Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
“Eh, hit a few bumps during the rest of our road trip. But we landed on our feet, didn’t we, Princess?”
Hearing him say that was bittersweet. Anytime I thought about the two years we were apart, it made me incredibly sad. He looked down at me with adoring eyes. God, how did I get so lucky to find a man who loved me so hard?
“Are you ready to get started?” she asked.
“Yes.” I smiled, still looking up into Chance’s number thirteen blues.
Adele and her boyfriend Harry were with us to serve as witnesses. Since we drove, we brought Pixy along. He was the honorary best man.
Already decked out in a dress of my choice, I’d come prepared this time. Chance looked incredibly sexy in a white linen shirt rolled up at the sleeves and dress pants that hugged his gorgeous ass—the ass that still helped support us to this day. I’d given up my law career for a much more fulfilling job running the local animal shelter in Hermosa Beach. The pay was crap, but I looked forward to getting up and being with the animals every day and never dreaded going into work. Chance still made a good living off royalties from his soccer-model career but also opened up his own landscaping business with a full staff of employees. He still dabbled in junk art on the side.
As I made my way down the aisle, the song that Chance had chosen caught me off guard: The Long and Winding Road by the Beatles. It was unconventional, but the meaning was completely perfect for us.
You’d think after all this time, I wouldn’t have been nervous, but my hands were shaking as the ceremony started. It was no different than our first go round here.
Elvis spoke, “If anyone can show just cause why they may not be lawfully joined together, let them speak now or forever hold their peace.”
As if on cue, Pixy let out a long “Baaaaaa.”
Chance turned around and joked, “You would stir up trouble right now, wouldn’t you, Bugger?”
“Who gives this woman to be married to this man?”
Adele spoke from behind me, “I do.” She and I had become like sisters to each other. I was grateful for my new family.
It touched me when Chance took my hands in his and said, “I wish Mum could have met you.”
Elvis interrupted our private moment. “Will you be using standard vows, or do you have your own?”
We answered at the same exact time.
“Standard,” Chance said while I spoke over him, “I have my own.”
He looked stunned as he leaned in and whispered, “Princess, you wrote vows? I just wanted to be officially married to you as fast as possible. I was gonna forego them this time.”
Nodding, I said, “It’s my turn. I have something to say.”
When Chance got through repeating after Elvis, I cleared my throat.
How could I possibly put into words what he meant to me?
Taking a deep breath, I composed my thoughts before speaking. “Chance, when we met, I didn’t know what hit me. All I knew was that for the first time in my life, I was living in the moment. You taught me so much in a little over a week about what’s important in life. You taught me how to enjoy life and not take myself so seriously. You made me fall so crazy in love with you that even later when I believed you’d hurt me, I still couldn’t shake you. I could only pretend not to care anymore. I thought I loved you then. But little did I know that our real love story hadn’t even begun to play out. I never loved you more than when you came back and fought for me with everything that you had. Day in and day out, you threw away your pride and never gave up on me even when I made it really hard to believe that things would ever work out for us. You earned back my trust and then some. You said you wished your mother could have met me. Well, I wish she were here too, so I could thank her for the way she brought you up. To think that if I took even one wrong turn, I might never have met you when I did at the rest stop in Nebraska. A single minute can change an entire life. Yet, I still feel like somehow we would have met anyway. That’s because I know now that you’re my soulmate. The road that led us here wasn’t always easy, but it made us stronger and more ready than ever for where it takes us next. I can’t wait for the next adventure. I love you, Chance.”
I don’t think I’d ever seen Chance cry, but his eyes were starting to glisten as he silently mouthed, “I love you, Princess.”