Chapter 15

15

Jake

Girls are made of magic, and I say this as a man who has absolutely no idea how they managed to pull off what they have in the short time that was given to them.

The end of the dock is lined with tiki torches, giving us the heat we need to be out here. There are string lights hung between the posts of the dock, and candles and lanterns every few feet, from one end to the other, paving the way to the makeshift altar. The “flower arrangements” are nothing more than cut off pieces of Lucy and Cam’s Christmas tree placed into glass jars, and there are eight chairs in total, four on one side, four on the other—just enough for our friends who are here. One chair will be empty, because Logan’s standing right next to me, ready to officiate.

Everything looks amazing, and I feel…

I feel great, I guess, except that I’m in a suit two sizes too small, and I’m freezing, and…

And I’ve been standing here for ten minutes, looking out at the end of the dock, waiting for my “bride-to-be.”

Every few seconds, one of my friends turns around, looking for her, too.

No one says a word, but I know what they’re thinking, because I’m thinking it, too. She’s changed her mind.

Maybe I went about it the wrong way. Maybe I didn’t hear what she was trying to tell me. Sure, I listened, but maybe I should’ve?—

One of the girls gasps, and I lift my eyes toward the end of the dock. I can make out an outline of a body, but that’s basically it. I stand taller, my nerves suddenly shot. But then another body appears, and then another, and behind me, Logan says, out loud, what I’m thinking. “What the fuck?”

The people approach, and once they’re close enough to make out their appearance, my shoulders drop again. “Mom?”

She waits until she’s right in front of me, her eyes scanning me from head to toe. “Kayla called and told us to come down here… directly to the dock. She said something good and big was happening.” She looks around, at the lights and the candles and the fake trees in makeshift vases, and then back at me. Then she runs a hand over my suit while my dad and sister, Julie, stop behind her. “What’s going on?” she asks, even though I can see in her eyes that she already knows the answer to her question.

I smile. It feels forced, though I know it shouldn’t be. This is, after all, exactly what I wanted. “I’m getting married, Ma.”

The pain in her eyes has me looking away. “Oh.”

“I know,” I mumble. “I’m sorry.” It’s not as if my mom is one of those types who needs to be involved in every aspect of my life, but… I’m her only son, and this is my only wedding. She helped me pick out the engagement ring and cried when I bought it, because she knew how much Kayla would love it.

I don’t know.

I guess giving her a little heads-up would’ve been nice.

“This is what you want?” she asks, and I force myself to look at her.

She’s on the verge of tears, and I can’t decipher the reasoning.

I push past the pain in my chest and take her hand in mine, squeezing once. “Yes, I want to marry her.” It’s all I’ve wanted for so long.

“Then that’s all that matters,” Dad says, speaking for the first time since they got here. “We want what you want, and we’re happy for you, son.”

He offers me his hand, and I shake it. “Thanks, Dad.” Then I hug my mom, followed by my sister.

My friends have already moved seats, leaving the front row for my family while the guys stand at the back. As soon as my family is seated, music plays through speakers somewhere around us, and I look up just in time to see Kayla step onto the dock. She’s in the same clothes she was in before, but now she’s covered in sheer white fabric, and she’s holding a bouquet of plastic branches. The veil covers her face, so I can’t see her clearly, but I already know she’s beautiful.

She always is.

I suck in a breath, my shoulders rising with the action, and wait the few seconds it takes for her to get to me.

“Hi,” I say.

“Hi,” she responds.

I lift the veil, revealing her eyes—eyes that turn amber beneath the flames of the tiki torch.

“You look beautiful.”

Her laugh is soft. Her smile softer. Then she looks over at my family. “Sorry to wake you,” she tells them. “And thank you for coming.”

“Of course, sweetheart,” Mom says, her voice shaking with emotion as she wipes the tears off her cheeks. “Thank you for inviting us.”

Logan clears his throat, then asks, “Are we ready?”

“Yeah.” I reach for Kayla’s hands, but they’re too busy holding the branches. Mom’s quick to take them from her, then retake her seat.

“Short and sweet, right?” Logan whispers, confirming my earlier request.

“Short and sweet,” I tell him.

“Okay. You got the rings?”

My eyes snap to his. “The rings .” I stupidly pat my pockets, as if two rings will somehow appear out of thin air.

“I got you,” Dad says, struggling to remove his wedding ring, then doing the same with my mom’s. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them without their rings the entire time I’ve been alive. Not once. He gets up to give Kayla his and gives Mom’s to me and then quickly sits back down. “Go ahead.”

