Page 53 of One Small Spark (Love in Sunshine #4)

WREN

This might be the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen.

Griffin’s eyes are full of tears as Hope walks down the makeshift aisle in her parents’ back yard. He’s watching her like she hung the sun, moon, and stars, and a few comets for good measure. Have some dignity, man.

Next to me, Lila’s a step away from blubbering.

I get it. Hope looks like an artistic angel, wearing a sleeveless gown with a puffy tulle skirt adorned with brightly colored fabric flowers stitched along the hem. It’s freezing out, so she paired the dress with a thin wool boatneck sweater that looks more stylish than I’ve ever tried to be.

Also, she’s probably the happiest she’s ever been. As she slowly glides closer to us holding her dad’s arm, I can see the tear tracks on her cheeks. She’s grinning so hard, her face is going to ache tomorrow. Seems over the top to me. It’s just the day marking her special love with Griffin .

With a tiny circle of her closest friends and family watching.

And she chose me to stand beside her sister to witness their vows.

Because we’ve known each other forever, and I would do anything for her.

I might be crying too. So gross.

I find Shepherd in the small audience. He knows exactly how to break me out of my melodramatic moment: he smirks. Why does the sight of him have my body breaking out in goosebumps? Sure, it could be the thirty-five-degree weather, but I wasn’t trembling before, either. It’s all him.

We’ve had one month of Shepherd-Wren bliss. People in Sunshine seem to think it’s some remarkable thing—and by that, I mean people think they need to remark on it. Constantly.

“Didn’t you used to hate him?”

“I bet you’re eating your words now, honey.”

“What took you so long?”

That last one’s the hardest to answer. The first two are easy: yes and yes.

But what took me so long to realize the guy who came into my bakery every week to antagonize me was actually the love of my life?

Not that I call him that. Way too sappy.

But LOML equivalent. Soulmate? Sure. That’s a more sensible description.

All I really know is that I’m grateful I finally wised up.

Hmm. Also, I apparently spaced out during the vows. Whoops.

Griffin dips Hope in a showy kiss, marking that they’re now Mr. and Mrs. McBride. They’re the cutest. I’m so happy for them.

Lila and I pair off with Grant and Griffin’s brother, Caleb, and follow the happy couple through the yard and into the house.

Lila and I go straight for the wood-burning fireplace in the living room.

Hope found these really stunning wide-neck cable knit sweaters for us to wear, which could have been almost warm except that our sea-green skirts are paper-thin satin.

At least she let us wear white Chuck Taylors underneath them in honor of the very chill day.

And sandals would have directly led to frostbite.

“I didn’t even know micro-weddings were a thing.” Lila’s mother has her arm around Griffin’s mom as they walk through the living room. “I had my doubts, but it turned out lovely.”

“I can hear you,” Lila says. She was Hope’s de facto micro-wedding planner. Whatever she suggested, Hope scaled down by a factor of ten.

“You’re a woman of many talents,” Kat McBride says to her.

Grant stands behind Lila, smoothing his hands over her arms to warm her up. “That you are, princess.”

Hope’s mom puffs up as she watches them. I can practically see the thoughts in her head. Tulle and lace. A hundred guests. Moonlight Lodge’s barn for the reception, festooned with imported flowers. I bet she’s hoping to plan a big blowout wedding next time around.

August runs over to join me at the fireplace. “Did you see me, Wren? I dropped the petals and carried the rings!”

“You were an excellent flower boy-slash-ring bearer.” I peeked from inside while he had his moment wowing everybody in attendance. Hope and Griffin don’t know any other little kids, so August got the responsibility of both jobs.

“Little babies like Colton can’t do that.” August’s smug expression says he doesn’t feel bad about taking a job from Griffin’s one-year-old nephew.

“At least you’re humble about it, kid,” Ian says.

Tess’s pirate looks dapper in a navy wool suit coat. It clashes beautifully with his red man bun and beard, but he makes it work. Tess obviously thinks so—she’s got both arms wrapped around him like he’s her anchor.

“Jodi deserves some praise, too.” Tess nods at one of Ian’s aunts, who officiated the wedding. “That was the most beautiful ceremony I’ve ever heard.”

Oops. I probably should have listened harder. Maybe somebody got it on video.

Jodi holds an arm out, and Amy slips against her side. They’re even more sophisticated than the rest of us, with Jodi in a tan turtleneck sweater and brown twill jacket, and Amy in a similar sweater dress. They’re like a matched set. “I’ve learned a lot from a lifetime of love.”

“A lifetime?” Ian repeats. “You two are barely older than I am.”

Tess gently pokes him in the stomach. “Which is how old again?”

Ian takes her hand and kisses her knuckles. “Tread carefully, angel, or I might throw you over my shoulder and take you home.”

“I want cake!” August pipes up.

“You’re right,” Ian says to him. “We need to eat some of your mama’s decadent creation first.”

August nods. “Then you can throw her over your shoulder.”

