Chapter 22
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Gabe stood beside his brother and shifted his weight from his right to left foot as he rolled his shoulder. He’d never been comfortable in penguin suits, but if there was one day that he didn’t mind putting one on, it was today.
His wedding day.
He’d convinced Adriana that they didn’t need a long engagement. She’d been set on waiting at least a year, but he’d played dirty. Drastic times called for drastic measures. He’d enlisted the help of Lexi, Laney, and Jonah. Once they jumped on the wedding train, he knew that Adriana would follow suit.
The girls were relentless in their excitement. Mostly because they wanted to wear princess dresses. Their constant enthusiasm had worn her down. But, the real clincher had been Jonah. He’d told her at dinner one night, completely unprompted, that the only thing he wanted for his tenth birthday was for them to get married.
Adriana had grilled Gabe to find out if he’d put Jonah up to it, but he hadn’t. That was all him. Jonah had, however, shot Gabe a knowing grin after he’d seen Adriana’s reaction to his request.
Gabe had never been prouder as he’d sat across from him and thought, that’s my boy.
So here they were, only two weeks after he’d proposed about to become husband and wife. They’d decided to have the wedding at Mountain Ridge and Amanda had worked miracles to pull everything together in such a short time.
Since they held weddings there on a fairly regular basis, Amanda had insisted it was no trouble to “throw together.” He’d expected a few chairs set up and maybe an arch of some sort, but he’d greatly underestimated Amanda’s definition of thrown together.
There was an entire pagoda. All of the chairs were decorated with large bows. She’d transformed the rustic mountain surroundings into a magical, fairytale setting with twinkle lights, and flowers.
It was more than he could’ve ever hoped for.
As was the guest list.
It looked like half of Hope Falls was gathered together to celebrate his and Adriana’s wedding. He’d learned over this past week that a small, family-only wedding wasn’t really this town’s style. Once Adriana had opened the guest list to include the women she’d met at the book club, things had snowballed and their intimate wedding plans were obliterated.
He’d been concerned that things had gotten out of control and that the day would turn into a circus instead of being about them and the commitment they were making. Now, as he looked out over all the people that had gathered, he had to admit that he was happy to have so many witnesses. It added to the festive, celebratory feel.
As he scanned the crowd, what stood out to him wasn’t the people that were here, it was the ones that weren’t. They’d left three chairs empty in the front row. For his parents and Emily.
Glenn leaned in and whispered, “They’re watching, bro.”
He hoped that was true. He knew if they were, they would be proud and happy for him.
The music began and Gabe smiled as Aubrey walked down the aisle. His niece was the flower girl and she was milking her time in the spotlight for all it was worth.
She was waving, throwing petals, and even handing them to some of the guests. She was quite the entertainer.
When she finally made it all the way down, she waved at him. “Hi Unco Gabe!”
“Hi, Aubrey.” He smiled down at her.
She gasped in surprise at him not messing up her name and gave him a thumbs up. “You got it right! Good job.”
He chuckled as Aunt Rosalie called her over to sit with her.
Then came the bridesmaids. First Nikki then Amy and Lexi together, then Naomi and Laney. All the ladies took their places and the music changed to the wedding march.
“You ready?” Pastor Harrison asked.
“Yes.” Gabe had never been more ready for anything in his life.
Everyone stood as Adriana appeared wearing a simple, white flowing gown. Her hair was down around her shoulders and she looked like an angel. His angel.
Jonah stood next to her. He was wearing a tux and looked older and wiser than his ten years. His birthday was the day before and he was officially in the double digits. While he did ask for the wedding as his present, they’d also gotten him the new mountain bike that he’d been eyeing.
He deserved it. Gabe had wanted to buy him so much more but Adriana had pumped the breaks. He wanted to make up for lost time, and spoil the kid rotten, but apparently that wasn’t good parenting.
As the two of them made their way down the aisle, Gabe started to get choked up. Everything he ever wanted was walking straight toward him.
When they stopped just short of Gabe, Pastor Harrison asked, “Who gives this woman to marry this man?”
“Me, I mean…” Jonah stood up a little taller. “I do.”
Adriana smiled as she kissed him on the top of his head, and Gabe shook his hand before Jonah took his place next to him as his best man.
He looked down at his unconventional ushers. There was Jonah, Glenn, Eric, Jake, and Maxi. He’d asked her to serve as a groomsman because she was more than his publicist, she was his oldest friend.
As he turned and took Adriana’s hands he stared into her clear, hypnotizing eyes and was struck, just like he had been the first time he’d seen her, by just how breathtaking she was.
He whispered, “You’re so beautiful. How did I get so lucky?”
There were tears in her eyes as she sniffed. “I was just thinking the same thing.”
Pastor Harrison started the ceremony and Gabe was glad that Theo and Kenzie, the team that produced the documentary of his comeback, had offered to film the wedding as a gift, because he knew that he wasn’t going to remember anything other than how lost he was in Adriana.
She was all he could see. She was his anchor. She was his world. And now…
“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” Pastor Harrison proclaimed. “You may kiss your bride.”
Cheers erupted and Gabe cupped Adriana’s face and pressed his lips to hers.
…she was his wife.
He was the luckiest man in the world and he planned on spending the rest of his life showing her just how lucky she’d made him.
She was his lucky shirt.