Intense and potent.
Just like the man.
More gorgeous than ever. Tall and wide and wearing a suit that made my mouth water.
Those eyes were fixated on me.
The color of a brand-new, shiny penny.
A coppered shimmer that ranged between red and brown and orange.
Something vibrated through the air that I could taste.
The same feeling I’d felt the first time I’d ever seen him.
An omen.
A premonition.
It was the knowledge that nothing would ever be the same.
Because I was stepping into forever.
My daddy smiled down at me as we hit the white runner, and we watched as Bailey danced the rest of the way down the aisle and right into Jace’s arms.
The man who adored her.
Loved her to the ends of the earth.
Filled her with hope and joy and the truest kind of devotion.
Her daddy.
He hugged her, kissed her cheek, and then shifted her onto his hip as the two of them grinned our way as we slowly approached.
The gentlest breeze blew through.
A whip of the wind. The sweet smell of roses riding on the air.
As if our dreams were swirling all around us.
Wrapping around us and holding us close.
My heart was nearly explodin’ by the time we made it to the end, and my daddy kissed my cheek, whispered in my ear, “I’m so glad he proved me wrong.”
He gave me an encouraging smile before he stepped away, and then I turned to face Jace and Bailey.
Emotion thrummed.
And Jace and I just stared.
Lost to the other.
To the culmination of this moment.
To us.
The way it was always supposed to be.
Finally, Jace slowly set Bailey on her feet beside him. She clung to his leg, grinning up at us as Jace touched my face and then touched my swollen belly.
Benton.
Our family was right here.
All of us present for this moment when our dreams became a reality.
Because this . . . my family . . . this place?
It was the completion of belief. Of love and hope and faith.
Jace wrapped his arm around my waist and I took Bailey’s hand as we turned to the minister, who started the ceremony.
And we stood there.
Our hands intertwined as we promised our lives.
“I will love Faith Linbrock for the rest of my life. Cherish her. Respect her. Protect her. I will never take for granted the love she has given me. I will never forget the devotion I have for her as I stand here this day. And I will never, ever stop dreaming with her.”
The minister turned to me, and I repeated my own. “I will love Jace Jacobs for the rest of my life. I will respect him. Adore him. Believe in him. I will never forsake the love he has shown me. I will never forget the way I feel standing here today, at his side, promising him forever. And I will never, ever stop dreaming with him.”
The minister looked between Jace and I. “I now pronounce you husband and wife. Kiss your bride.”
And oh, Jace did, right there in front of our friends and family. He kissed me in a way that he’d never kissed me before.
With the most devoted kind of passion.
With joy.
With belief.
That kiss?
I felt it like a signature across my soul.
Because this man had always been the greatest confession of my heart.
THE END