Page 76 of Give Me Forever Love

It’s reaching over in the night and touching them just because. Love is going through life together and realizing the other isn’t perfect by society’s standards, but they’re what perfect means to you.

I grab K’s hand and hold tight, because this is the last day we’ll be a couple about to get married.

Tomorrow she will promise me forever.

And I will do the same.

_____________

Kathrine

As I ride in the bouncy Chevy truck beside Bryce, I think about the time we’ve spent together. The fights, the struggles of accepting we wanted each other. My mom and Saw’s death, burning that house down with Mills there. All the huge moments in my life, Bryce has been beside me.

Except for the time I got up the courage and left the town I came from. I had to do that on my own. But I soon found family in Lucy, Claire, and Austin. I never for a moment thought somewhere along the way I would meet a man named Bryce Grant. He had secrets and a past like mine, but not exactly the same. My family only grew when he got up the courage to admit how he felt about me.

He pulls up to the curb and we climb out. He downs the rest of his coffee and tosses it into the trash out on the street before we walk into the dress shop.

“I’ll be back,” I tell him. He nods, looking slightly uncomfortable. I smile and head to the back to grab my dress, which has been fitted to me perfectly. It’s strapless with a flowy bottom and a long train. An assortment of pearls compliment my waist and it comes with a long veil.

I’ll have fall flowers, and Grant Ranch has already been decorated with pumpkins and hay bales.

I’m nervous. I wouldn’t be telling the truth if I said I had my shit together. This is huge and life-changing, and no matter how much you tell yourself you’re ready, it’s just scary. I will no longer be Kathrine Harrison. I’ll be Kathrine Grant.

“Yes, I need to pick my wedding dress up.”

The young woman with blonde hair smiles at me. “Sure, can I just see your driver’s license?”

“Yeah,” I say, pulling my license from my wallet. I hand it to her, and she looks before handing it back.

“Thank you. Would you like to see it before we place it into the dress bag?”

“Yeah,” I say. I look back at Bryce who’s looking out the window. He’s obviously bored and ready to go, so he won’t miss me. I follow her back and instantly recognize my dress hanging on the wall when I walk into the room. It’s gorgeous to say the least. The thought of Bryce seeing me in it as I walk toward him… it has chills running down my spine, and the thought of him slipping it off later that night, has butterflies soaring in my stomach and a blush spread across my cheeks.

“It’s perfect,” I say quietly.

“We’re glad you’re pleased,” an older woman says with cherry red hair, a measuring tape around her neck and a pencil behind her ear.

“I am,” I say.

She looks me over for a moment. “First marriage, I take it?”

I kinda laugh. “First and only, I hope.”

She gives me a kind smile. “Yes. Most do, but sometimes life doesn’t give us what we want.”

“That’s true.”

She bites her bottom lip. “Can I give you a little pre-wedding advice?”

“Now, Annie, this woman doesn’t need your daily wedding advice.”

I look from Annie to her.

“Does she do this often?” I ask.

The younger girl rolls her eyes. “Every time.”

Annie swats her hand, waving her off. “I give good advice and I happen to know it works. I’ve been married for twenty-seven years.”

---