Page 31 of A Wilder Wedding

Maybe if we had just told each other what we wanted, it wouldn’t have been like this. We wouldn’t have wasted so much time. Or maybe this was the time we needed. To figure out exactly what we wanted.

But here we were, changing everything. And I loved him.

“Bride and groom seem happy.”

Amos mumbled behind me, kissing the other side of my neck.

Everybody looked so happy as they went out to the dance floor to join the happy couple.

Eli and Alexis twirled, their daughter between them. Their other child was with the nanny, still too young to be at a wedding like this.

Evan and Kendall danced together near the side, their children in the corner with some of the other kids. Everett and Bethany laughed as he twirled her around, with Lark and East joining in. Maddie and Elijah only had eyes for each other as they danced past us.

Sidney and Elliot danced slowly together, while Trace forced Wyatt into a dance. Wyatt just rolled his eyes and leaned his head dramatically on Trace’s shoulder, until Elliot scowled and forced Sidney and Trace to trade places. And then Elliot was the one leaning his head on his husband’s shoulder while Wyatt twirled Sidney.

I laughed, loving the camaraderie of it.

Brooks stood off in the corner, watching it all, and I didn’t blame him. Today had to be hard for him for many reasons.

And Gabriel, fashionably late as always, stood up on the stage, crooning a tune that made my eyes sting.

The family was growing by leaps and bounds, and they had not only loved us enough to let us stay, but trusted us to become part of their family. They had gone through hell and back, each and every one of them, and they were here, fighting for a happiness they all deserved.

And we did too.

When Amos pulled me onto the dance floor again, I leaned onto his chest, hearing his heart beat against my ear.

“We’re getting better at dancing,” he whispered.

“I only stepped on your toes a few times that first time.”

“True. But we’re better than the rest.”

I smiled up at him. “Probably because we have the most experience.”

“Because I love dancing with you in the fields, under the moonlight.”

My heart swelled, and I realized that this was it.

We wouldn’t be breaking again.

I had finally found my family, and he had finally learned to settle into his.

We didn’t need to run from the choices we were afraid to make.

When Alexis and Elliot called out for all the single women to stand in the center, I glared because there weren’t that many of us left, just me and the children and a few other adults. Only when I caught the bouquet, the others laughing with me, I just looked at Amos and raised a brow.

“Well, I’ll see what I can do.” He winked as he said it, and I threw my arms around him.

“I like working on our own timetable. Even if we’re both a little afraid of it.”

“Just a little,” he whispered, pressing his lips to mine.

“Hey you two, part ways for just a minute,” Eli said, and I raised a brow at him even as Amos didn’t let me go.

“What do you want, Wilder?” Amos growled.

“Well, it might be the wine talking, but you know I realize that both of you might have wanted to leave the retreat for reasons other than personal.”

---