Chapter 34

Chapter Thirty-Four

L ink tugged at his shirtsleeves, his legs starting to get that jittery feeling in them again. He had to move, and he needed to do it now. He got to his feet despite his uncle's protest, and he shook both hands to try to get the nerves to dissipate.

"What time is it?" he asked, though he knew he still had at least a half-hour before he'd be leaving this room and heading for the altar. If his wedding were any closer, his momma would've come in to let him know.

She hadn't appeared yet, which meant she was still in the room down the hall with Misty.

He focused on the beautiful woman he couldn't wait to marry and focused on the person who'd come to stand in front of him. Uncle Cactus. "Why am I so nervous?"

"Because this is an important thing." His uncle reached out and straightened Link's bowtie. He smiled at him. "You're going to be making covenants with God to love and cherish and take care of a good woman, and she's going to expect you to uphold that."

Link swallowed, not sure this was quite the pep talk he needed.

"And you're going to make covenants with her, and she's going to do the same for you, and then, there's no going back."

"I don't want to go back," Link said. "I'm worried she'll want to go back."

Uncle Cactus nodded, always so sober—until he could smile and laugh and joke. "Son, I've seen her with you, and there's no way—absolutely none—that she's backing out of this. She adores you."

"You think so?" Link's throat felt as wide as a straw, and he couldn't swallow or breathe.

"And she's the luckiest woman in the world to have you," Cactus said, finally lowering his hands and leaving Link's collar and tie and lapels alone. "Don't forget that and don't ever doubt it."

"Do you sometimes doubt it with Aunt Willa?"

Uncle Cactus gave him one of those rare smiles and said, "Well, Willa is a unicorn, son, and I thank God every day that He gave her to me."

Link felt the same way about Misty, and he exhaled as he prayed God would make him into the man she deserved, needed, and could love for a lifetime.

"Link," a woman said, and he spun toward the door. Momma stood there, wearing a gorgeous, glittering dress in a deep purple. "You've got twenty minutes."

"I'm setting the timer," Daddy said as he approached Momma. He kissed her quickly, and they spoke for a moment before Momma looked over to Link again. She grinned at him, and Link moved toward her.

"Momma," he whispered as he arrived in her arms. "I'm so scared."

"There's nothing to be afraid of, my sweet boy," she said as she gripped him tightly around the shoulders. "You've been waiting for this day for a long time. So has she, and you two are just perfect for each other."

"I wish we could've just eloped." He stepped back. "There are so many of us, and everyone stares."

Momma laughed, but she kept it short. "Link, baby, you're literally supposed to watch two people when they get married."

"I know." He rolled his shoulders, trying to get the tension to dissipate. "I can't wait until we're on the ship, and no one knows us, and we can just have our own adventures."

"Getting to Spain is going to be an adventure all its own," Momma said with a grin. "Now, you're down to sixteen minutes, and we may have been a little late last night starting dinner, but we will not hold this wedding for anyone—not even the groom." With that, she left the room, and Link faced the closed door for a moment.

Then he turned to face all the men in his family, and as he looked at them—truly looked, the way he'd advised Misty to do, all he could see was love.

Exactly fifteen minutes later, Link stood at the back of the barn, the aisle stretching in front of him. The music filtering through the barn changed, and that made everyone turn and start to stand when they saw him.

He resisted the urge to fiddle with his cufflinks again, and thankfully, Daddy stood only five feet from him, ready to lead everyone down the aisle to their seats. His wedding party consisted of his friends, not his family, and they waited to Link's right.

He'd lead them down the aisle, and while he walked, Misty would get into position with her brother, who was walking her down the aisle and giving her away.

His legs wanted to run, but Link held very, very still. Momma came to Daddy's side, and the Glover family procession started in the next breath. One by one, couple by couple, they walked toward Link, pressed their fists to their hearts, and moved past him.

He kept his fist pressed to his heart too in the Glover salute of love and support, and once his family had gone, he looked over to where Finn Ackerman stood with his wife, Edith. Link didn't know who had their son, but he was real glad to see them waiting there, both smiling and shining with rainbows and sunshine.

He nodded to them, and then he faced the crowd, which was suddenly so much larger. Then he took the first step and led his friends down the aisle to the altar. He kept his head held high, his hands loose at his sides as he walked in the slow cadence his mother had taught him.

He arrived at the altar and he hugged Finn and Edith, then Mitch, who'd walked alone in the wedding party, Alex and Nicki, Dawson and Caroline, Brandon and Janey, Ollie and Rory, and then Henry Marshall and his date, though Link had only met her that morning.

