Love To Love You (Love/Hate #3)

by Isabelle Richards

  “Thank you, Bryan. We never could have done this without you.”

  He winks. “I know. Now go do me proud.” He flashes a signal, and the music begins. He sends Charlie down the aisle.

  I turn to Pat. “Ready?”

  He raises his eyebrows. “Are you?”

  “You’ll have to slow me down so I don’t go too fast.”

  He winks at me. “Don’t worry, I’ve got you.”

  “And now,” Bryan whispers, motioning for us to start.

  Following Pat’s lead, I slowly saunter down the aisle. With each step, my heart flutters faster than hummingbird wings. I’m sure I should look around at our guests, give a smile or nod, some acknowledgement that I’m happy they’re here, but all I can see is Chase. I’m reminded of all those pictures on the path. He’s the boy who would fight with me just for sport, who would go out of his way to make me miserable, but that boy grew up into the man who captured my heart.

  When we get to the end of the aisle, Pat lifts my veil and kisses my cheek, then delicately arranges the veil over my face again. “Since the day you were born, I’ve had a soft spot in my heart for you. And my heart is bursting now that you’re becoming my daughter. I love you.” He turns to Chase. “Treat her like the blessing she is.”

  “Always,” Chase says, his voice cracking. Chase offers me his hand. “Marry me?”

  I slip my hand in his. “It’s about time.”

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Chase

  The minister begins the ceremony, but I can’t hear a word he’s saying. All that exists in this moment is Ari. I’m so lucky I don’t have to say anything yet, because I don’t think I could find the words. The weight of this moment, the enormity of my emotions, hits me like a three-hundred-pound defensive tackle, rendering me stunned, stupefied, speechless. I expected to feel excitement and happiness, but nothing as powerful as this jumble of emotions.

  This woman—this amazing, kind, brilliant, supportive, talented woman—is about to join her life with mine. I can’t for the life of me figure out what I did to deserve her. I pulled her hair, put frogs in her bed, sabotaged her school elections. I broke her heart more times than I can count by being an immature, arrogant jackass. By all rights, I never should have gotten another chance with her. But whether by fate or destiny or simply by the grace of God, she came back into my life, and I held on tight and refused to let go.

  Somehow, after everything we’ve been through, we made it here—standing in front of the minister who married both of our parents, and all our friends and family. Arianna’s a part of every single happy memory I treasure, and she’s about to promise me a lifetime more. It’s overwhelming to say the least.

  The sound of the crowd laughing reminds me I should probably pay attention. The memory of this ceremony will be much more meaningful if I actually know what was said, and I’m going to have to say something pretty soon.

  “Arianna and Chase have written their own vows. Normally we would have gone over this at the rehearsal, but we can wing it. Arianna, I like to give the ladies the choice—would you rather kick or receive?” The minister laughs at his own joke. “Just a little football humor. I guess for you I should have said serve or receive, huh?”

  She flashes him her PR smile. I guess she doesn’t find him as funny as he finds himself. “I’m happy to go first.” She takes a shaky breath then looks me in the eye. “Growing up, you were my bench mark for everything. I could be anything, as long as it was better than you.”

  That’s my girl.

  The guests break out in laughter. A few try to hide their snickers. Others, like my father and grandmothers, don’t bother trying to mask how hard they’re laughing. Even through her veil, I can see her blush.

  “That sounded so much better in my head,” she says through her laughter.

  “It’s okay,” I reply. “Nothing wrong with calling a spade a spade. I felt the same way.”

  She clears her throat, trying to regain her composure. “I would never have admitted at the time, but the way you pushed me, challenged me, and demanded the best from me helped shape the person I became. The pro tour was a walk in the park after competing against you. And alll these years later, not much has changed. For one thing, I’m still faster than you.”

  “You wish,” I retort with a smile while the crowd cracks up.

  She winks at me. “We’ll have to agree to disagree on that one. My point is you’re still the driving force in my life. Over the past few years, you’ve been my guiding light when I couldn’t find my way out of the dark. You saw the hope when I was drowning in sorrow. You’ve shown me I don’t have to be perfect all the time, because you’ll be there to help me when I fail. I don’t have to be strong all the time, because you’ll support me when I’m weak. When I crumble, you find a way to make me whole. Contrary to everything I was ever told, you’ve showed me it’s okay to cry. My whole life I never cried, but look at me now.” Chuckling, she reaches under her veil to wipe her eyes.

  I know she wants to wear the veil down because I guess that’s what she’s supposed to do, but I’m sick of having a barrier between us. Praying to God, I don’t tear it or pull her hair or anything, I gently lift the veil and pull it over her tiara.

  “Thank you. Where was I… oh, being with you makes me a better person, not only because of the ways you constantly open my eyes to new things and support me, but because I see the amazing man you are and realize you deserve the absolute best in life. I promise for the rest of our lives, I will strive to be the person worthy of being by your side, and as you know, I have pretty high standards.” She swallows then continues.

  “I promise to never take you for granted, to take time each and every day to let you know how much I love you, respect you, and how lucky I feel to share my life with you.

