting ready.”

I looked at Gunner and made a sad face.

“Soon, baby, soon.” He slid me down his body in that oh-so-slow way he had.

“See ya soon?” I said as I looked up at him.

“See ya soon, baby.”

After we got back from checking everything out, I felt so much better. I think just being in Gunner’s arms calmed me down. The cabin was so full of hairspray, I thought I was going to die. Jenny must have sensed it was bugging me because she told her friends Ron and Jet, who were stylists from Austin, to spray outside from now on.

“I just can’t figure out what the hell is wrong with him,” Ari was saying to Amanda. I was pretty sure she was talking about Jefferson. I needed to push that from my mind today. I looked their way, and they both looked beautiful. Ari, Amanda, and Heather were all wearing their hair down but curled. Heather was getting hers curled right now and then she would be next for the spray down.

Jet was doing my hair, and I loved it. She curled it all in big curls and then piled it all on my head. She pulled pieces of my hair down to frame my face and the back of neck. I smiled as I watched her put baby’s breath all throughout my hair. I gave Gunner five minutes before he was pushing a piece of hair back behind my ear.

Jet was going on and on about something. I had tuned her out after the first five minutes and just thought about Gunner. I closed my eyes and pictured his blue eyes looking into mine as we said our vows.

“Ellie, did you hear me, honey?”

I opened my eyes to see Jet staring at me.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. What was that?”

“How do you like it, honey? Your hair? Do you like it?”

I looked into the mirror. I looked perfect. I had just a small amount of makeup on, but the way Ari did my eye makeup really made my blue eyes stand out. The pink tint on my lips was perfect and my hair—my hair looked beautiful. Was that even me in the mirror?

“Jet, it’s just so amazing. I love it so much! It looks elegant yet simple.”

Jet smiled from ear to ear, then picked up a can of hairspray and sprayed the shit out of my hair. God, I needed oxygen by the time she was done. Clearly she didn’t hear the no-spraying-hairspray-inside rule.

I didn’t even notice Ari, Amanda, and Heather each going behind the giant sheet that was hung up so everyone could change. I looked over and saw Ari walking out in the pale pink sleeveless sundress. Oh my, she took my breath away. The silver cowboy boots she had on were perfect. Just like she said they would be. She smiled at me as she put on her white cowboy hat. I wanted to jump up and down it looked so fucking good. Just then I saw Amanda and then Heather. They looked like supermodels, all three of them. I just stared at them. They started to laugh, and Ari said something to Heather about getting the same reaction from Josh. Heather hit Ari in the arm and told her to go to hell.

Then Jenny walked up to me.

“Ellie, it’s time to put your dress on.”

Oh, wow, this was it. I was putting on the dress that the four of us spent days searching for. We ended up finding it at the last bridal store we went to in Austin. I was so sick of trying on dresses, I was ready to give up. I told Ari I was trying on one more dress and that was it.

When I looked at myself in the mirror before stepping out to show the girls, I almost cried. MaryBeth, the bridal consultant who had been helping me try on dress after dress, leaned over and said, “That’s the one. When you look in the mirror and want to cry, then that’s the dress meant for you.”

I looked over at her as I felt the tears roll down my face. I didn’t even bother wiping them away. I had to show the girls that very second.

I stepped out and heard three gasps at the same time.

“Holy hell!” Amanda said.

“Oh my, Ellie, it’s perfect, honey!” Heather said.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, holy fucking shit! That dress is beautiful!” Ari screamed out as she jumped up. MaryBeth helped me up onto the platform and spread the train all out. Oh my God, it was beautiful.

MaryBeth started to tell us about the dress as I stared at myself in the mirror.

“Ladies, this is a Jim Hjelm wedding dress. It’s a silk-satin-faced-organza A-line dress with a strapless, embroidered bodice with crystals and hand-cut silk organza, chiffon, and charmeuse. The natural waist is accented with a platinum moiré ribbon and has a bias cut asymmetrical ruffle skirt with a chapel train.”

All three of them just stared at poor MaryBeth. “Yeah . . . whatever the hell all that means . . . Ellie, it’s beautiful! Just perfect. Get it. Gunner is going to be jizzing in his pants when he sees you in this,” Ari said as she jumped up and down.

I let out a laugh as I thought about the day I found my dress. I stood up and walked over to the curtain. Jenny and Ari stepped behind with me and helped me get dressed. I started with a white lace bustier along with a pair of blue panties that Ari bought for my something blue. I slipped the garter belt on that had been used by Emma in her wedding, my something old, and started to roll on my satin, thigh-high sheers on. I was wearing cowboy boots under my dress, but Ari insisted I wear thigh-highs with a garter belt because it would drive Gunner mad when he saw me. I slipped the garter around my leg and up my thigh. It was pale pink and a gift from Heather, my something new. Now for the dress . . . I was shaking from head to toe.

Jenny and Ari carefully helped me into the dress and helped to adjust everything just right. I loved the platinum ribbon belt so much! Ari helped me slip on my cowboy boots, and I walked out from around the sheet.

Amanda and Heather both let out a gasp, and Heather started to cry.

“Don’t make her cry! Damn you, Heather, you’re such a fucking sap!” I looked over at Ari and she was the one starting to cry.

Jenny’s cell phone rang as Jet was handing the girls all their bouquets of daisies.

