Today, as they'd spoken their vows, they'd been surrounded by friends and family. It had been a perfect sunny day for an outdoor ceremony, and their reception was being held at Celebrations-the first wedding reception his mother's new venue had hosted. And even though Kyle had told his mom to be a guest at the reception-and not the owner of the place-she couldn't help but fuss over the food, the cake, and the decor. It made her feel useful and joyful, so Kyle let her do her thing. He was all about making the women in his life happy.
The past six months had been busy ones. He and Ella had found a small place to rent on the outskirts of town until they found exactly what they wanted to buy-though, admittedly, he'd purposely stalled purchasing a house, using the excuse that they'd have more time after the wedding to give the search more of their focus and attention. But the drive into Chicago wasn't horrible, and he'd adapted his hours to miss rush-hour traffic to and from the city. He never stayed at his condo, and had recently put it on the market to sell.
Ella had named her storefront the Artisan Marketplace, and in the few short months that she'd opened the doors, the place was already profitable and growing weekly with new products for customers. She'd made the decision not to connect it to her father's grocery store, leaving it as her own separate space. Just last week, she'd talked to her dad about selling Fisher's Grocery, because she wanted to focus solely on expanding her business. Surprisingly, her father hadn't balked at the idea and saw it as a way to invest the money to fund his retirement, and even some traveling, too, with Betsy-the woman who was now living with him, not as a caretaker but as his significant other.
Yes, Ella and her father had managed to resolve their differences. It had taken time, lots of time, but once Charles realized that Ella was going to marry Kyle no matter how he felt about it, he'd begrudgingly come around. Kyle had a feeling that Betsy had something to do with that shift in attitude, but it didn't really matter who or how it had happened, just that it had. Even Charles' animosity toward Kyle had gradually diminished, and again, it didn't matter how or why, because it made Ella happy that the two men in her life could coexist peacefully.
As the song ended, someone tapped Kyle on his arm, and he turned to find the object of his thoughts standing there. Charles looked incredibly handsome in his black suit, and he'd been so proud to walk his daughter down the aisle. There had been tears in the old man's eyes, though his voice had been gruff when he'd told Kyle to take care of his baby.
"Mind if I have a dance with my daughter?" Charles asked, and Kyle wasn't going to refuse that bonding moment between the two of them.
Kyle lifted his wife's hand-God, he loved being able to call her his wife-and placed a tender kiss on her knuckles that earned him a smile. "I'll be back soon," he promised, then handed her over to her father so they could have some time alone.
He made his way to where his friend Connor Prescott was standing off to the side by himself, watching everyone else while he sipped a drink he'd gotten from the open bar.
"Congratulations, man," Connor said, slapping him on the back. "I'm really happy for you, but I have to admit that I'm starting to feel like the odd man out."
There was humor in his friend's voice, but also a note of truth, too, and Kyle understood why when he glanced out at the guests at his reception and saw all the pairings through Connor's eyes. Everyone around him was getting domesticated. First, there'd been Wes and Natalie-Connor's good friend and his little sister-then Max, who'd found love with a matchmaker, of all things. Their two partners were beyond happy as husbands, and both Natalie and Max's wife, Hailey, were even a few months pregnant at the same time-and Kyle was eager to start on a family with Ella, as well.
Even Claire and Nolan were paired off, and Kyle wouldn't be surprised if there was an engagement between the two of them fairly soon since they'd become so inseparable.
But there was one thing that Kyle knew to be true. Love was an unpredictable thing. You never knew when it was going to happen, or how, or with whom. A year ago, Kyle never would have envisioned his life with Ella after what had happened between them ten years ago, but here he was, married to his very best friend.
He glanced at Connor and imparted the best advice he could. "When you least expect it, it's gonna happen, so don't worry about being an old maid just yet," he said with a laugh.
Connor chuckled, too. "Maybe I should feel lucky that I've dodged the matrimonial bullet."