Hard to Love You (10 page)

MacKenzie moves forward to the bed and reaches for the small black box. She turns towards us and a single tears slips down her cheek.

I blink a few times, trying to keep my own tears away.

“Hunter said they remind him of your eyes and I have to agree with him.” I explain as she holds the box in her hand.

Hunter’s so sweet. I would never have guessed Hunter had all this sweetness to him; no wonder MacKenzie couldn’t ever give up on him.

MacKenzie flips the little black box open and her hand immediately flies to her mouth. We all step closer to look over her shoulder. Tucked inside the box is a pair of blue and white, diamond twist drop earrings. They shimmer and glitter every time she moves the box.

“Just like your eyes.” I whisper in her ear.

MacKenzie turns around and flings her arms around me, hugging me tightly. I see the moms hugging each other as well as Jaylinn and Chloe. MacKenzie sniffles a few times and I feel the wetness on my shoulder through my silk robe. She squeezes me even tighter, takes a deep breath and finally lets go.

I’m so glad that Hunter told MacKenzie that he wanted to handle these gifts. He’d heard her stressing about it one night while we were hanging out and talking about the wedding. I was a little worried that he was in a little over his head but he nailed it. He’s a keeper in my book.

“Ok ladies, no more tears. We need to get dressed and get our asses downstairs.” I tell them all.

As we all help MacKenzie get dressed, and then sort out ourselves, the photographer takes pictures. Now that we are all dressed we take group photos, mom photos and then a few of MacKenzie and me.

“Let’s go girls, I can’t wait anymore.” MacKenzie exclaims.

It’s show time.

It’s nearing the time and my nerves are starting to get the best of me. I’ve been anxiously going over my vows in my head all morning. The only thing keeping me completely calm is Ryder. I’ve stepped out of the groom’s suite a few times and can see that guests have started to arrive. They are spread out in little groups and are talking amongst themselves. Thankfully the sun is just starting to set and things are cooling off. CC and I are lucky to be having perfect weather, not unbearably hot, but nice and warm. The wind is picking up just a little; CC was worried about the wind being an issue. She didn’t want people to be worrying about their hair being messed up or the decorations falling over - she has candles that will be lit on the beach, just off the deck. I’ve been able to grant all her wishes for a perfect wedding but this is one thing I have no control over.

I’m sitting in my suite, feeding Ryder, when my mom comes in.

“Hi Sweetie, how are you holding up?” she asks me.

I smile at her; she looks beautiful all dressed up with makeup on. She looks younger, happier than I have seen her in a long time. “Good, just finishing up feeding Ryder so he should be pretty quiet for you.”

She walks over to us, bends and gives Ryder a little kiss on his forehead. “He looks so handsome, Hunter.” She looks at me and I see the tears pool in her eyes. “He looks so much like you when you were his age.”

I hear that a lot, but I see a lot of CC in him too.

“He looks handsome in his little suit, huh?” I pull Ryder’s bottle out and lift him to my shoulder so that I can burp him.

“So handsome,” She responds and the tears finally start to fall.

Standing up, I wrap my one arm around her and kiss her head. “I love you Mom.”

She sniffs and nods, still too choked up to speak. I hold her for a few more minutes until Ryder starts to fuss.

She reaches for Ryder. “Ok, give me my grandson and get out of here.” Mom holds him out in front of her and he kicks his legs like a mad man. “Look at you, Ryder, all dressed up just like your daddy.”

CC wanted him dressed just like us, tan suits, white button down shirts and our blue ties to match the girls.

I give them both a kiss on their heads. “Mason will walk you and Ryder down to your seats in a few minutes.”

I leave them in the suite and double check the dining room to make sure everything is perfect. I stop a few times to say hello to a couple of guys that I work with, a few friends and family members on my way out to the deck.

When I step outside I see a few familiar faces; Bentley, Zeke, Logan and to my surprise, Dominic. CC and I talked about Dominic when we were doing the guest list and she convinced me to allow him to attend. I agreed as long as there was no dancing, she agreed.

