Chapter 9

“Is she ready?” Colin asked quietly as he peeked his head into Sam’s bedroom.

Colin had worked harder in the last two weeks than he was used to working on a whole wedding. But Drake’s promise to pay him whatever he asked for was a huge driving force and motivator for Colin to keep trucking along. It was also a great opportunity to show off his skills for the large and wealthy group of friends that Drake had who would also be attending the wedding.

“Yes, is her father at the bottom of the stairs?”

“Yep, and all the guests are seated in the backyard. They are starting to figure out what is going on so keep her away from her cell phone.”

Scarlett went and grabbed Sam’s phone off the nightstand and tucked it under the pillows on the bed. Samantha was in the restroom, and they had taken her dress all the way off to make sure she didn’t snag it or anything else. But it would only take them a moment to get it back on.

Samantha had thought about trying to slip on her other dress but decided against it. Scarlett was set on her wearing the dress she had made for her, and Sam didn’t want to make her feel bad at all.

“Let’s get your dress back on and head downstairs,” Scarlett said.

Samantha diligently stepped back into the dress and let Scarlett zip it up. She stood and examined herself in the full-length mirror, and she looked like an absolute angel. Every aspect of her hair, makeup and outfit was perfection.

Scarlett waited by the door for Sam and then opened it for her when she got there. It only took a minute for Sam to walk around the corner and to the top of the stairs where she looked down and saw her father waiting for her.

“No,” Sam said as the tears started to roll down her face. “Oh, my God, Daddy.”

“Hi, baby girl,” Mr. Holt said as he held his hand out for his daughter to come down the stairs.

Samantha was in full blown tears, and Scarlett instantly started to blot them dry and try to save her makeup from being ruined. But Scarlett herself was in tears from the excitement and the two women ended up standing at the top of the stairs as they tried to gather themselves back up.

They had worked so hard on her makeup, and Scarlett couldn’t let anything get out of place before the big moment. Luckily, the makeup artists were experts in wedding makeup and had used waterproof mascara. There was hardly a smudge on her face as the tears rolled.

“Scarlett, you seriously kept this all from me? I’m going to kill you,” Samantha said as she started to gather herself back up.

Scarlett knew that Samantha wasn’t serious. They had grown to be good friends over the last few months, and Scarlett wouldn’t have agreed to help Drake if she didn’t think the wedding was a good idea. But Scarlett knew Samantha and knew it might take her a few minutes to come to grips with the wedding happening that day.

“It was all Drake, he organized everything. I was only in charge of the dress.”

“It’s amazing. It’s so beautiful. I couldn’t have asked for anything else.”

Samantha started down the stairs and was in tears again as she looked at her father’s face. He was crying tears of joy as his daughter was about to get married to the man of her dreams. Mr. Holt and his wife had hoped their daughter would find a loving and caring man who she could marry, but over the years, Samantha had turned into a businesswoman and didn’t seem to have time for love. It melted their hearts that Sam and Drake had finally found love together.

“Daddy, I’m getting married,” Samantha said as she hugged her father.

She was so excited that her father was there to share her day with her. For years, Samantha hadn’t thought she would ever find the man that she wanted to marry. But as things developed with Drake, she knew he was the one and only man for her.

“I know. I’m so happy for you.”

“I wanted Grandma and Aunt Jenny to be at my wedding, though,” Sam started to say.

“Everyone is here; they are all out back just waiting for you to make your grand entrance,” Mr. Holt said as he held his daughter’s hand.

Samantha was shaking. Everything had been done without her knowing, and she felt like she needed to talk with Drake before she walked down the aisle. She wasn’t used to having him make all the decisions and felt like she was on a loose pile of rocks that could collapse at any moment.

When Scarlett reached the bottom of the stairs, Colin had just come inside from getting everyone ready on the back lawn. He was dressed in a black tuxedo and looked like he was ready to throw the wedding of the century.

“Colin, I need to talk to Drake,” Samantha said as she walked past her father toward the doors going out back.

“NO!” Everyone yelled at the same time.

