Daniel and I took a few months to plan for the wedding. I didn't want anything too elaborate, but we talked about it and decided to take our time with the arrangements. The media would have had a field day with a spur of the moment wedding. It wasn't that I cared what other people thought necessarily, but I loved Daniel so much that I wanted to be taken seriously about it. I went back and forth on that quite a bit, but I ultimately chose to be a little patient.
We decided to have the ceremony in California. The weather was predictably good, and we both liked the idea doing it outside on the beach. I had several picturesque places in mind, and Daniel easily agreed since he knew his family would fly out to join us for the occasion.
I wasn't sad about moving away from Los Angeles, but I did have a lot of friends there and was happy about them being able to come to the wedding since it would sort of double as my going away party. I hadn't officially made a statement about my career, but those closest to me knew that I would, at least, be taking a long hiatus from touring. I had been at it for so long that I was more than ready for the change and thankful to Daniel for being there at just the right moment to make the adjustment seem natural.
In the weeks following my trip to Memphis, Daniel and I did some traveling. Everything we did was impromptu. I would say something like, "I've always wanted to see Stonehenge." And he would reply with, "Let's go."
We went to England, Brazil, and Alaska, and all three of the trips were completely unplanned. I got to meet his brother, Wes, when we went to England. I had seen him before using Skype, but he was the only Bishop that I hadn't had the chance to meet in person, so that made our trip to England especially nice.
Daniel and I loved each other and it showed. He could often be seen with his arm around my shoulders while I snuggled into his protective embrace. We had been photographed quite a bit in positions like that during our travels. A few publications ran articles on how I fell in love with my bodyguard and a couple of others found out who Daniel was and speculated that I was dating motorcycle royalty.
It was for this reason that my publicist recommended that I give the tell-all story to one publication so that we could avoid any more rumors or confusion.
People Magazine did a story on us, taking photos of Daniel training martial arts at work and some with his family at Bishop Motorcycles. Elvis the bird even got his picture taken for the spread.
I bought a house with a bunch of property on the outskirts of Memphis, and they took pictures of Daniel and me out there. It was a really good, honest article that included some of the details about how we met and the fact that we had plans to get married in the near future.
I went to California two weeks before Daniel, so I got to see the article before he did. I texted him pictures of it with a note that said, "This only makes me miss you more," which was the absolute truth.
I didn't love being away from him, but the old adage about absence making the heart grow fonder seemed to be true, and it felt like I loved him now more than ever.
Daniel thought about coming with me, but he had already taken off a lot of work so that we could travel and he knew we had another trip coming up with the honeymoon. I had been busy in California, anyway. I had a lot of things to get in order for the wedding and my move, and the days passed quickly.
Trevor had taken a position with a country star named Brie Ellerbe, so Daniel paired me up with another guy named Sam for the two weeks that I would be alone in L.A. All the guys at Alpha were dependably professional, so it was no surprise that Sam did a great job.
Great job or not, he wasn't Daniel.
I absolutely could not wait to see my man and counted the minutes until it happened.
Daniel, along with roughly twenty members of his family and a couple of his friends, flew to California for the big event. My mom and step-dad would be there along with about fifty of my friends. I initially wanted it to be even more intimate than that, but with all the industry connections I had made over the years, I already felt like I was leaving a lot of people out.
Daniel and the crew from Memphis flew in the day before the wedding. We saw each other, but we intentionally made it brief. Daniel and his immediate family were staying in my friend's beautiful beachfront home in Malibu, which was also the location of the wedding. His back yard was the ocean, and he had access to a small, private lagoon that looked like something out of a movie. It actually had been used in movies.
Anyway, William was nice enough to host our wedding, and he even offered a few of his bedrooms to the groom and his family the night before. A few stayed at my house, but everyone else stayed in a nearby hotel.
I hired Nina and Jake to do my styling for the event. Shelby had stayed at my house, so she was there while I was getting dressed, and they all had a great time talking shop and scheming about how to make me look my best.
