Page 38

Miles

“ Relax,” Doug says, brushing at my shoulders. “She’ll be here.”

I grumble under my breath and glance down at my phone again. Instead of a long engagement, Penelope and I agreed to a small, intimate, and fast wedding.

No need to wait months, we waited long enough to find each other, and I didn’t want more than a month to pass.

Today is the day—well, if the bride shows up.

Lachlan enters the room, closing the door quickly. “She’s not here yet, but I talked to Ainsley and she said it’s fine, everything will be okay.”

“Where is she?” I ask.

“You know, she didn’t mention it. My fiancée wasn’t very forthcoming with her information.”

I roll my eyes. “If she went to the falls ...”

Along with telling Penelope the story of the falls and how they came to be, Hazel also informed her that it’s tradition to go there on your wedding day and jump in with your bridal party.

Is that a thing?

No.

Am I going to kill Hazel?

Yup.

No matter how much I told Penelope that Hazel was fucking with her, she kept saying that other people also informed her, my sister being one, that this is a thing, and she didn’t want to break with tradition.

Everyone in my life sucks.

The door opens again, and this time it’s Everett. “You doing okay? I mean, I know getting stood up at your wedding isn’t easy, but I secured a back door where there’s no one that’ll see you.”

I flip him off. “Dickhead.”

He chuckles. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Well, I know one way to piss him off. “Hey, can you do me a favor, since you’re a groomsman and everything?”

“Yeah, what’s up? Do you need a getaway car?”

“Can you find Violet and make sure she’s not sitting alone? I worry since Hazel is with the girls.”

He glares at me. “Sure.”

I grin. “Thanks.”

I grab my phone, calling Penelope again, but it goes to voicemail. “Hello, my love, I’m here ... at the church, you know, where you’re supposed to be because we are getting married today. Not sure what you’re doing, but you know ... if you could get here, that would be great.”

I hang up and Doug chuckles. “She’ll be here. She loves you. Trust me, it’ll be fine.”

Trusting him isn’t the issue. It’s that she’s not freaking here.

Quinn enters the room next, because at this point it’s just a revolving door. “I called her again and Ashton, no clue what they’re doing, but if my wife has any say in this, it’s trouble.”

My phone rings in my hand a second later and I answer. “Hello?”

“Miles, this is Sheriff Smith.”

“Yes?”

“There was an accident, and everyone is okay, but we brought the girls here to be checked out just as a precaution.”

“Oh my God, is she okay?” I ask, grabbing my jacket.

“Yes, she’s fine. No one was injured.”

I hang up and I’m running to get to the hospital. It’ll take me fifteen minutes to get there. I’m rushing out the door when the guys call after me, coming with me.

“Miles!” Quinn yells .

I turn to face him, relaying what I know. I look to Doug. “Keep Kai busy. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“What do you want me to do with the guests?” he asks.

“Sing and dance, I don’t know, but I need to go,” I explain, and then I’m running out the door.

Quinn is in the car with me, and then his phone rings. “Ashton?” I can only hear his side of the call. “You’re fine? Everyone else?” A pause. “We’re on our way. Yes, dear, I know that you said you were fine and I don’t need to come, that you planned to order a fucking car to get you, but we’re coming.” Another pause, and I can hear her yelling at him. “Well, they already have bad luck, so what’s a little more?”

He hangs up and releases a heavy sigh. “They’re fine. They figured we’d never know and they would’ve just ordered a car to come get them, but I said we were on our way. Penny is just waiting to be released.”

We pull into the hospital, and I’m out of the car as soon as it’s in park. Both Quinn and I push through the doors, and then I’m at the front desk. “Penelope Miller.”

She types on her computer and rattles off the area she’s in.

I slide the curtain over and she’s sitting on the bed, in her wedding dress, with the girls around her.

“Hi,” she says, biting her lower lip.

“Hello,” I say, keeping my voice even.

“Can you give us a minute?” Penny says to the girls. Each of them heads out, leaving us alone.

I take a step in, my throat growing tight. “You’re okay?”

She nods. “Yes, they took x-rays because my wrist was hurting, but the doctor said it’s fine, just sore.”

I move to her, touching her hands, arms, and then her face. “You’re fine?”

“Completely.”

I rest my lips on her forehead. “I lost a decade off my life. First I thought you were going to stand me up, then I heard you were in an accident, and I just ... I couldn’t think.”

Penelope leans back to look at me, a sheepish look on her face. “You’re in a hospital. ”

I blink and look around. “I am. I didn’t even ...”

“Hesitate,” she finishes my sentence.

“Not even a moment. I had to see you, touch you, know you were okay,” I explain.

She smiles and takes my hands in hers. “There was nothing that was going to keep me from marrying you today.”

“Except the fact you guys hit a bus.”

“It was a tap, and even that wasn’t going to stop me,” she says quickly.

Life with Penelope will never be boring, that’s for sure. Even with the mini heart attacks on a daily basis and the fact that she’s going to cause me to go gray much too early, I wouldn’t change any of it.

I sit in the chair beside her, still holding her hand. After a minute the doctor enters.

“Ms. Miller, you are cleared to go. All the tests came back great. I’m going to sign the paperwork, and I’d like you to just follow up with your doctor.”

“Thank you,” Penny says with a heavy sigh.

“I hope you both have a beautiful wedding.”

He leaves and I stare at my soon-to-be wife. She swings her legs over the side of the bed and I grab my jacket, laying it over my arm. “Hopefully we still have guests at the wedding when you’re done.”

Her eyes widen. “Why?”

“Doug is entertaining them. It’s going to be a shit show, and they’ll probably leave just from his bad jokes and singing.”

She laughs softly. “It’s fine if they all leave. I only need a very small group of people there.”

“Me too. I just need you and Kai.”

Her eyes turn soft and then she rests her hand on my cheek. “I think there’s one more we will need with us.”

“Who?” I ask, confused because ... I thought we were having a moment saying the three of us are what matters, but clearly I’m wrong.

Her hand moves to her stomach. “It’s a good thing you got over your fear of hospitals, because I really didn’t want to have a home birth. ”

My hand covers hers, and my brain starts to catch up to what she’s saying. “You’re pregnant?”

“I am.”

“You’re sure?”

She laughs once. “I am. That’s why they brought me to just check on things. As soon as Ashton opened her big mouth, they demanded I come here.”

I stand, no longer able to contain the excitement that’s running through my veins. “We’re going to have a baby?”

My mind goes blank for a second, and then I start to see our new life. A baby. A little boy or girl who will have their mother’s eyes and be so loved. A child that will have a big brother to love them and protect them.

A smile forms on my face, and there’s not an ounce of fear. I always thought I’d be different, upset even, but I’m not. Not even a single bit.

“We are. Are you happy?” she asks with hesitation.

I kiss her softly and then move to kiss her belly. “You have made me the happiest man in the world. Now I’m going to carry you out of here and marry you before some other catastrophe happens.”

I lift her up and she giggles. “You’re supposed to carry me over the threshold at home, not out of the hospital.”

“I’ll take no chances with you injuring yourself. You worry about the baby, I’ll worry about everything else.”

“I love you, Miles,” she says, smiling at me.

“I love you more than you will ever know. Are you ready to spend the rest of your life with me?”

“Absolutely, and you?”

“Forever has never looked better.”

Next is Everett & Violet!

What happens when the right person comes back at the right time, but your life is a mess?