I breathed a little easier. My heart was full and I had finally found the person I could share my life with.
CHAPTER THIRTY
2 years later
“What?” Matthew asked with his arm around Sarah, his wife, stunned by my announcement. A crowd of all our loved ones wore shocked expressions.
“You heard,” I murmured, giving Mark a knowing look. He held my hand tighter in his as we gazed lovingly at each other while we stood in the lobby of the grand hotel.
“Oh, my God!” Sophie squealed, hugging me, nearly knocking me off my feet had Mark not steadied me.
“Really?” my mom asked, putting a hand to her chest like my news had winded her.
Still in Sophie’s death grip, I nodded, feeling my excitement bubble.
“Today?” my dad asked, sounding like he wasn’t sure he had heard correctly.
“Yes, sir,” Mark answered.
Chris came up, holding his girlfriend’s hand. Her name was Paige. She had long dark hair with matching brown eyes. She was strikingly beautiful. She was also very shy and timid, which also meant she was usually pretty quiet, which meant she waswell suited for Chatterbox Chris. Chris slapped Mark’s shoulder. “You finally did it.”
“Yeah, all it took was meeting the right one,” he shot back.
“Don’t get any ideas,” Chris playfully whispered to Paige. She smiled adoringly at him.
Despite his words, there was a lot of love and affection between them.
“We had no idea,” Sophie said, still hugging me so hard it was difficult to breathe.
“That’s the point of a surprise wedding.” I winked, relieved when my sister finally released me.
“Congrats,” Paige whispered softly.
I squeezed her hand. “Thank you.”
We had kept so quiet about the details, no one had any idea the weekend away would include our wedding.
Mark had proposed six weeks earlier over a romantic dinner for two. He had done it on a bended knee and asked for me to spend the rest of my life with him.
We would have done it sooner but it had taken a while to pick a weekend that suited all our guests. We didn’t want anyone to miss it.
The ring had been beautiful, but I hadn’t worn it for fear someone would notice it.
My fingers ran over the band. I was wearing it for the first time since we had gotten engaged.
“Oh, my God,” Sophie squealed again. “Is that the ring?”
I nodded as she grabbed my hand. “It’s beautiful,” she sighed dreamily.
“Oh, baby,” my mother said tearfully, but she was happy. I moved to embrace her.
“Congrats, man.” Matthew shook Mark’s hand. My mom released me, and then Sarah was there to replace her.
“I’m so happy for you,” she said.
“Thank you.”
Haven appeared with a protective Damien. “I’m so happy for you,” she gushed, and I hugged her.