Should’ve Known It’s You (Not You Again #7)

Epilogue

KENNEDY

As I stared at myself in the full-length mirror, I couldn’t believe that the day had finally arrived. Today was the day Austin and I were getting married.

It was our wedding day, and it felt like we’d waited forever for it to get here. It’d been almost a year since the hotel had opened and a year and a half since Austin had proposed.

A few times, we’d even considered eloping just so we would finally get to say our I-dos, but in the end, neither of us had wanted to tie the knot without our nearest and dearest around us. So many of our friends and family had been involved in our love story, and it only felt right to have them there.

So we’d waited.

Life had been exceptionally busy this last year, in the best way possible, which meant the wedding plans had taken a backseat.

Today, however, I was ready to slow down, savor the moment, and marry the man who owned my heart. I shook my hands out at my sides and inhaled a deep breath to ground me.

Winrey and I had spent ages shopping for the perfect wedding dress, and in the end, we’d found it in Sophie’s boutique in Firefly Grove. It had been designed to look vintage, a slightly off-white color to make it look aged while the entire gown was encased in delicate lace.

I loved it.

Staring at myself in the mirror, I took a second to savor the moment. It was one of the big moments from the day I wanted to remember forever.

In the largest state room at the Dahlia hotel, the girls and I were getting ready together, with Winrey as my maid of honor and Jess and my friend, Addie, as bridesmaids. The boys were with Doug and Jeannie for the day, and I could hear their laughter filtering in through the windows from the playground below.

The Merricks had offered us Merrick Meadows as a wedding venue, but Austin and I had both decided that we wanted to get married here. This was the place that had brought us together. It was also the place that had almost forced us apart. Above all, however, it was the place that had taught us that we could have it all, as long as we stuck together.

This hotel had seen us fall in love. It was where we’d grown and where we’d learned to overcome challenges and work out our differences. When the time had come to choose where we wanted to vow to spend the rest of our lives together, the Dahlia Hotel and Restaurant had been the obvious choice.

We’d opted for a simple, low-key wedding, with only our closest family and friends in attendance, and without too many frills. If we’d gone all out, we would’ve had to wait even longer and neither of us wanted that.

Plus, everyone who mattered to us was here and that was the most important thing, after all. I felt a slight pang of pain when I remembered that our number didn’t include my parents, but I breathed through it, so used to handling this particular pain by now that I rarely let it linger anymore.

Instead, I smiled as I watched Winrey and Jess peer out the window, giggling at the antics of their little boys on the lawn below. Addie, a friend of mine from high school and my only other bridesmaid, hung back, glancing at me and coming over when the makeup artist was officially done.

“You’re gorgeous,” she said in her soft-spoken way, her strawberry blonde hair curled into smooth waves that hung almost all the way to her back.

I grinned. “Right back atcha.”

Her cheeks flushed, the blush so much more obvious given her naturally pale skin and the freckles scattered across her nose. She fidgeted with her fingers before she inclined her head at a tray of champagne flutes pushed up against the wall. “Can I get you another drink?”

I checked the clock mounted above the door and shook my head. “Thanks, but we should probably get going soon. Tate is only going to be able to keep Austin downstairs until the exact minute we’re supposed to begin. If we’re not there by then, I won’t be held liable for his actions.”

“He really is painfully punctual,” Jess complained jokingly as she turned away from the window. “Thankfully, it doesn’t run in the family, if anyone was wondering.”

I laughed. “We weren’t, but thanks.”

“I still can’t believe Tate is his best man,” Winrey marveled out loud, her head shaking. She stepped away from the window and took a seat at the little sitting area in the corner. “Who would’ve seen that coming?”

“Nobody,” I said as I joined her, but I couldn’t bring myself to sit down. I wasn’t nervous, though. Just eager to get the show on the road. I checked the clock again, but barely a minute had passed, which meant we still had at least six minutes to go before we were due downstairs.

I stood behind the upholstered sofa facing my sister, my hip cocked against it as I thought back to how it’d happened that Austin had asked Tate to stand with him today over anybody else. We might not have seen it coming at first, but after the last year, I couldn’t say it had come as a surprise to me when I’d found out.

“Contrary to what I thought after our first meeting, Tate’s a good guy. He’s come a long way and he’s really shown up as a friend,” I said. “After all that stuff with Danny, he and Austin have become really close and they’ve had each other’s backs ever since.”

Truth be told, he belonged up there with my future husband. Slate and Benji were his groomsmen, but Tate had earned his spot as Austin’s best man. He’d really turned into a decent human being.

Addie looked curiously between us before her cornflower blue eyes settled on mine. “What happened at your first meeting with him? I met him briefly this morning and he seemed alright. A bit cocky but not altogether bad.”

Jess groaned. “This is not the time for that conversation, but come find me after the ceremony, okay? There are a few things you should know before you hook up with the best man as a bridesmaid at one of our weddings.”

I laughed. “I’d forgotten about that. Do you really still believe in it?”

Jess shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. The guys do. They don’t think it will end until someone breaks the curse.”

Addie looked completely mystified as she glanced between us, a crease between her eyebrows that was deepening by the second. “Curse? What curse?”

