"We're finally here!" I cheer as the limo pulls into town, heading towards Main Street.
"Showing up to a dive bar in a limo, this is perfection," Zoe says with a chuckle.
"So, how should we do this?" Erin muses. "Should we have Gabe go in first and act like he's here for Hunter's party?"
"Yes!" Brandi agrees. "Then we'll send in Zoe, and she'll be all, got room for one more?"
"I am not going say it like that," Zoe cringes.
"Sure, you will, and then, the rest of us can come in?" Brandi suggests.
"I don't know... how should we do that part?" Erin ponders.
"Uh, Erin...." I start, but Erin cuts me off.
"That has to be the big surprise part, what if we sneak her in?"
"How?"
"Girls..." I try and get their attention.
"I have to ask, is this at all weird? Hunter's ex planning all this?" Zoe asks me quietly. She's sitting next to me in the limo, and Kelsey is on my other side.
"No, it's been ages since they both moved on," I say quietly.
"Good, remember what I told you about trust," Kelsey says.
"I do, I go back to your advice all the time, Kelsey. I was always insanely jealous of anyone Hunter dated,"
"Or didn't date," Zoe adds with a nudge.
"Right..." I agree. "But he's made it so clear he only has eyes for me. I don't doubt him, and he doesn't doubt me. I'm even friends with his ex-wife now, just like he's best friends with Olly again."
"Damn," Zoe says.
"We came a long way."
Amber and I even have lunch and stuff at times, with Brandi in New York, it's been nice. She got over her small crush on Olly pretty fast. She's seeing some guy from Knoxville right now, and it's going well. He's good with Harley, and that's what matters the most to Amber.
It feels so good to feel secure in a relationship. Jealousy is an awful thing, a poison that seeps in slowly, and over time the damage kills the relationship.
Hunter and I have worked hard on building trust. It wasn't always easy. We had some insecurities, understandably, with how we got started. But we worked through them.
The thing about being in love with your best friend, is they know you better than you know yourself when something is wrong, they know. Hunter and I have a rule, we don't let things fester. Even minor annoyances, we talk out, then and there. No silent fights, with us, but no loud ones either. We love and respect each other too much to do this any other way.
The limo parks, and everyone starts getting out.
"Okay, so huddle up, everyone let's plan this," Erin says as we all stand out on the street by the bar. It's a warm but breezy night here in Tennessee. I breathe in the welcoming scent of home, as I watch Erin, motioning for everyone to gather around her.
I tried to mention that I already—
The bar door opens from behind me, and I smile, as I'm wrapped up in the strong arms I missed so much. I melt into them as he tightens his grip around my waist.
"I missed you," he says as he presses his lips to my temple.
"Not as much as I missed you," I whisper the words back.
"What's going on, over there, Darlin?" He whispers into my ear, his warm breath giving me a shiver as goosebumps travel down my neck.
"Shh, they are planning to surprise you."
He kisses my cheek and then releases me.
I watch with an amused expression as he walks over to the group. Gabe sees him first and grins but doesn't say anything. Erin meanwhile keeps plotting on how to surprise Hunter, while Hunter stands behind her.
"I don't think that's going to work, Y'all. But give it a go," Hunter says as he crosses his arms.
I crack up at Erin's dejected expression as she turns and notices him.
"Kinsey! You called him?"
"She was giving me live updates the whole way home, Erin," Hunter says with an amused smile. "Nice try."
"At least we surprised Kinsey," Brandi says.
"That's all that matters," Hunter looks at me with a soft smile that I easily return.
"Look at you two all gooey and gross!" Zoe teases.
Hunter's grin widens as he shifts his gaze from me to Zoe.
He pulls her in for a quick hug and then pulls back looking as stunned as I'm sure I did.
"No way. You're a grown-up now, what the hell?" Hunter asks as takes her in. "Where's the black eyeliner and pink hair?"
"Left those in the nineties," Zoe laughs.
"Where they belong," Erin chimes in.
"The eyeliner, yeah, but pink hair will always be a thing," Brandi comments.
"You should see some of the fun stuff I do for the teens now," Zoe agrees.
"Let's head on in," Brandi leads the way. "Billy is going to flip, Gabe."
Hunter and hang back for a moment, as they go in.
"That was the longest day," he whines as he pulls me closer. "Don't do that again."
"Never, I couldn't sleep a wink without you," I agree with a pout of my own.
