Page 66 of Christmas for Keeps

“No rear-ending.” He leaned close to my ear. “Until we get home tonight.”

Epilogue

July: Seven Months Later

Zachand I love starting our day with a beautiful view, so we made sure to get there before dawn. We sat in camping chairs, gazing into the vast darkness. As the first light appeared, the valley below transformed into a jumble of shadows. While we ate our fast-food breakfast, the rays of light merged into a stunning orange glow, signaling the sun’s arrival. It emerged like a magnificent fireball, ascending higher and higher in the sky. Hiding behind an orange veil, the sun grew so intense that the veil fractured into countless shades of mauve and pink.

We toasted the new day with travel mugs full of coffee. As the pinkish hues gave way to daylight, rows of majestic blue-green mountains stretched out in the distance, one after another. The valley between them and Mount Mansfield, where we sat, was a kaleidoscope of vibrant shades of green.

“It was a great idea to get married up here, babe,” he said with a big smile.

“Nothing like starting a new phase of our life at the top of Vermont’s highest peak.” I reached for his hand and brought it to my mouth for a kiss. “Do you have any idea how happy I am to be marrying you?”

He looked into my eyes. “I just might. We’ve waited a long time for this.”

“Seven months,” I said, “since that amazing holiday.”

“It’s been longer than that. Four years of dating, four years of insanity, and now seven months of bliss.”

“Remember when we had that party before our big camping summer? Brittany and Lauren thought we’d come back married that year.”

He sipped his coffee, then pressed his lips together. “Know what? I’d have married you back then.”

“I’d have been up for it, but I think it’s good we waited. We’re grown now. We’ve been through enough bullshit to know what’s important, to be certain of how lucky we are.”

We shared a sweet kiss. Afterward, we sat in silence, surrounded by the nature we loved so much. We lost track of time until a voice made us jump.

“Yo, yo, yo! Company’s here.”

We got up and hurried to greet the new arrivals. Zach’s former fraternity brother, Jeff, had brought his fiancée. My friends Lauren and Brittany had taken time off from their restaurant in Philly to come and witness our big day. Abby and her new husband, who had flown in from Chicago, were with them.

We all sat down to enjoy some time before the others arrived. Zach and I offered them our chairs, but they insisted on sitting on the ground.

“The grooms should sit on their thrones,” Jeff joked. “You’ll have your fans at your feet.”

Zach waved him off. “Har, har. Well said by New York’s crown prince of wealth investment. How’s your dad doing, anyway?”

One or two at a time, our other guests joined us. Liz and Kerry arrived first, followed shortly by a gay couple who had been Zach’s best friends in grad school. Then came my friend Kenny from Boston, who had brought his current boyfriend. The officiant, a judge Liz knew, showed up with water bottles for everyone. Zach’s parents were the last to arrive; we’d expected them to be late since they had to stop at a restaurant to check last-minute details for the post-wedding lunch they had arranged.

“What a nice-looking group,” Zach’s dad said. “I’m pretty sure this the first wedding I’ve ever been to wearing shorts and a polo shirt.”

“I’m certain I’ve never dressed so casually for a wedding,” his mom added. “It’s perfect, though. No building in the world could compete with this view, and who wants to dress up to climb to the top of a mountain on a summer morning?”

Zach chuckled. “Hey, Con and I are casual guys. Why be formal if you don’t have to? It would feel like someone else’s wedding.”

And there it was. This was our big day, and we wanted everything about it to reflect us. We loved the outdoors, we hated coats and ties, and we only wanted the people closest to us to be witnesses. Matching khaki shorts and the same style polo shirt in different colors were as close to formal as we’d get.

The judge said it was time to get started, and we took a few minutes arranging ourselves. Zach and I stood side by side where we could see the view, with the judge in front of us and our guests in a semi-circle behind us. The judge started the ceremony, and after he said a few words, it was time for our vows.

Zach and I turned toward each other. I’d memorized what I wanted to say because there was no way I wanted to miss out on his eyes while I swore my eternal love. After flashing him a smile and taking a deep breath, I began. “I needed help the night we met, and there you were. Without you, who knows where I’d have ended up?” Lauren and Brittany, who knew he’d found me drunk and took me home, laughed, and I took the opportunity to breathe. “I needed help when Dad got sick, and you didn’t let me down. Without you, who knows how I’d have gotten through it?”

“Babe,” Zach mouthed, surely thinking of what had come after.

I gave a little shake of my head and continued. “I needed help when we met again during the holiday blizzard, and you came to the rescue. Without you, who knows what might have happened to me?” I extended both hands, and he took them. Overcoming a surge of emotion, I smiled. “In case you didn’t notice, there’s a pattern there. Whenever I’ve gotten myself into a jam, you’ve been there. My knight in shining armor.”

He smiled, popping his oh-so-sexy dimples.

“You’ve helped me make it,” I said, “and this is the day we start a new phase of our lives. We’re becoming husbands. Truthfully, in some ways, it won’t change much. We’re already life partners, we support each other in everything, and we surround each other with love. But there are other ways in which it transforms our entire existence. In this ceremony, we’re changing from men who mean everything to each other into two souls who are bound together for eternity.”

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