Bonus Epilogue

Bonus Epilogue

Jake

The last few months had been perfect. There wasn’t another word for it. We’d hired two new mechanics at the garage. It allowed Ryan to focus on the business and marketing side, and me to start my own antique repair and restoration side business. I was getting a reputation for doing good work, keeping the integrity of the classic vehicles while meeting the needs of my clients.

The newspaper article about me restoring Lily’s vehicles brought in the most business. I still had people mentioning they came in because they’d seen the article online. Both of our businesses were expanding, and we’d needed to pivot several times, hiring more help, replacing older equipment and tools, and planning for the increased customers.

It was satisfying, if not a little overwhelming at times. But at the end of the day, I always came home to Lily. She was always waiting for me. She was my home. Not this farm, or the porch, or the cars—it was her.

We’d barely had a chance to discuss our wedding, not with it being full wedding season all summer, but ideas had been swirling around in my head. I wanted to marry Lily, but I didn’t want to add to her stress.

I’d approached Gia with my idea, and she was all in. She told me not to worry about anything. She knew exactly what Lily wanted for her wedding; she’d mentioned it several times while planning weddings for other brides on her farm.

She wanted to get married on the back porch, the one her grandfather had built for her grandmother. She wanted to stand on the porch with the preacher while her guests sat on the lawn. She said she always felt her grandparents’ love on that porch.

The girls had even arranged for wedding dress shopping. Hailey had claimed it was for her, but she insisted the other girls try on dresses, too. Lily had fallen in love with the first one she’d tried on. It was lace. That’s all Hailey would tell me, but she told the bridal assistant to set it aside for me, and I purchased it for Lily, sight unseen.

I hoped she wouldn’t be upset that I planned our wedding without her. I tried to get as much information about her wishes as I could from the other women in Happily Ever Afters. It was as close as we could get to the date she’d said she wanted.

She planned so many other brides’ weddings, I hoped she wouldn’t be disappointed that I’d planned ours. I wanted to make it the perfect, stress-free day. She wouldn’t have to worry about anything.

She thought another couple was getting married on the back porch today. She’d mentioned several times while arranging the flowers that it was exactly what she wanted for her day. That helped ease my anxiety, but it didn’t take it away completely.

What if I stepped over the line in planning it myself? What if she secretly wanted a destination wedding?

There was no turning back now. The dress was bought. The preacher scheduled. The guests were invited and sworn to secrecy. The cake had been baked and decorated. The only thing we needed was the bride.

“How are we going to do this?” Gia asked me while we were preparing for the day. “The dress is in your closet in a garment bag. Do you want to show it to her, or do you want one of the other girls to do it?”

“I want to see her face when I show it to her.” And give her a minute in case she freaked out.

“Do you want Abby there to document everything?”

As appealing as that was, there was always the chance that Lily wouldn’t be happy. Plus, I wanted that moment for myself. “Not in the room.”

“Okay. Will you change into your suit before you go to her?”

“Yeah, I don’t want to give her a chance to run,” I joked, even though, deep down, I was slightly worried. What if she wanted to be with me but never actually get married? She hadn’t mentioned a date since the first few days of our engagement. Maybe she was content with our current arrangement.

“Stop freaking out.”

My chest felt tight. “Because it’s too late, or because she can’t say no?”

Gia’s professional face was on. “She won’t say no.”

Gia tended to will things into reality. I hoped it worked for me too. There was nothing she couldn’t make happen if she set her mind to it. “She loves you.”

“And I love her.” I knew better than anyone love wasn’t always enough, but I’d done my best to fight those old fears.

People were scattered over the property. Everyone from Happily Ever Afters was here to help, wanting Lily to have the perfect day. Harrison’s white delivery truck was a constant at these events and was parked next to the barn where he was unloading the linens, silverware, and plates we’d use for the reception. We’d strung twinkly lights in the area just in front of the barn.

We usually held receptions inside the barn or on the lawn under a tent, but I wanted Lily’s wedding to be special.

Ryan approached, placing his hand on my shoulder. “Are you ready for this?”

“I think it would help if I knew she was okay with this.”

“You wanted to surprise her.”

“Yeah, but now I’m second-guessing myself.”

“It’s perfect. She’s going to love it,” Hailey said.

“How are you feeling?” Hailey’s stomach was nicely rounded now that she was five months pregnant.

Hailey rolled her eyes and bumped shoulders with Ryan. “I don’t need you asking me that every five minutes. That’s what I have this guy for.”

“Speaking of, when are you two going to tie the knot?”

“I’m not going to upstage your wedding by talking about mine.”

“How would you do that? We haven’t even set a date yet,” Lily asked.

My heart jumped in my throat. “I thought you were arranging the flowers for the new bouquets?”

We’d kept Lily busy with little changes from the fake bride to keep her away from the action. Not that she’d know anything unless she realized there was no other bride and groom getting ready on the property. We’d planned to tell her they were in the newly renovated summerhouse and stop her from entering.

