I see Mom standing in the lobby, and I wave.

“Hey!”

“Oh,” she says. “Hi, Celia.”

“Sorry I’m late,” I say.

“I wasn’t waiting long. Where’s Hunt?”

“Let’s just get a table,” I say.

We sit down, and a few minutes later I see Hunter looking around for us.

I stand up and wave to him.

He comes over to where we are, kisses me and sits down to join us.

“Hey, Nadine, how’s Sencorp doing?”

“It’s doing great,” she says, “but I’m sure you already know that. Elise must be keeping you up to date.”

He shrugs. “Sure, but it’s polite to ask. I saw the feature about you in The Economist, they made you sound pretty badass.”

She laughs.

“Mom is badass,” Elise says.

“Don’t kiss my ass, Elise,” Nadine says, glaring.

“See?” Elise says, pointing at her. “Badass.”

Nadine rolls her eyes. “I presume you both have something to tell me?”

Elise smiles. “What makes you say that?”

“I can just tell.”

“Yeah,” Hunter says. “We’ve got something to tell you.”

“I’ve known, you know?”

Hunter raises an eyebrow at me.

“Known what?” Elise asks.

“I know you two are getting married,” Nadine says. “Hunt asked you two years ago.”

I bite my lip. “How...how did you--?”

“I saw the indentation on your finger, Celia. You took the ring off when visiting me. Can I at least see the ring now?”

I laugh. “You are such a bitch, Mom! If you knew all that time, why not just tell me. You know how much effort it was to keep it a secret? For two years, and you knew anyway?”

Mom smiles. “Why would I tell you if you weren’t going to tell me? Didn’t you two learn your lessons about keeping secrets?”

Hunter shrugs. “Elise didn’t want you to know. She was afraid you’d be dismissive, or--”

“Like either of you would let my feelings stop you. I’m surprised you let the engagement drag on so long, to be honest.”

Hunter stiffens, and I grab his arm. “Hunter said I had to finish school first. But I think he was also afraid of pissing you off.”

He holds his hands up. “The formula gets more and more favorable as the years go on.”

“The formula?” Mom asks.

I laugh. “When we first met, we talked about the formula for finding out if someone is too old for you. I told him it’s bullshit.”

“By the time we get married,” Hunter says, “I’ll be just barely too old for you.”

“You were never too old for me, Hunter,” I say, smiling.

“Celia was just too young for you,” Mom says, crossing her arms.

“Mom,” I say. “Come on.”

“No,” she says. “I’m good. I accept it. I’m happy for both of you, and I’m really glad you didn’t rush into marriage. When is the wedding?”

“A month after graduation,” I say, beaming. “It’s going to be so exciting, we’re going to do it out by Montauk, on the shore! I don’t want it to be too big, but I want to make sure all my friends and family are there, so--”

“I’m sure it will be great,” Mom says. “I’ll see if I can get time off work.”

I nearly jump out of my chair. “You are fucking kidding me! You abandoned me as a child for work, and now you might miss my wedding!”

She laughs. “I’m kidding, Celia, sit down. Of course I’ll get off work. And please stop saying I abandoned you.”

I sit down, my cheeks flushed. “Don’t joke like that,” I say, letting out a big lungful of air. “It’s not funny at all.”

I look up to see Hunter smirking. I jab a finger at him. “Don’t laugh at her tasteless jokes!”

“Sorry,” he says, forcing a neutral expression.

* * *

The wedding is in the spring. Right on the shore. There’s a big white runner extending from the boardwalk out into the sand, so that I won’t get sand on my beautiful dress.  

The Montauk Point Light is visible in the distance, a big white lighthouse with a red stripe, it’s on a rocky cliff overlooking the beach.

I walk down the aisle on my dad’s arm. He’s been totally amazing, even forcing himself to get along with Mom for my sake. He was never completely sold on the idea of me being with Hunter, but after meeting him a few times, he warmed right up to him. Who wouldn’t?

