A Winter’s Wedding (Christmas Cove #3)

Chapter 13

Morning came again. America rolled over to an empty bed and ran her hand along the still warm white sheets where Leo had slept. But wherever he was, he hadn’t been gone for long. She craned her head off the pillow enough to see the low-lit digital clock on the far side of the dark hotel room. “Not even six,” she said and buried her head under the covers. Her phone had other ideas about letting her sleep and buzzed. She supposed her day was beginning whether she was ready for it or not. Reaching to the bedside table, she turned the screen over. It was Leo.

“Oh, good. You’re up,” he said without waiting for her to greet him. “I need you to get dressed in something warm and meet me downstairs in fifteen minutes. I already grabbed all the bags but yours, so just bring it down with you.”

“Is something the matter? I thought we couldn’t get the car until seven.” America rubbed sleep from her eyes.

“Nothing is wrong. But I’m up to something.” His grin was evident in his tone. “See you in a few.”

At least America had perfected the messy bun, red lipstick look. Getting dressed in a pair of black leggings and oversized white knit sweater, she threw on her coat and tossed the rest of her things in the small suitcase. She had exactly one clean outfit left, but the pencil skirt and red turtleneck wouldn’t keep her very warm, nor was it ideal for sitting in a car all day. If all went well, they’d be in Buffalo by tonight and she could find somewhere to do a load of laundry.

America rolled her suitcase to the door and flipped on the lights for one more check of the room. She spotted her phone charger and skipped around to the space between the two queen size beds where it was plugged in, even though they had slept side by side in just one of the beds.

Leo had been incredibly patient with her. She had built up their perfect wedding night in her head, but her expectations had been utterly dashed by the surprise marriage. With everything feeling out of her control, she just didn’t feel ready to give herself fully yet.

Outside, Leo waited in the little car parked underneath the lobby portico with a boyish grin on his face. He got out of the car and opened the trunk, waving her over. Her body hesitated to move out from the comforting warmth of the lobby air. The automatic doors slid open and the frigid mist pierced her face like millions of tiny razor blades. It was so cold, even the car exhaust was condensing into a great white plume behind the vehicle before dispersing in the breeze.

Running across the drive, she tossed her bag in the trunk and slid into the passenger seat all in one breath. “It’s freezing. I guess this is the storm that canceled our flights?”

After closing his own door, Leo kissed her cheek and put the car into gear. “It looks like we missed the worst of it. I think we’ve been trailing behind the tail end this whole time. Should be hitting the Cove anytime now.”

“Should we call Grant and Thandie and see if they need anything?” Grant and Thandie were the directors at The Foundry but had become close friends over the last several months since coming to town. She was just as concerned about their safety as she was about the business.

“There’s nothing we can really do from here. I trust them to take care of whatever it is.” Leo pulled onto the highway onramp and quickly brought the car up to speed. The bright streetlights created a faint halo in the fog and daylight was just beginning to turn the horizon a greenish-blue.

“Now that you got me out of bed so early, what are you up to? I have to know.”

Leo used his fingers to mime zipping his mouth closed. But he couldn’t keep himself from grinning ear to ear. Whatever he had planned, he seemed pleased with himself.

“That’s how it’s gonna be?” America said and crossed her arms for effect. “Okay, Leopold. I’ll play along.” She had no other choice it seemed. America watched as the high-rise buildings went from looking small through the fogged windows, to looming large overhead. In the skyscrapers’ little square windows, lights flicked on as people were beginning their days. At one red light, a dump truck with flashing yellow lights on top of the cab sprayed out a deicer all over the roadway as it went by on the cross street. A man, bundled in an orange puffy coat and black and white striped scarf wrapped around his neck and face, rode a scooter past them on the sidewalk.

Once the traffic light turned green, Leo made a right, and America’s eyes widened as she took in the scale of the Gateway Arch towering over the waking city. “It’s so pretty.” Lights shone skyward from the ground and illuminated the arch’s outer silver skin. The gleaming surface stood out against the darker backdrop of dawn.

