Page 97 of Waiting For A Girl Like You (Haven House #4)

“We’re going to be fine.” Rowan scanned the kitchen for a diaper bag. “If he gets hungry, though… do I have like a bottle or something?”

“I’m the bottle,” Evie said, coming into the kitchen and looking radiant in a lavender halter dress. “And there’s a chair for me, right?”

“There is,” Samuel mumbled, having frozen when his wife walked in. “That color… uh , looks really good on you.”

Evie fluffed her long, wavy hair to fan out across her shoulders, smirking at her husband. “You’re staring at my boobs, Samuel.”

He was, and Samuel didn’t bother to deny it. “Sorry.”

“No, you’re not.”

“You’re right,” Samuel sighed, now openly staring. “I’m definitely not.”

Josie entered with Harper in tow, and Simone followed with Theo. “Let’s go, you two,” Josie ordered Samuel and Evie before turning to Rowan. “You sure you’re good with Albie?”

“If I’m not, I’ll hand him to one of you.”

Albie’s grandmothers, parents, and sisters hesitated for a second, but then the group must have collectively decided he was going to be fine with the newest Fairweather and left.

Lenora and Izzy came rushing through next, with Lenora pausing to check on Albie. “I can take him if you need me to?”

Rowan smiled. “I’ve got him.”

“Is Abe already outside?” Izzy asked. “There’s a massive root under the oak that catches his wheel. I want to make sure he doesn’t have any issues setting up.”

“All the guys are out there already. I’m sure they’ve got it.”

Izzy made a noise, and Rowan couldn’t tell if what he had said was okay with her or not, but the two women were out the door, rushing off to see if they could help.

Annabeth came in last, wearing the same dress as Evie, and Rowan’s jaw dropped.

“Good God.”

“Jamison knows how to pick out a dress.” Doing a quick glance down the hall to make sure no one was there, Annabeth shimmied for him. “I forgot how good my boobs look in this.”

“Jesus, Annabeth,” Rowan whispered, utterly mesmerized. “Not in front of the baby. ”

She squeezed his butt, knowing he couldn’t reciprocate due to being the responsible baby-holding adult in the room. “You’re keeping that dress on until I take it off you,” he growled when she arched up on her toes for a kiss. “Understand?”

Her teeth grazed his bottom lip. “I understand. Are the lanterns outside?”

“They are.” He tried to deepen the kiss, but she stayed just out of reach. “Oh, it’s like that, huh?”

“It is.” She smacked his ass on the way out. “I’m going to check the setup. See you outside.”

The woman had the nerve to swish her full hips as she left, and Rowan exhaled slowly, trying to will his thoughts into more respectable territory.

But when this was over, she was getting bent right the fuck over while wearing that dress.

Ben escorted Jamison into the kitchen not long after Annabeth left. Bernie was behind them, still wrestling with the veil that just wouldn’t stay put. The wedding dress was like nothing Rowan had ever seen, but, to be fair, he wasn’t exactly well-versed in bridal fashion.

He grinned. “You clean up nice.”

Jamison practically glowed. She was already a stunning woman, but like this? Poor Liam didn’t stand a chance.

“And you look good holding a baby,” she pointed out. “Are we ready?”

Bernie winced at the veil. “I’ll go check.”

The back door had been left partially open, and Bernie slipped through it, letting the screen door creak softly behind her. When things had calmed down, bringing back the screen door had been Simone’s first demand, and Rowan had hung it back up just that morning.

“You look beautiful, Princess.”

“Thank you, Daddy.”

Ben had tears in his eyes, and as soon as Rowan realized this, he made his way across the kitchen to allow father and daughter some privacy.

“I’m going to find a spot near Evie, so I can hand off this little guy when it’s time.”

He was careful not to let the screen door slam on his exit.

It was about time to replace the thing, and he made a note to see if Annabeth wanted to try going to a hardware store with him later in the week.

One of the sinks upstairs also needed an updated faucet since it was beginning to drip.

He could easily fix it; he only needed a few parts and some tools.

