* * *
The last few days leading up to the wedding had my heart seizing tight in my chest. I waited for the feeling of cold feet, for me to doubt and second-guess my decisions. I was terrified that after everything, it would come.
It never did.
Instead, I stood in one of the rooms on the top floor of the studio. Grant was with me, straightening my tie. The feeling in my chest wasn’t the urge to run in the opposite direction—it was an urge to run toward Macks. Always.
Anticipation of seeing Mackenzie walk down the aisle with Bruno by her side—we’d decided together that’s how we wanted to do it, with a little pillow carrying our rings securely tied to him—was the only thing on my mind. It was the only thing that mattered to me. I could taste forever just on the tip of my tongue, and anticipation coursed through me.
“You’re all jittery and shit,” Grant commented wryly. “It’s kinda cute.”
“Shut up.” I grinned at him. “You can’t blame me.”
“Nah. I can’t.” He sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face.
Okay. Something was up. Grant generally saved the drama for the camera, but that was the third heavy sigh I’d heard from him in the past hour. What the fuck was going on?
I looked at my watch to see how much time we had before I had to get in place. Just enough to ask. When I did, he shook his head.
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
Wow. That might be the first bit of bad acting I’ve ever seen him do.
I frowned. Was he having cold feet? That was a thing, wasn’t it? When the best friend had an issue with the groom getting married, as if it was something that was going to get between them. But that only happened in the movies. Or books. Fuck if I knew; I didn’t read romance novels.
“Grant, is there something you need to tell me? If you do, just tell me now and not during the ceremony—”
“Oh, dude, it’s got nothing to do with that.” He shot me a look like I was crazy. “I’m just… I’m really happy for you, man. You’re getting married. Got the girl of your dreams. It’s all downhill from here, yeah?”
I tilted my head. I thought back to Grant’s most recent dating escapades. None of the girls had been real winners, and a few of them had been pretty questionable. He’d mentioned before that his agent was busting his balls over it—apparently, the studio heads were getting tired of having his shenanigans distract from the press for the movie itself. He’d only mentioned it in passing. Flippant. With everything going on between me and Mackenzie, we hadn’t really hashed it out.
I smiled and put my hand on his shoulder.
“All your shit will iron itself out, too,” I promised. “And I’ll be right there with you when it does, just like you’ve been here for me through all the bullshit, the good and bad.”
Grant grinned at me. “Yeah… Thanks, man. Come one. Let’s get you married, you big sap.”
Every one of the art studio members was in attendance. Mackenzie’s mother and father took the stage, positioned closest to where I came to stand at the bottom of the stairs, flanked by Grant. The wedding march picked up, announcing the arrival of the bride. My heart beat in time with it then grew faster, the cadence far surpassing the wedding music’s. As I looked up to the top of the stairs, my heart damn near stopped in my chest when I saw Mackenzie start to come down.
She had insisted on a simple dress, but she hardly looked simple in it. A beautiful A-line that cinched in at her waist and was just low cut enough that the flush across her chest was visible. The dress stopped just above her knees, showing off her legs and the pair of silvery heels she wore. There were layers of lace and pearl and crystal encrusted gossamer that made her sparkle.
Mackenzie looked every bit like one of the fairy creatures she loved to paint. A breathtaking vision. And it occurred to me that it was truly fitting we were having our wedding in an art gallery. She was a damn work of art.
And she was mine. In just a few more long minutes, she would be Mrs. Mackenzie Prince. With Bruno at her side and our rings perched on his back, it was just a matter of a few steps before Mackenzie settled across from me, Alex at her flank as her ‘maid’ of honor.
It was all… so damn perfect.
I saw it in Mackenzie’s face. It was perfect for her, too. Her eyes shone up into mine, and I could feel my heart expand in my chest like a damn balloon.
Grinning from ear to ear, I took her hands in mine. Today was the day we were going to start forever together. It couldn’t have come sooner.
I’d thought about the vows for a long time. I remembered our vows from when we got married the first time, and how simple but honest they had been. That was what I wanted for my real vows to her. No pretenses. Nothing fancy or over-the-top. Just the truth of how much she meant to me.
“Mackenzie Henson. The light of my life… you’ve painted my world in a rainbow of color. Before you, everything was shades of grey. I didn’t know that washes of pastels and bright neons and moody darks existed before you did. Now that you’re here… now that we’re together, I can’t imagine going back to that. I don’t want to. Mostly, I’m just amazed that somehow I got lucky enough that you want to be here with me, too.”
Her eyes teared up. Knowing Alex, he’d put her in waterproof make up. Good thing for myself, I didn’t have to worry about it. The love pouring out of her brought tears to my own eyes, and my feelings only deepened in the pit of my heart as she spoke her vows to me.
“Walker… I don’t even know where to start. I think that’s because I’m still not sure where we even started, and I’ve come to the conclusion that we never started, we just always were. I don’t know if it’s cosmic design or sheer stubbornness, but I can’t imagine that we would have come out of this on any other path but the one we’re on. You say I painted your world in color; there was never as much vibrant color before as there’s been with you in my life. There’s a kaleidoscope I didn’t know existed… I love you, Walker Prince. For today and many, many more to come.”