Colby’s Epilogue

My first wedding was a grand affair. Marcus had a lot of friends and family, so the wedding was over one hundred people in a ballroom in the city. I loved that day, it's still one of my favorite days. But today is going to be special to me in its own perfect sort of way. A favorite day for a different reason.

I stare at myself in the full-length mirror for a few heavy beats. Officially forty and starting all over. More wrinkles line my face this go-around, more life experience under my belt—a lot more loss too—but Eli was worth all of that to have this second chance at love. Eli's the wild thing that I never want to tame. Getting to keep him still feels unreal.

After our week at the beach, Eli spent a few more weeks with me at the farmhouse. We were intentional about dating, finding out if we fit outside of the bubble of the beach house. Thank fuck, we did. Also, thankfully he was able to transfer for the fall semester to be closer to me so we could do it all for real. Not everything was easy though because life rarely is.

He moved into the mother-in-law suite above my garage. He paid me rent too. That was a hard-fought battle, which Eli easily won. But by Christmas he'd moved into the house with me and we'd settled into a routine. Into a life. I'd taken him to the beach house for a few days over Christmas break and asked him to marry me. His watery grin had been perfect, so perfectly Eli, that my heart mended just a little bit more that day.

And today he's officially becoming my husband.

"All set?" Beau asks from behind me.

I tug at my tie one more time before turning around. Beau's decked out in a suit, which is a rare occasion for him. Only weddings and funerals can wrangle him out of his Levi's and ball cap.

"I've been set for a while," I say around a wide grin.

Beau claps my shoulder to steer me out of the bedroom. "Don't cry before the wedding."

When I'd asked Eli the type of wedding he'd wanted, he'd sighed dreamily and said intimate, something just for you and me and our closest family. I know I've accomplished that when I look out over the crowd. The backyard has a handful of people scattered around. My parents, Beau's mom, our other cousins, aunts, and uncles, Eli's mom, and a few of his friends. All in all, there's maybe forty people seated in my backyard, which is just perfect for us.

Beau walks towards the end of the aisle to stand in the middle, the model officiant. I'm so glad for our friendship later in life, Beau's not just my cousin, but my best friend. I don't wait long for Eli under the old oak tree. The sun shines through the foliage, shadows moving as the summer breeze blows about the branches heavy with moss. Eli's smile is blinding as he walks down the aisle to join me, dipping to give his mother a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, boyfriend," Eli whispers to me, a cheeky smile on his lips.

"Hey, I'm being promoted in a matter of moments."

He shyly bites his lip and takes my hands in his own. "You're right. Let's get a move on, then."

Beau laughs, so does everyone else in the small crowd.

"Today, we're all here to witness Eli and Colby becoming husbands. They've elected to forgo the traditional process, instead wanting to speak from the heart. So I'll keep this brief and let them speak. Once they're done, I'll make it official."

I squeeze Eli's hands as I stare deep into his beautiful eyes.

"When I was a kid, there were fires all over the state. I remember helping the family soak the earth at the farm and our roofs at home in case the fire got too close. It was terrifying, packing a suitcase to prepare to run from the flames. But we got lucky and our land stayed untouched." I pause for a moment to smile at Eli as he visibly wonders where the hell I'm going. "Afterwards, my grandpa took me out to the burned forests to show me the destruction. It was awful. The trees had scorch marks for years. But what I remember most is finding flowers or weeds growing through the scorched earth. That's what you are to me. New life after destruction, when it"s finally time."

I bite back tears because we both swore we wouldn't cry. But Eli's eyes swim with tears, and I know that he won't be able to hold them back. I have to tell him though, at least just once.

"I'm so lucky to have known two great loves in my life. I wake up every day so excited to hear your laugh, to tease you, even to be sad with you because I know I'm safe with you. You are a million rainbows after every storm. I promise to never put blueberries on your breakfast tray. I promise to hold your hand on dates." I squeeze his hand with a watery smile. "I promise to sweep you off your feet as long as I'm alive because you deserve every ounce of romance I can give you. I promise to give you my all, to give you my best, and to love you until the day I die."

Eli rubs his tear-sodden cheek against his suit jacket and squeezes my hands tight. He blinks up at me a few times, centering himself. I can't help but lean down to kiss him, softly, then press my forehead to his before pulling back away to let him say his vows.

Eli takes a deep breath, releasing it out slowly. "I'm supposed to follow that up?"

The crowd laughs and it's just so … Eli. The love I have for him is boundless. He winks at me.

"I fell in love with you at first sight. My brain just had to catch up with my heart. You are everything I ever wished for in a partner. I can't wait to spend the rest of our lives together, going on adventures, slow dancing, doing puzzles, reading to you so that you can fall asleep." I chuckle, and so do a few people out in the crowd. Eli squeezes my hands tightly a few times before plowing on. "Making you laugh and smile is one of my greatest joys. I promise to do my best to make you laugh every day, even on the hard days. I promise to never run away from you, but towards you, because you are my reason to run. My reason to keep going. My everything."

A tear falls down my cheek, but Eli pulls a hand away from mine to wipe it away with a tender smile that calms my racing heart.

"On that note," Beau says with a lot of emotion. "Eli, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do," Eli says brightly.

"Colby, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do," I repeat gruffly.

Beau claps his hands once, grinning at the both of us. "By the power vested in me by the great state of Florida, I now pronounce you husband and husband. Kiss!"

Beau doesn't have to tell me twice. I take Eli's face in my hands and press a smiling kiss to his own grinning mouth. My husband. Eli laughs against my lips before tangling his fingers in my hair to kiss me just a little harder, tasting my mouth like he didn't just kiss me this morning. I'm out of breath when I finally pull away. Eli blinks up at me, dazed like he always is after a kiss, so I press another tender kiss to his temple.

Our friends and family clapping in the crowd pull us out of our temporary overjoyed bubble. We spend the next hour or so taking photographs between the oak trees in the backyard. One of my cousins is a wedding photographer, so she's doing it for us as her wedding present. I can't wait to hang one up beside the photo from my first wedding to showcase the two loves of my life.

Once the photos are done, we"re both a little sweaty because of the heat. We join our friends and family on the back porch. Beau's got the grill going, my dad has a beer in his hand, and my mom is happily chatting it up with Eli's mom. It's lovely and perfect.

"Hey! We both got promoted. I think that calls for celebration." Eli wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. "Chase me tonight?"

He's teasing, I know he is, but I don't feel like teasing. I pull him against me, smiling at his gasp, and take his mouth in a warm, bone-melting kiss. As he always does, he relaxes against me, letting me hold up his weight. My hand lies hot and possessive at the small of his back, tugging him as close as I dare in front of our friends and family.

The beaming smile he aims my way is practically blinding when I finally pull away from him. I use my other hand to brush an errant curl from his forehead.

"I'll chase you forever," I tell him honestly.

Because it's true. I'd chase him to the very edges of the universe just to keep him.

"My husband, my Eli." I teasingly tug on a curl, letting it go so it pops back into shape.

His eyes practically sparkle. "My husband, my Colby."

And then I kiss him again because I can, because he's mine. I'll burn for him forever, until the end of our days. Loss might be a part of me, but I've learned a valuable lesson the past few years. Sometimes beauty sprouts from the most painful of losses. Like the first flower to bloom from the scorched earth after a blaze. All proof rests with Eli. My forever wild and beautiful thing.

The End