Then there was that cracked board on the side porch, and some of the stucco around a column looked like it was about to go, so he should get supplies for that, too.

Thinking through the to-do list, he paused on the walkway leading to the Marriage Oak. The candelabras lit the way, but sunrise was readying itself to begin, and Rowan turned to face Haven House, an idea striking.

“Yeah,” he said to himself and Albie, who was now staring at him as if trying to figure out just who the hell was holding him. “That would work.”

Haven House deserved to be loved. It deserved a long life where those who lived within her walls felt safe.

It deserved laughter and peace where children could play, and dogs ran around in the yard.

An existence where there were always one too many books on the library shelves and where you could spend stormy afternoons in the conservatory watching the rain fall.

Cats should forever be sunbathing in the windows, and plants should always fill every empty corner.

Haven House deserved to be lived in again. Its fate should be one filled with happiness.

And maybe it shouldn’t be the Fairweathers who held it any longer. Maybe their time here had come and gone. Sure, Simone owned Haven House in name, but the Fairweathers financially maintained it, and maybe that shouldn’t be the case.

Maybe it was time for a changing of the guard.

Bernie hustled past him. “We’re bringing Jamison down now.”

Rowan nodded, eyes still on Haven. “Come on, Albie. Let’s go get your aunt married.”

Albie was asleep again by the time they reached the gathering spot under the oak.

Rowan found a place on the direct opposite side of the aisle from Lenora and Selah, who stood with Xavier as he held up a speaker.

Not far from them, Annabeth and Evie waited with glowing lanterns while Holden moved around the group, snapping photos with his phone.

Theo and Harper also held matching lanterns, with Theo dancing to music only she could hear. Simone sat with Josie—in the front row, of course—and Will sat in one of the two chairs on what Rowan would guess was the groom’s side.

And there, beneath the branches of the Marriage Oak, stood Liam. Samuel and Abe flanked him, but his attention was fixed solely on Ben escorting Jamison across the lawn.

“Wait! Let me start the music,” Selah shouted loud enough for his father and sister to hear several yards away. “X-Man, hold it up!”

Xavier raised the speaker high, and the quiet night was filled with music. The song choice made Rowan snort. “Is that the Twilight soundtrack?” he whispered to Albie. “Yeah, that’s it. My little sister went through a vampire phase, and I would know that song anywhere.”

Even in the partial dark, Rowan could see Ben cracking up and Selah beaming with pride at his musical selection. Samuel wasn’t much better, swaying weirdly as he yelled across the yard at his sister. “A promise is a promise, Jamison.”

“I love it!” she shouted back.

Theo and Harper went first, their metal lantern clanging loudly. Rowan noticed neither had an actual candle, but rather fake ones that banged around behind the glass. In their pockets were fake flower petals, which the girls sprinkled as they went, creating a crooked path for others to follow.

Once Harper and Theo completed their task, Xavier sat the speaker on the ground and made his way down to stand next to Samuel.

Annabeth and Evie were next, walking side by side with their lanterns, and even though the setting probably wasn’t exactly what Jamison likely had planned out in her mind with a beach wedding, the whole thing was coming off pretty nice in Rowan’s opinion.

“Okay, little man,” he whispered to Albie when Evie sat in her chair next to Josie. “It’s time to go back to your mom.”

Sneaking over, Rowan handed Albie off to Evie, carefully moving around Holden taking pictures and Izzy filming the entire thing. Evie mouthed her thanks, and he returned to his spot just as Jamison reached the point where their makeshift aisle of candelabras and petals thrown about by Theo began.

The music switched to a slower tune—still from the Twilight soundtrack—and while he’d been to plenty of weddings in his life, Rowan had to admit he had never seen a bride and groom stare at each other as intensely as Liam and Jamison were currently staring at one another now.

Above them, an easy gust of wind tangled with the moss dangling from the oak’s branches, and Rowan noticed how the air suddenly held a particular scent he couldn’t quite place.

