Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
He laughed. “I want to close the deal.”
We’d applied for grants and worked with the existing organization to raise funds, and work would begin this summer. By next summer, we’d be open to campers. Sara had made us promise to save a spot for her, and she said when she was old enough, she wanted to be a counselor.
Sara was downstairs now, seated next to her mom. It wasn’t a large wedding, but everyone who mattered to us was down there—all of Devlin’s siblings, his niece and nephew, Veronica and Kelly, Ari, Winnie and Dex, Ellie and Gianni, Gran and Tabitha.
When I heard the quartet start playing our song—Elvis’s “It’s Now or Never”—I nearly turned away from the window. But then two tiny moving lights caught my eye on the other side of the glass. I gasped, moving closer. Flitting wildly about just outside the window was a pair of fireflies. My eyes filled with tears, but a sweet calm washed over me, and I smiled. I knew what they meant.
“I see you,” I whispered, touching my heart. “And I know you’re with me.” After a deep, steadying breath, I walked to the top of the stairs and started down.
When I came into view, everyone stood and looked up at me. It’s a little disconcerting to descend a staircase in a spotlight like that, but I took my time and tried to savor the moment—I’d dreamed about this ever since I was a kid. At the foot of the stairs, my father-in-law waited with an expression of pure joy on his face. He offered me an arm, and I slipped my hand inside his elbow, giving him a grateful smile.
We turned to walk up the aisle toward the fireplace, where Devlin waited for me, Dash standing proudly behind him.
Only I knew that beneath the dark suit Devlin wore, under the left sleeve of his white dress shirt, was a tattoo on his inner forearm—a firefly. He’d surprised me with it last week. “I thought of something I want to mark on my body permanently,” he’d said. “Something I know I’ll always love.”
I’d burst into tears, of course, which made him laugh and pull me close.
To my right and left, I heard sniffles and murmurs as we moved slowly toward the love of my life. When we reached him, George kissed my cheek and gave his son a hug before taking the seat next to Mabel in the front row.
Winnie stepped forward to take my roses, and I turned to face my husband. He took both my hands in his. Mouthed the words my wife. Made me feel more loved and wanted and cherished than any ring on my finger or traditional vows ever could.
“Welcome,” said Elvis, whom we’d hunted down and flown in for the occasion. “We are gathered here today to join two hearts in everlasting love—again.”
Our guests laughed.
“I’ll marry this woman as many times as she’ll let me,” said Devlin.
My heart was too full to speak, but I knew he could read on my face what I felt.
Gratitude. Joy. Hope. Love.
The most daring adventure of all.
THE END