Page 127 of Falling Back to You

Edison nodded. “It takes a village, and Cyrus, Fancy, and I are here for you, Oz, and Maple. We support you, we’ll always have your back, and today we get to celebrate your love.”

“Y’all are my whole life. Being your sister has filled me with such pride.”

You didn’t get to choose the family you were born into, but I’d lucked out with my two brothers. With them by my side, I was empowered to take chances and make mistakes. And from them I’d learned what love felt like and grown up to become a woman who was determined to never settle for less.

I dabbed at my eyes, sensing tears about to spill over. “Enough of this. Let’s get me hitched.”

The ceremony was held in the gazebo behind my childhood home. I walked the path sprinkled with rose petals. Cyrus had been right—when Ozzie caught sight of me, his face crumpled. He wiped at his tears through a bright smile.

The ceremony was intimate. Reese, Fancy, and Maple were bridesmaids, and Cyrus was our officiant. Edison walked me down the aisle. At the gazebo, I wiped away the last of Ozzie’s tears and the group collectively laughed in unison, sharing their nervous energy—and a bit of shock that this was actually happening.

Ozzie kissed my cheek and whispered, “Drop-dead gorgeous.”

“At six in the morning, my best friend called me and said he needed my help,” Cy began. “Now, Ozzie and I go way back and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him, so I asked, ‘What do you need?’ And he said he was marrying my sister, today. And you know Ozzie and Dial—when they put their minds to something, not even God can stop them.”

“Nos don’t work for us,” Ozzie joked.

Cy continued talking about his reaction when he learned his best friend was dating his sister, but I barely heard him over my own thoughts. Life gave you problems, and it was up to you to find solutions. Some problems were easy, like one plus one equals two, or Dial loves Ozzie. Others took more time to figure out—like, what did you do when love wasn’t enough? We’d failed time and time again, but finally we’d figured it out because we solved the problem together. We’d waded through our share of heartache and come out the other side battle-tested.

“Dial and Ozzie have written their own vows,” Cy said. “Dial, you’re up first.”

It had been difficult coming up with the right words for the occasion. I’d wasted several sheets of paper trying to capture my undying love in a few sentences. How could I recap the past while expressing my hopes for the future without completely falling apart? So I’d decided I’d just speak from my heart, since old girl was the one that had led me here.

“I knew at eighteen that I wanted to spend the rest of my life loving you. You are everything I’ve ever wanted, and possess so many amazing qualities that I didn’t know I needed. Being able to love you and be loved by you is a joy and a blessing. I meant it when I was fifteen, and I mean it now. I love you, Ozzie Palmer, always have… always will.”

My beautiful man took in a stuttering breath as my professions of love sank in. From behind me, sniffles and the rumpling of Kleenex were coming from my bridesmaids. No doubt Fancy and Reese were crying happy tears in celebration of my good fortune.

Cyrus cleared his throat. The thought of his being choked up amused me. “Oz, the floor is yours.”

“I don’t think I’ve had a moment of peace since I met you,” Ozzie began. “I think about you all the time. It tickles me to be able to reach for you and pull you close first thing each morning. And at night I only have happy dreams, because you’re the last thing I see before closing my eyes. My life has been dictated by this one truth… that I love you. I’ve never stopped, even when loving each other was hard. You and Maple are the axis that my world rotates around. A word hasn’t been invented to describe how lucky I am to love you. I vow to love you today and every day until the air leaves my lungs.”

Cy shut his book containing the ceremony notes. “I don’t think there’s anything left to say. It is my honor and great privilege to introduce Oswald and Dial Palmer. Oz, you may kiss the bride.”

Ozzie stepped closer, cupping my cheeks. “To forever,” he whispered against my lips.

“And ever and ever.” And then I kissed my husband for the very first time.

Epilogue

Dial

Five months later

“Okay, be careful—step light.” Ozzie had a tight hold on me.

“You know I could walk better if I wasn’t blindfolded.” He held my waist, but I still stretched out my arm to ensure I didn’t walk into a wall.

“That would ruin the surprise.”

“I hate surprises.”

“Well, you’re gonna love this one.”

The ground was hard, but I could still tell we were traversing over dirt and possibly grass. Ozzie had given me no hints, just told me to hop in his truck, and he started driving. I’d been blindfolded from the start.

Trying my best, I’d focused on his turns, because I knew Hume like the back of my hand, but I guessed he’d made the drive unnecessarily long to throw me off. Dinner was out, because I was still in my overalls from my workday.

Maple wasn’t with us, so he wasn’t taking me to a park or some random kiddie attraction. When he did speak his voice was tense, like he was excited but making every effort to hold it back. My husband—I’d never get tired of calling him that—had me stumped. We’d been married now for five months and were as busy as ever. The bed-and-breakfast was set to open soon. Ozzie was trekking to Texas every other week, and I was a brat who made a big fuss any time he left. Because sleep not spent wrapped in my man’s arms was fretful. There was a huge calendar on my wall so I could cross off the days. It was silly, but I believed it made the time move faster.