Carry You Home (Carry Your Heart #2) (64 page)

He huffed out a laugh, but that proud grin never left his face. "Yeah, boss. You look just fine."

I blew out a deep breath and glanced at the clock right over our heads in the hallway. We still had a little time before it was our turn, so Isabelle had run into the bathroom to check her makeup and freshen up, but my nerves were starting to get to me the longer I stood here without her next to me.

By the time I'd resorted to pacing the small waiting area for lack of anything better to do, I heard a low, familiar chuckle from the bench a few feet away from me. My eyes shot to my mom, who just shook her head at such an unnecessary display, and my lips lifted in a soft smile. I still couldn't believe she was really here, not necessarily that she wouldn't have come, but that in spite of everything, all the hurt feelings, disappointment, bitterness, and distance, we might actually be able to get to the other side of it.

"Hey, Mom,"
I'd told her yesterday when she answered the phone. The surprise in her voice wasn't lost on me.

"Caleb? Is everything okay? What's—"

"Everything's good,"
I'd laughed. "
I just wanted to tell you that me and Iz are getting married tomorrow at City Hall. Her dad wants to give her away, so that's what we're doing. Anyway, I don't know what you're doing or if you're busy, but if you wanted to come, I—"

That was about as far as I'd gotten.

"Of course!"
she'd yelled so loud I had to pull the phone away from my ear. "
Oh my God, of course I'll be there! You just tell me when and I'll be there."

Everything about this day had to be perfect, or at least as perfect as I could make it. We wanted to do this right, which was why we'd scrambled to make it happen as soon as possible, why Isabelle was putting a little bit of distance between us right now—after all, I really wasn't supposed to see her before the wedding—and why my mom needed to be here, too. Just like it wouldn't be right to do this without Sam here to give her away, it wouldn't be right without my mom either, regardless of history.

My eyes flew to the clock yet again and I bit down on my bottom lip. Just a few more minutes and we'd be able to get inside that room. Just a few more minutes and she would finally be my wife. My heart swelled at that thought, so much that I thought it might burst, and Isabelle stepped around the corner a moment later, sending all my anxieties flying right out the door.

She smoothed down the sides of her soft pink dress as she walked toward me, a warm smile playing on her lips, and she tugged at the material on her elbow a little. The dress was just another thing that helped make this day a little closer to perfect. I'd made the mistake of suggesting she wear the dress she'd originally planned on the wearing the first time we were supposed to come here and she'd quietly reminded me that had been a maternity dress. After that, I'd wanted to punch myself a few times in the face.

Instead, she'd pulled one of her mom's old cocktail dresses from the back of her closet, ones she'd saved a long time ago. It didn't fit perfectly, but with its rouched material that hit her just above the knee and curved neckline that dipped just low enough, it was just one more piece to the day, one more way to pay tribute. Her hair fell in soft waves just above her shoulders and her makeup was simple, but pretty. She'd never looked more beautiful to me.

Isabelle closed the short distance between us and slid her hand into my waiting palm. Maybe, in normal circumstances, we would've waited a little longer, but I'd been patient enough already and it was time to finally make this woman my wife.

As we took those first steps towards the room where the Justice of the Peace waited for us, my mind flashed back to the day before:

Isabelle sat on a stool by the island, the same one her dad had vacated just a few minutes before to give us some space, quietly eating the toast I'd put in front of her and none the wiser. I watched her for a few moments, my heart racing and my stomach flip-flopping, and then I reached inside my pocket to pull out that velvet box and set it in front of her on the counter.

She froze mid-chew, her eyes locked on that familiar velvet box, and she swallowed hard as her eyes darted back up to me.

My lips lifted up and I took a deep breath. This was it. I hadn't really planned on giving it back to her just yet, but it felt right.

"It's yours, Iz," I told her hoarsely, my voice cracking a little. "I think it's time you started wearing it again."

Her lips parted, curving up into a soft smile, and she snapped the box open to reveal the round diamond ring with smaller diamonds circling the band, the same one I'd given her eight years ago, before I went to prison, before we lost the baby, before everything crashed around us.

Isabelle pulled the ring out of the box without any hesitation and slipped it back onto the fourth finger of her left hand, right where it belonged. I stepped around the island, reaching for her and took her face in my hands.

"You still wanna marry me?"

She smiled back at me with tears in her eyes and nodded into my hands. "Yeah, I still do."

Now, as we pushed through the double doors in the courthouse, I brushed my lips against her knuckles. All five of us took our places as directed, I stood to the right of the judge with Saul on my left, and my mom stepped over to the other side as we waited for Isabelle and Sam, who were standing at the bottom of the makeshift aisle on the opposite side of the room. He murmured something in her ear, kissed her cheek, and then reached up to wipe away a tear underneath her eye.

Then he jutted out his elbow and she slipped her arm through it as they started their slow walk toward us. He managed to get her all the way to the front of the small podium where the rest of us waited until I took my cue and stepped forward.

Sam extended his hand to me with watery eyes and nodded firmly when I shook it. He glanced at Isabelle, who'd watched the exchange between us through a smile and tears, and then he stepped away so I could take my place next to her.

I grinned at her, wanting to commit every detail of this moment to memory. The curve of her lips, the light in her eyes, the way her hair kissed her collarbone, the way she squeezed my hand, the way I didn't think I could possibly love her more than I did right now, right at this moment. I'd never forget any of it.

The Justice of the Peace cut right to the chase, asked us if we were both here of our own free will, and then he jumped into the rest of it, prompting me with my vows.

