Page 63 of Finding Chloe

By the time I pulled up to the entrance of the property, I nearly spilled my coffee all over myself. There were cars lined up along the road and so many people moving around. The tents were up and half the boxes I’d planned to bring over were already here.

I blinked a few times and rubbed at my eyes. Every time I turned my head, I noticed another person from the ranch. I hopped out of the truck, making sure I had my tablet with me, and stumbled toward the nearest tent.

“Come on, guys. Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go,” Kyle called out, clapping his hands. He glanced at his phone and bounced his finger as he counted chairs in the ceremony section.

I got closer and waited for him to finish counting. “What is all this?” I couldn’t keep the awe from my voice even if I tried. So much was done already.

Kyle startled and dropped his phone. He picked it up and smiled as he met me at the end of the aisle. “Morning, sweets. We were hoping for at least another hour before you got here.”

My heart pounded in my chest. God, I’d missed him so much. How had I ever found the strength to stay away?

“We wanted to surprise you.” He stepped even closer.

I smiled and leaned toward him, abruptly stopping. “We?”

“Hunter, Matt, and I. We’ve been working all night. What do you think?” He gestured with a sweep of his arm.

I slowly turned in a full circle, taking in everything around me.

The aisle was supposed to be lined with large rose arrangements, and clearly some of the flowers didn’t make it in time. Instead, in their place were large arrangements of wildflowers. They were gorgeous. Even better than the roses.

“I know there was supposed to be one on every row, but there weren’t enough. So we made them every other and filled in the gaps. I hope the stumps of wood are okay as fillers.” Kyle led me down the aisle, and his fix was fantastic. It gave it a rustic feel I knew Alex would love.

“The dance floor is being assembled, and so are the rest of the tables and chairs. Everyone is just going around and wiping all the dew off surfaces. What do you have next for us?” Kyle held out his hand, waiting for the tablet that was clutched in mine.

I handed it over, at a loss for words. All the guys were working on different tasks in the field. Hunter was helping put together the dance floor. He looked up and smiled. Matt was stretching chair covers on the last of the chairs at the tables. Gavin was unfolding the last few chairs where the ceremony was happening, and Ryder was assembling the arch. My vision blurred as tears pricked at the backs of my eyes.

“What is all this?” How did they even know what needed to be done?

“We know you have a lot riding on this. Not only is it the Kingston wedding, but it’s your final assignment. There was no way we couldn’t help when you needed us.” Kyle hooked his finger under my chin. “We know we messed up, but we wanted to make it up to you.”

“We wanted to show you how sorry we are.” Hunter appeared on Kyle’s left.

“And how wrong we were.” Matt stood on his right. “We love you, and I’m sorry I’m an idiot and didn’t realize what we had together. You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me,and I was stupid to wait so long to tell you.” Matt’s choked voice told me just as much as his words.

“I lost you once, and I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you again, but in the process, I ended up doing just that. But I’m here to tell you it’ll never happen again.” Hunter grabbed my hand and kissed the back of it.

I sighed. This all felt unreal, like a fantasy come true. Relief flooded through me.

Horns honked, snapping my focus back to what was happening around us. The florist truck drove through the gates, followed by a King’s Ranch SUV with a smiling Andrew behind the wheel.

“Seems like the rest of the flowers made it. We need to get to work.” Kyle jerked his chin in the direction of the newcomers.

“I have a dance floor to finish.” Hunter pressed a gentle kiss on my nose.

“And I have one more table to do.” Matt kissed me on the cheek then jogged off.

Kyle put his hands on my shoulders and steered me toward the entrance. “Shall we get this show on the road?” He chuckled, and I laughed. The sinking feeling that had been threatening to pull me under for the last few days was lifting, and I could breathe again.

“Absolutely.” It was time to get the most perfect wedding underway.

Finally, hours later, everything was ready. The guests were being shuttled in, and we had stable hands manning the entrance, directing people and making sure they were on the guest list. It wasn’t like this was a super high-profile wedding, but we did have to get rid of paparazzi, and the wedding hadn’t even started yet.

Alex was in her tent, getting her finishing touches. I peeked my head in. “How’s everything in here?”

“So far, so good.” Jessie gave me a thumbs-up. Grace and Tori were fixing a few of Alex’s stray curls and applying her lipstick. The stylist was making sure the men were at their best before joining the girls.

Thomas and Declan were adamant that they wanted their first view of Alex to be her walking down the aisle, so we had a little more time.

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