Chapter Seventeen
Once we were in the car, Joe drove us to the secret location. No one but Garrick and Joe knew where we were going. Even the security team had only found out minutes before we left. After the incident in the bistro, Garrick wasn’t taking any chances.
Kurt was up front, leaving us ladies in the back.
“Can you believe Thanksgiving is next week? I feel so far behind on all things Christmas.” Normally Sawyer had the apartment completely decorated for Christmas by the first week of November. With everything that had happened, she’d fallen behind.
Kurt grunted from the front seat. “Give Tom the turkey his proper day. Thanksgiving is first.”
For a second, no one said anything. Then, in a sweet voice, Sawyer said, “You’re right. Tom the turkey definitely deserves his day.”
Uh-oh.
T-R-O-U-B-L-E.
I changed the subject. “How far away, Joe?”
“Not far. Maybe five minutes.”
It was still dark outside. And soon, I was getting married at sunrise. I loved sunrises. They were the beginning of a new day…a new start…and in this case, a new life.
“I wonder where he’s taking you on your honeymoon,” Sawyer said.
“I have no idea.” Honeymoon. Images of Paris and Dylan’s death flashed through my mind, and for a moment, I was filled with panic. A honeymoon. Things had gone bad on the last honeymoon I’d been on. Very bad. I was thankful the car was still fairly dark while I worked to compose myself, taking deeper than normal slow breaths.
This is not Paris.
I chanted that mantra repeatedly in my head.
Finally, before anyone noticed, we arrived at the gated driveway of a huge house. There were a few cars parked off to the side of the cobblestone driveway. Interior lights illuminated the house from within. This was the house Garrick never used—except for company functions; I recognized it from the pictures I’d seen. With all that we were dealing with, I hadn’t been out here yet. Garrick considered this a show house and not a home, so it had not been a priority to see it.
Joe caught my eye in the rearview mirror. “I’m going to take Knoah to meet Garrick. For privacy’s sake, Garrick asks you to stay inside the home until someone escorts you to your seats.”
This was it. At least I’d be with Garrick. If he’d planned a honeymoon, I’d ask him to cancel it. Everything would be fine. The car door opened. I was filled with excitement, but it was laced with fear.
I plastered on a fake smile as everyone got out of the car. “We love you, Knoah.”
“Love you guys, too. I’ll see you shortly. I’ll be the one walking down the aisle.”
They laughed. Good. No one suspected anything.
It was time for me to get out. Garrick is close. This will all be fine. Kurt waited for me with Joe. “I’m happy for you. And Dylan would be, too.”
The mention of Dylan’s name sent me further into panic. “I know he would be. Thank you.”
“You okay?”
Get it together. Give him a version of the truth. “I will be. It’s a lot of memories to process.”
He kissed the top of my head. “You’ve got this. Your future husband is waiting for you.”
Kurt walked away toward the house. Joe looked at me. “Are you ready?”
“Yes.” More than anything.
My heels clicked against the stone path on the side of the house that led to a private beach. The property took my breath away. Pictures had not done it justice. Luminaries lit the way, giving it a fairy-tale feel. We veered left, away from the main house toward the guest quarters. At the end of the path, Garrick stood in the middle of more luminaries, holding a single white rose.
Untouched perfection.
I needed him now. With him, everything was okay. I kicked off my shoes, and my feet took me as fast as they could until I nearly slammed into his chest. I clutched him like my life depended on it. “Hey, what’s wrong? Knoah? What happened?”
Looking into his eyes, I shook my head. “I don’t want a honeymoon. After this, I just want to go back and not make a big deal about it. Maybe later. I—” I cut myself off as I worked to hold back a sob.
Garrick cradled my face. “Marrying you is the biggest deal of my life. History is not going to repeat itself. I promise.”
He understood my fears. “But how do you know? How can you be sure?”
“Because we’re going somewhere remote. I’m going to take you somewhere unknown.”
Somewhere unknown. It was a bucket-list item of his.
