Chapter 19

Sam

I twirled the phone around in my hands, excitement and anxiety warring for prominence. It had been several hours. We'd eaten twice. And I was still wrestling with my decision. I bit my lip. Dad probably wouldn't appreciate it—he didn't appreciate much I did without his express permission—but this was my wedding. Sort of.

I pulled up Cade's info and shot him a quick text.

—Getting married. Want you here.—

—???—

—Meg. Dad's rules. Cabin.—

—Finding pants. Don't start without me.—

I grinned and slipped a finger between my neck and the stiff collar of my white dress shirt.

Another phone buzzed, and I glanced up as Dad answered.

"Ready? About time." He clicked the phone shut and shoved it into the pocket of his navy pants, his suit coat floating down to hide the bulge it made. He wasn't glaring anymore, but he was still far from happy. I guess the disappointment would take a bit longer to fade. I tried to ignore the gnawing ache it set in my bones.

"It's time," Mr. Carmichael said, a genuine smile in my direction. "There is one more thing before we go. Dominic, Rev, you all go on out to the car. Sam and I will be along shortly." Dad bristled, and Rev gave me a knowing smile as he exited behind Dad. I picked up my own suit coat and shrugged into it as Mr. Carmichael cleared his throat.

"Son," Mr. Carmichael began. "This is a big day for you. A big day for Meggie, too. She isn't thinking about this like you are."

I swallowed. I wasn't sure where this was going, but I really hoped I wasn't about to get a sex talk from a ninety-something-year-old man.

He went on. "You are going to make a promise in a little while. A promise I expect you to keep with your life." He had my complete attention. "When you sign that piece of paper that legally makes you Megan's husband, you take on the commitment to honor her wishes above your own." He gave me a significant look, and I felt the tips of my ears get hot. "And to protect her. I'm old. You are a young man full of promise and fully aware of the dangers of the world in which she now lives. You will be her guardian, her protector, her man. You see that you live up to that."

I had never felt so inadequately small or so full of pride all at once as George Carmichael dropped those heavy words on me.

"And one more thing," he said, a definite twinkle in his eyes as his hand fished around in his pocket. "Meggie isn't ready for this yet. And she might never be, but if she is, you'll have this for her."

My hand closed around a tiny metal object. Opening my hand, in my palm sat a simple but elegant ring. It had Megan written all over it.

"That was my sweet Elsie's ring. She wore it for seventy years." His eyes misted, and I put a hand on the old man's arm. He blinked rapidly and cleared his throat so hard that his mustache twitched. "You'll know what to do with it if it comes to that." He clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Right then. Let's get you up to the cabin and get you hitched."

****

The cabin was lit up like a beacon of warm yellow light as the sun started its retreat into the purple clouds at the base of the horizon. Cade's car slid into the drive right before we did.

"Sam?" Dad's voice had a hard edge.

"He already knows anyway. I wanted him here." Rev nodded at my dad as some unreadable emotion flashed across my father's face.

"Fine," he said softly. It was the closest thing to acceptance my dad had voiced all day.

Cade stepped out of his car, nodding respectfully to my dad and Rev before coming over to me and slinging an arm around my shoulders. The sunset made his black hair appear purple.

"You okay?" he asked quietly. Emotion suddenly clogged my throat. Why couldn't my dad have been the one to ask me that?

Was I okay? I was elated, terrified, in awe, and in agony.

"I guess" tumbled out my mouth. Cade squeezed my shoulders. He knew I'd been head over heels for Megan Carmichael for years.

"I hope it works out," Cade said simply. He didn't need to say anything else. Even without knowing the situation aside from the few short texts we'd sent, he knew me well enough to get an accurate read on things.

Rev opened the door, and Dad and Mr. Carmichael went through. Cade gave my shoulder one last bump with his fist and then he disappeared into the warmth of the cabin, too.

I hesitated there in the cooling air. Rev waited expectantly. With a deep breath, I let go of every dream and expectation I'd ever had about my future mate. My dream was more dead than alive and waiting for me inside the cabin.