It had been a long, wonderful day. The best day.
We’d had to be on the beach in time to start the ceremony at six o’clock sharp so that we could be pronounced husband and wife at exactly 6:13 a.m., just as the sun rose. That had been my crazy idea, but even three years later, the memory of Chase sharing the sunrise with me was still one of my favorites. Our family and friends may not have liked getting up that early, but Chase had loved the idea. And I loved him.
I’d made him wait long enough to accept his marriage proposal, and then even longer to finally set a date. When he told me his mother was wondering what we were waiting for, I was shocked. Finally, his family had accepted me. When I told him I wanted to get married at sunrise on the beach in Cape May, he insisted on August 15. We only had two weeks to plan, but we pulled it off.
And although we’d been living together for three years, after everyone headed home after the breakfast reception, we spent almost the entire day in our suite at the Grand, behaving exactly as newlyweds should.
I was exhausted—happy, but exhausted. We had an early dinner, and by the time we got back to our room, we could barely keep our eyes open.
So why was Chase waking me when it was still dark outside?
I growled and pulled the covers over my head.
“C’mon, babe. Wake up. It’s still our wedding day, and there’s one more thing we need to do.”
I forced an eye open. “Are you kidding me? We did that. A lot.”
Tugging at the covers, he laughed. “Not that. Something else. You need to get up and put your dress on.”
The bastard flicked the light on next to my head. The clock read 11:25.
“I’m tired. Can’t we do it in the morning?”
“No. It has to be tonight.”
I rolled onto my back and squinted up at him. He was already dressed and holding up my wedding gown.
“It’s a good thing you’re cute.”
“Cute? That’s all? Earlier you said I was handsome and sexy.” He pulled the covers off the rest of the way and lay my dress across the bed. “Now all I am is cute?”
“When I’ve been up since four in the morning, there are plenty of other names I’d like to call you, and none of them are ‘cute.’”
He chuckled. “Now, now.”
Grudgingly, I pushed myself up, wriggled to the edge of the bed, and held my arms up over my head. If he wanted me to get dressed, then he was going to have to get me there himself.
After dropping the dress over my head, he tugged me to my feet, spun me gently, and raised the zipper on the strapless gown.
I yawned loudly. “Where are we going?” If he expected me to put on makeup at this hour, he was going to be woefully disappointed.
“Not far.”
I located my strappy silver sandals in the corner of the room.
“Nope. Flip-flops are fine.”
Too tired to argue, I slipped my feet into the white rubber thongs I’d worn to the beach earlier.
We stepped off the elevator a few minutes later into a near-empty lobby. “I should just make you carry me. Then I could go back to sleep.”
“If you insist.” He scooped me up as if I weighed nothing and set out across the lobby toward the front doors.
“The parking lot is that way,” I said, pointing to the right, but he kept on walking.
We crossed Beach Avenue heading toward the ocean. The farther we got from the hotel, the darker it became. There was no moon, and the stars above us seemed endless. When we were as close to the surf as we could get, Chase set me down. He pulled a large beach towel from the tote he’d slung over his shoulder before we left, spread it out on the sand, and pulled his iPhone from the pocket of his chinos.
Moments later, the piano intro to “My Future Days” by Pearl Jam, his favorite band, filled the space around us.
Goosebumps sprang up along my arms. It could’ve been from the breeze blowing off the ocean, but I’d bet anything it was the romantic mood my new husband was creating in front of me. “What are you doing?”
“Shh.” He held out his arms, and I stepped into them. “I loved everything about today except one thing—we didn’t have a first dance. I didn’t want us to miss that.”
The air was cool against my skin, but inside, I was soft and warm and gooey as a toasted marshmallow. I circled my arms around his neck, and he pressed a palm against my lower back. I’d never felt happier or more content.
There on the beach of Cape May where we’d been married eighteen hours earlier, we danced in the dark—me in my wedding gown and Chase in his white shirt and chinos, serenaded by Eddie Vedder.
Life was perfect.
The song ended but we still moved together to the rhythm of the pounding surf, invisible to all but the stars winking at us overhead.
I lifted my head, wanting to tell Chase for at least the twentieth time that day how much I loved him, when a star shot across the sky.
“Oh my god! Did you see that?”
His low chuckle told me that in fact, he had.
Moments later, I saw another.
He led me to the towel he’d set out earlier and pulled me down beside him. When he lay down, I did the same, resting my head against his shoulder just as another star tracked across the heavens.
“When you said you wanted to be married here, I remembered an article I’d read about how bright the Perseids meteor shower would be this year because of the new moon,” he said. “I couldn’t control the weather, but at least I could set the stage. I wanted you to feel close to your father today, even though he wasn’t here to give you away.”
The sky above turned watery, and I blinked back the burn of the tears filling my eyes. I rolled over so I could see his face.
“My dad didn’t have to give me away, Chase. You already have my heart. I gave my whole self to you long ago. Today just made it official.” I pressed my hand into his. “But thank you. You have no idea what this means to me.”
Another flash of light streaked across the sky.
My father had taught me all about the Perseids when I was a little girl. They got their name because they look like they’re flying out of the constellation Perseus, an ancient hero from Greek mythology. I knew we weren’t really seeing stars but bits of comet dust disintegrating in the earth’s atmosphere. I may not have been the best student, especially after Dad died, but I’ve never forgotten lying in the back yard with him, studying the constellations. And tonight, thanks to the wonderful man lying beside me, I felt closer to him than I had since he’d left us.
My eyes followed a speck of comet dust across the sky. I’d never seen so many shooting stars at one time. And that just confirmed it: I believed with all my heart that my father would have approved of my husband.
“I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but you’ve made this day even more special.” I waved my arm in a wide arc. “You’ve given me everything, from the sunrise to the all the stars in the heavens.”
He propped himself up on one elbow, his face hovering over mine. His hand skirted across my hips until he found my hand on the other side.
“Thank you for becoming my wife.” Soft, warm lips touched my forehead. “Just promise to love me forever, because that’s what I plan to do, Rain. Love you until the end of time.”
He kissed me before I could answer, but silently, I promised. I couldn’t imagine there would ever be a time that we would give each other anything less than forever.