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I pulled back, trying to give him space as our embrace grew more heated. “We don’t have to kiss right now. You’re hurt…”

“Don’t have to kiss?” Noah actually looked offended. “Do you have any idea how many times I’ve thought about this moment? I had big plans to sweep you off your feet. Clearly, that’s not going to happen right now, but my lips aren’t broken, and I’m more than happy to prove it to you.”

“Hmm,” I replied. “I could probably do with some convincing…”

He grinned as his lips found mine once more, and he firmly erased any doubts he might not be up to it. Despite everything we’d been through, it didn’t feel like the end of something terrible. When I was with Noah like this, it felt like the start of something great.

EPILOGUE

“How do I look?”

I gasped as my mom walked into the room in the most gorgeous long white dress. The silk glided effortlessly across her skin, and the simple silhouette was exactly how I pictured her when I’d imagined her marrying my dad. I’d been doing my best not to cry as we got ready for the wedding, but the sight of her looking so perfect had tears springing to my eyes.

“Don’t cry. You’ll ruin your make up!” Mom said. “Or worse, you’ll make me cry, and I’ll ruin mine.”

“We can’t have that.” I let out a laugh and lightly touched the corners of my eyes to stop the tears. “You look beautiful, and the dress is perfect.”

I’d helped her pick it out a few weeks ago, but it was one thing to see it in a store and something else entirely to see her wearing it with her hair and makeup done. The beaming smile she also wore was what truly completed the outfit. She’d never looked so happy.

When my father had asked my mom to marry him six months ago, it had been hard to imagine this day arriving so fast. Their lives had been so separate, and it felt like they had only just started rekindling their relationship. But it was amazing how much everything had changed and how quickly time had passed this year.

My mom was now living in New York with Matthew, and I had finally graduated from school. It had taken a while for Mom to recover from the fire, but as soon as she’d received the all clear from her doctor, she’d launched herself back into life with a vengeance. She was now a qualified yoga instructor, and my father’s treatment for her thyroid cancer was working well. The cancer was almost completely gone, and the doctors were confident she’d make a full recovery.

“You’re sure it looks okay?” she asked, biting her lower lip nervously as she glanced in the mirror

I walked over and took her hands in mine. “Matthew is going to lose his mind when he sees you. You look incredible.”

“Thank you.” She released a breath and smiled. “I still can’t believe this day is here. I know when we first set the date it seemed too soon, but to me, it felt like forever away.”

“I know,” I agreed. “But you and Matthew are meant for each other. And this wedding is long overdue.”

She let out another relaxed sigh and checked herself in the mirror once more. “This may sound silly, but it feels like fate guided us back to each other. The way I got sick and freaked out so much I ended up calling him. It all worked out in the end though, didn’t it?”

“It did,” I agreed. “And it’s definitely not silly to feel that way.” I felt the exact same about Noah. It was as though we were destined for one another, and no matter what we went through in life, I felt certain we would always find our way back to each other.

Not that I had any plans for us to be parted any time soon. We were headed to college together next month, and things would get really awkward if we broke up seeing as Matthew had bought us a place to live in together.

“Would you mind getting me a glass of water?” Mom asked. “I don’t want to run into your father before the ceremony.”

“Yeah, of course. Is there anything else you need?”

“Maybe you could check in on Matt and see how he’s feeling?”

“Consider it done.”

We’d all returned to Rapid Bay for the wedding and were getting ready in the house my father had purchased for my mom on the foreshore. My mom was in her room upstairs, and I found my father down on the balcony overlooking the ocean. He was dressed in a gorgeous black suit, and he seemed to be struggling to put his cuff links on.

“Here, I’ll help with that,” I said.

Matthew smiled and handed me his cuff links. “How’s your mom?”

“She’s doing well. Can’t wait to marry you, of course.”

He seemed to relax at my words, and he glanced down as I slid his cuff link easily through the hole in his shirt.

“I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve put these on before with no problem,” he said.

“It’s okay to be nervous.”