Samantha stopped and turned around. She could see all the guests in the backyard and even saw Drake standing up by the flower-covered altar. Her hands started to shake, and she had to sit down. Everything was happening so quickly. She needed to talk with Drake before she walked down the aisle.

They had planned her entire wedding without telling her a single thing; Samantha wasn’t getting married without talking to Drake first, and that was all there was to it. Someone was going to go out there and get Drake for her or she was going to walk right past all those people and get him herself.

Scarlett could tell that Samantha was serious about wanting to talk with Drake so she quickly came up with a solution that would work for everyone. Samantha was the kind of woman who did what she wanted when she wanted to do it. Scarlett had to figure something out so that the wedding could continue on as planned, and Samantha would feel satisfied that she got to talk to Drake.

“Let’s bring you into the kitchen, then Colin can bring Drake into the living room. You two can talk through the door without him seeing you. I don’t want any bad luck on your wedding day.”

Samantha just nodded her head yes as Scarlett grabbed her hands and helped her up and into the kitchen. Everything was happening so quickly, and it was all out of Sam’s control. Yes, she wanted to marry Drake, but she had planned on making all the plans herself. She hadn’t planned on being left in the dark when it came to her own wedding.

Sam stood near the swinging door and waited for Colin to bring Drake to her. She just had to talk to him. She wasn’t even sure of what she wanted to say, she just knew she had to hear his voice before walking down the aisle.

“Hi, sweetheart,” Drake said from the other side of the kitchen door. “Is everything alright?”

Drake was terrified when Colin had come to get him and said Sam wanted to talk to him. All he could think about was that Sam had decided she didn’t really want to marry him, or that she was angry with him for pulling the wedding off as a surprise. His gut was in knots as he waited to hear Samantha’s voice.

He looked down as the door opened slightly and Sam reached her hand out for Drake’s. He grabbed onto her and kissed the back of her hand, then held onto her as they continued to talk.

“So, we are getting married today?” Sam asked.

She couldn’t believe what was going on. Samantha had expected to have her wedding quickly, but not that quickly. She was in shock and couldn’t imagine how Drake had managed to organize everything and pull it off without her knowing at all what was going on.

“I was thinking we should. I mean all our family and friends are out there and excited to be here for our big day.”

“You did all of this in secret. I should beat you,” Sam joked.

“Well, after we say our vows, I’m all yours for the rest of our lives to do whatever you’d like with. I’d prefer not to be beaten, though.” Drake laughed.

“You can’t even schedule your own work lunches. How on earth did you make all of this happen?”

It was true; Drake had relied on Sam to schedule most of his life for the past five years. But he hadn’t planned the whole wedding alone. Colin and Scarlett had been huge helps in the process. Even Samantha herself had helped with the process, although she thought she was planning a wedding that wouldn’t happen for a few months.

“You know I’m pretty damn determined when something is important to me. And you are important to me. I knew that I wanted to marry you, and I knew I didn’t need months to plan a wedding. As soon as you told me you were ready to get married, I went right to work. I hope you are happy with the plan.”

Samantha squeezed his hand and tried her hardest not to cry. This was exactly why she needed to talk to Drake before the wedding. She had to hear his words, his love, his heart behind planning the event so quickly. She was ready now to walk down the aisle and marry the man of her dreams.

“Thank you, Drake. Now get back out there; I’ll be down to meet you in a minute,” Samantha said as she squeezed his hand one last time and then let it go again.

Colin and Scarlett were standing behind Drake, and they both had tears in their eyes as they had been listening in on the conversation. It was a true love story, and everyone involved couldn’t wait to see Drake and Samantha say their vows to one another.

Scarlett went with Drake back out to the yard as Colin waited for Samantha so he could bring her back over to her father. Scarlett took her seat near the other six women, who had spent the week with Drake. They were all excited to have been invited to the wedding and were genuinely happy for Drake and Sam.

Scarlett knew that Drake was worried about the ladies being at his wedding, but Samantha wasn’t. Scarlett and Samantha had talked about that week many times, and Sam was happy it had happened. She often said it was one of the biggest turning points in her life.

