Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
The bird suddenly flew away. No goodbye. No warning. Nothing. Then again, that’s how it went, didn’t it?
There was a knock at the door. “Yes?” I wiped my eyes.
“Hi, Miss Vinetti. Is it safe to come in?”
It was the photographer, Leah.
I opened the door. “Hi. Yes. I just have to touch up my eye makeup and slip into my dress. Would you mind helping me?”
“Not at all.”
While I would have much rather had my mother or Izzy here to zip up the back of my gown instead of Leah, I took solace in the fact that I would be with Griffin soon, and these feelings of loneliness would then be replaced by the joy of our wedding day.
After I was dressed, Leah took some photos of me looking in the mirror as I redid my makeup.
It was now time to meet Griffin outside.
“Mr. Archer asked for you and him to have some privacy in the courtyard before pictures start. So I’ll capture the moment he sees you and then disappear for about ten minutes before coming back to take your outdoor photos.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
When I emerged from the house into the yard, Griffin’s back was facing me as he stood under a jacaranda tree.
“Griffin?”
When he turned around and got a look at me, he immediately started crying. I’d rarely seen Griffin cry—not happy tears, at least. But there was certainly no bigger proof of his love for me than to witness them falling from his eyes right now.
“You look even more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.”
“Thank you. And you look so handsome.” I adjusted his boutonniere and patted his chest. “I love that vest.” I felt like I should have been crying, but I think I was all cried out. That didn’t mean I wasn’t happy beyond belief right now.
I noticed that Griffin was holding a small gift bag.
“What’s in the bag?”
“I wasn’t sure if you had something old, something borrowed, something blue . . .”
“I hadn’t even remembered that tradition.” I smiled. “I don’t, actually. You got me covered?”
“I got you covered.” He winked, then took the first item out of the bag. “Something old,” he said as he took out a silver locket. “This belonged to my mother. When I inherited it after she died, it was empty. So I took the photo you have of Izzy and had a copy made of it that was just the right size to fit inside.”
Okay, now I was crying.
As he placed it around my neck, I said, “My makeup is going to be ruined.”
“We’ll fix it.”
There was nothing Griffin couldn’t fix or make better.
My heart raced in anticipation as he pulled out the next item.
“Something borrowed,” he said before opening a velvet box. In it were the most stunning diamond earrings from Harry Winston. Those had to have cost a fortune.
“Oh my God. These are exquisite.”
“I hope you really like them. You don’t have to wear them if you don’t.”
“I do.” I smiled. “I really do. Thank you.”
I took out the smaller diamond studs I’d been wearing before he helped me put the new earrings on. They were gorgeous, dangling chandelier-style and likely cost as much as this wedding.
“Something blue.” He flashed a wicked smile before taking out a tiny Furby key chain. It was the one I’d left behind at his house during my first trip out to see him. It happened to be a royal-blue color. He’d added a little safety pin to the end. Bending down, he pinned it to the underside of my dress.
“That’s perfect.” I beamed.
“And we can use it until the battery runs out later.” He winked.
After he put the bag aside, I realized he’d skipped over “something new.”
“Isn’t one missing? Something new?”
“Yes, my love. But it’s not in the bag. It’s inside of you.”
Griffin knelt down and kissed my stomach.
The greatest reward for facing my fears was that he and I had made a little human. Four months along, I wasn’t showing enough to have to wear a maternity dress. Thankfully, the cut of the gown I’d chosen hid what small bump I had pretty well. But in only a matter of months, we would be welcoming a baby boy, who we planned to name Griffin Chester Marchese. And my life once again would be changed forever.
Was I terrified of becoming a mother? Absolutely. But I would dive headfirst into it and take everything as it came just as I had been trying to do with everything else. That approach had gotten me far. It had gotten me here to the most important day of my life.
Griffin took my hand as we walked through his garden, relishing this calm before the wedding.
“Best thing I ever did was answer your first letter, you know,” he said.
I squeezed his hand. “Best thing I ever did was send it.”