He stared at it awhile, then he popped it open and—stopped. He pulled me close and held the ring into the light, sucking in a breath as he read the inscription aloud. “My last. My soul. My everything.”
He smiled and rolled the ring around in his hands; it was a platinum band with two thin strips of crushed diamonds, with “C” and “J” etched and entwined against a centered sea hook.
“This is beautiful, Claire...” His voice was hoarse. “I’m so sorry that I ever thought you didn’t design it...” He shook his head and gently placed the ring back into the box. “Open yours.”
I flipped the box open and gasped at the stones that glittered against the night. Slowly prying it from its box, I ran my fingers along the white and blue diamonds that were shaped in a design of waves. The words “Mr. & Mrs. Statham” floated in between them, and on the inside of the band he’d etched “Forever Yours, Always Mine.”
I felt tears falling down my face and he reached under my sunglasses to wipe them away.
“I want to read my vows to you.” He pressed a kiss against my wet cheek.
“I thought we agreed that we weren’t writing vows...”
“These are only for you to hear. They’re not appropriate to say in public.” He smiled and wiped a tear away from my cheek. “Why are you crying?”
“I’m not...”
“You’ll always be a terrible liar.” He wiped another stream of my tears away and leaned forward like he was going to kiss me, but he held back. “Claire Gracen...The first time I fucked you—”
“Seriously?”
“Of course not. I’m just making sure that you’re listening.” He smiled. “The first time I met you and you turned me down, I honestly thought you were out of your mind, that there was no way you didn’t want to go out with me. I thought you were just playing hard to get, but then you turned me down again at work....When I finally got a chance to take you out—on a short run, no less, and we barely talked...I knew that there was something special about you.”
“And the more time I spent with you—outside of the amazing sex we had, I couldn’t help but fall for you...I know you didn’t believe in having a second chance at love and that our age gap bothered you, but I want you to know that I never thought about our age gap for a single second, and I never will...If something tragic happens between now and our wedding tomorrow, please believe me when I say that I didn’t know what love was before you, and you are—without a doubt, the love of my life.”
My bottom lip was quivering and I’d given up on trying to hold back the tears.
“You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met and I can’t wait until you’re officially mine—forever...” He trailed his finger against my lips. “I’ll never hurt you, betray you, or allow anyone else to.”
“Jonathan...” I was crying now. He was too much.
“I’m going to continue to send you flowers every day because you deserve them, because there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you...And I promise to love, cherish, and fuck the shit out of you for the rest of our lives.”
I sniffled and let out a laugh. “Those vows were beautiful... Especially that last line.”
“That was the hardest one to write.” He kissed my forehead. “I love you, Claire.”
“I love you too.” I leaned in to kiss him, but he held my shoulders still and whispered. “Tomorrow.”
I sighed. “Are you going to tell me where we’re going for our honeymoon?”
He shook his head and stood up, reaching for my hand. Then he slipped his other arm around my waist and walked me around the rose gardens he’d had imported from the South.
We didn’t say a word to one another. We simply slipped into that familiar quiet that easily enveloped us so often.
After we stared up at the sky together, wishing on separate stars, he planted a kiss on my forehead and drove me back to the hotel. When we boarded the elevator, he smiled at me and peered beneath my sunglasses.
The second the doors opened, he ushered me off and walked me back to my suite.
“I’ll see you tomorrow...” I stood on my toes and brought his head down to mine. I was dying for him to kiss my lips. Just once.
“Tomorrow, future wife,” he said softly and kissed my hand. “You should probably get inside your room before I drag you into mine and forget all about the wedding.”
I laughed kissed him on the cheek. “Goodnight, future husband.”
I woke up to loud knocking at my door.
“I’m coming! I’m coming!” I threw a robe on over my pajamas and opened the door.
It was Helen and Sandra.
“You’re late for your makeup.” Sandra shook her head. “Bobbie Jo and Kim have been calling your phone for the past two hours. Did you stay up late?”
I shook my head.
“Are you having second thoughts?” Helen raised her eyebrow.
“What? Of course not.”
“Good.” She dragged me over to a chair and pushed me into it. “Since you’re late, I’ll just have the girls meet us here to do everything. Sandra, could you call room service and have them bring Claire some breakfast? We don’t want her getting sick on her big day.”
Sandra nodded and disappeared into the bedroom.
The next few hours were a dizzying blur: Bobbie Jo and Kim did my hair and make-up to perfection; my eyes were layered in a soft glittering eye shadow and my hair was pulled into a beautiful chignon with loose ringlets that grazed my shoulder.
Hayley came and presented me with the garter she’d personally designed, my mother and daughters fiddled with my dress until they thought it was perfect, and a huge white bouquet of flowers was brought into the room.
I was reaching for the silver card that was attached to their stems, but Sandra snatched it away from me.
“Let’s see what Mr. Billionaire has to say to his fiancée on her wedding day.” She flipped the card open and cleared her throat as if she was going to read it aloud, but then she burst into tears.
“Ugh.” Helen rolled her eyes. “Give me that...To my future wife: Today is the first day of the rest of our lives. With the exception of the first day that I met you—the day you came into my life, no other day will ever mean as much to me as today. You are the reason behind my happiness and you hold the keys to my soul. I love you, Claire...Hurry up and get here :-)”
Everyone in the room let out a collective “Awww” and wiped tears away from their eyes—even Helen. As they were passing around Kleenex, I slipped away to answer the knocking at the door.
Jonathan’s mother.
“Hi...” I eyed the dark red wine she held in her hand, hoping that she wouldn’t do what I thought she was here to do.
She noticed me staring at the glass and quickly tossed it back. “I’m sorry...It’s juice, not wine—and I would never...” She paused. “Do you have something borrowed, Claire?”
My eyes widened and I panicked. “No...No, I don’t. Oh my god—that’s really bad luck...I can’t believe I don’t have it.” I clutched my chest.
“Here.” She pulled a gorgeous pearl and ivory pin from her hair. “My mother wore it at her wedding and I wore it at mine. I thought I would...I thought I would give it to you, so you could...You know...” Her eyes were sincere but she looked as if she were bracing for me to shun her away.
“Thank you, Mrs. Statham.” I reached out to take the pin from her, but she slowly drew it back.
“Allow me,” she said and motioned for me to stoop down. “You make my son really happy, Claire...After all he’s been through, he deserves to be happy and I’m glad you brought that out of him.”
I felt the pin sliding into my hair, and when I was sure she was done, I stood up again. I looked at her a long time, fully aware that all my friends were staring at us—ready and waiting to pounce on her should she attempt to do something crazy.
Instead of dismissing her, I smiled and wrapped my arms around her—hugging her tightly. “Thank you for the something borrowed. I look forward to us starting over in the future.”
She sniffled as she hugged me back. “Me too, Claire. I mean, Mrs. Statham.”
“Are we ready?” Sandra cleared her throat. “The limo is downstairs and the groomsmen are already at the venue according to the director. Let’s go!”