I followed her lead, taking deep breaths in and letting them back out. I needed to remember this when it came time to deliver a baby—she’d definitely be my wingman. No sooner had I calmed down than a knock sounded on the door. My heart rate accelerated at a pace that couldn’t possibly be safe, and when I saw Beau come through the room, I was terrified of why he was here.
He’d joked continuously about the church having bad luck and hoping Lee and I didn’t meet a similar fate on our wedding day. He’d even gone so far as to say that if anything happened and our ceremony didn’t take place that he’d never step foot in the building again. It was all fun and games to Lee and him—me, not so much.
“Wow, you look…amazing.” Beau leaned down and kissed my cheek, and I couldn’t help but notice the red patches on his neck. He turned to Peyton and whistled through his teeth when he took her hand.
I worried when he’d moved home that he’d continue on a downward spiral, but he’d dusted himself off pretty quickly and started doing accounting work for Josten White. The two now had some sort of co-firm going with legal and financial services I didn’t try to understand, and Beau bought a house a few blocks down the street from Lee about two months ago.
Shortly after he came back to Harden, so did Peyton. And even though he had been living with Lee and now had his own house, she never stayed with him. She always stayed at the Chastains’ in one of their extra bedrooms. I wouldn’t be surprised to get their engagement announcement when she finished school this summer.
“Beau, as much as I love that you’re here, why aren’t you with Lee?” The wedding was supposed to start in a couple of minutes, and he was the best man…and not with the groom.
He reached into the inside pocket of his tuxedo and pulled out a long, black jewelry box. “This is for you.”
I pulled the ribbon off, and just before I lifted the lid, I said, “Aww, is this from Lee?” With the top removed, I stared at what Beau thought was hysterically amusing—until I pegged him in the arm with my knuckle. “You think that’s funny?”
“Well, not after you hit me, I don’t. But come on, it was a little funny.”
I snatched the pregnancy test stick out of the box and stuffed it in his pocket like a flower. “Add it to your collection. Now out!”
He couldn’t stop laughing when he left, and Peyton covered her mouth to hide her grin.
“You think it’s funny, too?” My face flamed with embarrassment, knowing half the women in my family saw that.
“A little.”
“Ladies, it’s time.” My aunt Harmony gathered us around and organized the line. She’d somehow designated herself my wedding planner, but I didn’t care. It kept Mama occupied and gave her someone to enjoy this with and, God knows, it wasn’t my cup of tea.
I messed with the neckline of the dress all the way down the hall to the entrance to the sanctuary. And when the pipe organ started to play, and the doors opened, everything else in the world faded away. My eyes locked with Lee’s, and each step I took was one closer to being his wife. Never, in all the years I’d known him, had I ever seen him cry, but standing at the front of the church, he didn’t hide the emotion that trickled down his cheek. His smile radiated, and the only thing I saw was how much he loved me.
I couldn’t recite a word of the ceremony if my life depended on it. I didn’t even remember saying, “I do.” The only thing I heard was the man of my dreams tell me he loved me and call me his wife.
My mama had control over the ceremony, and I’d insisted on taking care of the details of the reception. She wanted a formal church wedding, and she got one. I wanted a pig roast and barbeque that had been smoking for days, and Lee made my wish come true. It hadn’t taken either of us more than about ten minutes to change and join—what seemed like—everyone in Harden on the church lawn. There were tents everywhere and smokers all over the parking lot. The diner catered all the sides, and a local band played live music—an equal mix of the things I loved and country. I didn’t want to know how Lee talked the church elders into letting Sadler’s serve beer and wine in the church parking lot, so I didn’t ask.
At the end of the night, Lee and I swayed under the stars in jeans and T-shirts…and bare feet.
“Did you have a good time, sweetheart?” His breath was warm against my ear when he leaned down so I could hear him.
I stared up at the most gorgeous man I’d ever laid eyes on and confessed, “I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
“Did you take the ring off to read the inscription?” He’d told me about it when we first got engaged, although I hadn’t thought about it since.
