“Okay,” Becca says, smiling at me as I take a deep breath and compose myself. “You ready?”
I nod. “I’m ready.”
I stand by the double door at the back of the chapel, waiting, Grandpa at my side. Grandpa’s hand is strong and firm on mine as I hold onto his forearm, and his eyes are warm on mine as we exchange a look.
The doors swing open, and I hear the wedding march played, of course, by my band in true bluegrass/folk glory, Vance sawing at his fiddle, Mim tapping her bass, Will on the banjo, Atticus with a single snare drum. Kylie is standing next to Ben, who has eyes for no one but me. My dress is strapless with an empire waist, a beaded sweetheart neckline, and a loose and floating tulle train. It’s molded to me, fitted to my curves. I knew the moment I put it on that this dress was the one, that Ben’s eyes would bug out of his head when he saw it. And as I approach Ben, squeezing Grandpa’s hand tighter and tighter the closer I get, I see that Ben is having trouble breathing and I’m pretty sure he’s barely holding himself back from jumping me right here in the church.
Brayden adjusts the train of my dress as I move to stand facing Ben, and now I’m blinking hard and fast to keep the tears from falling. Ben is grinning ear to ear, and his hands are strong and warm and steady as they engulf mine. I barely hear Father Mike as he talks about love and the sanctity of marriage.
I take a moment to look at the gathered crowd before I read my vows to Ben. I look at Brayden, see the happiness in his eyes for us, but at the same time I notice a heaviness lurking behind it—something that’s been there for so long now. I don’t know any details, but I make a note to pin him down on it, later.
I glance at Kylie, a knockout in her dove-gray pinup-style bridesmaid dress, and she offers me a warm smile. Oz is beside her, one of Ben’s groomsmen, along with Colt and a couple of the players from the Titans that Ben is close to. God, that arrangement of groomsmen is enough to make a girl swoon, let me tell you. The three football players are massive and gorgeous in a rugged sort of way, and then there’s Colt, who is hot as hell for an older guy, his electric blue eyes standing out against his swarthy skin and black hair. Oz is the tallest one in the line-up, standing nearly six-five and pretty built in his own right, although the football players dwarf him in terms of musculature. He’s rough and hard looking with tattoos and pierced ears, but he’s heartstoppingly attractive as well. And then…there’s my soon-to-be husband. And to me, obviously, he’s the sexiest of all of them.
He’s tall and broad, filling out the tuxedo like he was made for it, his eyes shining as they meet mine.
I draw a deep breath, and then read my vows from the notecard. “Ben, I have to admit I struggled with what to say to you in these vows. Nothing seems like enough. I could promise you I’d love you and only you forever, but…that’s implied in the fact that I’m marrying you at all, I’d say. The first and last time I’ll wear white…remember that? I could also promise you I’d be faithful and true, but I could no more betray you than I could tear my own still-beating heart from my chest. I could promise to take care of you in every circumstance life throws at us, but again, taking care of you, being there for you, being your companion and your soul mate and your life partner…that’s as much a part of who I am as my music is. So, in the end, all I could think of to say is…I love you. Now and forever, come what may.” I swallow hard, and Ben squeezes my hand.
He clears his throat. “Well…I’ve got even less to say, then. I didn’t even write it down, because it’s just what’s in my heart. I promise to love you and only you with all that I am, for as long we both live, and I promise to love you in whatever lies beyond this life. I promise to be at your side for every adventure and hardship and success that life throws at us. I love you, Echo. You’re my everything, now and forever, come what may.”
I have to laugh, then, and glance at our family and friends to explain. “We wrote our vows separately, and didn’t share them. So the fact that we both ended our vows the same way?” I’m fighting tears, breathe through it until I can continue. “It just shows you how this is meant to be.”
There’s one more thing we have to do before we can say I do: there are four white candles on a small, cloth-covered table, a large one in the center, with three smaller ones around it, one to the left, one to the right, and one in front. I light one candle, Ben lights one, and then we each touch the lit wicks of our individual candles and light the third smaller one with both of ours, and then we use that third candle together to light the largest. There’s an extra step to this candle ceremony, an extra candle: one for me, one for Ben, and one for Mom. I hold on to the candle that represents Mom for a second, gaze into the flickering flame, and whisper a prayer to her memory. It’s a moment just for me. I breathe through the pain of missing her, blink away the tears, and set the candle down beside the largest one that represents my union to Ben.
Father Mike takes my hand, places it in Ben’s. “Echo, do you take Ben to be your lawfully wedded husband, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, till death do you part…now and forever?” He smiles at me as he adds the phrase from our vows.
“I do,” I say, my voice strong, my eyes bright.
“And Ben, do you take Echo to be your lawfully wedded wife, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, till death do you part, now and forever?”
“I do.”
“Then by the power vested in me by the State of Texas, and more importantly by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I now pronounce you husband and wife.” He turns to our gathered loved ones. “May I be the first to present to you Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Dorsey!”
It’s done. I’m Ben’s wife. I feel giddy, overwhelmed with joy, brimming with completion.
Ben and I walk down the aisle together, the band playing “Forever and Always” by Parachute, Mim doing the vocals in that raspy, bluesy voice of hers.
When we reach the front steps of the church, we are overwhelmed by a crowd of loved ones—family and friends—waiting to greet Ben and me.
Colt hugs me, huge, tattooed arms around my shoulders, whispering congratulations, and then Nell is patting my cheek and crying with me, and then there’s Jason Dorsey, my father-in-law, already a father to me. And Becca, her deep brown eyes, so like Ben’s, on mine and shining with an overflowing wealth of love. Grandma and Grandpa are pulled into the melee by Ben’s mom and they are laughing and hugging with everyone, glad to be part of this celebration.