Page 20 of Fern’s Date with Destiny (Heart Falls Vignette and Novella Collection #4)
“I remember,” Tansy said, voice low, “when I first came to live with Mom and Dad. They told me if I wanted, I could choose a new name. Something that fit better than the one I’d had. I wanted a flower name, like all of you.”
Fern swallowed around the lump in her throat. She’d been too young for her own memories of the time, but she knew the stories and could picture it. Tansy at twelve. So wary, yet so hungry to belong.
“But I didn’t want something perfect,” Tansy continued. “So I picked a weed.”
“You didn’t pick a weed,” Fern corrected gently. “You picked a flower that grows wherever it damn well pleases. One that brightens up everything around it.”
Tansy’s eyes shimmered. “That’s nice. I’ll pretend you didn’t just call me stubborn.”
“I did,” Fern admitted, smiling. “But it’s true.”
Ivy lifted her cup in a toast. “To all of us. Stronger together.”
Rose reached over to squeeze her hand. “Thank you all for standing with me today.”
Fern’s heart felt too full to speak. She just nodded.
A knock at the door startled them. Walker poked his head in. “Showtime.”
They assembled in the front foyer instead of the garden—no one was brave enough to risk the storm.
Yet the tempest became a part of the ceremony in a unique and beautiful way.
Malachi stood to one side of the open double front doors, the rain pouring down outside in a silver curtain.
The foyer filled up fast, and the rooms to either side were filled with people who sat or stood to watch.
Guests lined one side of the stairs and leaned on the second-story balcony, peering over the railing.
Chance waited by the entrance, mustache and beard neatly trimmed, his hair combed into place, his grin unstoppable.
Cody stood just behind him, wearing his best jacket. His expression caught somewhere between wonder and something else Fern couldn’t quite name.
Then she figured that he was staring at her.
Fern lifted her chin.
Her shoes were slightly damp in the toes. Her hair was curlier than usual in the high humidity. She didn’t care. It wasn’t about how any of them looked right then. Not really.
The love filling the four walls of her home to overflowing was the star of the event.
She crossed the foyer and took her place opposite Cody, her heart hammering.
Malachi cleared his throat, voice warm and steady as he began the vows. “To love, and to care. To hold each other through uncertainty, through every minute of every day. That’s the promise being made today.”
Her father continued, then Chance and Rose spoke. Fern heard them, she did, but she couldn’t drag her gaze off Cody.
His hand twitched at his side. Not the familiar tremor but something different.
Slowly, deliberately, he lifted it.
A small velvet box sat in his palm.
He raised one brow, eyes locked on hers in a question so obvious it made her lungs seize.
Seriously ? she mouthed, her heart flipping.
His mouth twitched, the corner of it lifting.
She pressed her lips together to hold in the laugh. This man. This impossible, stubborn, wonderful man.
“You may kiss the bride!” Malachi announced.
The crowd erupted. Rose and Chance turned to each other, the whole world narrowing into that first sweet moment as husband and wife.
And Cody…
Cody didn’t hesitate.
He darted around the kissing newlyweds, straight into Fern’s space, and swept her off her feet.
She let out a startled laugh, wrapping her arms around his neck as he spun her in a tight circle, the foyer blurring around them.
Joy poured down the stairs, danced through the archways, and mingled with the claps and cheers.
When Cody set her back on her feet, his hands lingered on her waist.
His voice was quiet, rough with feeling. “I love you.”
Fern closed her fingers around the front of his shirt. “Damn right you do.”
His smile flashed bright. “I don’t have a speech ready. Or a plan. But I have this.”
He opened the little box.
Inside, a slim ring gleamed. A simple band of white gold, nothing fancy.
She stared at it, her heart thudding so hard it hurt.
“You really want to do this here?” she whispered.
“Where better?” His voice cracked. “I’m done trying to pretend I don’t know what I want.”
Fern let out a breathless, wobbly laugh. “Are you going to ask me properly?”
His thumb traced her cheek. “Marry me?”
She didn’t need to think. She pressed her forehead to his, eyes closing as the last of her fear and sadness fell away.
“Yes.”
The cheering around them swelled until it felt as if the walls might burst.
He kissed her, soft and sure, and when they finally pulled back, she grinned at him through tears.
“Someday,” she said, voice low and shaking with joy, “we’re going to have a long talk about your sense of timing.”
“Deal,” Cody whispered. His hand tightened around hers. “But before we have that talk, you want to get married right now? Since everyone’s already here?”
A giant burst of laughter escaped her. She took a moment to catch her breath before turning to her father.
“Daddy,” she said, her voice strong. “Do you have a minute?”
Malachi examined her carefully as Rose and Chance crowded closer, eyes wide.
“Fern and I would like to get married,” Cody said, meeting each of their eyes squarely. “If Chance and Rose don’t mind us stealing a little of their thunder.”
“About time, you eejit,” Chance said, but his grin flashed as bright as the lightning outside the open door. Rose threw her arms around Fern, hugging her tight.
Malachi blinked then broke into a broad, astonished smile.
“Everyone stay put,” he called to the curious onlookers. “Seems we have one more celebration to complete.”
Outside, the rain kept falling. Inside, everything finally felt right.
Fern had met her destiny, and he was perfect.
I hope you enjoyed this story for Fern and Cody. Thanks so much for reading, and if you do have a few minutes to leave a review for others, I’d appreciate.
Next up in chronological order is Sydney and Declan. Their secret trysts have been fun, but things are about to change. Get ready for two strong silent types to find a path forward in A COWBOY’S CLAIM .