The Proposal(74)

The string quartet finished playing Canon in D and then changed over to the first strains of the Bridal March. “It’s show time, Emmie Lou,” Granddaddy said, a mixture of amusement and regret vibrating in his voice.

She drew in a deep breath and stepped forward into the aisle. As everyone rose out of their chairs for her entrance, her gaze honed in on Aidan’s as he finally took her in.

His mouth gaped open while his blue eyes widened. Her breath caught at his reaction. Instead of the cocky grin she expected at her appearance, surprise filled her when Aidan’s eyes shimmered with tears. Her heart shuddered and then restarted. In that moment, all she wanted was to power-walk up the aisle so she could get to him and throw her arms around him. She couldn’t imagine ever loving him more than she did in that moment.

An eternity seemed to pass before she reached his side. Aidan swept the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand. Although a shaky smile flashed on his face, emotion raged in his blue eyes. Without thinking, she let go of Granddaddy’s arm and wrapped her arms around him. “Oh Aidan,” she murmured, squeezing him tight.

“Emma, I’m almost speechless. I mean, you’re like nothing I ever could have imagined.” He sucked in a ragged breath and shuddered in her arms. “You’re like a fucking vision.”

Once again, a flashback filled her mind of the night she met him for their first baby-making session. He had crossed the crowded hotel lobby, kissed her, and then told her those words. “God, Em, I love you so much it hurts,” came his pained whisper in her ear.

“I know. I love you so much, too.”

The minister cleared his throat. “I don’t believe we’ve gotten to that part yet.”

Remembering where she was and how she was totally blowing the carefully scripted plan, she jerked away. “Oops,” she replied, a warm flush filling her cheeks.

Laughter rang through the crowd. Stepping back, she slipped her arm once again through Granddaddy’s. “I’m supposed to give you away, Emmie Lou, not have you run away as fast as you can,” he quipped.

She smiled at him through her tears. “You’re never giving me away, and you know that.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, Baby Girl. Especially not with you carrying that fine, strapping great-grandson of mine. He’s gonna need a man to teach him a few things.”

“Granddaddy!” Emma hissed as Earl winked at Aidan.

The minister once again cleared his throat. “Dearly beloved we’re gathered here today in the sight of God to join together Aidan Patrick Fitzgerald and Emma Katherine Harrison in the bonds of holy matrimony.” Emma began to tune the minister out and drown herself in the smiling image of Aidan before her.

She barely noticed when Granddaddy officially gave her away and left her side to go sit with Grammy. She even had a hard time focusing on her cousin, Dave, as he sang a twangy rendition of John Lennon’s Grow Old Along With Me. There was no one for her in that moment but Aidan—the man who had made all of her dreams come true.

Emma jolted back into reality when the minister called her name, and she then repeated her vows as he prompted her. “I, Emma Katherine Harrison, take you, Aidan Patrick Fitzgerald, to be my lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer until death us do part.”

In a booming voice, Aidan repeated his vows with complete and total assurance, which made Emma’s heart flutter. He then took her wedding band from Patrick, his best man, and slid it onto her finger. “With this ring, I thee wed.”

When she glanced up at him, he winked at her, and she couldn’t help grinning at the glimmer of his cocky side rearing its head. She took his ring from Casey and slipped it on his finger and repeated the words.

They then turned to the minister who smiled. “By the power vested in me by God almighty and the fine state of Georgia, I now pronounce you husband and wife.” He gave Aidan a pointed look. “You may now kiss your bride.”

“About time,” Aidan replied before bringing his hands to cup her face. His lips met hers in a chaste, yet passionate kiss. Thunderous applause echoed around them as Aidan pulled away.

Linking her arm through his, they started down the aisle and down the hill to the barn to celebrate.



***



As Dave and her cousins’ band perfectly harmonized the lyrics to her first dance song, Emma swayed in Aidan’s arms. Glancing up at the canopy of twinkling lights, she couldn’t believe how Marie and her team had transformed the barn into a winter wonderland. It was utterly breathtaking, and she couldn’t help sighing with contentment at how perfect everything had turned out.