They moved to stand in an arc around the altar, and his aunt joined him at the saddle that Misty had spent considerable time painting in her own special way. He studied the shape of his name and how it flowed into hers, and he found the word GLOVER done in what looked like old western letters along the bottom.

He reached out to touch it, marveling that Misty had managed to capture everything about their two individual lives in one piece of art.

"There she is," Aunt Willa whispered, and Link tore his eyes from the saddle altar to look down the aisle.

Misty stood there, her dress a bright white in the lights in the barn. She had her arm linked through Danny's, who wore a midnight black tuxedo, a cowboy hat, and a healthy smile on his face.

Her sleeves puffed and bulged away from her arms, giving the top of the dress such an interesting shape. The bodice clung to her chest and ribs and flared over her hips, and when she finally started to move, it looked like her legs and feet didn't even touch the skirt.

She glided like a princess, and Link absolutely could not stop smiling. She was here, and she was his, and they were going to have the most amazing life together.

They arrived, and Misty leaned into Danny and kissed his cheek. He whispered something to her, and then transferred her arm from his to Link's. "Love you, brother," Link said, and Danny repeated it back to him before he went to stand next to Henry.

Link gazed at Misty, with her lined eyes and ruby red lips. "You are absolutely gorgeous," he murmured. "I've just fallen in love with you all over again." He slid his hand along her waist, pulling her closer.

Every moment where she looked at him made him into a new version of himself. The Link who loved her in that second, and then the next, and then even more in the third. He'd had no idea that love would be able to affect a person so much, but it did. Its power could change hearts and minds, open the door to forgiveness, and inspire kindness, conversations, and bind families together.

He leaned down and kissed her, which got a rise from the crowd gathered in the family barn. Embarrassment funneled through Link, and he pulled away when Aunt Willa cleared her throat loudly.

"Sorry," he murmured, but Misty still stood there with her head tipped back and her eyes closed .

"I'm not," Misty murmured, and she slid her hand behind his neck and pulled him back to her for another kiss. "I love you, Lincoln."

"Gotta say I-do at some point," Daddy called, and that got Misty to pull away, giggling.

Link chuckled too, and he tucked her against his side as they faced Willa. "Okay," he said. "We're ready."

"Mm, yes, I can see you are." She nodded over to Misty, inhaled, and said in a loud voice, "I get more joy from marrying two people in love than from anything else I get to do as a pastor." She signed as she spoke, so Mitch could participate fully.

She pressed one hand to her heart, fisting her fingers. "And the fact that it's one of my very favorite nephews only makes today probably the best day I've had in years. I'm not going to delay this for too much longer, because today is a fabulous day to get married."

Link held onto Misty while his aunt spoke about compromise and communication, and to her eternal credit, she didn't go on for too long before she said, "Remember that love is not simply an emotion, but a choice you make every day. You must choose each other. Love is patient and kind. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures through all things. So be patient and kind and loving with each other, every day of your lives."

She reached out and set her Bible on the saddle. "It's time, you two. Join hands and face one another. "

Link shifted to do that, catching sight of his parents out of the corner of his eye. Misty's mom sat next to Momma, and she wiped at her eyes.

"Misty Jeanine Granger, do you take Lincoln Wyatt Josephs Glover to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, to love, cherish, and support?"

"I do," Misty said, and her voice seemed to fill the whole barn. Link's throat felt like someone had scrubbed it with sandpaper, and he hoped he could speak when it was his turn.

Aunt Willa repeated the question to him, and he swallowed, looked Misty right in the eye, and said, "I do." Thankfully, his voice sounded normal and came out loud enough.

Aunt Willa then picked up the rings she had on her side of the altar, and she placed them on the Bible. "These rings are a symbol of an unbroken circle of love, signifying to all the union of this couple in holy matrimony."

She nodded to them, and Link had been told that was his cue to pick up the diamond he'd bought for Misty. He did, and she reached out and picked up his band too. She slid his ring on his finger, her smile so beautiful, and Link did the same for her, fitting the two pieces of her ring together into the final piece.

"By the power vested in me by the state of Texas and the Almighty God, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride."

Link tore his gaze from the glittering diamond on his wife's finger and looked into her eyes. "You're mine now, but I don't want you to think you're special or anything."

She giggled and said, "Oh, stop it. I already know I'm the special-est."

Link laughed and pressed his lips to hers in a sloppy marriage kiss. The crowd behind them did what they always did best—they made a lot of joyful noise as Link kissed his wife.

Only when someone said into a microphone, "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Mister and Missus Lincoln Glover!" did Link pull away and lace his fingers through Misty's.

Then he led his new wife down the aisle as those they loved applauded, whistled, and cheered.