Leo parallel parked on the street and gathered a brown paper grocery bag from the back seat, filled with something she was dying to know about. “Come on,” he said and led the way to a grassy knoll directly under the arch. From the bag, he pulled out the gifted blanket and laid it on the frost-covered ground. “This is what I was up to.” Leo handed her a small cardboard box and a cup of something steamy and hot.

She lifted the box lid, and the scent of warm sugar and sweet jelly flooded her senses. “I love this surprise,” America said and wasted no time in tearing off a piece of pastry.

Leo took the other half of America’s donut. “I was thinking about what we talked about at dinner last night, and I think that accidentally getting married and road tripping for our honeymoon is just adding stress to a time that should be easier. I know you see it like we aren’t even married yet. No official documentation seems to want to change your mind, but my heart knows.” He placed a warm hand on her knee and his eyes were wide with affection. “You are my wife, and I promise you right now, before God as my witness, that I will love you until my last breath. America, I’m nothing without you.” Leo took a sip of coffee.

She processed his words, which sounded a lot like vows, and guilt twisted in her gut that he even felt like he had to convince her in some way. The truth had been there since Saturday and there was nothing standing in her way but an expectation that she had placed too much importance on.

“Leo, I promise to love you every day of my life. I know we’ll have hard times and good times, but I also know this world is better with you by my side. There’s no one else I want to do hard things with than you. You are my everything, and I pledge to you my heart, my fidelity, and my devotion to our enduring love.”

Leo wet his lips and his breath filled the space between them. She leaned in and kissed him on the mouth. Her lips warmed under his touch, and she pressed her tongue against his. Sparks traveled down the side of her neck and stirred the butterflies in her belly, replacing the guilt that had been present a moment earlier. Tears gathered in her waterline at the new, deeper connection she felt.

There was so much honesty in their words to one another and even more in the kiss they shared. As the kiss ebbed, she cracked an eyelid open to find Leo’s eye open too. He was looking to the side at something behind her and broke away licking her taste off his lips.

“This is what I was up to. Look.”

Over her shoulder, an orange orb broke the line of the horizon to the southeast. Through the fog, the sun glowed and spread wide across her field of vision. She had seen sunrises before, but not like this one. The ripples on the surface of the Mississippi River glimmered in the brightening dawn like little heartbeats that matched the pulse of the awakening city.

Being coaxed out of bed before she was ready hadn’t been the best way to start the day but seeing as how it had still been dark out at the time, the actual morning couldn’t have been going any better. Saying their vows to each other under a giant arch was more of a wedding than one contrived of and carried out for the pleasure of others. This private moment would always be theirs to have and to hold.

Leo brushed a bit of hair behind her ear. “I know this hasn’t been how you imagined your wedding or honeymoon going, but I want this sunrise to be a fresh beginning for us.”

“I thought I needed the big ceremony and clinking champagne glasses to feel like our marriage is official, but I see now that I don’t need any of that. All of the planning and stressing over every single detail wasn’t for us at all. It was all for them. For our friends and family. I think all I needed was to properly commit myself to you out loud. No matter where that happened.”

“Does this mean…?”

She rubbed the tip of her nose up and down against his in a way to confirm his question. Biting her lips between her teeth, she was unable to stop her cheeks from nearly bursting with joy. “I’m so happy to be your wife. Thank you for bringing me here this morning, and I’m sorry it took so long for me to finally feel it.”

“It’s ok. To me, it’s not about the day, it’s about the life we’re building together. I’ve felt like you were mine since the first day I met you standing alone on the dock. I startled you and when you saw me, you weren’t scared, you were irritated. I knew from then on that I had to be with this fearless beautiful woman. I’m honored that you chose me.”

“I’ll choose you every day,” she said and touched her lips to his. “As nice as this breakfast is, I’d like to get back on the road now.”