I showed Jake and Nina photos from the time Shelby made me look like Aunt Edna, and they both got the biggest kick out of that. They promised to introduce Shelby to some of their industry contacts at the wedding, and I was pleased that they liked each other and got along so well.
I was so nervous that the hours leading up to the wedding felt like one big dream. The ceremony itself felt like a dream as well.
There were roughly seventy people in attendance, but there may as well have been none because I only had eyes for Daniel. I don't even remember walking toward him on the beach. I knew I had crossed space to get to him, but I honestly don't remember doing it. One second, I was hidden away with Denise while she whispered affirmations in my ear, and the next, I was standing right next to Daniel, holding his hands and staring into his endless eyes.
He smiled warmly at me. "You're so beautiful," he said.
"How did I get here?" I whispered.
"Same way I did, I guess."
His granddad was officiating the ceremony, and he just stood there watching us look at each other. So did everyone else, I assumed. I really didn't notice what anyone else was doing—I only noticed Daniel. He was dressed nicely in navy slacks with a matching vest and tie. It was just formal enough for a beach wedding, and I stared at him, thinking he was the most striking man I had ever seen.
"I'm marrying you," I whispered, still gripping his hands.
His grin widened. "It's a good thing," he said. "Because that's what all these people are expecting you to do."
"I'm glad we're doing this," I said.
"Me too."
"I love you," I said.
"I love you too."
The wind was blowing, and Daniel let go of my hand just long enough to reach up and tuck a piece of hair behind my ear.
"Thank you," I said.
"You're the most beautiful thing ever."
I smiled shyly at him and bit my lip. "You are too," I said. "Handsome, I mean. I missed you so much."
"I had plans to start talking right when she walked up here," Jacob said, speaking loudly so that the whole group could hear him over the sounds of the wind and crashing waves. "But they're just so sweet that I had to stand here and listen to them talk to each other. I feel like they're already saying their vows."
We turned to Jacob and he smiled genuinely at us before making eye contact with the rest of the group. He took a second to gather his thoughts.
"I've watched my grandson go through a lot in his young life," he said.
He spoke slowly and proudly, like he was saying the words as they came to his mind and he was choosing them carefully.
"There's a verse in the Bible that says suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope."
He paused and glanced at Daniel sweetly.
"Over the years, I've watched that promise come to life in my grandson. I watched him grow, change, and develop character—unshakable character. Now, as I stand here and look at these two, I see hope. I see a future. I see true and determined love, and I couldn’t be prouder of them or the decision they've made to become one today. It's a great honor to see God's promise revealed so clearly in the life of my grandson and to get to be a part of this beautiful and significant step in his life."
Daniel and I both had our backs to the crowd, and I was glad for that, because my eyes were filled with tears. Jacob stopped talking and smiled at me with tears in his own eyes. And then, in a very unorthodox move, he reached forward and wrapped his arms around me.
"We love you, Courtney," he said into my ear. "We're so thankful God brought you into Daniel's life."
"Uh-huh," I whimpered, nodding as I hugged him back. "Me too."
He let go of me and spoke for another five minutes about love, commitment, family, and gratefulness.
Daniel kept his arm around me the whole time and I rested my face on his chest since we were so very comfortable that way.
Before I knew it, he was given permission to kiss me, and I turned and looked at him. He gave me a mischievous grin, which implied that this kiss was only the beginning. This caused a whole flood of emotions and anticipation to rise inside of me. He put his lips right next to mine but didn't let them touch. I held him by the arms, squeezing him.
"This is it," I whispered.
"Yep."
"I love yo—"
I started to say the phrase, but Daniel let his lips touch mine before I could get it out. I took a shaky breath as we kissed, realizing once again how very much I loved the soft feel of his perfect lips. He let them linger on mine for a few brief seconds before he pulled back and gave me an easy smile.
"I love you too," he said.
The End
(till book 5)