Page 122 of Love in Fine Print

My dad was also there. Since finding out the news that he wasn’t my biological father, our relationship had actually gottena lot better. He’d explained how guilty he’d felt for keeping the truth from me and how as each year passed, the secret just kept growing inside of him like a tumor. He apologized for not handling it better, and I thanked him for giving me a roof over my head, clothes on my back, and making sure I always had everything I needed. He'd started going to AA and was three months sober. Jake was seated beside my dad, and I could honestly say that only having close friends and family here today did feel a lot more special.

This might just be a vow renewal, but it meant more to me than the actual wedding did. This time I was going to be making promises to the woman I loved. The woman I was going to spend the rest of my life with, not just a year.

Bailey followed Trevor and my heart sped up when Olivia appeared at the end of the aisle lined with rose petals that started at the entrance to the park. All of our closest friends and family stood, and Olivia walked toward me as soft music began to play from a portable speaker.

The dress that I’d had Bailey order, Olivia’s dream dress, fit her perfectly. She looked so stunning. As she got closer, I saw that there were tears in her eyes. I hoped they were happy tears.

I smiled at her when she stopped in front of me. “Surprise.”

She was shaking her head. “How did you…why did you…”

“Trevor and Bailey did most of it. I just wanted you to have the wedding of your dreams.”

Her bottom lip trembled as Declan welcomed everyone there and told them that they could be seated. He talked for a little bit about love and how he’d witnessed it grow between us. A single tear slid down Olivia’s face as we started to recite the same vows that we’d said a year ago.

This time the words meant more to me, to both of us. I felt myself tearing up when I heard Declan announce, “By thepowers vested in me by, well,me, I now pronounce you still husband and wife. Ben, you may kiss your bride.”

I cupped Olivia’s face and pressed my lips to hers as the small group cheered. The kiss was not the same one of discovery that we’d shared three hundred and sixty-five days ago, it was a kiss of home. This kiss was the promise of forever.

When we turned to face the guests who were all cheering wildly. I held Olivia’s hand and lifted it in the air, the same way I had at our first wedding.

“Dolly! No!” I heard Trevor shout as a flash of fur came barreling at us. Everything after that happened in slow motion. I turned to shield Olivia, but it was too late. Our seventy-pound princess had jumped up in the air, turbo-charged by the excitement of the group, and my bride was tumbling backward.

“Are you okay?” I asked as I knelt beside her and tried to stop Dolly from licking her face.

“I’m better than okay. I’m perfect!” she said through laughter.

“Yes, you are. You are perfect,” I leaned forward and kissed her.

With the help of Declan, we stood up and as our guests cheered, I pulled her into my arms and she whispered in my ear, “Thank you for being the man who made all my dreams come true.”

Pride swelled in my chest, and as I held her, I vowed that for the rest of my life, I would continue to be that man becauseshewas my dream come true.

EPILOGUE

Olivia

EIGHT MONTHS LATER

I sat lookingaround the Great American Music Hall and was amazed at just how different everything felt. The last time I’d been here was at my wedding. That day seemed like a lifetime ago, even though, in reality, only a little more than a year and a half had passed.

Time was a funny thing like that. It could stand still and fly by at the same time.

My phone buzzed in my handbag, and I hurried out of the room to answer my call. As soon as I stepped into the hallway, I pressed the answer button.

“Hey!” I smiled as Ben’s face appeared on the screen of my phone, and my heart squeezed in my chest. I missed him, even though it had been less than twenty-four hours since I’d kissed him goodbye. Behind him, men were running up and down the field. He was at training camp in Napa for the next six weeks.

“How was the wedding?” he asked.

“Beautiful!” Today, I was honored to be a guest at Holly and Marcel’s wedding. They were the very first couple that Ben and I set up. It was sort of serendipitous that they’d held it at this venue without knowing it was where Ben and I had got married. Either that or there were only a limited number of venues in San Francisco, and they’d also used Bailey as their wedding planner, and it was one of her favorites. Still, I thought it was sweet.

He sighed. “I wish I could have been there.”

“Trevor and I held it down for Ever After.”

“How are my babies?”

I looked down at my stomach. I was barely showing, but since we’d just found out last week, we were having twins, I knew that would be changing soon.

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