Page 70 of (Un)Planned

I chuckled, changing the subject before we incriminated ourselves further. “And work? Any news on the partnership?”

She scoffed. “They gave it to some asshole with less time than me. Pretty sure it’s never going to happen, but I also can’t bring myself to leave.”

“If you ever decide you want to change gears, I could use you on my team.”

“And stick around here more than necessary?” She shook her head. “No, thanks. I’m good where I am for now.” She tilted her head to the side. “But if that changes, I’ll keep you in mind.”

With greetings out of the way, we all took our seats, perusing the brunch options. Calla found my thigh under the table and squeezed it. She wasn’t wasting any time. As the waiter took our drink orders, she inhaled slowly. “We have something to tell you.”

All three sets of eyes turned to her, Devyn speaking first. “Shit, are you pregnant?”

“Absolutely not!” Calla chuckled. “That’s going to be way, way down the line, after we’ve got our businesses running smoothly for a while.”

“I don’t know if I’d say way down the line, beautiful,” I teased in her ear.

“Don’t even think about it.” She shook her head and turned back to her family. She sighed, reaching into her purse, and pulled out two silver rings, handing me mine before slipping hers back on, then intertwining our fingers once again. My finger instantly found the slender band on hers as Isighed with relief. It had only been off for a few minutes, and that was already too long for me. Now that I had gotten it on her, it was not coming off again.

Calla held our hands up. “Theo and I… We got married.”

As her family stared at her with wide-eyed expressions, we just smiled at each other, reliving the night we’d made things official. It wasn’t something we planned, but just like every other choice we’d made, it felt right. When we were in the city last week, I’d spontaneously popped the question at breakfast, wanting to make Calla my wife as soon as possible. We went down to the city clerk’s office an hour later and got our marriage license, only to return the next day to the same office to exchange our vows. It was simple, spontaneous, and perfectly us.

And the best part? I got to call Calla my wife. Nothing had ever seemed so right as the first time those words slipped from my lips.

As if the spell broke at the same time, all three Winters women started to ask rapid-fire questions. I was about to snap when my wife held up her hand, silencing all of them. “Before you start, you should know that we’re planning on doing a ceremony next spring with everyone in attendance. I wanted to wait until my courses are done before I try to plan anything.” She turned and stared up at me with adoration in her eyes. “But we didn’t want to wait that long to make things official.” She turned back to her family. “This is what we wanted to do, and if you have anything to say that is less than supportive, we don’t want to hear it.”

Her mother got up, and for a moment, I thought she was going to walk out of the room. But she kneeled in front of Calla, placing her hands on her daughter’s cheeks. “I’m so happy for you.” She smiled at me. “Both of you. All I everwanted was for you to find what makes you happy, Calla, and you’ve done that and more. I’m so proud of you.”

Tears filled my wife’s eyes as she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around her mother’s neck in a tight hug. By the time they parted, almost everyone at the table had misty eyes, but Calla waved them away. “Now it’s someone else’s turn. I’ve been on edge all day, waiting to tell you guys the news.”

Devyn took over, discussing the latest ridiculous client that was making her life hell. But I didn’t listen, too distracted by the beautiful woman at my side. I placed my arm around her shoulders, pulling her into my side.

For so long, life felt like a game I was doomed to lose, too wrapped up in my career to see the light on the other side. But with this woman,my wife, in my arms, it was all worth it. This life might be a far cry from what I’d planned, but it was better than I could have ever dreamed.

EPILOGUE

THREE MONTHS LATER

The night sparkled with bright stars, illuminating the Fox Creek campground in an ethereal glow. Lines of fairy lights and garden blooms surround the filled dance floor, burlap-lined tables circling around its edges. It was the ideal backdrop to what had ended up being a perfectly imperfect day. Between the last-minute guests who showed up and a mix-up with their cake, for a moment this morning, it felt like Alex and Cole’s wedding day was cursed.

Thank goodness Theo was by my side, helping me work out all the kinks. As much as I wanted my first planned wedding to go off without any issue, my mentor, Marina, assured me it was never going to happen.

Luckily, all those issues faded away as soon as Alex put on her dress and walked down the aisle. Her groom cried before she even reached him. Cole’s hand shook as he held hers, only having eyes for his new wife. At the end of the day, that was all that mattered—that they got to say their vows and declare their love for each other in front of their friends and families.

After the ceremony ended and the food had beenserved, the dance floor was packed with friends and family from near and far. While Alex and Cole originally tried to keep the wedding small, almost the entire town of Saint Stephen’s Lake wanted to celebrate with them. Alex and Cole didn’t care, and they were all too happy to welcome every last person who showed up.

I watched from the sidelines as they swayed in each other’s arms, just as they had for most of the night. It was clear how much love passed between Alex and Cole. For a long time, I thought that would never happen to me, that I was too lost to see my way through the fog.

A set of arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me into a broad chest. Theo’s lips tickled the shell of my ear. “What’s the look for, beautiful?”

“Just thinking about how lucky we are.” I turned in his arms, kissing him lightly. “I never thought I’d find someone like you.”

“Same here,” he chuckled, holding me close. He nodded as Adam joined us, letting me turn to face his friend. Theo held out his hand, clasping Adam on the shoulder. “How’s it going?”

Adam nodded, letting out a long breath. "It's good. You were right; being up here full time has been good for my head.”

As much as Theo was dying for Adam to take a role, he still refused to commit to one, claiming that he needed more time. I thought there was more to it than that, but it wasn’t my place to pry. We just made sure that Adam knew our door was always open if he needed to talk.

Since he wasn’t sure how long he’d been staying, Alex and Cole offered to let Adam use one of the cabins for as long as he needed. So far, he’d been up here for almost a month, and it seemed to be working wonders. He wasn’tlooking as tired, no longer checking over his shoulder every few minutes. It was nice to see him smile again.

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