Total pages in book: 156
Estimated words: 151044 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151044 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
And the cakes! Oh, the cakes! We had five different styles since I never made up my mind which one was best. And then there was one massive five tiered cake to cut when it came time to do the whole first slice ritual thing. I got to shove frosting all over Hale’s face, and he got back at me by giving me one of the sloppiest kisses of my life, but it tasted delicious.
“Will Remington Davenport please report to the dance floor?” the DJ announced as we cleaned up from the cake.
I looked over at Seraphina, who smiled and nodded her approval. I didn’t want to do anything that might take away from her, but I also wanted to do something that acknowledged how much I loved and appreciated this other man in my life.
Hale smiled and released my hand as I turned to his scowling father.
“What is this, Meyers? I was just about to have my dessert.”
“Dessert can wait.” I slipped my manicured hand into his cool, wrinkled one just as the first notes of Van Morrison’s Someone Like You started to play. “I need five minutes.”
The lights dimmed and the guests cleared the floor as we took the spotlight. Remington, always a class act under all the gruff intolerance and grouchy grumbles, fell into formation and started to lead. I smiled and rested my cheek on his sturdy shoulder.
“What you said to me the other day…” I thought long and hard about what I needed to say, but it took work to get the words out. “It was more than I ever imagined hearing from a father figure, Remington, because it was genuine.”
His hand pressed at the center of my back in a sort of hug as we turned. “Well, I meant it.”
“I know. And, Remington…” My throat tightened. “I look at you like a father. And I know you’ll always watch out for me and love me, even on my worse days.”
A gruff chuckle left his throat. “Have I been around for one of your good days?”
“Shut up.” I laughed. “Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Meyers.”
“I know I don’t. But I want to. Without you, I wouldn’t be standing here. You changed my entire world. In a way, I think you saved me. But more than that, I think you saved Hale.”
He cleared his throat. “I don’t know about that.”
“I do.” I sniffled. “Healing takes time. It’s a process. You two will get there. Just give him time.”
“If that’s true, Rayne, then I’d say you’re the one who saved me.”
I sucked in a breath. It was one of the few times he called me Rayne, not Meyers. “Oh, hell.” I wiped my eyes. “Don’t make me cry on my wedding day.”
“Don’t dish it out if you can’t take it.”
I drew back and looked into his weathered eyes, a shield of tears blurring the grey. We both laughed, finding emotions incredibly tedious and intrusive. Then my smile mirrored his. “I love you.”
“I love you too, kiddo.”
The nickname caught me off guard and I stilled, then my smile widened. It was perfect. Remington had earned the right to call me that. He earned my love by showing me kindness and support when I needed it most. So I hugged him.
His arms tightened around me in a hug. I’d chosen this song especially for him, because I’d waited my whole life for someone like him. Someone I could go to for advice, someone I could count on in a crisis. Someone I could count on.
In a husky whisper, he sang the closing line of the song and promised, “The best is yet to come.”
Everything was, just as Hale said it would be, perfect.
When I left Remington, I found Hale holding Elara on his hip as he fed her small bites of frosting. I kissed her little sugary lips then hugged my husband.
“Thank you for convincing me to dance with him.”
“It went well?”
“It was perfect.”
“Good.” He kissed my forehead and looked at Elara. “Sometimes fate helps daughters find the father they need, rather than the one they were given.”
I wondered if the universe had given Elara to Hale so that Remington would have room for me. “I think you’re right.”
“I know I am. You make him a better father to all of us, Rayne. We’re your family. That’s how it was always meant to be.”
I hugged them both as we danced slowly in the shadows, a plate of cake between us and love all around. Elara babbled and Hale and I laughed, taking a mental picture of this moment so I never forgot it.
This was where I was meant to be.
He loved me, through all the chaos and wild, unrefined calamities. And I loved him, through all of his anal-retentive, control-freak peccadillos.
He melted for me on the days he caught me in mismatched clothes as much as he melted for me in luxury gowns. And I melted every time he looked at me in that hungry way he was doing right now as he crossed the dance floor.