Something floral for sure, and maybe with a hint of vanilla as well.

In her chair, Evie closed her eyes briefly and lifted her face to the breeze, allowing it to sweep through her hair before moving through the crowd to Jamison, where it caught her veil and lifted it to flow behind her.

Rowan smiled at how the moment came off as enchanting.

Enchanting.

That was it.

Enchanting was the word he’d been looking for this whole time. Annabeth had once called Haven House magical, but that wasn’t it. Magic wasn’t real. Magic belonged to fairy tales and bedtime stories, but this wasn’t a fairy tale. This was the real world.

But enchanting? He glanced back at Haven House. Yeah, that was more like it. Haven House was enchanting, even with all her faults. She beguiled any who entered, leaving them with the memory of her to carry through life.

For better or for worse.

Ben stepped aside when he and Jamison reached Liam and took a seat, his own hair becoming ruffled in the dancing breeze. He wasn’t hiding his tears, swiping at them as Simone leaned in, resting her head on his shoulder.

Jamison didn’t have a bouquet, immediately taking Liam’s hands once Abe began his speech. And when it came time for the vows, neither the bride nor the groom needed notes, both obviously having memorized what they wanted to say.

Liam spoke first, his voice rough with emotion.

“Jamison, too many years ago, I walked through the door of Haven House not expecting to find the most beautiful woman ever to exist waiting there. From the moment I tripped my way over to you, I knew you were meant to be mine. You are the other half of me, the piece that makes me whole, and I will never allow a day to pass where I don’t show you how much I love you. ”

Bouncing on her toes with excitement, Jamison smiled through her tears.

“Liam, from the moment you came to Haven House, I knew you were made only for me. You might have tripped, but I was the one who tumbled. I tumbled straight off a cliff and into love with you. You’re my best friend, the love of my life, and my always.

The years will pass, and we’ll change and grow old together, but at our core… we’ll always be us. Soulmates.”

Abe took a deep breath, his ceremony notes at the ready. “Okay, repeat after me. I, William, take you, Jamison, to be my wife—to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part. This is my solemn vow.”

Samuel passed the ring into Liam’s waiting palm, and with his eyes never leaving his bride, Liam repeated the vow as he slid the band onto Jamison’s finger.

“I, William, take you, Jamison, to be my wife—to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health…”

Abe’s eyes went wide. “You forgot a part,” he whispered loudly. “Say until death do us part. This is my solemn vow.”

The first rays of sunrise lit the horizon behind them, casting shades of pink and purple with just a smidge of burnt orange through the trees. The growing light illuminated the Marriage Oak, giving it an otherworldly glow that seemed to rise from the giant tree’s roots.

“I didn’t forget it.” Liam shook his head. “I’ve been waiting far too long to make this woman mine, and death sure as hell isn’t going to keep me from her.” His grin widened when Jamison’s bottom lip began to tremble. “This is my solemn vow.”

“Uh, okay.” Abe shifted to face Jamison. “It’s your turn, Jamison.”

Abe ran through the vows for Jamison to repeat, and just as Liam had, she omitted the until death do us part line. Crying when finished, she spoke the last part loud and clear.

“This is my solemn vow.”

“Then by the power vested in me as soon as the County Clerk’s office opens,” Abe said, closing his notebook. “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the... oh, my God , Jamison. Let me finish!”

Falling into Liam’s arms, Jamison kissed her husband like they’d already lived a thousand lives together. Like this moment was just the next chapter in a story they would never stop writing .

Applause broke out, and as everyone cheered, Rowan caught Annabeth's gaze. They would be the next to stand under the Marriage Oak. The next to swear their eternal love for one another right here at Haven House.

Life with her would never be dull. It would be a loud existence mixed with soft moments just for the two of them to enjoy. It would be tackling the tough days together, battling frustrations and roadblocks they might never see coming. It would be loving each other without an end in sight.

But for the most part, it would be enchanting.

With Annabeth Howard—here in the world of Haven House—life would forever be enchanting .

And he couldn’t wait for their story to start.