Page 85 of Seaside Cowboy's Second Chance

Chapter Eighteen

SKYLAR BREATHED INa lungful of salty air, her veil floating in the breeze. That fresh air mixed with the flower aroma from her bouquet.

Warm sand caressed her bare toes as she walked between rows of white chairs on the beach, her grandmother leaning on her but looking ten years younger. Skylar had taken over several arrangements and even the bouquet her grandmother was supposed to carry while walking down the aisle. Now, she slowed and whispered to Grandma. “I’m so sorry. I feel like I’m stealing your wedding.”

“Nonsense!” Grandma waved her off and pressed on with surprising agility. “There’ll be other men in my life. But you know there’s only one man for you. And he’s waited long enough.”

He sure had.

Skylar’s heart swelled as she gazed at Dallas waiting for her now, dashingly handsome in his tuxedo even if he felt out of place in it. He beamed at her the instant their gazes met, and she basked in the love lighting up his eyes, feeling its warm glow no matter the distance.

She’d dreamed of this day since she’d fallen in love with him nearly two decades ago. It wasn’t exactly like she’d dreamed up or drawn on paper that had later become a wedding invitation card for many. Because it was better. Because this wasn’t an idyllic wedding invitation card with a glossy surface and overused words but an invitation to a new life together.

All the seats, decorated with white ribbons and white flowers, were occupied. She was an only child, but her cousins made it here for her wedding, sitting beside her aunt, and Dallas had a large family who’d thankfully forgiven her. Even Terrence Hirst sat in a far seat, though Skylar wasn’t sure how she felt about that yet. Many townspeople showed up. People here supported each other, and it warmed her heart.

Breeze barked and tried to jump into the aisle, but Mrs. Lawrence held the dog in place. Skylar sent her golden retriever an apologetic glance and nearly stopped to pet her. Dallas had told her he’d help with the puppies. There were positive things to be said for solitude, but she was glad she wasn’t in this alone.

How would it have worked out if they’d gotten married the first time? Would it have worked at all?

Now she knew she’d subconsciously tried to escape the tragedy of what she’d seen that stormy night. She’d put on gigantic glasses as pink as the sunrises she’d loved to paint. And when she’d had to confront those memories, she’d run the opposite way—away to the big city to find comfort in the certainty of numbers and spreadsheets and clear lines instead of blurred ones like in her watercolors.

Neither version of her then had been ready for marriage or a long-term commitment. Dallas deserved better.

She smiled at him as she took her place near him. He deserved the woman she was now, the woman who’d combined both sides and finally found herself.

The best man, Kai, gave her a thumbs-up with his usual mischievous grin, but his eyes turned wistful any time he looked at her maid of honor, Marina. And he sent lots of glances Marina’s way.

Skylar hid a smile as the ceremony began. Kai and Marina had been best friends, but clearly, Kai had a thing for her now. And conversations with her childhood friend revealed that Marina had a soft spot for the flirtatious and laid-back Kai but had always put her studies and career—and fine, getting away from her demanding father—first.

Could there be much more between these best friends? And could Skylar nudge them toward each other?

All the bridesmaids wore turquoise silk off-the-shoulder dresses, the slippery fabric flowing to their ankles. And all of them wore the seashell bracelets Skylar had made when they’d been fourteen. Skylar’s chest expanded. They’d all kept those friendship bracelets. Several bracelets were missing a seashell or two, and a few other seashells were chipped. Some of the women wore them on their wrist, some on an ankle, and one as a decoration in her beautifully styled updo.

But the seashell bracelets were there. And that represented their friendship and lives.

Her gaze flicked back to Dallas, and her heart started beating faster. What an incredible day. What an incredible man.

In her teens, she’d already known where she belonged and whom she belonged with. But at the time, she hadn’t been the person Dallas should belong with. They got their second chance, and gratitude lifted her spirit the same way he now lifted her veil.

Once she’d remembered that horrible night, she started seeing him through the fabric of her trauma, thin but not transparent like this veil. More than the phone call demanding she stay away from her grandmother and Dallas or the people she loved would suffer had made her break off the engagement, though there was that.

No matter how well she knew him, a small subconscious part of her had been terrified he’d do the same thing her father had done to her mother. After all, Dallas’s father was abusive, and anger issues could be hereditary. Plus, Dallas had years of suppressed anger due to his upbringing. So what if he hadn’t exhibited violent tendencies toward her? Skylar’s father had treated her mother well until that stormy night.

But Skylar could see him clearly now in the bright sun, just as he was. Not perfect, but yet the kind, caring man of her dreams and of her reality. And she knew he saw her clearly, just as she was. He always had, and he always would.

“I love you so much,” she mouthed to him. She’d had to keep those words deep inside for so long, and now she could let them soar in the sky again.

“I love you, too,” he whispered back.

As she looked up at the sky, a whiff of her mother’s favorite floral perfume traveled to her. Her heart contracted. Must be her imagination. She could allow herself to miss her mother now. She didn’t know whether she’d ever be able to forgive her father, but eventually, she’d be able to move on. To keep on loving Dallas and living her dream in this beautiful coastal town.

One mystery had been resolved, butthatcottage seemed to have many more, including the one about Dallas’s father. But that wasn’t Skylar’s story.

The moment the priest announced Dallas and Skylar husband and wife, her heart soared.

And it soared even further when Dallas kissed her.

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