I look at the ring between my fingers, at the inscription inside with their initials and wedding date. There are pictures of their wedding around the house, of them cutting the cake and sharing their first dance. You could see it in their eyes, how deep their love ran, how excited they were to declare the rest of their lives as one.

“Jake,” Kayla whispers, and I lift my gaze to her tear-soaked eyes.

I knew it. Even before my family showed up… even before she appeared, I knew something was wrong. “It’s okay,” I murmur.

She tries hard, so hard, to contain her sob, but the moment it’s out, she falls into me. I hold her close, repeat, “It’s okay.” I place my mouth to her ear, whisper the words, “We don’t have to do this. I didn’t mean to pressure you?—”

“No.” She pulls away, neck craned to look up at me. “That’s not it.”

“Then what is it?”

“Just keep holding me a minute,” she asks, and so I do. I’d hold her for a minute. A lifetime. It doesn’t matter. And I’ll wait for her. We all will. Because we know when she’s ready, she’ll give us everything she has, everything she is. Every perfect piece of her. Eventually, she pulls back slightly, kissing me once before saying, loud enough for everyone to hear, “As soon as the courthouse opens and we can legally marry, we’ll do it. I want nothing more in this world than to be your wife and for you to be my husband, and I don’t want you to have to go another day questioning that. Heck, you may as well start calling me your wife, because there’s no stopping it now.”

I laugh once, relief pouring through me in waves. “That sounds like a solid plan.” And then I kiss her, the way I’ve wanted to since I saw her walking toward me. “Wait,” I say, backing up slightly. “Does that mean we’re not doing this?”

Kayla presses her lips tight, sucking in air through her nose, as she turns to the people closest to us. “Thank you guys so much,” she says, motioning to our surroundings. “Thank you for putting all of this together on such short notice.” She focuses on my family. “Thank you for coming when I called, and not asking questions… It’s just…” Kayla looks up at me, tears welling in her eyes.

I nod, offer an encouraging smile. I understand why it took her years to open up to me, just like I understand why it was so hard to do so. More than anything, though, I held on to the faith that when she was ready, she would. And I know… I feel it in my gut… she’s ready now.

She faces the world head on, her shoulders back, chin raised. “You know, I was dreading coming here tonight. Not to see you all, but coming here , to the cabin. The thing is, I’ve been thinking about my family a lot lately. More about their deaths than their lives… and this place… it’s the last time I was truly happy while they were still alive. I left here that night thinking I had the world at my feet, and then… it was all ripped away from me, but now? Now, I think it’s time to replace those memories with new ones. With good ones.” Kayla chokes on a sob but finds the strength to continue. “I… I said no to Jake in the past, because I couldn’t imagine a wedding without my family, but as I stand here, I realize that I have a family… in all of you. So… if it’s okay with your family, Luce, I’d really like to come back here, on the anniversary of their deaths, and have a proper wedding. A celebration .”

“Of course!” Lucy cries, wiping her tears.

Kayla takes my mom’s ring from me and approaches my parents. “And, Nathan,” she says to my dad, handing him back his ring. “I’d really love it if the man who’s been my father-figure for over a decade would consider walking me down the aisle?”

“Aw, honey.” I’ve never seen my dad cry. I see it now. “I would be honored.”

Kayla hugs him tight, and I picture a much younger version of her doing the same with her father, looking up at the strongest, bravest man in her world. Then she turns to my mom, giving her ring back, and then my sister. “Would you mind helping me plan and maybe taking me dress shopping?”

My mom and sister are too emotional to speak, so they just hug her, the way my dad did.

Tears blur my vision, and I look around at our friends, at all the girls crying and the guys comforting them. Behind me, Logan sniffs, and I turn to him just as he wipes at his eyes. “It’s the wind. Shut up.”

I chuckle under my breath, wiping at my own eyes, then taunt him with a whispered, “You’re such a little bitch.”

He glares at me, then whispers back, “So is your mom .”

“I heard that, Logan,” Mom sings.

Logan drops his head between his shoulders. “Sorry, ma’am.”

“Little bitch,” I tease.

“Knock it off, Jacob,” Dad orders, and I cower under his words, then giggle like an idiot with my best friend.

Logan steps around me and says, in true Logan fashion, “Listen, this is cool and all, happy for your future wedding, blah blah blah, but I made a cake from scratch!”

“Jesus, Logan!” Amanda admonishes at the same time Cam and Dylan say in unison, “So did we!”

Then Amanda yells at Logan, “You weren’t even on cake duty!”

Kayla laughs at their antics. “We can still have your cakes!”

Logan stomps his foot. “Not if there isn’t a damn wedding!”

“Wait!” Roman yells, and all eyes go to him.