Page 96 of The Heartbreak List

America carries a bunch of simple cream roses in each hand. She forgave me pretty quickly once I told her my story. Helped me pick out a ring while we waited for Indy to be allowed to leave the hospital. The white gold ring is shaped like a leaf that will curl around her finger once I slide it on. A small diamond sits between the two points.

It’s a symbol of life. And of growth. Before her I was stagnant. I wasn’t living. I was stuck in the past. But she made me feel alive. She helped me move forward. I will be eternally grateful for that. Cherish each day we have.

America holds one of the bouquets out to Indy. “You forgot these.”

“Thanks.” Indy doesn’t take her gaze from mine as I lift her hand that will soon have my ring on it to my lips. Her eyes shine.

We have a drawer at home now where we keep the important pieces of our past. I showed her the engagement ring I bought Cooper so many years ago. Told her I understood that though our roads have branched into a new road together, it doesn’t mean we don’t hold a special place in our heart for the people we’ve loved before. Gray was and will always be important to her, just like Cooper will always be important to me.

But that’s the past, and while it’s okay to hold onto the memories, I’m not going to live in it. Right now is our time. Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. In fact tomorrow is going to be hell while we all wait for her to come out of surgery. I’m sick to my stomach just thinking about it. So for now I push it aside. Concentrate on my love for Indy. “Are you ready?”

“I’m ready.” She smiles at me.

“Shall we?” her dad asks, as he comes up behind her. He offers the crook of his elbow and she starts to cry.

I leave them to have a moment while I make my way to where EJ and Harlan are waiting. I asked EJ to be my best man. Told him that it was something Indy had mentioned was important to her. Because she is what matters to both of us at the end of the day.

Oz walks his daughter up the makeshift aisle. Eyes glittering, he kisses her cheek. “You are loved, baby girl. Be happy.”

He turns to me. “Be good to our daughter. She is so precious. Don’t forget that.”

I nod as Indy hands over her roses to America again. I swallow down the wetness that fills my throat. She is my home and I am hers.

We say our vows as the sun sets in front of the people who matter most, but for the entire time all I see is Indy. When EJ hands me the ring I slide it onto her finger. When the officiant tells me I can kiss my wife I kiss her with all the love that I have.

We celebrate well into the night. Until Indy grows tired. She fights it because she’s nervous about tomorrow. The idea of surgery scares her. She tells everyone that she’s fine, but she looks at me like it might be the last time she sees my face.

It scares me too.

When Indy can’t keep her eyes open anymore, I take my wife home. She falls asleep in the truck. Only wakes as I carry her into our apartment at two in the morning.

“I love you so much.” She wraps her arms around my neck as I lay her on the bed. “I can’t believe that we got married. I’m your wife.”

“You are my life.” I kiss her as I take the garland from her head. “My heart. And my soul. Sometimes I think you are the very air that I breathe.”

“I feel the same way, husband.” She brings my mouth back to hers in a slow kiss. “Show me what it feels like to make love to a married man.”

“You need to rest.” God, it takes everything in me to turn her down. “We have to be at the hospital in just a few hours.”

“What if we only have tonight?” She holds onto me. “What if this is the only chance that we get to make love as husband and wife?”

“That’s not going to happen.” But yeah, that fear is there, taking up space in the back of my mind. It makes my chest hurt like hell and my lungs seize every time I think about it.

“Theo?” She begs with those pretty whiskey eyes as she sits up. “I’ll get up and write it on the bucket list if I have to.”

I can’t say no to her and her bucket list. I never could. “Let me help you out of that dress.”

With lingering touches and quiet words, we take off each other’s clothes. I explore every inch of her bare flesh with my hands and my mouth. Until she’s whimpering and quivering so beautifully for me. Then I make love to her like I never want it to end.

Her nails dig into my ass as she gets close and I taste the needy little noises she makes in each kiss while we stare into each other’s eyes. I see the moment she hits her peak. The way her neck arches and her eyelids flutter.

I follow her with my own climax. My heart is so big it doesn’t feel like it fits in my chest.

Afterward I hold her until the sun rises. Neither of us sleeps a wink. When the alarm goes off we get up and share a shower. I hold her close and we make love again. Then I load her bag into the truck while she climbs into the passenger seat, and I drive us to the hospital.

EJ meets us at the entrance. Indy didn’t want anyone else at the hospital. Bleary eyed and wearing yesterday’s suit, he thrusts a coffee at me. “Sorry, sis. But we’re going to need the caffeine. You’re the one who gets to have a nap.”

Indy holds a hand to her belly. “Even if I didn’t have to fast, I don’t think I could keep anything down.”

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