I shake hands with Bentley first, “Another one bites the dust, huh?”

All the guys start laughing. “Just wait red head; you’ll be in the same boat someday.”

I shake Zeke’s hand next. “Zeke,”

“Hunter, when you going to show your ugly face down in VA?” Zeke asks. “I know you want more work done.”

“We’ll all be making a trip soon, don’t worry about that.”

Logan shakes my hand, “Congrats man.”

“Thanks.”

Dominic is standing there, hands in his pockets and looking nervous. He should be.

Being the bigger guy I hold my hand out to him. He looks at it for a second and then slowly removes his hand from his pocket and shakes mine.

“She’s mine. Don’t forget it.” I say.

He nods. “Congrats.”

“Thanks.”

We all stand around and bullshit for a few minutes before I look around. All the blue and white lights are strung across the deck. The paper light things that CC wanted are up there as well. The DJ is setting up everything just off to the side. Perfect. Now down to the altar.

Everything starts to hit me when I see things all set up. It’s impressive to see that the hotel pulled off everything that CC wanted. She’s obsessed with that damn Pinterest website and wants everything to look like the pictures she showed them.

It’s all perfect for a May evening. All the white chairs with the baby blue bows on the back are set up in rows. The baby blue walkway that CC picked is spread out with white flowers scattered all over it. God only knows why she had to have them; they are only going to get messed up when people walk on them. The altar is up and enclosed with baby blue and white tulle, secured with huge starfish and flowers on each side.

I walk down the steps and off the deck; I stop where we have put a sign that asks everyone to take off their shoes. I step out of mine and slip my socks off. I stroll on the outside of where the chairs are placed so I don’t mess up the flowers. I want CC to see this just like I did.

I shake hands with Dylan, he’s marrying us today. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” The truth is I’ve been ready since the day she said yes.

The videographer comes over and gets me all wired up. Music starts playing in the background and our guests come to find their seats. Mason and Cooper walk a few people to their seats and then come towards me.

“You good?” Mason asks.

“Yeah. You?” I know this is going to be hard on him today. Last night he kept to himself, which Mason never does. He’s always the center of attention, the jokester. When I went to check on Ryder this morning I was surprised to see Mason sleeping in the rocker with him. We’ve talked about what’s up with him and Hailey a few times since CC and I got back together. He was going to ask her to move in with him, so when all that shit went down in the bar with Lily I was really surprised. I think there’s more to the story than he’s letting on, but he keeps saying, ‘don’t worry about it’. He’s covering for someone. I know he is; I just need to figure out who that person is. But today isn’t that day; today I’m marrying my best friend.

Mason nods. “I’m going to go get your mom and Ryder. See you in a few.”

Cooper shakes his head as he watches Mason walk away. I’m not sure if he knows what’s going on with his twin or not, but time will tell.

“The girls are all down here now.” Jackson tells me.

“Alright, let’s do this.”

Jackson and Cooper both reach out for our handshakes, and then they walk around the chairs and seat a few more guests before they go and wait for Jaylinn and Chloe.

The processional music starts; Chloe, Jackson and Alex are standing up on the deck. All of our friends and family turn, and then Chloe and Jackson, who are both holding Alex’s hands with the ring bearer pillow, start to walk down the aisle. When they are about half way to me, I see Cooper and Jaylinn continue after them. Chloe winks when she reaches me, I stick my hand out for a high five from Alex. Jackson nods and leads Alex to my left while Chloe goes right. Next up are Hailey and Mason. I have to admit they make a nice looking couple, I hope they can work things out between them. Hailey, I can tell, has the fakest smile on her face; Mason has no emotions on display. When Jaylinn reaches me she smiles and winks, and Cooper, just like Jackson, nods as they both take their places. Looking back down the aisle, I notice Hailey’s smile relaxes when she walks past a guy sitting next to her mom and I see Mason’s jaw clench.
Interesting.
Hailey whispers, “Hey handsome” when she reaches me, I wink back at her.