  “I promise to be your partner—to collaborate, never dictate—and to always be considerate of you as my partner.

  “I promise to not only listen to you but always try to hear you.

  “I promise to never go to bed angry. Life is far too precious and short to let a day end on a sour note. All disputes should be resolved with NERF guns instead of hurtful words.”

  I choke on a laugh.

  “I promise to always make time for date night, even if we have to fly across the country to make it happen,” she says.

  “I promise that no matter how hard life gets, I will always stay and fight. I’ll never run again.

  “I swear to you that I will always be honest and open with you, even when I know it’ll be hard.

  “Above all, I pledge to you my unwavering trust, my undying love, respect, and friendship.”

  I blink back the tears that threaten to fall. Her words reverberate into the depth of my soul. I wish I could kiss her, but I think that’s frowned upon. Fuck it. I snake my arm around her and kiss her.

  The minister clears his throat. “Um, we haven’t gotten to that part yet.”

  I shrug. “Words that perfect needed a perfect response.”

  “That’s what your vows are for,” the minister replies. “It’s your turn.”

  Here goes nothing.

  “I’m going to be honest—when I agreed to write our own vows, I wasn’t exactly sure what I’d signed up for. I knew I was up for the challenge, because… well, I’m up for any challenge, but I may not have been paying the closest attention at other weddings I’ve been to. So I looked up wedding vows, and Google says I’m supposed to list my promises to you. A lot of the ones I read talked about promising to love you and be faithful, and I did that when I asked you to marry me. I like to think that by now, you know how much I love you and how my world revolves around you.”

  She nods. “Yeah, by the hundredth time you asked me to marry you, I think I figured it out.”

  I do a little fist pump. “Good, my plan worked.”

  She giggles and flashes me that smile that takes my breath away. Right now, her eyes are sparkling the way they do when she’s really, t
ruly happy—I want to remember this moment forever. This is the face of a woman in love.

  The minister clears his throat. “Chase.”

  I snap out of my daze. “Hmmm?”

  “Your vows?”

  “Oh, right. See, I’m just so smitten I got distracted.”

  The crowd laughs, and I try to remember what I was saying. Ari looks at me expectantly, and my palms start to sweat. Suddenly my tie feels as if it’s strangling me, and this jacket feels too tight. Man, where’s a breeze when you need one?

  What if I approached this wrong? What if I’m supposed to pour out my heart to her and tell her all the million reasons why I love her? Maybe I should have memorized sonnets from that project we were forced to work on together in freshman year of high school? That would have been romantic. But then maybe she’d remember that I stole her essay from the pile and threw it in the trash, making her get an F. It was probably better to leave that memory buried.

  She hands her bouquet to Charlie then takes my hand. The moment her fingers touch mine, the storm of panic in my chest dissipates, and I remember I know her better than anyone on the planet. She doesn’t want something out of a cheesy romance movie. She wants something us. I just have to speak from my heart. It’s never steered me wrong when it comes to her.

  “The advice Google gave me was to think about the life-long promises I can make to let you know what you can count on from me for the rest of our lives. So here goes:

  “I promise to try harder to throw my clothes in the hamper.

  “I promise to never let you win because I know you’d rather lose than win like that.

  “I promise to never fight just to fight because life is way too short for that. But I promise to never stop fighting for us.

  “I promise to always call you out, even when it makes you hate me, because I know deep down that’s what you need me to do.

  “I promise when I do something stupid, which we know I will, I’ll own up to it. It may take me some time to realize it was stupid, but as soon as I do, you’ll be the first one to know.

  “I promise to always have your back, but never to try to fight your battles for you. I know you don’t need me for that, but you do need me to hold you after a really long day.

  “I promise to never ask you to play fantasy sports with me, and I’ll try my hardest not to bore you to death when I talk about my teams. Heisman gives me way more sympathy than you do anyway, so you might be in the clear.

  “I promise to stop intentionally coughing during your backswing or to stop moving into your line when you’re setting up your putt. I don’t think I can honestly commit to both, but I’ll work on one or the other.

  “I promise to take you to as many Jimmy Buffett concerts as we can before he retires.

  “I promise to always come to you when I have problems, not just because you’re right most of the time but because I respect and value your opinion over anyone else’s in the world.

  I promise to give you foot massages whenever you want one.

  And finally, I promise you will never, ever have to plan another wedding. You are my spark, you give my life purpose and meaning and I swear I will spend every day of the rest of my life committed to making you as happy as you’ve made me.”

  Tears cascade down her cheeks. “I love you,” she mouths.

  “May I have the rings?” the minister says.

  Spencer reaches into his pocket, pulls out the box then hands it to the minister. The minister whispers a prayer over the box, then opens it and holds it out.

  This is where a rehearsal might have come in handy. Do I take Ari’s out first? Does she take mine? Do it at the same time? I could really use a playbook here. I look to the minister for guidance, but he just smiles blankly. Ari looks as lost as I am, so I take the lead and take her ring from the box. Then he offers the box to Ari and she does the same.