“Are you ready?” Colin said, opening the kitchen door.

“I’m ready,” Samantha said as she ran her fingers under her eyes. “How’s my makeup?”

Despite not wanting to spend two hours getting her hair and makeup done, Samantha was happy she had agreed to Scarlett’s demand. Sam’s hair was perfectly styled for the wedding she had always dreamed of, and she hoped she hadn’t ruined her makeup too badly with all the crying over the last few minutes.

“It’s perfect,” Colin said as they walked back to where her father was sitting. “Wait for the music, and then I’ll open the double doors for you to come in. Walk slowly and take your time. This is your moment, and everyone is going to want to see you.”

“Thank you, Colin,” Sam said as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

“You’re welcome. Now let’s make a beautiful wedding.”

Samantha stood with her father as they waited for the music to start. She had dreamed about her wedding day all of her life. Even when she had tried not to think about finding a man or love, Sam had sometimes still thought of her wedding day and what it might be like. She had never imagined a huge event and had never wanted a large wedding.

Everything was absolutely as she had dreamed it would be, and she couldn’t have imagined anything different. She was happy and excited to be marrying her best friend. Sam was overjoyed at the care and effort he had put into planning everything too.

He had really stepped up and shown her that he wasn’t going to sit back and let her do everything all the time. For the first time in her life, Sam saw a future for herself that included a husband and hopefully children. She felt like she was in the middle of a dream and hoped she could live the rest of her life right there in that perfection.

The music started, and her father held out his arm for her to grab onto. They walked slowly to the double doors and waited for Colin to open them.

“Congratulations on the rest of your life,” her father said.

“Daddy, I’m so happy.”

“It only gets better from here, darling. You are going to have one amazing life.”

Colin swung the doors open, and everyone stood up to watch as Samantha and her father walked down the aisle. The music played softly in the background, and Sam took the time to look everyone in the eyes and smile at them as she made her way toward Drake at the front of the aisle.

They were all happy for her. It wasn’t something Sam had experienced much in her life, but everyone was looking at her and smiling from ear to ear. Sam felt more blessed than she ever thought possible.

As she made her way down the aisle, she saw family members and close business associates. She saw friends of Drake’s and friends of hers; she even saw the ladies that had stayed with Drake for the week when he was trying to find love.

Many people wouldn’t understand why Samantha was so fond of that group of seven women, but she loved them all dearly. Each of them had something special that Sam admired, and that was why they had been chosen to come and spend the week with Drake.

Their intelligence, humor, and other personality traits were pieces of what Samantha knew Drake wanted in a partner. It had opened Sam’s eyes to see those women and learn that although Drake wanted each of those personality traits, he wanted something much more from a partner in life. Drake wanted something that you couldn’t always see when filling out a questionnaire. He wanted a partner.

It was something Drake had talked about over and over throughout the search process. He had looked for a woman that could be his partner in life, and Sam would always be grateful to the women who took a week out of their busy lives to help both Drake and Sam realize that they were the perfect partners for each other.

Sam didn’t hold any jealousy toward those women and would always welcome them into her home. It was their day-long dates with Drake that had changed everything and allowed him to see what he really wanted in his life.

Samantha stood in front of Drake with her hands in his as the pastor started the wedding ceremony. She couldn’t have thought of any other moment in her life that she would be as happy as she was at that very second.

Drake looked into his new bride’s eyes and couldn’t help thinking that he was the luckiest man in the world. The woman that he loved and cherished had agreed to be his wife. She was standing there with him in front of all their friends and family, and they were about to pronounce their love for each other.

It was a happy day.

As the pastor said the vows and Samantha and Drake repeated them, they both had tears welling up in their eyes. Not only had they found the love of their lives, but they had found it in each other. It was their own fairy tale wedding, and they couldn’t wait to spend the rest of their lives together.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the pastor said. “You may kiss the bride.”

Drake grabbed his new wife and dipped her down toward the ground as he kissed her gently. The group of their friends and family erupted into applause as they cheered the joining of Drake Leblanc and Samantha Holt in wedded bliss.

THE END