Page 100 of Kiss and Tell
But today, it’s just about celebrating the incredible year and a half we’ve shared since we got ourselves straightened out. My life began to make perfect sense once I accepted that Sawyer and I were always meant to be.
A knock sounds on the door.
“That’ll be your dad.” My mom sniffs.
But it’s Sawyer who calls, “Tabitha?”
My heart trips just like it did when I saw him at the airport that second summer back. That day I knew something between us had changed but I hadn’t figured out yet that it was the change that would lead us to this day.
Natalie jerks the door open. “You can’t see her yet.”
“But I have to.”
“Is something wrong?” I call, my palms turning damp.
“No, baby. Nothing,” he calls back, then softer but still clear, he says to Natalie, “Don’t you sometimes need to see Ben just because?”
There’s a beat of silence, then a sigh. “Yeah. I get that. But you’re coming in here blindfolded.”
“Fine.”
Grace, maybe because of her recent wedding, winks at me like she gets it. “Come on, ladies,” she says. “Let’s go start lining up outside. Our processional starts soon.”
When the last of them files out, Natalie comes back in with Sawyer, who has been blindfolded with the sash Juniper refused to wear.
She leads him to the chair my mom just vacated, and when he’s seated, she gives me a pointed look. “Can I trust you to navigate him back to the door without letting him peek?”
“You can.”
She leaves and closes the door quietly behind her. I can hear their muffled voices in the hall, but I shift all my attention to my fiancé, walking over to slide my hand in his.
“You okay?” I ask.
He squeezes it. “I am now.”
“Not ready to change your mind?” I tease him.
His grip grows even more firm. “No way. You’re not getting out of this.”
I run my thumb along his, a soft, soothing motion. “I don’t want to.”
He relaxes his hold but keeps my hand. “It’s been so wild. Hasn’t it been so wild? The moving, the wedding prep, the guests. So many guests. Just really a lot of guests.”
“I was thinking the same thing, wondering why we never considered Vegas.”
“Because our moms would kill us.”
“I came to the same conclusion. I guess we have to deal with being loved like crazy by everyone who knows us.”
He reaches out for my other hand, grasping fruitlessly a few times until I realize what he wants, and I give it to him. He doesn’t say anything, only holds them both and takes a deep breath, releasing it like it’s the first clean air he’s had in ages.
“No one loves you like I do, Tab. I just needed a moment to be us together before the rest of this takes over again.”
“All that out there?” I say, indicating with my head even though he can’t see me. “That’s just for today. You and me, we’re forever.”
He brings my hand to his lips and presses a kiss against the knuckles. “I’m ready now.”
“Then let’s do this,” I say, pulling him to his feet. “I hear there’s cake.”