All these happy, sappy couples. So where’s my man?

Finally, Shepherd walks in from the yard trailing behind Leo and Charlie. Surprising no one, Leo and Griffin have become fast friends. Leo’s such an easy-going guy, he’s sort of the litmus test for people around Sunshine now. If Leo doesn’t like you, you need to reevaluate your life’s choices.

Leo joins our crowded circle around the fireplace. “Is this where we’re placing bets on who gets married next?”

He’s got his eyes trained on me, which is not cool. “Look at that one.” I point at Lila, who’s snuggled up to Grant. “They’re clearly the next marriageable couple.”

Ian huffs. “I want to take offense to that, but I’m not sure if I should.”

“Let it slide,” Tess says. “If you start taking offense to things Wren says, you’ll never be happy again.”

“Plus, that just makes you an easier target.” I shrug as if there’s nothing I can do about it.

“I think it goes Charlie and me,” Leo says, earning a swift shake of the head from his intended. “Then Lila and Grant.” He points at each couple in turn. “Then Ian and Tess. Then you.”

He points straight at me, which is honestly rude. I’m dead last? Seriously?

Also, why am I upset about that prediction?

Shepherd takes his place next to me, sliding his arm around my waist and snugging me to him. As far as comfort from weird insults goes, it’s my favorite.

“For the record, Leo predicts Super Bowl matchups at the start of every season, which is arguably the thing he knows the most about.” Shepherd shoots him an innocent look. “You’ve gotten how many right?”

“Not really relevant at this juncture,” Leo mumbles.

Charlie does him a solid and kisses his cheek. “We probably shouldn’t put bets on other people’s love lives.”

From the way this group of guys is sizing each other up, I’m pretty sure they’re going to do exactly that the next time they’re alone.

Now I kind of need to know the odds Shepherd puts on us.

Hope and Griffin walk in from a back room.

They lift their joined hands in triumph, their joy radiating through the house with the brightness of a thousand suns.

We applaud for them, everyone from Mom and Daniel, who are with the other parental types, down to August, who’s the most enthusiastic clapper.

“Thank you for joining us today,” Hope says when we finally quiet down. “You know we wanted something small and low-key. But we didn’t want to get married without all of you with us.”

“I did,” Griffin says. His brother wolf-whistles.

“You’re the most important people in our lives.” Hope’s voice breaks, and Griffin holds her close. She looks at each of us around the room. “Our parents. Our honorary aunts. Our siblings. Our very best friends in the whole wide world.”

Dammit, she had to get me crying again. Shepherd pulls me tighter to him, but that just squeezes out more tears.

Hope leans forward, pointing at August. “And, obviously, our little buddies who make everybody’s lives better just by being them.”

August cheers while Griffin’s brother raises his small son’s fist.

Hope dabs beneath her eyes with the backs of her index fingers. “We wouldn’t be who we are without you guys. We love you so much.”

“And there’s cake in the kitchen, let’s eat.” If Griffin had a mic, he’d drop it.

I like him for a lot of reasons, but we’re on the same page when it comes to getting mushy: not with an audience.

The crowd slowly moves from being too much for Hope’s parents’ living room to being way too much for their kitchen. I stay by the fireplace, still warming my ice-cold legs.

“Okay there, Krause?”

“I’m just cold. This skirt has a really high slit.”

He tilts his head to examine my long stretch of exposed leg. “Not high enough. ”

I cross my arms and try to give him my best unimpressed look, but he’s gone all blurry. Again.

He runs his hands over my back. “Are you sure that’s the cause of the tears in your eyes?”

“Shh.” I look past him, but nobody’s paying any attention to us. They’re too focused on getting to the cake Tess made.

“What’s going on in that beautiful head of yours?”

I thought I’d seen the last of this dumb weepiness when the wedding ceremony ended, but Hope’s speech brought it back to life.

“It’s just a lot of change over the last year for us girls.

We were all happy enough a year ago.” I cringe.

“Maybe not Lila, who’d just found out her ex was cheating on her.

Anyway. We were fine, you know? Solid sevens and eights on a scale out of ten.

And then you doofuses came along and showed us the scale really goes to fifteen. And you made us happier.”

I groan and tuck my forehead against his chest. “Never mind. I’m talking stupid. It’s wedding brain. Ignore me.”

He massages my shoulders, his low chuckle rumbling through him into me.

“It’s not stupid. I know exactly what you mean. I was a solid seven on the happiness scale a year ago, too.”

I tilt my face to look up at him. “And now?”

He smirks down at me. “Sixteen.”

He really is the best.

“I love you, Callahan.”

“Oh, Krause. I love you, too.”

He kisses me, pulling my body flush against his. He cups my jaw, almost speaking to me through every slide of his mouth. Whispering plans. Making promises. Giving me hints of things to come.

When he draws back, I realize Leo’s walking through the living room, a grin almost too wide for his face flashing at us.

“Just for that,” he says, “I’m bumping you up a rung on the marriage bracket.”