“Okay, they are here.”

Gunner would not tell me how I was getting to the wedding site; he just kept saying it was a secret. Jenny had a huge smile on her face as she handed me my bouquet of pink roses that had a small hanky that Emma carried with her bouquet—another something borrowed. I smiled down at Lauren, the flower girl. She was so sweet in her pale pink dress and pink cowboy boots. Matthew was beyond handsome! Gunner picked out what Matthew was wearing. He had on blue jean overalls, cowboy boots, and a cowboy hat.

Amanda and Heather put their cowboy hats on and walked out first. The photographer had been there ever since we started to get ready, and she had been snapping pictures nonstop. Then Ari, Lauren, and Matt walked out. Jenny stepped aside so I could move out the door while she and Jet carried my train. I stopped dead in my tracks.

A carriage?

Fuck me. I looked over and was shocked to see another one. Ari was helping Lauren and Matthew climb up into a pink carriage . . . a carriage, for Christ’s sake! My future crazy-romantic husband had carriages picking us up. I had to laugh.

Oh, I was so going to give him a blow job tonight for this!

Jenny gave me a little nudge to move me along. I was helped into a beautiful, white, Cinderella-looking carriage and I was shocked to see Garrett sitting there.

“Hello, my sweet darling girl! Oh my holy hell, if you ain’t the most beautiful bride I have ever laid eyes on! And don’t you be going and telling Emma I told you that!”

“Oh my gosh, Garrett! What’re you doing here?” I reached over and hugged him.

“Well, sweet girl, your brother really wanted to be able to walk you down the aisle, but seeing as he is the best man, he asked me to do the honor for him.”

Okay . . . now I might cry.

“Don’t you dare, Ellie. Don’t you cry,” Garrett said.

I started to laugh.

“Okay, I won’t.”

Once they got my train all in, Jenny ran over to her truck and took off like a bat out of hell. I was really going to have to do something special for her. I already had to force her to let us pay her for helping to plan the whole wedding.

We pulled up a little way away from our tree. The first thing I saw was all of the people sitting on the hay bales. I still had not met Gunner’s parents. I wasn’t even sure if they would be showing up, which broke my heart. Of course, I hadn’t spoken to my own mother in months. She was not invited to the wedding. When I called to tell her I was getting married, she laughed and asked what I had to do to get Gunner to marry me, and then she asked if I was pregnant. I decided that was going to be the last time I ever talked to that woman again.

Amanda, Heather, and Ari had pulled ahead of us on the way over so they were the first to get out. Amanda and Heather helped Lauren and Matthew get ready to walk down the aisle. I was watching them and my heart just melted. I was too afraid to look up and see Gunner. I knew the moment I saw him I would start crying, so I just didn’t look. Garrett got out and walked around to help me down. Jenny held my train up and off the ground. The music started playing so the kids must have started to walk. Ari was now by my side.

“Ells, breathe, sweets. Deep breaths in and out.”

I smiled at her. I really was feeling rather calm, which was strange.

“How does he look?”

Ari smiled. “He looks so handsome, Ellie, and he has the biggest goddamn smile on his face I’ve ever seen!”

“Ari, Ellie, Garrett . . . are you ready?”

We started to walk and stopped right behind a horse. Jenny sure knew what the hell she was doing, because once I got down out of the carriage I was blocked by horses and another carriage.

Ari leaned over and gave me a kiss.

“Here we go, sweets.” She winked at me and took off.

Garrett looked over at me and smiled.

“Are you ready, sweetheart?”

I had to smile at his choice of words. The fact that he called me sweetheart made my heart just start beating a mile a minute. I smiled and nodded. He took my arm in his and we started to walk.

We came around and stopped at the very beginning of the petal-covered pathway. I looked around at all the people. The guests were mostly friends and family on Gunner’s side. The rest were our friends and Gunner’s teammates. Everyone was smiling at me. Then the wedding march started. Garrett squeezed my arm and we took off.

I looked up and looked right at Gunner. His eyes captured mine, and I instantly smiled. I let my eyes drift down his body. Oh my God, my knees felt weak, and it must have been noticeable because Garrett lifted his arm up to help me stay standing up. Gunner was dressed in black Wrangler jeans, black cowboy boots, a white button down shirt with a gray matching blazer and vest. He was wearing the bronze tie that we picked out together last week and his black cowboy hat.

I looked back up, and my eyes caught his and took my breath away. He was giving me that damn crooked smile of his, and I started to giggle. He raised his eyebrow up at me, which made me giggle even more. It felt like it was taking forever to get up there, and I found myself starting to try to walk faster. Now Garrett was the one laughing.

“Slow down there, darling . . . This isn’t a race, you know!”

Finally we made up to the altar. I looked at Jefferson, who looked so handsome and was dressed almost identical to Gunner but with a gray tie. He was next, him and Ari. He gave me a wink as Garrett announced he was the one giving me away. Garrett placed my hand in Gunner’s hand, and I stepped up on the last step. Gunner leaned down, pushed a curl behind my ear, and whispered so low I barely heard him.

“You look so beautiful, Ellie. You take my breath away, sweetheart. I love you.”

Dear Lord, this man was amazing. I was not sure what I ever did to deserve him, but I would spend the rest of my life making him happy. That was a promise.