The music changes to
The Wedding March
and all our guests stand up.

I suck in a sharp breath, CC is standing before me. Damn, she is stunning; striking really. I never thought this day would actually happen with all that we’ve been through. I nearly lost her in the accident that my damn step-sister Brittany caused. I’ve kept the secret of my dad from her when I knew that I could have trusted her with it. But with all that we’ve been through I don’t think I would change anything about it. It’s our love story. It’s something that she can tell our grandchildren about when we grow old.

CC’s long, chocolate brown hair is all curled and half of it is tied back, by her grandmother’s pins that Elle gave to her this morning, I’m sure. Her wedding dress is breathtaking; it fits her body perfectly. I love all her curves that it shows off; they’re my favorite thing about her figure. As she steps closer, with her arm wrapped in her dad’s, I take a quick glance at him. He’s got a few tears falling, and CC is whispering to him. I’m sure she’s thanking him for being such an amazing dad and telling him how much she loves him. The normally unfazed-by-anything Andrew Cahill is in tears, and it’s all because of his incredible little girl. I wish I could have had a relationship with my dickbag of a dad but he was too self-centered to care about his family. Andrew is handing his little girl over to me today and that is something I’m not going to take lightly. I know deep down that MacKenzie will always be his little girl and I hope someday that I get that with a daughter of my own. I gaze back to CC; she’s got the same tears her dad does now, although she is smiling and laughing. I feel the burn in my eyes the closer she gets. Wow, I can’t believe this is really about to happen.

CC and her dad stop just before me, he places a kiss on her cheek and she places one on his. He turns to me and says, “Take care of her, son.”

“Always,” I hold out my hand to CC, she looks back at her dad one last time before letting go of his and taking mine. An overwhelming feeling of relaxation comes over me now that she has been handed over to me.

As Andrew takes a seat next to Elle, MacKenzie turns and hands her flowers over to Hailey. When she turns back I entwine CC’s fingers with mine. I look up at her, she mouths the words, ‘I love you’ to me. I mouth them back and squeeze her hand. Ryder lets out a high-pitched squeal and everyone chuckles. I glance over to Mom who has him propped up on her lap, watching us. CC and I both whisper over to Ryder that we love him too.

Dylan starts his greeting to our guests as our wedding day proceeds. I’m barely paying attention; I’m so lost in CC’s eyes. She’s incredible, perfect. My palms are sweating and I want to get this wedding done with so I can take a deep breath and relax knowing we’re officially a family now.

CC and I are whispering that we love each other over and over again. Every time I tell her how beautiful she is a new tear falls. She’s so self-conscious now; the accident and C-section did a number on her self-esteem.

My anxiety kicks up a notch; the moment I pour my heart into my vows is almost here. CC and I decided not to share them before the wedding so I feel a little extra pressure. My heart is pounding so loud. Dylan goes on for a few more minutes, talking about our wedding vows.

“You ready?” CC asks me

“Absolutely.”

She smiles and I ask, “You ready?”

“You better believe it.”

“Today, Hunter and MacKenzie have decided to write their own wedding vows.” Dylan informs everyone. He looks at CC and gives her the nod to begin.

CC takes a deep breath. “I promise to be your partner in crime,” I chuckle at the reference to my job, “And your biggest fan. I promise to support your dreams and respect our differences. I promise to laugh with you in good times and struggle with you in bad times.” Tears pour down her face; I reach up and wipe them away with my thumbs. I wink and smile at her. I’m not sure who is shaking more right now, her or me. She takes a shuddering breath and continues. “I will always be there. I will love you and have faith in your love for me, through all our years and all that life may bring us. I … I,” she struggles speaking with the tears. I whisper to her to take a deep breath. My heart skips a beat. “I could conquer the world with one hand as long as you are holding the other.” She gives me the most angelic face I’ve ever seen from her, and I know in this moment that she is my soul mate for life.