Total pages in book: 174
Estimated words: 172061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 574(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 172061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 574(@300wpm)
If she felt the thundercrack of devotion that struck through the middle of me.
If she knew the lengths I would go.
Her throat tremored as she swallowed, and she lifted that gorgeous face and walked down the middle aisle of the courthouse like she was actually walking down it to marry the love of her life.
The one fate had created her to be with.
My insides toiled, my stomach a riot, my heart beating out of sync.
Breaths so short and jagged they were the only thing I could hear.
That and her delicate spirit that seemed to be floating out ahead of her. Swirling around and wrapping her in ribbons.
My best fucking friend.
A bunch of oohs went up from the kids.
“Mommy, you wook so pwetty!” Eva called from where she was now sitting on Charleigh’s lap.
“The prettiest!” Colin agreed.
“Shh, you gotta be quiet for the wedding,” Addy corrected.
Adoring laughter rolled out of everyone. Everyone smitten with these kids.
Including me.
Though my adoring laughter was choked as Daisy glanced at them with reverence before she turned her gorgeous face in my direction and made her way down to where I waited for her.
Those cornflower eyes on me as she approached on those heels. She barely twisted her right ankle to the side, almost stumbling, though she righted herself quickly.
I couldn’t help but smile. Affection pulsing wide and free. My girl who could never keep her balance. My Wallflower who was so fuckin’ perfect to me.
Our appointment was at four.
It was the very second Daisy and I turned to face each other when the bailiff opened the door for the judge to enter and asked everyone to rise.
I might have been standing, but I was floored. On my hands and knees.
I might as well have been crawling for her.
Chaos a fucking tornado inside me.
Howling at my ears and whipping at my spirit.
“You may all be seated,” the judge said as he sat. A judge who had no clue that he had five brutal murderers within the confines of his courtroom. Men who’d slain and meted the hand of justice when it wasn’t theirs to give.
But we delivered it, anyway.
The little we had to give this world offered in the viciousness of our hands.
But standing there today with Daisy in front of me?
With my family surrounding me?
People I never even had the right to meet? People who loved me and supported me even when I tried to deflect their care at every turn?
Today, that offering felt different.
Bigger.
More.
The judge adjusted his wire-rimmed glasses on his nose.
“We’re here today to join Cash R. Cunningham and Daisy P. Adair in legal matrimony?”
He phrased it a question.
The lump in my throat bobbed as I swallowed, and I ground out, “Yes.”
“Then let’s proceed.”
He looked up at the small gathering. Their faces full of smiles and anticipation. The women’s expressions full of joy and bated hope, like this whole thing felt bigger to them, too, though it was knowing speculation that was carved in my brothers’ features.
Their staunch support no matter what.
I couldn’t do anything but reach out and take Daisy’s free hand.
“Oh,” Raven whispered, and she leaned forward with a giant grin and took the bouquet from Daisy. “I’m apparently sitting down on the job.”
She gave a wink as she settled back onto the bench with Otto and her daughter at her side.
Daisy laughed a small, tinkling sound.
Emotion so thick.
Disorienting.
A haze that blurred my eyes and spun my spirit.
I took her other hand, too.
Our fingers twined.
Warmth spread at the contact.
The judge cleared his throat. “You are present here today to witness the legal binding of Cash Cunningham and Daisy Adair. On the first day of their new life together as husband and wife. You’re here to celebrate them, to shower them in your love as they proclaim their own.”
He looked around as if he were seeking confirmation from them before he continued.
“Marriage is a sacred relationship that requires submission from both parties. It’s a rock on which you stand. Therefore, as you stand here before your friends and family, I ask you both to remember the promise you are making today. To love and to cherish. To support. To care and to heal and to stand firm through all phases of your life. Love will always be the foundation of a happy home, and today, you are here to profess that love.”
My fucking hands trembled with Daisy’s, and she was watching me with those eyes that could see so many things.
Right through to the depths of me.
This woman, who had always known me better than anyone else, yet still stood there in the veil of my lies.
I knew the judge was only reciting some generic script I picked, one I hadn’t read but had randomly selected ‘Option 2’ when I’d been making the arrangements.
It didn’t fucking matter.
I felt like the words had been written for us.