Page 109 of Came the Closest

I laugh through tears and wipe my own eyes. My lips quiver even though I press them together, and his soft laugh settles my nervous system.

Colton leans back to grab a stack of papers behind him. Papers that are stapled and stained by Milo’s chocolate milk; I accidentally tipped the glass while Colton was filling them out.

“When I put this ring on your finger the first time, it was a pretense,” he says, rubbing his thumb over the sparkling solitaire. “But nothing about my love for you is fake, Cheyenne, and it never has been. It might not have always been me for you, but it’s always been you for me. I said I didn’t need one last ride to go out on, but that’s not entirely true. This—committing to you, and to Milo—is my last ride. My last eight seconds. And I want them to be the best I’ve ever had.”

He lifts the papers, hand trembling, thumb covering the P of PETITION TO ADOPT. “I was planning to drop these off at the courthouse, but I don’t want to do it alone. I don’t want to raise Milo on my own. Cheyenne Kolter,” he whispers, “will you be my wife and Milo’s mother?”

I start nodding as tears roll down my face. I barely squeeze a yes through my tight throat, but it’s enough for Colton. He’s kneeling one minute and kissing me the next. His arms gather me into his broad body, my fingertips press into the muscles of his back, and he really, truly, wholly kisses me.

His chest rumbles with a groan. I sink my fingers into his thick, dark curls and pull him closer. I want to feel the weight of his palm on my back. I want to taste the lemonade from the zoo that lingers on his insistent mouth. I want to inhale him—lake water and fresh air and Milo’s shampoo—and never come up for air.

Until his words fully hit me.

“Wait.” I’m breathless when I pull back. Colton’s eyes are unfocused, and I push lightly on his chest when he tries to pick right back up. “Colton, do you mean…” My voice drops to a whisper. “Colton, do you mean get married today?”

His hair is mussed from my fingers and his lips are swollen from my kiss, but his blushing cheeks are of their own volition. “Well, I mean, I obviously thought about it. But you deserve to have a beautiful wedding, and I don’t want to rush you, and as much as I’d love to—”

“Colton.”

His bashful gaze finds mine. I frame his face with my hands, and lift on my toes to kiss him softly. Tension fades from his shoulders, but it still quivers in his fingertips.

“Yes, Colton Del Ray, I will be your wife and Milo’s mother,” I say. I run my thumbs over the flush in his cheeks, and I brush a tear from his eye. “But I have one condition.”

He swallows again, but he nods. “Okay. Yes. Yes, to whatever it is.”

Smiling slowly, I loop my arms around his neck. Against his mouth, I whisper, “We have to get married today.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

The Lake House

Cheyenne

Colton dips me backward into a kiss that has Mother Nature blushing deep cerise in the western sky. His hands are steady at my waist, and my left foot lifts from the soft sand of the beach. I smile against his mouth when he squeezes my hip, and he looks downright mischievous when he pulls away.

Our audience claps or whistles or hollers. There’s a combined eighteen people in our families, everyone gathered at the pallets-turned-tables that were set after I said yes earlier. There are fluffy teal throw pillows for seats, floral arrangements by Hazel, and merriment mingles in the waning warmth of the day.

Our wedding day was far from traditional. We spoke our vows at the courthouse, we’re having a very intimate reception on the beach, and we’re forgoing cake for s’mores a la mode. It’s perfect.

“Before dessert,” Colton says into the mic Sydney brought, “I have a few things I’d like to say to my bride and to Milo.” He gestures Milo over from where he sits with Indi at the table. “Can you come here for a minute, buddy?”

Milo races over to us. His tan khaki shorts are damp, and his short-sleeve button up is stained bright red from ketchup. Colton swings him into his arms; it creases Colt’s face with a smile and elicits laughter from Milo.

“I tend to be a fan of grand gestures,” Colton says. He doesn’t have a free hand to touch me, but the warm look he gives me sends a shudder through my body. “But recently, on a park bench in downtown Omaha, a wise woman said something that made me rethink everything.”

He pauses to look at Hazel. She leans into Sam’s chest at the table, using the napkin Ember passes her to brush under her eyes. The breeze pushes a dark curl into her face, and Sam brushes it behind her ear, both of them smiling proudly.

“She told me that words are the grandest gesture of all,” Colton continues. His gaze resettles on me, and he smiles softly. “To my beautiful wife, you and I are infinity. I promise today and every day for the rest of my life to love you, respect you, and cherish you. I’m not convinced there’s a perfect life or a perfect love story, Fini. But if someone asked me about ours at the end of my life, I’d tell them it came the closest.”

If anyone says words can’t be grand, I will absolutely use Sydney’s video of this speech to prove them wrong. I lift on tiptoe to kiss Colton’s whiskered cheek and murmur an I love you while I’m there. He steals a kiss and whispers it back before he turns his attention to Milo.

“Milo James,” Colton says, but he shakes his head. He lowers Milo to the ground before taking a knee, bringing them eye level. Milo’s tiny fingers are ensconced securely in Colton’s much larger ones. “Let me try this again. Milo James, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we share the same middle name. I—”

“He’s four,” I remind Colton quietly. “You might have to simplify it.”

“Right.” Colton clears his throat and laughs nervously. I set my hand on his shoulder and squeeze, his skin warm through the silky polo. “Third time’s the charm, and this time I’ll put it simply. Milo, I promise to love, protect, and support you for the rest of my life. I’ve never met someone who loves sailboats as much as you do, and I only hope to be half as special to you as they are. I love you, Captain.”

Milo grins unabashedly. His cheeks are flushed from sunshine, and he buries his head under Colton’s chin. Colton whispers something that makes Milo burst into giggles, and then Milo runs off to get his plastic sailboat back. Forks are tapped against glasses, and Colton sweeps an arm around my waist to kiss me. This kiss is tender, but it hints at the untamed rawness my husband reserves only for me.

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