Once Upon a Contract (Once Upon #2)

Chapter Nineteen

Daphne

I t's only been a few weeks since our engagement, but they've been the best, and busiest weeks of my life. Ezra gave me a week to move into his place or else he would do it himself. He made good on that promise when I wasn't moving fast enough and hired a moving company to take care of the rest for us. I played annoyed, but I was actually relieved to not have to deal with it.

Imagine my shock when who I thought was a walk-in customer turned out to be the sister of one of my movers. She's an up-and-coming art curator at a new trendy gallery in the city and was dying to meet me and see more of my work.

Apparently, her brother loved some of my paintings when he was boxing them up to move to Ezra's place. He snapped pictures of a couple of my pieces and sent them off to his sister, who fell in love with them and wanted to see more of what I could do. Ezra was upset that he violated my privacy, and I was too to an extent, but I also felt honored that he'd loved my pieces so much that he had to share them.

I was hesitant at first but decided to do a quick Google search of her name and was pleased to see the information she had provided me checked out. I was nervous as heck when we met for lunch, but she was so sweet and put my nerves at ease when she showed genuine interest in my art and what I had to offer.

We agreed on doing a small show to see how my pieces would be received and then go from there. She really wanted the one I made of myself and Ezra, but he said the only place that painting was going was in our house, and I was perfectly okay with that. Like most of my art, it's just for me, but there was no way I was sharing something so intimate with anyone else.

Not only was I being headhunted to do an installation for a high-end art gallery, but things at our foundations blew up in the best possible way after our event. Ezra, Matty, Camilla, and I were inundated with people who wanted to support or learn about our programs. I ended up doing double duty working at the shop tattooing and then rushing over to our headquarters to help Camilla handle all the attention they were getting.

Once we all realized there was no slowing this freight train down, Camilla hosted another one of Santiago's infamous dinner meetings so that we could all get together and hash out what our next moves should be.

Speaking of Camilla, she cried tears of joy when I showed her my engagement ring before rapid-firing wedding questions at me in Spanish. I have always loved how she switches to her native language when her emotions are high. I realized in that moment that I may not have my birth mother around to enjoy all of my life's accomplishments, but I have this woman who has treated me as her own flesh and blood for years. She would make sure I don't miss out on anything life has to offer me, especially where my wedding is concerned.

That dinner at Santiago and Camilla's was one of my favorites. The food was to die for, as usual, but the company was even better. The four of us together make a diabolic team. It didn't take long for us to go over financials, plan on how to use the new funds to better each of our programs, and go through the lists of businesses that were interested in participating at our next shared event.

I think my favorite part of the whole evening was watching Matty and Camilla go rounds with each other. Camilla is not used to many people telling her no or challenging her. I swear Matty riles her up on purpose just because he loves sparring with her. The best part was that even though both of them were hesitant to back down, everything stayed civil and they respect each other enough to hear the other out.

One of the most important things we discussed was where to host the next event. The interest from not only our students but the local businesses meant we would need a bigger venue. We had several places on our list, but it was actually Brooks who came through for us with connections from his days as a professor. A localish college loved what our goals are for the program and wanted to donate not only space, but also time and support from their grad students and faculty.

Because we were able to provide such a large space and have additional help, we are so excited to open up the event to everyone if the students enroll in each of our foundations. It's going to be huge, and we can't wait to see what this next event looks like.

Another surprise from our event was the outreach from other foundations like ours from across the country. They loved what we did and wanted advice on how to replicate it. Ezra and some of his employees started to work diligently on a website specifically for the event, and future events to come with any and all information a person could need to host one in their community. If things take off like we think they might, we're looking at spearheading an entirely new non-profit together.

We both have so many things to look forward to in our future professionally, but having each other to lean on gives me the confidence that we can handle anything.

Ezra's board was thrilled with our event, but even more so with our coupling. They knew he was a brilliant businessman but were worried he'd burn out if he didn't have something to balance his life out. That's where I come in, and I couldn't be happier to be that for him.

As for life at the shop, we're still steadily gaining our footing and our clients. River has officially been promoted to our manager and runs the place like a well-oiled machine, with minimum effort while still crushing school.

Meadow has been a little absent lately, and if I had to guess, our pint-sized pixie is hiding something from us. Unlike Wren, who honestly means well, I won't push her to spill the beans. I know it's got to be a weird transition for her as River grows up each day. Especially since her child is a literal genius and extremely self-sufficient. But whether it's River growing up, or something else, I try to let her know every day that if there's anything she needs, I'm always here for her.

Wren and Brooks are as in love as ever and also recently got engaged. Brooks being the ultimate book boyfriend went above and beyond in his grand gesture to ask Wren to marry him. To this day, even though our book club is still new, I don't think any will top the meeting where Brooks proposed to Wren. The entire night was magical, and it was amazing to see my kickass best friend melt and be vulnerable with the man she loves.

Which brings us to today, my wedding day. That's right. Only a few short weeks after getting engaged, Ezra and I decided not to wait to get married.

The only people who know what is happening are my father, who is happily giving me away, Tink, and Ezra's parents. We needed their help setting up a space on the property to hold the ceremony.

As far as everyone else is concerned, they think they're coming over for one last cookout before fall fully takes over and it's too chilly to have an entire evening outside. I know the girls are going to be pissed that I kept this from them, but they'll get over it because they love me and know me.

Neither Ezra nor I wanted anything big and pompous. The few times we did try to talk about the wedding and come up with a guest list, the logistics of it all about gave me a panic attack. When Ezra suggested eloping to some remote island, I flipped it to a small intimate wedding at home under the ruse of a party.

Ezra's mom has been greeting everyone at the door when they come in and getting them drinks to entertain them while Ezra and I finish up some work. At least, that's what they think. Really, I'm hiding in our room with my father as I impatiently wait for everyone to get here and to be ushered outside.

Even though it feels like an eternity, I hear Ezra's parents get everyone outside and head down a path to the beautiful arch Ezra and his dad made for this day. My father and I are only a short distance behind everyone, so I get to hear and see their reactions to our set-up and it's absolutely priceless.

All of our friends and family fall silent as Ezra steps up to the arch, looking handsome in his suit. Soft music plays as my father guides us down the aisle. Tink did us a solid and got ordained online and is the officiant.

It's short and sweet, and filled with so much love and happiness that I can't believe this is my life. When Tink tells Ezra he can kiss his bride, Ezra wastes no time claiming my lips. Our friends erupt around us, filling my cup up with so much love and joy.

As I figured, Wren cusses me out before crying that I am the most beautiful bride that she has ever seen. Meadow is so happy for us that I think she may flit away. The rest of our friends congratulate us, and then the fun begins.

We move the party closer to the back deck, where we have enough food to feed an army. We eat, drink, the kids get to swim, and we even dance the night away.

I never thought I'd get married or that I even deserved a love like this. Ezra has given me back so many dreams I gave up on long ago. I can't wait to see where our lives take us and how many dreams of his I can fulfill along the way.