Page 83 of Write Me For You
Everyone chuckled at that.
“Jesse Taylor, you have swept me off my feet. And although we won’t have long together, like the burned-out star four thousand light years away, our love will shine bright long after we’re gone. Because you and I were meant to be. Jesse and his June. Forever.”
A tear fell down Jesse’s cheek. It fell onto the petal of the yellow rose on his lapel.
“You hold my heart in your hand, and I hold yours in mine. For eternity.” Taking his example, I held up my fist. “Group two for the win.”
Jesse laughed, then bumped his fist with my own.
“We’ll now exchange the rings.” Pastor Noel said, and then we slid our rings on the other’s finger never breaking our gaze.
“It is my absolute pleasure to pronounce you husband and wife,” Pastor Noel said. “You may kiss.”
Jesse moved forward like he couldn’t wait one more minute to seal our marriage with a kiss, only he paused at the last second and turned to my daddy to say, “You might want to look away, sir.”
Chris whooped in encouragement as the crowd broke into applause. And then, I was consumed by Jesse’s lips on mine, making us one in front of family, friends, and God.
We were married.
He had officially tied his soul with my own.
I was Mrs. June Taylor.
Nothing had ever felt so good.
CHAPTER 29
Jesse
We walked out of the chapel to cheers and applause. Therewasn’t any room for sadness today. Today was about celebration and love. Because, hell, I had just married my Junebug.
She was mywife.
The guests made their way to the dining room. I could smell the delicious food all the way from down here, but June and I were at the back of the line, and I pulled her into the alcove in the hallway for a moment alone. I guided her back against the wall. June smiled up at me like I was her entire world.
She was mine, so I understood the sentiment.
I stepped back and just took my fill of her. I shook my head. “Junebug,” I said. “You look incredible.” Every inch of her lace dress clung to her petite frame. And her head scarf was perfect—everything was perfection. She was beauty personified. Her cheeks were still flushed and her pink lips just begged to be kissed.
So I did. I kissed and kissed her until we were breathless—which these days, wasn’t a difficulty.
I broke away and June took hold of my left hand and studied the plain gold band on my ring finger. She looked up at me withnothing but love in her brown eyes. “You’re my husband,” she whispered in awe, and those words sounded like paradise.
I took her left hand and ran my thumb over the matching gold band and her mamaw’s ring. “Mrs. Taylor,” I said. “Why do I love the sound of that so much?”
“We’re married, baby,” June said, and just from the glow on her face, I felt ten feet tall. This was one of June’s dreams. I couldn’t give her more time. I couldn’t give her wrinkles or gray hair. I couldn’t give her deep laughter lines or children. But I could make her mine in every way that counted, and in the end, that would be more than enough for us both.
I kissed her one last time, deeply and with all of my heart, then said, “Shall we go to our reception?” I held out my hand and June took hold of it and held it tightly.
As we walked down the hallway, I ignored how my muscles ached and my joints rang with pain. I ignored the way we were both breathless and June’s limp was more pronounced. Death wasn’t invited to our nuptials today.
As we rounded the corner and walked into the dining hall, Mr. Scott held up a glass of champagne and said, “Introducing, Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Taylor!”
Our guests all cheered.
We sat down for dinner and the atmosphere was relaxed and happy. Even the few speeches made were light and positive. We had asked for tonight to just simply one of celebration, and our family and friends helped make it come true.
By the time we moved to the part of the night in the grand hall, exhaustion had taken us in its hold. June and I sat hand in hand, June’s head leaning on my shoulder, watching our guests dance. June laughed as Emily and Lucy ran circles around Chris, who was wiped by the time they were done.
