Chasing Olivia (Trace + Olivia #2) (42 page)

We walked slowly down the aisle as Gramps struggled to put one foot in front of the other, but I didn’t mind. I wanted Gramps to be the one to do this and if it took us ten minutes to reach Trace, so be it.

Luca stood beside Trace and leaned over to whisper something in his ear. Trace punched him roughly in the arm for whatever he’d said. Luca’s lips quirked up into a smile as he shook his head

Finally, we reached the gazebo, and since there was no need to have anyone officiate the wedding Gramps kissed my hand before placing it in Trace’s. “I love you both,” Gramps coughed, a single tear falling down his cheek.

“I love you too,” I whispered, kissing the tear away.

“Love you, Gramps,” Trace kissed his other cheek. Cameras snapped somewhere, capturing the moment.

I stepped up beside Trace and Gramps sat down.

“You look beautiful,” Trace murmured, his eyes gazing over my whole body.

“You’re not too bad yourself,” I whispered.

He chuckled, shaking his head. He glanced out at the crowd and back to me. “I guess we better get on with it. You know, since they’re waiting and all.”

“Oh, right,” I blushed, glancing out at the guests. Geez, did we really know all those people?

“Olivia,” Trace spoke loudly so that everyone gathered heard his words, “when I met you, I didn’t know I was going to fall in love with you and make you my wife, but I did know that you were going to change my life,” he squeezed my hands. “You were so shy when I first met you, and I loved making you blush,” he released one of my hands and rubbed his thumb over my cheek. “I
still
love making you blush. I love making you smile and laugh. It makes my life worthwhile.
You
make my life better, Olivia. I didn’t know what I was missing until you came into my life. I know you think that I’ve taught you how to live, but it’s the other way around,” he swallowed thickly. “You own my heart, keep it safe.”

He took my left hand and slipped a ring on. It was beautiful and elegant, with diamonds going all the way around it. His words were still sinking in and my emotions were getting the best of me.

“You made me cry,” I released his hands to dab at my face. The guests laughed at my words, but I didn’t care.

“Sorry,” he smiled, and I was surprised to see tears in his eyes too.

I took a deep breath and let the words spill out of me. “There’s not much I can say after that,” I took his hands once more, “but I’m going to try.” I closed my eyes and wet my lips. “I believe that fate brought us together, because we both needed each other. You intimidated me at first with your cocky flirtatious remarks,” I laughed, “but I saw past that to the guy underneath and I fell in love with him…with
you
. I was scared of the things I felt for you, since I’d never experienced anything like it before. But I let myself fall, and it’s been the most exhilarating ride of my life. I love that you push me to try new things. I love that you listen to me, trust me, and respect me. We’re equals in every way. And today, I vow to love you with my whole heart, for the rest of my life.” I took his ring from Avery and slipped it onto his finger. It filled me with satisfaction and love to see that symbol of our union on his finger.

“God, I love you,” he grasped my face between his large hands and kissed me passionately.

Claps, catcalls, and laughter echoed around us, but in that moment it was just the two of us.

He pulled away and placed a soft kiss on the end of my nose. Taking my hand, we started back down the aisle.

“She’s Mrs. Wentworth now!” He yelled, raising our arms in the air. Everyone cheered at his words and I, of course, blushed at the unwanted attention.

“Wasn’t I already Mrs. Wentworth?” I looked up at him.

“Yeah, but now you have my ring on your finger, so it’s official,” he reasoned.

We didn’t make it very far before we were confronted by a photographer, eager to begin taking pictures of us and the rest of the family.

I smiled and posed as directed. Lots of pictures were taken with Gramps, and it made me sad knowing the reason why. But at least when he was gone, we’d be able to look back at these pictures and smile at the fact that we got to share this moment with him.

After nearly an hour of photo taking it was time for the real party to begin.

Tables were set up on the expansive property and more jar lanterns covered the tables and grass. I gasped at the all the silver origami stars adorning the tables. “Did you get my grandma to do this?” I asked Trace, clinging to his hand as he led us to the largest table.

