Page 112 of Adoring Delaney

“With great pleasure, her mother…” Jasper cleared his throat and Laney beamed up at her father. “…and I do.”

Jasper took a step forward, bringing Delaney that much closer to where I wanted her and he reached out his hand. I took it in a firm shake but he didn’t release mine as he took Laney’s hand and placed it over ours.

“There’s no greater gift a man could give than his trust,” I told Jasper. “Thank you for trusting me with her.”

Jasper’s hand fell away, leaving only Delaney’s in mine.

“Today we’re gathered for another celebration. One I’ve been told was a long time in the making.” There were a few chuckles and he continued. “Delaney informed me this was a surprise and she has a few words she’d like to say.”

“Surprise, honey,” she whispered and locked eyes with me.

“Best surprise ever, Laney baby.”

“We’d agreed to wait and have a big wedding,” she informed the crowd of something they already knew. “But I know that wasn’t what Carter wanted. As a matter of fact he wanted to fly to Vegas and go through a drive-thru wedding chapel but I knew pretty much everyone would lose their minds so I shut that down.”

“Good call,” my brother interrupted, and everyone laughed.

“And the more I thought about it the more I came to understand I didn’t want a big wedding, I didn’t want the flowers, and all the other trappings. All I wanted was Carter. Then I thought about our life together. Every memory centers around family. And those memories were made here, or my parents’ house, at Uncle Levi and Aunt Blake’s, or Lily and Shane’s.”

I couldn’t ever remember hearing Delaney call my dad by his real name. She often called him Uncle Lenox or Lenox, and maybe a time or two Carter, but never Shane.

“It was then, as I was shifting through the past, I realized that there was only one place for this new memory, for our future together to start, and that was where it began. That’s why I choose here, in Uncle Clark and Aunt Reagan’s backyard. This was the exact place I fell in love with Carter. I’d thought it was when I first kissed him at the beach. Or the first time butterflies hit my belly when I looked at him, but it wasn’t. It was here, sitting by this pond. Ethan and Jackson had been teasing me and I was crying. Carter came over and sat down next to me and asked me if I wanted him to beat them up. I was so mad I said yes.” Laney stopped and smiled. “He stood right up and marched over to them and next thing I knew they were rollin’ in the dirt. Carter got in so much trouble and I felt horrible.”

Damn, I’d forgotten all about that. My brother was being a little shit making fun of her because she couldn’t throw a football. We were young, maybe eight and five. I couldn’t believe she remembered that.

“Anyway, Lily and Shane made him sit in the extra bedroom until they were ready to leave and I snuck in there to tell him how sorry I was I’d gotten him grounded. He just smiled at me and said, I’d do anything for you, Laney. You’re my best girl. Of course, at the time I thought best girl meant best friend. It would take me nearly twenty years to fully understand what he meant by those words, even if he’d showed me often enough what he’d meant.

“Carter, you are my best everything. My best days, my best nights, my best memories, my best dream, and I am at my best when you are by my side. You made me some promises when you asked me to marry you. Today, I want to give you mine.”

Delaney reached into a hidden pocket in her dress and came back with a titanium band. She lifted our hands, untangled them, and kissed my palm. I couldn’t take it, my eyes drifted closed and a rush of emotion overwhelmed me.

She was killing me.

“I promise I’m gonna love you the rest of my life. I’m gonna love our kids and be the best mom I can be. I promise to go on as many dates with you as you want to take me on. I promise I’m gonna fill our life with so much beauty you’ll never regret making my dreams come true.”

Sweet Jesus, she remembered.

“I want you to know, I’d do it all over again. The long way, the detours, the roadblocks, I’d do them all again. Every heartache, every smile, every goodbye. There is no journey I wouldn’t take as long as it led me to right here, right now, marrying the only man I’ve ever dreamed about. The only man I’ve ever loved. You truly are my one and only in every way.”

Laney stopped and looked over at the Justice of the Peace.

“Do you, Delaney Walker take Carter Lenox to be your husband? Do you vow to stand faithfully beside him during all of life’s ups and downs?”

“I do,” she answered and slid her band onto my finger.

I glanced down at the black titanium ring and thought it was perfect. Strong, resilient, it would never bend. It was us.

Unbreakable.

“Do you, Carter Lenox take Delaney Walker to be your wife? Do you vow to stand faithfully beside her during all of life’s ups and downs?”

“Absolutely.”

I’d never been more sure about anything in my whole damn life.

“Laney baby?” I called. Her eyes came to mine, shining with so much happiness I forgot what I was going to say so instead I simply told her, “You’ll always be my best girl.”

There was no denying from top to toe my woman was stunning. But nothing compared to her beautiful soul. It shone so bright, her light so warm, so captivating. Once she had you in her snare, your only prayer was that she’d never let you go.

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