After we were both dressed, Faith and I rode in a limo to the highest overlook in the Socorro Mountains. From up there, we could see for miles. The sun was an enormous orb in the sky, slowly sinking into the Pacific Ocean, setting the entire evening sky on fire.

To the south, we could see deep into the valley, the place I’d grown up, where everything I knew and loved existed. I’d never been to this lookout before, but now that I was there, I knew it was the perfect place.

It was exactly what I’d described to Grant when I’d told him what I wanted for my wedding. I marveled at the fact he must have had this place in mind, even back when we’d been in the flower market in the city, me innocently telling him about my dream.

How had he known this was going to happen? How had he been able to plan for all this? I’d been so confused at the time. I thought I was going to marry Rob. Had Grant really known this was going to follow? He must have. Or maybe it was all just fate, our destiny, and God was making it happen. My heart pounded just thinking about it.

Sometimes you think you know what you’re doing with your life, you think you know what you need, and what you want, and it can be extremely overwhelming to realize that someone else is holding your entire future in the palm of their hand.

To learn that someone else loves you, and they know what’s best for you, and they’re working on making it happen, making your dreams happen, before you’ve even realized you have them, that’s what it’s like to realize you’re loved.

How would I ever be able to repay Grant for doing this? For knowing that it was what I’d wanted, even before I did?

I put my hand on my stomach and smiled. I knew how I’d repay him. I already was, and he didn’t know anything about it. I was giving him a child. I was creating life, right inside my body, and Grant had no idea. He was giving me a miracle, and the thought of it made my heart soar. But I was giving him a miracle too. A miracle that was going to make his heart explode with love.

I looked at Faith. She was beautiful in a lace and bead dress designed to complement mine, and when she led me up the paved path to the overlook, the sight before me took my breath away. Overlooking a steep, sharp cliff was a freshly built chapel of white wood.

Standing in a row in front of it were Sam, Jackson, Forrester and Grady. They all looked at me with such love and kindness, I knew they were my family, and would be forever.

Next to them was Grant, my groom. My heart leapt as I made my way toward him, following Faith. Music was playing. I looked to my left and saw a band next to the chapel. Beyond them was the magnificence of the setting sun. Where had all this come from? Had Grant built this chapel himself?

My eyes locked on Grant’s, and I could see he was crying as I walked slowly along the path that led to him. It was like the path of my entire life. I realized it had always been leading to him, and only him.

I saw Grant give a signal to Sam, and Sam pulled a string hanging from the roof of the chapel. Instantly, thousands of red roses, more than I could ever count, started falling from the roof. They fell in drapes down the front of the chapel like a waterfall.

They’d somehow been attached to strings so that when they fell, they hung, creating curtains of beautiful crimson around the entire chapel. All its walls were covered. The sight took my breath away. Even the priest, the same Spanish priest who’d performed Faith and Jackson’s wedding, looked awestruck.

It was so beautiful. I continued walking toward the chapel, following Faith, everyone’s eyes on me, on my beautiful dress. Grant couldn’t have looked happier. A few yards from the chapel, Faith stopped, and I stopped next to her. The band stopped playing the beautiful music.

Grant stood next to me.

“Lacey, you look more beautiful than I even imagined,” he whispered.

“I can’t believe you planned all this,” I said. “Grant, it’s perfect.”

The priest started the ceremony, and it was all I could do just to keep myself from crying. Everything was so perfect. Standing next to me was Faith, my best friend in the entire world, and next to Grant were the men we knew would give their lives for us if we needed, Jackson, Forrester, Grady and of course, Sam.

My father would have been so proud. This was the family he’d built, and maybe, if I played my cards right, I’d build a family just as strong.

I looked at Grant, my groom, tall and strong and handsome, the edges of his tattoos peeking out from his perfectly tailored tuxedo.

How had all this happened?

The flowers pouring over the edges of the chapel were so beautiful. I knew they’d come from the flower market. The sunset was just as I’d described. I knew Grant had done everything he could to make this ceremony perfect for me, and I couldn’t have been happier. I knew he’d spend his life making me happy, and I knew I’d do exactly the same for him.

When the priest finally asked, “Do you, Lacey Eden, take this man, Grant Lucas, to be your lawfully wedded husband?” my voice was stronger than I’d expected.

“I do,” I said, and there was no doubt I meant it.

Faith was crying.

“And do you, Grant Lucas, take this woman, Lacey Eden, to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

“I do,” he said, strong and clear.

When he kissed me, the taste of his kiss mixed with the salt of my own tears. I couldn’t believe it had happened. Sam gave Grant a gold wedding band and he put it on my finger. Then he gave me a ring and I put it on Grant’s. And then the priest said those magical words. “I now pronounce you man and wife.”

Everyone cheered. I was delirious with happiness. A bell rang, and then, out of nowhere, something opened on the roof of the chapel and hundreds of white doves flocked into the sky and filled it with their beauty. Their snow-white feathers reflected the orange light of the setting sun and it was as if a fire was burning in the sky. It was breathtaking.

I shook my head. I couldn’t believe it was all happening. It was too much to grasp.

Just hours earlier, Grant had showed me the house he’d bought, so I could give a future to those boys, just as my father had done for him. He’d shown me that I’d been crucial in helping him, Jackson, Forrester and Grady become men. Then he’d proposed to me in front of an entire restaurant with the ring of my dreams. Now we were married. It had all happened so fast, and was such a surprise, that I couldn’t believe it was real.

I saw Sam and Forrester go off and come back with the most enormous cake I’d ever seen. Sam was obviously very proud of it.

“This was all me,” he said with a flourish.

He handed me a knife and together with Grant, I cut a slice. Then I picked it up and smeared it all over Grant’s face. Everyone laughed. And then I smelled it. Roses. The cake was also from the flower market.

“You remembered,” I said to Grant as I tasted the cake.

“Of course I did,” he said. “I remember every word you’ve ever said to me, Lacey. Every word. And I always will.”

And I knew he was telling the truth. It had always been that way between us. When one of us said something, the other listened. Even when we didn’t say anything, the other knew if we needed something, or had something to say. We were in tune with each other, and that would be the secret to our relationship.

I couldn’t have been happier. I know every bride says it, but I mean it as much as any of them. I felt as if God had reached down to earth and touched me. I felt like Grant was an angel, sent for me alone, and that I’d be safe and happy in his arms for the rest of my life.