"Lemme just kiss that away," he says as our lips happily meet, in a sweet and soft kiss, clinging to each other as we part to gaze into each other's eyes.
"One more day, and I get to call you Mrs. Wilde," he says with an infectious smile.
"I'm counting the minutes now," I agree with a sigh.
Kinsey Jane Wilde, I have already started perfecting my new signature.
Hunter puts an arm around me, and we head in.
The old, dimly lit bar is a welcome sight, Charlie even put a congrats Hunt and Kinz banner on the wall, which is really sweet.
Gabe and Billy are locked in a tight hug, and both grinning like crazy as they part. Olly smiles and waves when he sees me. Brandi is perched on the barstool next to him, and Erin on the other side.
"Thank you all so much for coming, you all have no idea how much this means to us," I say as Hunter and and sit.
"We're all so happy to be here," Zoe says with a smile.
"Here, here!" Kelsey agrees.
"Brandi, have you contacted anyone about the food for tomorrow?" Erin asks.
"Erin, can you relax?" Brandi counters. "Yes, it's all handled."
"I haven't seen you call anyone..."
"I asked Betsy to take care of it," Brandi says.
"Then we're good!" I chirp. "Mama will cook enough for the whole state and then some."
"Johnny and I brought the barbecue sauce for the ribs!" Billy says excitedly. "Just wait till you try this, Gabe. My son is like the next Chef Ramsey."
"Really? It won't beat the Spencer's sauce, no offense to your kid, but—"
"Actually, it does," Hunter says. "Billy's right that kid has some real talent."
"Huh," Gabe says. "I'm still having a hard time seeing you as Billy the dad."
"He's amazing," Brandi says with a fond smile at Billy. "Nothing like our dad, always around for them."
"I try. At least Johnny actually likes me now, but Sara still thinks I'm lame, and annoying, and so unfair." He mocks her snotty tone at the end, and we all laugh.
"She ain't going to get away with shit after all the crap we pulled," Gabe says.
"I ruin her life on a weekly basis," Billy agrees. "She thought she could hide a pack of smokes in the same loose wall panel we used in the basement."
Brandi laughs, "Oh, Sara. Remember when mom found that? The bottles of liquor you and Gabe had in there."
"She was so pissed," Billy recalls. "I think more so that we broke the wall panel than the booze."
"Speaking of booze, is that under control too?" Erin asks with a glance at Brandi.
"Hunt and I brought over enough booze for a nightclub. We're good, Erin," Olly tells her. "Relax."
"Someone make Erin a stiff drink," I say.
"I'm sorry!" Erin says. "I know I'm crazy, but I don't get how you're all calm, Kinz! I'd be flipping out if I was you."
"Because none of it matters," I say softly as I rest my hand on Hunter's thigh. "If something happens to the food, we'll order pizzas. If we run out of alcohol, we'll come to the bar. If it rains, we'll have a rain wedding. If my dress rips, I'll get married in a paper bag. I don't care about the little details."
"But how? How do you not agonize over them?" She asks. "I can't ... not worry about everything."
"I'm an overthinker too, not in the same way as you, but I do get it. But it's a wedding! It's supposed to be fun," I tell her.
"I know. I guess I'm so used to putting out fires. I just want my day without any. I keep overthinking every single detail and then I can't pick," she says with furrowed brows. "But I can tell Jack is getting annoyed."
"Very annoyed, he loves you. He wants to marry you. He doesn't care if the day is perfect," Olly chimes in.
"But I do!" Erin exclaims.
"It will be! You know why? Because it's a wedding. It's not a presentation or a meeting. It's a day, just a day, to celebrate each other. Any wrinkles will be a memory to talk about later. All that matters is marrying the person you love."
"She's right, and can I also say I don't care one bit about the setup, or food or drinks? That's all her anyway," Hunter says.
"Exactly," Gabe agrees. "I'd have gotten married at a McDonald's if I was given the choice."
"Baby, we did go to McDonald's that night," Kelsey says with a giggle.
"I was starving after those tiny steaks," Gabe says. "The point is, all the planning is for everyone else, the pictures, the guests, and shit but that's so dumb because the day is about you two."
"You're right," Erin says with a sigh. "You're all right. I need to go call Jack."
"Thank you," Olly says gratefully as she heads out with her phone. "I cannot keep calling venues that she ends up turning down anyway. She's driving me nuts more than Jack at this point."
"You know she needs a vacation, right?" I question rather blunt I know, but it's true. "That's half the reason she's so wound up."
