Page 73 of Picked and Playing Along

The following day, still swept up in the joy of it, we made a spontaneous drive to the county clerk’s office and applied for a marriage license. Not because we were rushing, but because when the moment was right, we didn’t want to wait a second longer.

After lunch at the Tillamook Cheese Factory, we took the scenic route home and stopped at an adorable antique shop I’d never noticed before. I remember admiring a ring in a velvet tray and whispering how lovely it was. Beau must have thoughtfully made mental notes, because I’m wearing that exact ring now…and about to get married!

Suddenly Tess signals with the marriage license, instantly pulling our focus, and announces loudly, “People,let’s do what we do best. Let’s rally and get this match made in Sweetpines married already.”

And they do. Within a minute, the townspeople are scurrying around as quickly as ants whose home has been disturbed.

Clipboard in hand, Reenie barks orders that would bring back memories of a stern army general for any military personnel.

“Essie. Go find our prettiest blue quilt fabric and bring back a strip of it. Mildred. Get me two lavender sachets for calming nerves. And, Dot. Tell Pen to start slicing the leftover blueberry lemon cake from the Taylor wedding last weekend.”

Pen salutes and heads quickly to the diner, calling back over her shoulder, “See, Marty, I knew there was a reason we made a bigger cake than you thought we needed.”

Skye approaches Tess. “If it helps, this is my uncle. He’s visiting for a few days, and he’s licensed to perform weddings.” Tess hugs her.

Jenna presses a flower arrangement into my hands. “Wildflowers from the stage display. Use them for your bouquet.”

Team Newly-Dead’s Grant offers his tailored black suit coat to Beau. “I thought this would help fancy up your flannel.” The fit’s not too bad.

A little girl from the front row insists that Peaches needs to be the flower girl. She sets to work wrapping Peaches in white napkins as if the dog were a mummy. Somehow, it ends up working perfectly as a Peaches-sized dress, especially after the girl gently ties a flower crown into the fur on Peaches’ head.

Dr. Brooks offers up his reading glasses so the officiant can read the typed vows he keepstucked in a small black notepad, always ready for just-in-case moments like this one.

So much activity is swirling around us. I reach for Beau’s hand to make sure I’m awake, not dreaming.

Only seconds later, Tess tugs me back behind the stage curtain. She has arranged for something just as emotionally breathtaking as my ring: a wedding dress. Dr. Brooks is solemnly standing there. He gently lays a gorgeously simple white dress over my outstretched arms. It’s apparently been hanging backstage this whole evening.

My borrowed gown is the wedding dress Sam’s late wife made by hand, lovingly preserved with the kind of timeless grace that hushes a room and tugs at the heart. Tess had it steamed days ago and hid it in the back room of the quilt shop. The sight of it knocks the air from my lungs as sharply as a sudden gust of wind through an open door.

All the movement around us fades as I realize just how much care, memory, and reverence is folded into this gift. This isn’t just about a dress, it’s about love that has lasted and an heirloom handed down to bless this new chapter of our love.

“I always thought someone like you should wear it,” Dr. Brooks tells me softly as I caress the soft fabric. “She would’ve loved to see it brought back to life. You’ll wear it with the same joy and genuine brightness that my Ruthie did.”

Jenna joins us, and she and Tess help lift the dress over my head. I can barely contain my tears. I feel like Cinderella, magically clothed in a beautiful gown tailored to my precise measurements by not one fairy godmother, but two: my soon-to-be sister-in-law, and Ruthie, whose marriage to Samuel Brooks—and the way he’s kept her love alive—has moved me for years.

In a blink, with an abundance of delight, I’m draped in something borrowed, something cherished, something that makes this moment feel woven from threads of the past and the future all at once.

My mother slips behind the stage curtain next and fastens her own veil into my curls, as Essie ties the blue quilt fabric into an elegant sash around my waist. I’m all ready to join Beau on stage for our wedding. Ready to be his wife.

Then, in a breathless blur, with twilight reflecting gold behind the stage and the entire town gathered close, we’re getting married.

Not someday. Not eventually. But now.

I glance up at Beau. He looks like the man I’d always prayed existed. He looks like the man I belong with.

Beau and I repeat vows, exchange wedding rings that Jenna passed to the officiant, and share a passionate kiss after Beau is given permission to “kiss his bride.”

Sometimes love doesn’t wait for perfect. It takes root in the chaos, winding its way through wrong turns and real conversations until it unfurls—untamed, unapologetic, and entirely ours.

As we walk down the stage stairs as husband and wife, Peaches barks once, proud and prancing. All of Sweetpines whoops and hollers.

And somewhere in the crowd, I swear I hear Pen say, “About time someone officially matchedthose two for life.”

Back at Beau’s house, goosebumps tingle over my skin as I remember the evening we first knew we loved each other so fiercely, with nerves buzzing and touches that sparked so hot that we had to step back, to choose together to honor our love and wait until tonight to see it through.

In the dim light of the living room, I press into him, every inch of me aware of how close we are and how we’ve waited for this. His hand slides slowly up my back, fingers grazing my spine in a way that makes me shiver, the anticipation swelling warm and wild inside me.

When our lips meet, it’s both tender and hungry, as if we’re trying to merge—bodies, breath, and hearts with no distance between us.

I delight in every strong shape of his body, the familiar slope of his shoulders, the way his shirt bunches slightly beneath my hands. Our sighs melt together, the soundtrack of the longing we’ve kept tucked between heartbeats. One of his hands cradles my cheek, and I lean into it, a soft gasp slipping from me as his thumb strokes gently across my skin.

Our kisses deepen, layered with everything we’ve held back until now. I tangle my fingers in his hair, drawing him impossibly closer, like I want to pour all the waiting into this time we’re savoring. My heart races. His hands—broad and warm, steady in their strength—brush along my hips before settling at my waist, anchoring me to him.

When we pause, our foreheads touching, we’re still for the first time since we walked in the door. We don’t speak as our eyes lock magnetically, and he reaches for my hand. Every step down the hallway lands as if the floor itself is made of light. It’s nearly sacred. And when the door clicks shut behind us, I feel like I’m weightless, lifted by joy and love.

We’ve crossed the threshold that’s been waiting for ussince day one of the matchmaking festival…and everything that’s led us here.

Other people may have picked us to be a match. But tonight, we pick each other. Just like the final stitch in a quilt, this isn’t a pairing sewn by chance. It’s a choice. And it’s ours.

THE END