I loved that our rings had been his parents’, and Lee had asked that we not have them polished or the inscriptions removed. I thought it was the least we could do to honor his mom, and God knows how much I loved his dad. I’d do anything for George Carter.
“Honestly, I hadn’t thought about it with everything going on.”
We stopped dancing, and I stepped back to pull the rings off. His hands lingered on my hips, and I tried to angle the ring to see the words in the dark.
My one…
Knowing his said And only finally made sense. It took putting them together to be meaningful, but it also made it that much more powerful. I could only pray that the two of us had a bond as strong as his parents’.
I slid the band back on my finger and then the diamond ring followed. “Do you wonder if they ever wanted to amend that after you were born?”
He laughed and shook his head. “Nah, I’ve never thought about that. Why?”
I reached my hand behind my back, pulled the stick out of my pocket, and handed Lee the pregnancy test I’d been hiding. I’d thought for sure Lee already knew when Beau gave tried to give me an identical one just before the wedding.
He turned the test over in his hand like he’d never seen one before. “What’s this?”
“What if I’m no longer one?”
His pale-green eyes searched my face for an answer, although he hadn’t asked a question. Still holding the test in his hand, he pinched my cheeks and kissed me hard. Without saying a word, he grabbed my hand and started to run toward the doors to the church.
“Lee, slow down. I don’t have shoes on.”
He stopped, bent over, and tossed me over his shoulder and took off again. He didn’t stop until we reached the bathroom—the same one where Felicity met her fate. Lee slung the door open and set me on my feet inside.
“Have you already taken one of these?” He held it up like I wouldn’t know what he referred to without a visual.
I pressed my lips between my teeth and shook my head. “I didn’t want to find out for sure until after we were married.”
“Does Peyton know?”
I nodded. “But I promise, Beau doesn’t.”
I held my hand out, and he gave me the test. We hadn’t talked about kids—hell, we’d never talked about protection, either. Hence the reason we were standing in a church bathroom about to take a pregnancy test on our wedding night.
“What are you waiting for?”
I couldn’t tell if he was anxious because the thought excited him, or terrified of what it might mean. At this point, it didn’t matter. It was what it was. I stepped into the stall and realized once I sat down that he was peering over the door to watch me.
“Oh my God. Stop.”
“I want to be a part of it!”
“You were a part of everything up to this point. I promise, you won’t miss anything if you don’t see me pee on a stick.”
“Fine.”
I’d no sooner flushed the toilet than he reappeared above me and held his hand out. I rolled my eyes and passed him the test. I didn’t need a test to tell me I was pregnant; my body had given up that secret a couple of weeks ago. Lee, on the other hand, had just gotten one hell of a wedding present.
He stared at the window, waiting for the digital reading to appear, while I washed my hands. And when I turned around after
grabbing some paper towels, I saw my husband shed a tear for the second time in my life.
Lee held the pregnancy test a few inches from his face, smiling like a jackass eating briars. He dropped his hands, stalked toward me, and swept me into his arms. “I didn’t think anything could make me happier than marrying you, but sweetheart, you always manage to surprise me.”
About the Author
Stephie Walls is a lover of words—the more poetic the better. She lives on the outskirts of Greenville, South Carolina in her own veritable zoo with two dogs, three cats, the Mister, and Magoo (in no preferential order).
She would live on coffee, books, and Charlie Hunnam if it were possible, but since it’s not, add in some Chinese food or sushi and she’s one happy girl.
For more information:
www.stephiewalls.com
[email protected]
Also by Stephie Walls
Bound (Bound Duet Book One)
Freed (Bound Duet Book Two)
Redemption
Metamorphosis
Compass
Beauty Mark
Fallen Woman
Strangers
chimera
Girl Crush
Unexpected Arrivals
CO-Written with Leddy Harper as STELLA
Third Base
Home Run King
Label Me Proud Page 30