"I mean, she never asks for it, and..l," he cringes. "I need to make her take time off, don't I?"
"Yup," Brandi says as she squeezes his shoulder. "Now, who is ready for some shots!?"
****
"Kinsey, you look so beautiful," Mama cries as she looks at me, and I start to well up with tears as we embrace.
"Don't ruin the makeup I just did!" Zoe warns me.
"I'm just so happy you're all here and... so overwhelmed."
My hair looks perfect, loose, and wavy but with just enough elegance by pinning the sides back. Zoe kept my makeup simple, and the dress fits my frame perfectly. The bodice makes my boobs look much perkier than they are, which I love, and the waist cinches perfectly. The skirt is so soft I love it. feel so confident and sexy but also feminine and pretty.
Brandi brought me a blue and white garter belt that also counts as my something blue and my something new, and I have Mama's pearl earrings as the something old and something borrowed.
"You better head on outside, Olly wants to talk to you before the ceremony," Mama says.
"He does?" I question as I rise to leave the room. He didn't say anything last night, and we all shut the bar down.
I find him on the back porch, and he smiles when he sees me. He's dressed down for him in tan slacks with a maroon button down, the same colors as Brandi's dress, which is cute prairie style dress, so it goes with mine and she has her cowboy boots on with it.
"You look beautiful, Kinsey," he says as he takes my hand and kisses it.
"Thank you. You look handsome," I say with a smile. "What's going on? Mama said you wanted to talk to me?"
"Come with me, I have something for you, a wedding gift," he takes my arm. "Close your eyes, though."
"What? I can't fall! I know I told Erin I'd wear a paper bag if I ripped my dress, but I don't actually want that to happen."
"I won't let you fall. Just come on," Olly says as he guides me off the porch. "Keep them closed!"
"Why?" I whine even as I do so anyway.
"Just a little longer," Olly says, holding me up by the arm as we stumble across the yard through the old field. The ceremony will be in the orchard, and later we will have a big party here in the field.
"Before you open your eyes, if you hate this name, it can be changed, but I thought, well you'll see," Olly says. "Open your eyes."
I open my eyes, and my jaw drops when I look at the old barn, which is painted a fresh coat of white. New shutters have been added that are black and white and the door is now a farmhouse style door but more modern looking a sliding one. Above the door is a colorful sign that says, Sweet Darlin's Apple Butter and Jams. Next to the barn is a brand flipping new greenhouse, too.
"I.. what? The barn, when did... Oh my god... You did this?" I stammer out in shock.
"Come inside," Olly leads us in and easily slides the door open, unlike the old heavy rickety door from before. "I didn't have to do much other than gutting it out and cleaning, getting some new shelving units and stuff."
Not much? It's totally different but still has the cozy wooden walls and loft area that now houses buckets of what I'm guessing are decorative apples. There is a sizable walk-up counter with a register for guests, and all along the walls are beautifully built-in shelving units set up and ready for me to line with jars for sale.
"The greenhouse is for berries, for your jams, so you can make that year-round too," Olly explains. "As far as the bookstore, you have the job for as long as you need it, but when this takes off, and it will. I understand."
"I can't believe you did all this," I gasp as I look around.
"It wasn't just me," Olly says. "I ran it by Hunter first, and your dad, and they both helped some. Kinz... this barn, it has such incredible memories for us, but times changes, we changed. This barn can't just be ours anymore. That's not fair to the people we love now. It needs to change too. But it was special for us, and it will be for this town too, I feel that."
"It is, it always was, even when we were little," I agree.
"The name was to show you I fully support you and Hunter, and I know you know that, but this is my wedding present to both of you, it'll be just as much his shop as yours. It felt really symbolic to give the barn that was ours to you and him in this way."
"Olly," I sob his name as my eyes well with tears. "This is why I had to go to New York, isn't it?"
"I had to get you out of here to work on it. Erin and Brandi jumped in to help."
"I don't know what to say."
Zoe's makeup never stood a chance today I am sobbing.
"You don't have to say anything, I just really wanted to do this for you, and I'm so glad I could."
I throw my arms around him and squeeze him so hard it probably hurts, but he doesn't complain. He holds me for a long moment, and then we smile at each other when he lets me go.
All the bittersweet has faded, and now I look back at all of it with a content feeling, Even the hard years, because in the end, we ended up finding this new version of Kinz and Olly, the people we are now.