“It’s time,” Gia said softly.

“Time for what?”

“How are those arrangements coming?” I asked, steering Lily with a hand on her elbow into the house. No one was to come inside. I wanted privacy for this moment. I didn’t want Lily to feel pressured to say yes.

Lily shook her head. “They’re done. I just need you to help me carry them out. This bride is driving me crazy, and somehow, I’ve never met her.”

“Weren’t you sick the day Gia met with her?” I asked, my mouth suddenly very dry. I should have grabbed some water before I took her inside. I wasn’t ready for this. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be, though. I just had to keep thinking positive. Of course, she’ll say yes. She won’t freak out that I planned her wedding behind her back. I struggled to draw in a deep breath.

Lily continued talking about the bride we’d made up, not sensing my inner turmoil. “It would have been nice to see her at some point after that. But Gia said she prefers only to talk to her. She must be a bridezilla.”

“I bet. I wanted to show you something upstairs before we head back outside.”

“Yeah?” Lily asked, waggling her brows.

Not wanting her to catch on to my plans, I kissed her and led her up the steps.

“You know, one of these days, Gia’s going to fire me for sneaking off to get a quickie with you.”

“Hey, it’s never a quickie with me, and what’s wrong with that? These events go on all day. Surely, you deserve a break.”

“Yeah, to eat,” Lily said, sitting on the edge of the bed. Then she raised a brow as if waiting for me to make the move.

I cleared my throat, suddenly incredibly nervous. “I have something to show you.”

Lily’s brow furrowed as she looked around the room. “What is it?”

I went to my closet and pulled out the white garment bag.

“How did the bride’s dress get in your closet?” Lily stood and moved over to me.

I hung it on the back of the door. “It’s not the bride’s. I should say it’s not someone else’s dress. It’s yours.”

She tipped her head to the side. “Jake, what are you talking about? I already picked out the dress I’m wearing today.”

“You did,” I said simply, slowly lowering the zipper. Not wanting to miss her reaction, I watched her. Slowly, her mouth dropped open, and her hands came to cover her mouth.

“It’s my dress,” she murmured as she looked from it to me.

“I told you it was.” I wanted to sound confident, but my voice wavered.

“You bought my dress. But why?” Lily dropped her hands to her sides, tears swimming in her beautiful blue eyes.

“Because we’re getting married today, and you need something to wear.”

Lily blinked her eyes rapidly. “We’re not getting married today.”

“Yes, we are.”

Lily looked up at me. “I don’t understand.”

“We’ve been too busy to set a date.” I stepped closer to her as she kept her gaze on me. I cupped her cheek. “But I don’t want to wait another minute to make you my wife.”

She lowered her head as if she couldn’t hold the weight of my gaze any longer.

My stomach dropped. “We were too busy to discuss setting a date. And I knew you wouldn’t want to deal with it during the busy wedding season, so I planned it for you. For us.”

She didn’t respond, and I couldn’t read her expression.

I dropped my hand from her face. “If it’s not what you want, we can do something else. I’ll cancel everything. We can go to the courthouse, or not get married at all. It’s up to you.”

This was my worst nightmare. At first, I was convinced she’d be on board with this plan, but the closer it got, the more nervous I was. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

I stepped away to look out the window.

“Are you saying this is all for us?” Lily came to stand next to me.

There were people rushing everywhere, carrying things here and there, making sure everything was perfect.

“This is our wedding if you want it to be.”

She was quiet for a few seconds, as if she were taking everything in.

I turned slightly so I could see her face. “Lily, will you marry me today in front of our friends and family?”

She nodded, the tears spilling over her eyelashes.

I brushed one away with my thumb. “It doesn’t have to be today, you know.”

She shook her head. “No. This is perfect. It’s exactly what I wanted. I can’t wait to live my life with you.”

Elated, I dropped my forehead to hers. “You scared me there for a minute.”

“I’m sorry. It took me a minute to switch gears.”

“Don’t apologize. I’m the one who sprung this on you.”

“Is everyone really here for our wedding?”

I pulled back slightly so I could see her face. “Everyone knows about it except for you.”

“I should be upset that I missed something so important, but it’s a really nice surprise.”

“I love you, Lily. I wanted to get started on our future today.”

She nodded. “I want that too.”

I smiled and held my hand out to her. “Are you ready to get married?”

A knock sounded on the door, and then Gia walked in. “Are we doing this?”

Grinning, I said, “We are.”

Gia grabbed the dress from the back of the door. “Congratulations, now get out of here. We have work to do.”

Remi, Zoe, and Sophie came in to hug and congratulate Lily.

I slipped out of the room, my heart pounding for a different reason. This time, I’d be the one waiting at the end of the aisle for my bride. Ryan and Hailey met me on the porch. Hailey squealed when she saw my face, hugging me.

Ryan asked, “You ready?”

“Let’s do this.”