Page 55 of Small Town CEO Grump

Tyler was going to be walking me down the aisle, and then taking his place next to Ryan. He had a dual role at the wedding, acting as both the son of the bride, and the junior best man. He had taken everything so seriously, and I was proud of him.

“I can’t believe you were able to plan this entire wedding in three months,” Shanna said.

She and the other bridesmaids were nervously waiting for the wedding to start. The photographer had already taken pictures of all the girls, and now we had nothing left to do but wait.

“I know,” I said, laughing. “But really, it was either do plan the wedding in three months, or wait for another year. We both know that once baseball season starts nothing else really gets done.”

Shanna laughed. “Absolutely!”

“And we didn’t want to wait another year,” I said.

“It’s the perfect time for a wedding,” Shanna said. “And then you get to go to Hawaii for your honeymoon, and that’s always amazing.”

“I know,” I said. “I am so excited. I have never been there!”

“You’re going to love it,” Shanna said. She leaned towards me and lowered her voice so that no one else could hear what she said next. “I know you aren’t marrying Ryan for his money, but it’s really worked out that he’s so wealthy.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

I knew she was right. I wasn’t marrying him for his money, but it really was helpful. We were able to get everything taken care of at the last minute without having to worry about going over budget. My parents had offered to help pay for the wedding, but Ryan said that he wanted to take care of everything. Instead, my parents were going to use the money that they would have spent on the wedding and were going to be taking Tyler to Disney World for the week that Ryan and I were going to be on our honeymoon. We had timed our wedding so that it would take place right before the week-long break that Tyler had from school.

“You’re going to be staying on Waikiki Beach, right?”asked Molly, my maid of honor and best friend since childhood.

“Yes,” I said excitedly. “I guess a few years ago Ryan helped the owner find and buy the property. We actually are getting to stay there for free, and the owner has arranged for us to have private surf lessons one of the days.”

“That is so great,” Molly said. “I am so happy for you. I know I keep telling you this, but I am truly just so happy for you. You deserve it. More than anybody I know, you deserve all of these wonderful things!”

“Thank you,” I said, blinking back tears and hugging her.

Just then the wedding coordinator burst into the room.

“Are you ready?” she asked. “It’s showtime! All of those baseball players have done a great job getting everyone to their seats, and we’re ready to get this party started.”

I smiled and looked down at Tyler. “You’ll have to tell your friends thank you for me, in case I don’t get to talk to all of them.”

Tyler nodded solemnly.

“I will,” he said. “I will make sure that they know they did a good job.”

When Ryan and I were planning the wedding he had asked if it would be all right if he involved some of his baseball players and some of the boys from Tyler‘s team as ushers. He said that aside from meeting me, getting back around baseball had been the best thing for him. He then said that I was responsible for him getting back around baseball, and he wanted to make sure we acknowledged that at our wedding.

I immediately agreed and thought it was a wonderful idea. The boys had all gone out and gotten new suits for the occasion, and they had even practiced how to escort people down the aisle.

“We’re ready,” I said to the coordinator. “Let’s do this!”

My parents came and hugged me one last time before my dad would walk my mom down the aisle to officially start the ceremony.

“I’m so happy for you, Sweetie,” my mom said. “This is the absolute right thing, and I think we all know it.”

I nodded. “I know. It’s amazing.”

“I am so proud of you for having the courage to trust him, and to allow all of this to happen for you,” she whispered.

“Thank you, Mom,” I said. “Thank you for everything. Thank you for all of your support, and just for everything.”

I turned to my dad, and didn’t even try to stop the tears.

“Thank you too, Dad. For everything. Thank you both for everything that you have done for me to make this day possible. For all of these years and everything you have done to help get me to this point. I appreciate it more than you’ll ever know.”

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