I swallowed back the lump in my throat, took a deep breath, and my eyes locked on the only person who made my life worth anything.

"I, Caleb Sawyer," my voice was hoarser than I expected and I inhaled shakily, "take you, Isabelle Martin, to be my lawful wedded wife to have and to hold, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, to love and to cherish till death do us part."

I didn't know how I managed to get through it all with my voice only breaking once. Those simple words felt heavy as I said them—I hadn't expected to feel that weight settle over me, the finality of it all, and the fact that despite their simplicity, I'd never said anything truer or more heartfelt. I'd carry those words with me for the rest of my life.

As Isabelle squeezed my hands and repeated her vows with tears in her beautiful blue eyes, I blinked back my own tears. This wasn't really the time for crying, but given the weight of everything we'd been through to get here, those tears stung my eyes all the same.

When it was time, we exchanged the wedding bands we'd purchased late last night after getting all our paperwork in order and I brought her hand up to my lips so I could brush my mouth against her knuckles.

From now until the day I died, my life had one clear trajectory: to spend every day and every moment possible loving this woman, taking care of this woman, and protecting this woman. She'd been part of my life since we were kids, but I'd never gotten it right until now. I'd had so many opportunities, even when we were in high school, to take what was always supposed to be mine and I'd mangled every single one of them. Until now.

I took her face in my hands and kissed her as the Justice of the Peace pronounced us husband and wife and our witnesses clapped and whooped around us. Isabelle leaned into my chest, letting me wrap my arms around her to pull her in even closer, and I murmured in her hair, "I fear no fate for you are my fate...my wife."

Isabelle laughed against my chest and wiped away a stray tear with her free hand. "Aw, you remembered!"

"How could I forget?" I grinned down at her. "I'm pretty sure I swiped that from some book in some bookstore a long time ago."

She laughed again, this time against my lips when she pressed them there a moment later. Then she pulled away so our wedding party could congratulate us. Saul pulled me into a hug, my new father-in-law shook my hand with more tears in his eyes, and my mom clung to Isabelle like her life depended on it.

And when it was time to leave the room to make way for the next people waiting, that was it. Short, sweet, and right to the point. Just me, Isabelle, our vows, and the people we wanted here with us. Just like it would've been if we'd made it here the first time.

"So what should we do now?" Isabelle asked me from underneath my arm.

Saul and Sam exchanged glances and then Sam shrugged at me.

"I think Saul and I are going to grab a bite to eat, you know? Maybe we'll see a movie or something too. Should be gone for a few hours."

In light of the day's events, it took me a second to catch up. Then a slow smile crept up my face and I practically hauled my wife over my shoulder to hightail out of the courthouse and back to the house as soon as possible.

"We'll, uh," I called out behind me as I pushed Isabelle toward the main exit. "We'll catch you guys later. You said a few hours, right?"

Saul's laugh just echoed down the hallway.

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Isabelle kicked off her heels and bit down on her bottom lip as she turned back to me with a smile. I loosened my tie and closed the distance between us, gripping her hips to pull her forward.

"Hey there, wife," I grinned down at her.

"Hello, husband."

My thumbs grazed her cheeks and I brushed my mouth against her lips, savoring the way she responded and the sweet taste of our new life together. She hummed a little as the kiss deepened and as we edged closer to the bed. My fingers fumbled with the zipper on the back of her dress, but they found their course and that dress slid easily off her shoulders so it could float down to the carpet.

I drank her in, my eyes roaming up and down her beautiful curves and all I could think was,
Mine.

"I love you," she murmured and closed her eyes as my lips started a trail down the base of her neck.

"I love you, too," I smiled into her skin. "I'm never leaving you again."

"I know."

I believed her, too. I believed this was forever. That my life hadn't really started until now. That the future had never felt so tangible or so bright. That my happiness was forever intertwined with hers.

The worst was behind us and now the rest was easy.

My hands skimmed along her sides, squeezing and lifting her up so she could wrap her legs around my waist. We collapsed on the bed, the same bed we'd spent the last few nights in together, but this time was different. I planted my hands on both sides of her shoulders and propped myself up, eager to savor this moment for as long as I could stand it.

"You okay, Caleb?"

I grinned down at my wife with her hair fanned out on the comforter and her legs wrapped around my waist, pulling me in and tugging at my belt.

"Trust me, Iz," I whispered hoarsely. "I've never been better."

Maybe I didn't completely deserve to have her in my life. All the things I'd done, the things I'd tried and failed to forget, some of them were bad enough to justify a lifetime of pain and loneliness and regret, but the way she looked at me, the way she trusted me, the way she
loved
me, it was enough to wash away everything ugly in my past. It was enough to give me a clean slate.

The moment I finally found what I'd always been looking for the day I decided to leave the club was finally here. I'd finally found the better life I never thought I'd get to have.

And hell, I was going to take it.

Isabelle

My dad died on a Thursday.

We found him, warm in his bed, a few days after the wedding and that was it. He was gone.

All this time I'd had to prepare and it just didn't matter. Nothing can ever prepare you for the death of a parent and all the emotions surrounding it hit me like a tidal wave. They were all there: relief that his suffering was finally over, devastation from the blow, happiness that he was with my mom again, heartache at the thought of never hearing him laugh again. Each emotion hit me harder than the one before it and sometimes they hit me all once, suffocating what little control I had.

Every time that happened, though, Caleb was there. Calling our hospice nurse, filling out all the necessary paperwork, watching him get wheeled away, the funeral and all the arrangements that went with it, every time I broke down...Caleb was right next to me, lifting me up and helping me through it. I never would've survived an hour without him.