The white runner leads to a white awning held up by wooden posts. The minister is standing there, his Bible in hand. He smiles as I slowly approach. Hunter turns to face me. He looks incredible in his sharp black tux. I see him in a suit regularly, but he looks even more dashing and handsome in a full tuxedo. His jaw nearly drops when he sees me. I know I look good in my wedding dress, but I didn’t think I was quite worthy of a jaw drop. It’s not like he’s never seen me before.

But inside, I feel so fucking amazing. Of course I want to look good at my wedding, and I want Hunter above all to think I look good.

But now, it isn’t Hunter who’s looking at me--all eyes are on me. All my friends and family are seated in white chairs set out in the sand. I even see Stav and Hu dressed up in suits. I try to smile back at a few of them, but I feel too excited and totally nervous to keep my eyes off the path I’m walking down. My shoes and the dress are unwieldy enough, and walking on sand greatly increases my risk of tripping. I will not trip and fall face first on my wedding day.

I watch the ocean as I walk the last few steps toward Hunter. The waves are peaking and foaming white, and I can smell the salt as the wind carries the clean scent of the ocean toward me.

I stop in front of the minister. Beside Hunter.

He smiles at me. “You look incredible. I can hardly breathe looking at you.”

I feel my face burning red, and I look up at him through my lashes, heavy with makeup. “You look great too.”

We stand and wait for the music to end.

The minister goes through his spiel, and I say my vows. They are fairly standard, but I really mean every word.

Hunter’s vows are up next.

The minister steps back, and Hunter steps forward. “I’ve asked to speak the vows I wrote myself, not to just agree to them after they are read out for me.”

Everyone smiles up at him, and I feel a nervous thrill in my chest.

“Is that okay, Elise?”

I nod.

“Okay,” he says.

He takes my hand and kneels down on one knee. He looks right up into my eyes.

“I vow to always protect you, Elise, above all else you will be safe and secure with me. I’ll never let you go, and I’ll never let anyone hurt you…”

I feel a tear sting my eye, and I bite my lip to try to hold it back. I don’t want my makeup to run, but the tears come anyway.

“And I vow to support you in anything you do. To help you succeed. I know I’m older than you...and I’m further along in my, uh, career, than most guys my age.” He looks out toward the crowd. “I retired when I was thirty-two, in case you didn’t know.”

Everyone laughs.

He looks back to me. “You have a lot ahead of you, and I vow to be there with you. I vow to push you forward and keep you standing even when it’s difficult, even when you think there’s no way to go on. If you fall, I vow to be there to catch you. And finally, I vow to love you...with everything I have to give, I will always love you, in sickness and in health.”

He stands up, then looks out to the audience. “And now the good minister is going to ask all of you if anyone objects to Elise and me being married. If anyone objects, just ask the guys who kidnapped Elise a few years ago what happens when you stand between us, and strongly reconsider your objections…”

There is a nervous silence. Dead silence.

“It was a joke,” Hunter says, grinning.

Everyone laughs nervously.

Hunter shrugs, and smiles at me.

I wipe the tears from my face.

The minister clears his throat. “Does...anyone object?”

Now everyone laughs for real.

“Good,” he says. “Then Celia Elise Haze, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do,” I say.

“And Hunter Wyatt Thorn, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

“I do.”

“Then I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride.”

Hunter grabs me with a fierce intensity, and he pulls me tight against him. His lips crush into mine, and his tongue slides into my mouth.

I try to match him, squeezing him hard through his jacket and pressing my tongue back against his. He dips me down so far that I’m worried I’ll fall to the ground and into the sand, but he holds me tight and kisses me for all I’m worth.

I hear loud applause, and my heart surges with happiness.

He finally brings me back straight up and pulls away. He smiles at me and says, “You’re my wife now.”

I’ve waited so long to hear those words that it hardly even feels real. I pinch my finger as hard as I can, but I don’t wake up. It really is real.