I took a settling breath. It wouldn’t be somewhere with other people. “Do you think I would ever take the chance to put you through the same ordeal?”
“No, I don’t. Sawyer mentioned a honeymoon, and the panic took me by surprise.”
“Are you okay now?” His voice was low, measured, and steady.
“Yes, now that I have you.”
He gazed at me for a second. “You take my breath away, Knoah.” His thumb traced over my bottom lip. “And soon you’re going to be Mrs. Shaw.”
“I like the sound of that.” Slowly I relaxed.
Bending, Garrick picked up the rose he’d dropped when I rushed into his arms. “This is for you.” I took the rose and touched the silky petal. “When I first saw you outside Cameron’s office, you reminded me of a white rose and all that it symbolizes to me.”
I whispered, “Untouched perfection.”
“Yes. But it means more to me than that. The white rose is also flawless. It’s like our love—a flawless perfection. We were made for each other. I’ve been waiting for you my entire life.”
This was right. With that realization, the fear melted away completely. “I thought love would never find me again after Dylan, but I was wrong. A love more pure than I’d ever imagined happened when I met you.” I took his hand and placed it over my heart. “This started beating again because of you. I will spend the rest of my life loving you with my entire being.”
Garrick leaned down and gave me the sweetest of kisses. “Are you ready to be my wife?”
“Absolutely.”
Taking my hand, he led me down another path to the beach behind the house. The waves crested and crashed on the shore. The sun peeked out above the horizon. It was beautiful perfection like the white rose. I put my feet in the sand and squished it between my toes. “Do you want your shoes?”
“No, this is good. Just how I imagined it. You’re making all my bucket-list items come true.”
Simple wedding on the beach.
“I will make it my life’s mission to check off every item on your bucket list. I saw you had added some new items.”
I smiled and hugged myself to him. “I had. I love you, Garrick.”
“And I you. More than my own life.”
Swallowing hard, I treasured this moment forever.
“Are you ready to be my wife?”
“Yes. More than anything.”
Hand in hand, we walked closer to the water. The sand moved between my toes. It was still cool from the night.
Close to the shore, a platform was set up with an arch of white roses. For our wedding, he’d surrounded us with perfection.
I stopped. “I want just a second to take it all in and memorize it.”
Our families sat in white chairs trimmed with large white bows. They looked our way as we came to the end of the path.
“Knoah, you look like a princess,” Savannah, Garrick’s niece, called out from her seat.
The other children called out to me, and I smiled. “Thank you.”
Garrick kissed me on the cheek. “They’re ready for you to officially be their aunt. I think I’ve heard it a hundred times. I’ll be waiting for you.”
With his hand in his pocket, Garrick walked down the aisle to the platform where the preacher stood. When he turned around, the sight nearly took my breath away. This was my future husband.
Husband.
Now I wanted to sprint down the aisle. Dad took my elbow. “You ready, sweetie?”
“More than ever.”
Ricardo took my other elbow. “You’re beautiful. I never dreamed I would get to see you marry. This is one of the most amazing days of my life.”
I smiled at the tender side of Ricardo. “Mine, too. I’m glad you’re both here.”
In response, I got a squeeze from each man. The crashing of the waves was our music as we walked toward Garrick. My future nieces and nephews crowded at the end of the rows as I smiled to them and waved. Their exuberance made me smile bigger. I had fallen in love with his family…completely and utterly.
Derrick, Savannah’s brother, escaped the confines of the aisle and ran up to hug me. “Are you my aunt yet?”
His mother, Kourtney, looked mortified. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine.” I knelt to be on his level. “Not yet. I have to go up there with your Uncle Garrick first.”
“Go! Hurry!” There was more laughter as he ran back to his mom.
At the end of the aisle, the pastor stepped forward. “Who gives this woman away?”
In unison, my fathers said, “We do.”
As my fathers kissed my cheeks and I took Garrick’s hand, my life became complete.