“Of course,” he grinned. “I thought it was appropriate.”

“There’s so many,” I eyed all the tables. “It must have taken forever.”

“A few hours,” Maggie said from behind me.

“Thank you,” I hugged her. “They’re beautiful and special.”

“I had fun making them,” she shrugged nonchalantly. “Plus, it makes me feel like a piece of your dad is here with us.”

I smiled at that and sat down in the chair Trace pulled out for me. He took the seat beside me with Gramps and the rest of his family beside him. My grandpa was on my other side, then my grandma, mom, Nick, Dex, and Ella.

I knew I did the right thing having Gramps walk me down the aisle, but I felt bad for my grandpa. I mean, he was my own family and I hated to think I might have hurt his feelings by not asking him.

“Grandpa?” I leaned over and whispered in his ear.

“What, sweetie?” He smiled kindly, leaning back as servers set plates on the table.

I clasped my hands together, my fingernails digging into my skin. “I hope you aren’t mad that I didn’t ask you to walk me down the aisle.”

I looked down, avoiding his eyes.

“Of course I’m not mad,” he forced my chin up with a finger. “I understand. Now, if you don’t dance with me tonight, I might get mad then.” He chuckled so I knew he was messing with me.

“I think I can manage a dance,” I assured him.

“I’m looking forward to it,” he patted my cheek affectionately.

I spotted a family at a nearby table and elbowed Trace in the side. He choked on a bite of food and glared at me. “Woman, couldn’t you have waited for me to finish?”

“Sorry,” I laughed as he took a sip of water. “But is that Marcus and his family?” I pointed to the man that looked suspiciously like the one that had helped talk me into jumping off a bridge.

“Yep,” Trace smiled proudly. “I flew them in.” Shrugging, he explained, “I know they’re not family or anything, but meeting them on the road and connecting with them was nice. I wanted them to come.”

“You’re a good man, Trace Wentworth,” I grasped his knee and leaned over to kiss him softly.

“Because of you I’ll
always
try to be a better man,” he whispered, gazing at me thoughtfully.

I leaned my head on his shoulder, unconcerned about eating my meal. All that mattered to me was this moment that we were surrounded by everyone we loved.

The cutting of the cake went about as well as I expected. Trace shoved cake in my face and I got mad and tried to climb on his back. We both ended up falling on the floor, much to the amusement of the guests. But hey, that was Trace and I for you, and we definitely weren’t normal.

After we cleaned our faces of cake, and Trace changed his shirt since cake got smeared on that, it was time for our first dance as a couple.

When they announced us as Mr. and Mrs. Wentworth, my heart skipped a beat. I still wasn’t used to the fact that I was married and he was my husband. It seemed so surreal. How had I gotten so lucky?

I guessed the fact of the matter was I
wasn’t
that lucky. I hadn’t had the best childhood, the man I’d believed was my father tried to kill me, and there had been plenty of other bumps in the road. Despite everything I had been through, I still felt blessed, and it was because of the man that stood at my side.

“Shall we?” He held out his hand for me and guided me onto the dance floor that was made of more white rose petals. Lily had done an amazing job of making the wedding simple but elegant. Wedding planning might be her superpower.

He swayed us to the music, looking into my eyes. His gaze sent a shiver down my spine.

“You know,” he whispered, his lips brushing over the curve of my ear, “now that we’re married, there’s something I should probably tell you.”

“Tell me what?” I eyed him worriedly.

He smiled crookedly. “I lied.”

“You lied,” I repeated. “About what?” My heart raced in my chest. What could he have possibly lied about?

“When I said I can’t dance, that was a lie,” he whispered.

I snorted, relief flooding my veins. “I’ve seen you dance and it looks like you’re having a seizure.”

“Yeah, well,” he shrugged, “I like to dance like that because I can. But growing up here,” he gestured behind me to the mansion, “we were always having fancy parties so Trent and I had to know how to dance.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “So, all this time you wanted me to believe you couldn’t dance?” I asked him.

