Parkerkissed her temple, his warm, soft lips pressing into her skin so gently and so sweetly that it made her sigh. “HappyNewYear,Kelli,” he whispered, and she knew it would be.
Epilogue
Parkerfelt like he’d waited his entire life for this day.Guestswere filing in and taking their seats on both sides of the aisle, his bride-to-be was in the bride’s room with his mom andValeria, he was surrounded by loved ones, and his tux fit perfectly.Theexcitement bubbling up in him to seeKelliwalking down the aisle was too much to contain, so he went from person to person, chatting, hoping that would use some of the energy.
Hisdad put his hand on his shoulder to get his attention. “We’regoing to go say hello to theGarlands.”Parkernodded and smiled as his dad andEthan, who was now as tall as he was, headed over to greet their family friends just asKelli’sdad,Richard, stepped over to him.
“Withas many last-minute hiccups as we’ve had, it looks like this is coming together.”
“Itis.”Parkerlooked around the venue that was filled with whiteChristmastrees, the silver and gold lights on them casting a warm glow through the room, and he definitely felt someChristmasmagic at work.Hehad always wanted to get married atChristmastime, and since that was when he andKellihad fallen in love, it felt exactly right.
Heturned to his soon-to-be father-in-law. “Thanksagain for agreeing to be my best man.Itmeans a lot to both of us.”
Richardnodded. “Thankyou for asking me.Itmeans a lot to me as well.”
Hehugged the man.Thetwo of them had come a long way in the past year.AlthoughParkerstill thoughtKelli’sdad had made a terrible mistake by not celebrating lastChristmaswith his daughter, he was hardly the only one making mistakes.Parkerhad been so worried thatKellihad been setting herself up to get hurt again, but he knew now how much he should trust her judgment on matters like that.Givingpeople the benefit of the doubt the way she did had made his life richer as well.
Besides, ifRichardhadn’t leftKellialone lastChristmas, the two of them might not have ever gotten past their fears enough to even go out on a second date.Somaybe he should’ve been thanking the man all along.
AsRichardwent off towardJoAnn,Parkerfound himself pulled toward the other three men in tuxes:Valeria’shusband,Rhett, who had become his best friend over the past year, andMeritandGraham.Heshook their hands and thanked them for being part of the wedding party.
Meritwas wearing a wedding ring now, which madeParkersmile.BabyHopewas now a toddler who was walking around, charming everyone in the room.Bothmen were beaming, yet looked so relaxed and carefree.
“Wereyou guys as wired asIam when you got married?Youlook so calm.”
“Iwas wired,”Rhettsaid.
“Me, too,”Meritsaid.
Grahamnodded. “Butbeing a groomsman is easier.We’repractically pros at it.”
GrahamandMeritshared a mischievous smile that made him wonder how many couples the two of them had a hand in getting together.Heknew thatJoyandThomashad gotten married in the fall, andAddisonandDavishad a date set for next summer.Threecouples getting married, all because of the sameChristmasretreat.AndMeritandGrahamhad been doing the retreat for years.
“Whendo you leave for this year’s retreat?” he asked them.
Meritanswered. “Tomorrowmorning, bright and early.Weare headed to theRoyalPalmagain, andIcan’t wait.”
“Me, neither,”Grahamsaid. “We’vegot another good group joining us.”
Parkerchuckled, wondering if any of the people in that group had any idea what they were in for.
Hefelt a buzz from his phone, so he pulled it out of his pocket and then excused himself from the group.Itwas a text fromKellithat read,I’mnervous.
Hetyped back,Havingsecond thoughts?
Ayear ago, he might’ve been afraid to ask that question.Butnow he could ask it, knowing that she would take it as a light-hearted joke.Nowhe was confident enough in their relationship, and confident enough to know that he always putKellifirst and would know if anything was going off track long before it became a problem.
KELLI:Haha.Notthat kind of nervous.
Comeinto the bride’s room?
PARKER:Youwant me to see you in your wedding dress?
Isn’tthat bad luck or something?
Buthe was already on his way to the bride’s room.He’dwanted this wedding to be perfect forKelli, but, of course, not everything went according to plan.Whenthe flowers arrived, they were missing a boutonniere, several trips had to be made to run back and grab something that was forgotten, one of the tiers on the wedding cake was dropped and practically exploded when it hit the floor, one of the band members got sick, and an entire tray of food was dropped at the rehearsal dinner.
Butthey pulled together pieces from the other flowers and made another boutonniere, retrieved everything they needed, made the cake look incredible with one less tier, the band found a substitute, they enjoyed the meal served family-style at the rehearsal dinner, and his bride was happy through it all, which was all that mattered.
