Page 147 of The Accidental Wife

“Hey! I remember you two. Didn’t I already marry you?” Cole and I look at one another, and everyone in the room starts to laugh. “Second time’s the charm. At least you’re both sober this time.” He teases with a wink, and I grin at Cole. “Let’s begin, shall we? Shayla and Cole, turn and face one another, please.” I turn and face him, and he takes my hands in his, smiling at me adoringly as Elvis talks about the importance of love.

“Let’s get to the vows. Shayla, ladies first.”

I exhale and look into Cole’s eyes. “Cole, I never believed in fate until I met you. I never knew what it meant to love someone with your soul until you walked into my life. We’ve been through so much in such a short time, and as much as it hurt, I would do it all again in a heartbeat because you are my fate, you are my heart, and you are my soul. I swear to you here in front of all the people we love that I will love you forever.” I vow to him, tears spilling down my cheeks, and he swallows hard, blinking back the tears that gather in his eyes.

He smiles and holds my gaze, “My beautiful Shayla, I’m in awe of you. I don’t know how you do it, but you do something that makes me fall deeper in love with you every day. I wish I had met you sooner. I wish I loved you sooner because you are everything beautiful in this world. You were the complete opposite of everything I thought I wanted but turned out to be everything I’ve always needed. You’ve changed me in ways that I never knew was possible. You’ve taught me how selfless love can truly be.” He vows, reaching up and wiping away my tears. “And I swear to you here, in front of all our family and friends, that I will make each day we spend together better than the last.” I grin up at him and wrap my hands around his wrists. “I’m so in love with you.”

“I’m in love with you,” I whisper wholeheartedly while gazing into his startling green eyes.

“Oh, my heart, aren’t they just the cutest,” Elvis utters, shaking his head, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. “Okay, let’s do the rings. Shayla, please take the ring you wish to give Cole.”

“Actually. We have new ones.” Cole says and takes a box from Josh and turns to face me again. He opens the box, and I look down and frown a little. Cole takes out the larger ring and hands it to me. I look at it and gasp when I realise it’s my Dad's wedding ring. I look over at my mum, and she nods, sobbing into her tissue. I look back at Cole, my lips quivering as I struggle to hold back the tears. I look at my Dad's wedding ring and read the engraved message to Cole. “Ever thine, Ever mine, Ever ours.” Cole bites his bottom lip as I take his hand and slide my Dad's ring on his finger. Cole lifts my hand and picks up my mother’s ring and slides it on mine.

“Ever thine, Ever mine, Ever ours.” He declares, staring into my eyes.

“Oh, I have forgotten everything with you two. Shayla, do you take Cole to be your husband?” Elvis asks, and I nod.

“I do.”

“Cole, do you take Shayla—”

“I do.” Elvis sighs and rolls his eyes chuckling.

“He did this the last time too. I didn’t finish the question yet, son.” He states, and I laugh at his eagerness along with everyone else in the room. “I’ll accept, without further ado by the power vested in me and the state of Nevada, I pronounce you husband and wife.” Cole and I grin at one another. “You may kiss your—.” Cole doesn’t even wait for him to finish his sentence before he pulls me close and draws my lips to his, kissing me slow and deep. I moan and wrap my arms around his neck, kissing him back just as ardently. “Ah heck, there he goes again. Congratulations!” Elvis exclaims, and everyone around us applauds and cheers as we continue to kiss. It was hard not to kiss him for weeks, but it was so worth waiting for this moment. It was perfect, and I couldn’t believe we actually did it. He’s my husband…again.

Cole pulls back, panting, and presses his forehead to mine. “You were right. That was so worth the wait.” He whispers, brushing his thumbs along my jaw. “We did it, baby. You’re my wife.”

I smile, biting my lip, “And you’re my husband.” Cole grins and kisses me again softly before we turn and face our friends and family, and they all cheer and come up to hug and congratulate us. Cole lifts me into his arms, and just like last time, he carries me out of the chapel, kissing me passionately. After we take photos, we head over to the Bellagio, where the reception was held with Coles relatives and friends.

I pull Cole back just before we walk into the reception hall and look up at him. “Cole, I just wanted to thank you once again for everything you did for my Mum. You have no idea how much it meant to me to have her here.” I tell him earnestly, and he smiles and cups my face in his large hands and presses his forehead to mine.

“Baby, I honestly didn’t do anything. I just arranged her therapy and supported her. That’s it. She did everything else on her own.” He states, brushing his thumbs over my jaw.

“I didn’t think it was humanly possible to love you more than I already did, but you just keep proving me wrong because every day I fall even deeper in love with you,” I proclaim, and he smiles and kisses me softly.

“Me too baby, there are no words to even explain how crazy I am about you. I never want to feel the way I did when I was apart from you ever again.” He whispers, sweeping his lips over mine.

“Hey love birds, come on, we’re waiting for your first dance!” Aimee chirps, pulling us apart just as Cole was about to deepen the kiss, and she drags us toward the reception hall. Cole groans, shaking his head.

“Aimee, I swear to God I’m going to throw you off the Grand Canyon if you keep interrupting us.” Cole scolds her playfully, and Aimee grins toothily back at him.

“You have the rest of your life to kiss her, my dearest brother-in-law, now it’s party time!” She tells him, and Cole laughs, shaking his head.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, please put your hands together for the second time, Mr and Mrs Hoult!”

Cole looks down at me, grinning, “You ready Mrs Hoult?”

“Always, Mr Hoult,” I reply, and we walk into the reception hall together. Cole pulls me to the dance floor and wraps his arms around me as Amazed by Lonestar starts playing while we dance. I gaze up into his eyes while he sings the lyrics to me, and as happy I was at that moment, I had a sudden flash of all the heartache we both suffered, the breakdowns, the arguments, and how close we came to not being together. Cole brushes the tears away that roll down my cheeks and pulls me closer against him shaking his head at me.

“No more tears, sweetheart.” I smile up at him and nod while we continue to sway together. “Baby, I’m amazed by you.” Cole sings to me as the song comes to an end.

“Let’s party!” Aimee cheers as an upbeat song starts to play, and we all dance together. I pull Cole to me and sing the lyrics to Katy Perrys The One That Got Away to him. “In another life, I would be your girl. We keep all our promises, the us against the world. In another life, I would make you stay, so I don’t have to say you were the one that got away, the one that got away.” Cole laughs and lifts me into his arms. I grin, cup his face, and kiss him deeply with every little bit of my heart, surrounded by the people we love the most.

The song came to an end, and Josh grabs the microphone grinning like the cat that got the canary. “Ladies and gents, I have a special treat for you all tonight. If you could all turn your attention to the screen behind me. As you all know, Shayla and Cole were previously married, and I happen to have the video of their first marriage. Cole and I look at one another wide-eyed and look at the screen at a very inebriated Cole and I stumbling down the aisle laughing hysterically.

“Evlis, marry me to this gorgeous woman!” Cole slurs slapping Elvis on the back, and he chuckles nodding.

“Does the gorgeous woman want to marry you?” Elvis questions, and I nod, grinning, pulling him to me and kissing him passionately.

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