“No,” he shrugged. “I enjoy dancing like I’ve lost all control of my body,” he chuckled. “It’s freeing. Formal dancing is boring, but I can do it.”

“Any other secrets you should let me in on?” I tilted my head as he swirled me around.

He shook his head. “You know all my secrets now.”

His fingers found my wedding ring and he twisted it around my finger unconsciously, a ghost of a smile on his lips. “You like that, don’t you?” I suppressed a laugh.

He nodded, looking down at me. “Even more than this,” he took my hand off his shoulder and kissed my wrist where the tattoo of his name was emblazoned. He’d said the same thing when we’d gotten engaged. It pleased me to know that he was happy to be married to me.

“I have to agree with you,” I smiled, laying my head against his chest as more couples began to join us on the dance floor.

“Good.” His chest rumbled against my ear with the word.

We danced to two more songs and then my grandpa was tapping on Trace’s shoulder. “May I have a turn?” He asked.

“Certainly,” Trace handed me off and left the dance floor.

“Hey, grandpa,” I smiled. “I’m really glad you guys could make it.”

“That husband of yours is pretty amazing,” he shook his head. “He made sure we got here okay.”

I looked over my shoulder at Trace, smiling as I watched him introduce himself to Ella. “I love him.”

“And he loves you,” my grandpa said. “It’s obvious in the way he looks at you.”

“So,” I smiled sadly, “when are you guys heading back?”

“Our flight leaves tomorrow,” he frowned. “Maggie can’t be away from the store too long.”

“Of course. I understand. I hope we can see each other soon,” my grip on his shoulders tightened. I hated to say goodbye to them again. It seemed so unfair to finally have them in my life, only to live so far apart.

“I hope so too.” His eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled.

I was then passed off to Marcus, who I was really happy to see.

“How did Trace talk you guys into coming?” I asked him.

He chuckled. “Free plane tickets and a place to stay are pretty convincing,” he winked. “Plus, I really like you guys. And Sarah wanted to see Trace, so there was that.”

I laughed, looking to my right where Trace was dancing with the little girl. Ella had moved on and was dancing with her dad.

“Should I be worried that she’s trying to steal my man?” I joked as the little girl batted her eyelashes at Trace.

“I think she’s a bit too young, so you’re safe,” Marcus laughed.

Next, I danced with Dex. His graying dark hair hung in his eyes and he hadn’t bothered to shave.

“I feel like I need to give you
the talk
,” were the first words out of his mouth when we started dancing.

I blushed, looking at the ground. “I think you’re a bit late for that.”

“I was afraid you’d say that,” he shook his head. “You know, you might be Derek’s daughter, but I…feel protective of you…and I don’t even know you that well,” he admitted sheepishly.

“I guess it’s the bond of family,” I shrugged.

“Maybe so,” he smiled and his eyes crinkled at the corners. “At least you picked a good guy,” he tilted his head in the direction where Trace was dancing with both Ella and Sarah. Sarah didn’t look very pleased at having to share, which made me giggle. “That way, I don’t have to punch him and threaten him to treat you right.”

“You have nothing to worry about,” I assured my uncle.

“I’ve still gotta scare him a bit,” Dex glared over my shoulder, I assumed at Trace.

“There’s no need for that,” I shook my head.

“Sorry,” Dex chuckled, shaking his head as he fought a smile. “I feel like I have to stand in for your dad.”

“You don’t think he would’ve approved of Trace?” I frowned.

Dex laughed. “He would’ve liked him alright, but you’d be his little girl. Daddies with daughters are very overprotective. Ella isn’t dating until she’s dead,” he added.

“Poor Ella,” I laughed.

“If any guy tries to come near her, I’ll beat them away with a baseball bat, don’t doubt me.”

About that time, we were interrupted by Gramps sauntering up to us. He grumbled, “It’s about time I got to dance with the bride. I am dying you know.”