“I prefer to think of it as a blessing,” I said.

A swift knock interrupted us, and Mindy’s voice filtered through the door. “Let’s go, girls. It’s show time.”

Jess gave Addie a meaningful look. “Like I said, just come find me after.”

Addie chuckled shyly, shaking her head as she strode over to the door. Winrey widened her eyes at me excitedly and grabbed my hand as she came to stand beside me. Her eyes looked deep into my own. “Are you ready?”

“The finishing touches have been done to our hair and makeup and the champagne is warm,” I said jokingly. “Let’s blow this popsicle stand.”

She laughed and nodded, joining Jess and Addie by the door. My small bridal party and I made our way downstairs, where Mindy, who had also become our wedding coordinator, held up her hand. “Wait a beat. Addie is going first, then Jess, Winrey, and then you, but you need to stand to the side so they don’t see you when I open the doors for the others.”

I nodded and smoothed out my dress as the girls shuffled into the right order. The ceremony was taking place outside in the gardens, and it was a glorious, warm summer day outside, with clear blue skies stretching for miles in every direction between the buildings.

Like the universe itself was giving us its blessing with such incredible weather.

An excited shiver made its way down my spine. The music started playing and it was go-time. Addie disappeared, followed only a moment later by Jess. Then Winrey blew me a kiss before she stepped out as well.

I could tell when they’d reached the end of the aisle because the song they’d walked out to faded into the wedding march and Mindy nodded at me. “This is your moment, Kenny. You’re going to take his breath away, so don’t worry too much if he faints.”

As I laughed, she opened the doors once more and I stepped forward. My gaze zeroed in on Austin waiting at the other end of the red carpet. A beautiful arch that we’d covered in greenery stood behind him, framing my gorgeous, handsome man as he beamed at me.

He looked so proud as I moved toward him one step at a time, even though I desperately just wanted to run. About halfway down the aisle, I decided that today was about us and that meant I could do whatever I wanted, so I broke into a run—to the delighted amusement of our guests.

Laughter and whoops rang out, and Austin shot forward to scoop me up in his arms, spinning me in a circle as he grinned up at me. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”

“So are you,” I murmured, eyes hooked on his.

He held me for another beat before setting me down on my feet and linking his fingers with mine. Together, we made our way to the front of our little congregation, grinning and joking our way through our short, sweet, and traditional ceremony.

Austin had floated the idea of us writing our own vows, but I had been looking forward to making the traditional vows to my person my entire life, and so, our officiant led us through them, ending with the words I’d been yearning to hear.

“You may now kiss your bride.”

Austin tugged me to him, his brand new tungsten wedding ring pressing into my hip as he laid a hard, long kiss on me that eventually made Tate speak up. “Uh, guys? We’re still here.”

I laughed, breaking the kiss. Austin groaned and lowered his forehead to my cheek, his lips moving against my skin as he spoke quietly enough that only I could hear him. “Do we really have to take pictures right away? We could always sneak upstairs real quick.”

At least, I’d thought no else would’ve been able to hear him, but Tate laughed and dropped his hand on Austin’s shoulder, pulling him back a little to smirk at him. “You’ve got the rest of your lives, bro. Let’s go take pictures so that you’ll have those, too.”

“Fair enough.” Austin sighed and took my hand, but his eyes rarely left me for the rest of the afternoon.

We took our pictures all around the hotel, posing at least once with every guest in attendance until finally we took a few shots of only us. After that, we joined our guests at the rooftop restaurant, the newest addition to the hotel’s features and my absolute favorite so far.

It was a gorgeous venue, especially on such a beautiful day, and we danced the night away under the stars. Our wedding was the first to be hosted there, but it definitely wouldn’t be the last.

Toward the end of the evening, Austin and I were standing at the bar with Slate and Jess when Tate came over to us. He jerked his head toward Addie, his hands casually in his pockets but his eyes constantly drifting over to her. “Your bridesmaid, is she single?”

“She is,” I said. “She’s a sweet girl with a heart of gold, though. I’m not sure she’s right for you.”

“What do you mean?” He smirked and pointed a thumb at his chest. “I’ve got a heart of gold too, or haven’t you heard?”

I chuckled. “Addie is an innocent, Tate. She’s a bit na?ve, she loves reading books in actual brick-and-mortar libraries, and she does knitting and cross-stitching in her free time. She’s not your type and trust me, you’re not hers either.”

He pumped his eyes at me. “I can be any girl’s type for one night.”

Austin and Slate shared a look before Slate winked at Jess. “Here we go again.”

“I’ll send up a prayer for Addie,” Austin muttered.

Jess glanced at me. “She never did come find me after the ceremony. She doesn’t know yet.”

Tate frowned at all of us, but then, to my utter surprise, he waved it off. “Never mind. Hooking up at a wedding is bad luck anyway and you guys are being too weird.”

Shaking his head at us, he walked off to go chat to Doug and Jeannie instead, and the rest of us stared after him, in complete shock until slowly, one by one, we started laughing.

“Is that it, then?” Austin asked, his eyebrows lifting as he turned to Slate. “Does that mean it’s over now? He broke the curse.”

Slate shrugged. “I don’t know, but I guess we’re going to find out.”

***