Then a thought came to her. She slid her hands down his leather jacket, pressing gently on his chest until he released her lips. “Carter, I still don’t think it’s right that the hotel is entirely mine. You should own it, too. It’s your money that made this possible.”
“It was a gift, Ellie. Not charity, like you thought.”
She pressed a finger to his lips. “I know. And I’m honored by your intentions, But I just don’t feel right about it. When the storm blows over, I’m going to call a lawyer and have your name put on the deed. It belongs to both of us—and I’m not taking no for an answer.”
“You’re too stubborn for your own good, you know that?”
Grinning, she shot back, “No more stubborn than you.”
He feigned an aggrieved sigh. “Looks like we’re meant to be.” He lowered her until her feet touched the sand. “But we won’t have time to appreciate the moment if we’re stuck out here when the eye of the hurricane passes and the inner wall hits.”
Ellie glanced out over the ocean. A huge funnel of black clouds headed their way moving at deadly speeds. She swallowed. “Good idea.”
Carter straightened and held out his hand. “Let’s go home.”
Perfection filled the moment as she slid her hand into his warm, strong grasp. Together they headed back to their hotel, back to where it all began, with the renewed commitment to a lifetime of love she would treasure forever.
Four months later…
Carter stood on the beach in a tuxedo, barefoot, anxiously awaiting his bride.
The weather had cooperated this spring, with April providing the perfect temperatures and atmosphere for new beginnings. The start of the rest of his life with the woman he’d never stopped loving.
The sun sank low in the sky, and the hint of a cooler night blew in with the ocean breeze. But the day’s warmth still lingered in the grains of sand beneath his toes.
Everything was perfect. Except…where was Ellie?
He glanced at the angle of the sun again, as its rays mingled with the clouds, spreading magenta and orange striations across the heavens. A sailboat’s silhouette coasted in front of the bright orange orb sinking into the water, reflecting a path of gold from the horizon to the shore. Musicians on the violin, base and cello provided the musical backdrop, and the strings’ harmonies soothed his taut nerves.
Why was he so nervous?
This was the day he’d been waiting for since the second he and Ellie locked eyes on the beach for the first time, now thirteen years ago. She’d been the only woman in his heart ever since.
He flicked a glance toward Matilda and James, their witnesses to their vows. They were gazing at each other, their age-spotted hands clinging tightly together. The epitome of life-fulfilling, enduring love. Warmth filled Carter’s heart. This would be him and Ellie in forty years. The notion filled him with a rush of love and gratitude.
The music paused.
Then the cello’s first strain of the Wedding March rang out, the notes sending tingles down his arms, reverberating through his soul. He looked down the white silk carpet that had been laid across the sand for Ellie’s walkway, scattered with pink rose petals in honor of his mother’s memory.
The moment he locked eyes with Ellie took his breath away. It was unexpected, but he couldn’t keep dampness from pooling along his lower lashes. Her amber eyes sparkled, and her smile lit up his world.
Biting his lower lip to keep the surge of emotion at bay, he watched her walk barefoot toward him, so graceful, a glowing angel in ivory, lace and silk.
So beautiful.
As she approached him, he held out his hand to her. When she accepted, he tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and turned to the clergyman.
Pride and devotion filled his heart until he thought it might burst.
Despite his strongest efforts, more stupid tears crept into his eyes as he gazed at her. Her profile was bathed in ambient light from the setting sun, her eyes shining brighter than the purest gold, her dark hair threaded with copper highlights, pulled halfback from her face, then falling in waves that framed her features perfectly.
The pastor began, “Dearly beloveds, we are gathered here today to witness the joining of these two souls in the bonds of matrimony…”
Matilda and James smiled at them knowingly, as if the eternal bonds of love had somehow transferred to them, a rite of passage. A continuation of all the love that came before and was now his and Ellie’s responsibility to pass on, the eternal continuum that spread into forever.
Carter’s sigh held reverence and relief. Every fiber of his being told him this was right. And that it was about damned time.
Some guys were dragged to the altar. Others were forced there because of circumstances beyond their control. Others did this out of obligation to things they may or may not believe in. But, in all the stories Carter’s male friends relayed, none of them talked about the rush of total adoration he felt for Ellie in this moment, so complete he could barely catch his breath when the pastor asked him to recite their vows.