COOPER
Ten Months Later
BREATHE IN.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
I had to keep telling myself to breathe as I stood in my parents’ bathroom. This time would be different, I reassured myself. Kinsley was mine in every way. She was my other half, my best friend, my lover and soon, my wife. She was the first person I wanted to share news, good or bad, with and the only person I wanted to fall asleep next to and wake up tangled around.
A knock on the door pulled me from my thoughts. “Yeah?” I asked, staring at myself in the mirror, dressed in a black tux.
“Open the door, fucker. It’s time,” Ash said, banging on the door again. “You gotta get out there or Kins is gonna come out and see you.”
Nobody wanted that. Kinsley wasn’t a bridezilla, but she took the superstitions of a wedding very seriously. My bride would freak the fuck out if I saw her before she was walking down the aisle.
I took one last deep breath and closed my eyes. “Dad, I know you’re here, even if I can’t see you. I’ll always try to be the kind of husband and father you were. I just wanna say, I love you and hope you’re proud of me.”
My eyes opened as I reached out and wrapped my hand around the doorknob and opened the door. Taking a deep breath, I said, “Let’s do it.”
After a lot of hellos and thank-you-for-comings, I was positioned at the end of the aisle behind the barn after walking my mom to her place in the front. Kinsley insisted on a farm wedding in the same place Dad and Mom got married. She claimed it would be good luck.
I told her we didn’t need luck, we had each other. Plus, we had amazing parents as role models for marriage.
Standing up next to me, in black tuxedos with denim blue vests, were Storm and Ashton. The early fall weather favored us, a gentle breeze kept sweat from beading on my brow. The sun shone brightly in the sapphire blue skies, not a cloud in sight to darken our day. The backdrop to our altar was acres of trees decorated with turning leaves in varying hues of red, green, brown, and gold.
The slow music began to play and down the aisle first was Heather. Kinsley had convinced her to start riding about six months ago and they had been best friends ever since. Next came Anna in the same short, denim blue, strapless dress that stopped just above their tan cowgirl boots.
Everything got quiet and seventy-five of the family and friends we invited stood up from their white chairs and turned to face the closed barn doors. Waiting for those doors to open, my heart climbed my throat and my palms began to sweat. Over the speakers, the wedding march started to play, signaling Ryan and Ethan to slide back the barn doors.
When those red doors slid open, my whole world appeared before me and everything else faded away. My eyes only saw her.
Kinsley Elizabeth Allen.
Dressed in a gorgeous white gown with little beads that sparkled in the sun, she took my breath away. Her hair was done up in curls and sitting on top of her head was the tiara Storm had bought for her a few months ago. Her arm tucked under her father’s, he led my princess down the aisle to me. My whole world was wrapped up in her. When they stopped in front of me, Kins smiled tightly and her eyes glistened.
“Remember, I have clients who will gladly bury your body if you hurt her,” Philip leaned over and warned quietly as he stood between us while the preacher asked who gave her away. “Her mother and I.”
Taking her petite hands in mine, my heart felt like it was going to hammer right out of my chest. “You look absolutely beautiful, baby.”
“You look pretty handsome yourself,” she said, glowing like a candle on a dark night.
After a lot of talking and prayers, we got to the good stuff.
I hadn’t done much in the way of the wedding planning, but I did have a surprise for her.
“Foregoing traditions and as a surprise to Kinsley, Cooper has written the vows they will make to each other today,” the preacher announced. I reached inside my jacket and produced a white piece of paper, holding it out to Kinsley.
“Cooper,” she said, waving her hand in front of her face. She did that when she was going to cry and didn’t want to. I didn’t get it; it didn’t stop her from crying, but she did it anyway.
“I memorized them.” I cleared my throat and reached out to stop her flailing hand. “Kinsley, I vow to love you more with each passing day, be honest and sincere, to listen to you, and to be faithful to you and only you. I promise to take care of you no matter what. I will always put you, and hopefully one day our children, first. I promise you this from today until the day I take my last breath.” I slipped the simple platinum band on the fourth finger of her left hand.
“Cooper.” Her smile shined like never before. She glanced down at the paper in her hand. “I vow to love you more with each passing day, be honest and sincere, to listen to you, and to be faithful to you and only you.” Her eyes fell to the vows again as she continued. “I promise to take care of you no matter what. I’ll always put you and our children first. I promise you this from today until the day I take my last breath.” She held out the ring and helped me push the platinum band past my wide knuckle.
“Cooper, do you take Kinsley to be your wife?”
“I do.” I grinned, squeezing her hands.
“Kinsley-”
“I do,” she squealed, her smile beaming, not letting the preacher even ask. The crowd laughed at her enthusiasm.
“Then by the -”
Yeah, we didn’t wait then either. I wrapped my arms around Kinsley, pulled her to me, and kissed her for the first time as my wife, Mrs. Kinsley O’Loughlin.
The End
Read on for a sneak peek at Adoring Ashton