  “The ring is an ancient symbol of eternity, no beginning and no end, love that is given and shall forever come back around again. Circles can begin anew at any point, just as a good marriage will never break but rather will pick any point to renew itself. These rings you exchange are a symbol of your unconditional love and unyielding devotion to each other and your marriage.” He looks at us, clearly puzzled. “This isn’t Simon Says—you don’t have to wait for me to tell you to exchange rings.”

  Actually, that was exactly what I thought was supposed to happen.

  Ari holds up my ring. I hold out my hand, and she slips it onto my finger. Then I take her hand. She was so worried about her fingers being too swollen, but it slides on easily.

  “See, I told you. It’s perfect.” I bring her hand to my lips and kiss it.

  “By the power vested in me by the great state of Texas, I pronounce you husband and wife. Sir, you may now kiss your bride. Again.”

  I pull Ari to me and kiss her. This is the last woman I’ll ever kiss for the rest of my life. Hers is the voice I’ll hear every day. Throughout the years, she’ll share good news that will bring about some of my happiest moments, and there will be bad news that will hurt like hell. But the words coming from her lips will always help console me. I pull back and look at her smiling face. Every morning when I wake up, every night when I fall asleep, this is the face I get to look at. She is my future. I am one lucky bastard.

  Epilogue

  Arianna

  Ten years later

  The setting sun melts into the pink-and-orange sky. I drop my bag then sit at the top of the hill overlooking Mwiba, looking at the work we’ve done. This is the seventh village I’ve come to, and as always, I feel as though the village has helped me more than I’ve helped them. I’ve met the most amazing, inspiring people who help put the whole world into perspective for me.

  I was really nervous about coming this time. Typically, we come to a village and build housing and schools, but this time, Ariko had a whole new plan. We gathered scientists and farmers and brought them here to teach the people of the village new techniques in surface irrigation that can help them develop sustainable agriculture. We still did some building, and lots and lots and lots of digging, but according to our agricultural specialist, this village should be able to feed itself. If I build a school, I want to know it will last. Either we’ve changed the future for this village or we’ve wasted a ton of time, money, and resources, and worse, not helped anyone. Only time will tell.

  Chase sidles up next to me. “Here you are! I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

  I point at the camera around my neck. “I was taking pictures and soaking it all in before we leave tomorrow.”

  “I can’t believe how fast the time went. It feels as though we just got here.”

  “That’s because we were twice as busy as we usually are.”

  Chase rubs his shoulder. “I’m going to be twice as sore as I usually am. I’m getting old.”

  I gesture for him to turn around, then I rub the knot between his shoulder blades. “Between putting up all the sheds and getting the farmland ready and digging all those ditches, we really needed three months, not just one. Ariko and I underestimated what we were getting ourselves into.”

  He moans. “We should go on a spa trip when we get home.”

  “There’s no time. Between the combine, the owners’ meetings, and then the draft, our next three months are insane.”

  He glances over his shoulder at me. “Our anniversary. You still haven’t told me what you want to do.”

  I use the heel of my palm to get underneath his shoulder blade. “At this rate, we’ll be spending it in contract negotiations with Mick. Romantic, huh?”

  “He’s going to try to fleece us, you know that.”

  “He brought us two Super Bowl rings.”

  “But he’s got nothing left in his arm and he’s a head case. I think we need to shop around. I hear that Luke Winters is really unhappy at Indy.”

  I gently pull on his shoulders, tilting him back toward me. I give him a quick upside-down peck. “No
more shop talk. We’re only here for twelve more hours, so let’s enjoy every second of it. The team and all its headaches will be waiting for us when we get home.”

  He sits up then spins around. “You’re right.”

  “My two favorite words.”

  The squeals and laughter from the group of kids playing in the grass catches my attention. I pick up my camera and capture the moment.

  “They’re having fun,” Chase says. “I can’t figure out what they’re playing, but they’re having a good time.”

  I snap a few more pictures. “They tried to explain it to me earlier, and I couldn’t follow. That’s the thing I love about kids. Put a group of them from different walks of life together, and in no time, they’re the best of friends. They don’t need video games or technology. They just need some creativity, and before you know it, poof, they’ve come up with a game.”

  I put the camera down then sit next to Chase. He puts his arm around me, and I lay my head on his shoulder.

  “I have to hand it to you, you were right,” he said.

  A smirk spreads across my face. “Two ‘you’re right’s in less than five minutes? This is my lucky day. What was I right about this time?”

  He laughs. “I was worried about bringing the kids, but I think this trip has been so good for them. Even Aiden.”

  “Especially Aiden.” I point at one of the village boys attempting to sign with our five-year-old.

  Aiden’s face is lit up like the night sky. He’s grown accustomed to people being unable or uninterested in engaging him. The fact that this little boy is trying has probably made his year.

  “Serephina’s doing?” Chase asks.

  I nod. “She was bound and determined to have the whole village signing before we leave. Almost all the kids know a little. Not a ton, but enough for them to communicate with Aid.”