I know this time around we will be friends forever.
****
"Nervous Kinsey girl?" Dad asks as we walk through the orchard.
"No, not this time," I say honestly. "I was scared shitless last time, but now I'm anxious and excited and just so ready."
"Me too, on both counts," he admits. "Took all my effort not to drive you away myself last time."
"You maybe should've," I comment.
"Nah, everything happens how it should for the reasons it does," Dad says wisely.
"You're right about that," I agree.
We quiet down as we grow closer to the clearing, and the wedding march begins to play. Everyone is standing around to watch the ceremony. Hunter is standing straight ahead in front of one of our biggest apple trees. Olly and Harley are both standing next to him, and Brandi is on the other side with Jo-Jo, a bossy little brunette. She is Harley's new best friend, so naturally I said she can be my flower girl.
My eyes go straight to Hunter, and they fill with tears as the emotion nearly overwhelms me. I asked Hunter to be himself today and he did just that. He is dressed in a pair of black dressy jeans with his cowboy boots and the belt buckle I bought him and with it he has a thin red and black flannel on that's tucked into his jeans. He trimmed his hair but it's still shaggy hanging slightly in his eyes as he pushes it back.
Everyone and everything else disappears, and all I see is Hunter. I think maybe I float to him because I don't even recall walking, and suddenly, we are face to face. The officiant is talking, but I don't hear him. All I see are the pools of neverending blue that I get to spend the rest of my life diving into.
Hunter takes my hand in his and starts talking, "I was just a thirteen-year-old kid the day I first saw you. Everything changed and I never saw anyone else in that same way. I knew even then that I never would. I thought my life would always be sitting on the sidelines, heartbroken, but if you were happy, I'd be okay. I was wrong, I now know that when you love someone you fight for that time, and now that we have it. I won't waste a second. It took a long time to get here, but sweet Darlin, I am so happy we made it."
He starts sliding the ring on my finger as I let out a sob.
"With this ring, I take you, Kinsey, as my lawfully wedded wife, and I promise you that I will love you, honor you, protect and cherish you with everything I got. I want to celebrate every day from here on out, good or bad, sick or ill, we celebrate it. Because I get to wake up with you and thats all the reason in the world. From today to forever, I am yours."
"Oh gosh," I choke out. "I have to follow that?"
The crowd giggles as I take a moment to gather my thoughts.
"Hunter," I take his hand and in mine as I sniffle back a sob. "Everything changed for me that day too. When you fall in love at such a young, tender age, it's scary, It scared us. We weren't ready for us then, timing kept getting in our way, but maybe that was all for a reason.
"Because, today, you and I are standing in front of each other, having been through an entire lifetime of memories, some together and some apart, and we grew, and we become the people we are now, and those two people... they still love each other as fiercely as they did twenty years ago, at just thirteen years old." I pause, taking a shaky breath. "I'm rambling now so I better get to it, but Babe, you are my everything, the love of my life, and I am so happy we are here too."
A tear rolls down his face, and I can hear my mama legit sobbing from nearby. I smile as I take the ring from little Harley and slide it on Hunter's finger.
"With this ring, I take you, Hunter as my lawfully wedded husband, and I promise you with my whole heart that I will love you, respect, and honor you every single day. I am so proud to be able to call you my husband. I am so proud to love such a selfless, strong, and good-hearted man. I want to celebrate every day too and we will. I see a life full of love and laughter ahead of us. I am yours, Hunter, all yours."
"I love you so much," he cries.
"By the state Tennessee, I now pronounce..."
I don't even hear the rest; Hunter's lips collide with mine, and the crowd erupts into cheers.
****
We've just finished kissing for the hundredth time as the kids keep having fun clinking at their cups. Everyone is having a blast, dancing, drinking, eating, laughing. it's just a big party, exactly what I wanted.
Even Erin has loosened up and is dancing with Zoe out in the field.
"Congratulations again, you two," Shar says as she comes to sit with us. "I am so damn happy right now."
"You are!" I giggle. "I feel like I'm floating on air."
"You and me both," Hunter murmurs, and I curl in closer to him.
"Kinsey, do you need more wine?" Mama comes over with a full glass that I happily accept.
"Enjoy it while you can," Mama says with a little smirk.
"Mama," I roll my eyes at the innuendo.
"Well, you're not getting any younger," Shar points out. "You two planning on starting right away?"
"You are not asking about our sex life, Ma," Hunter groans.
"She's asking about babies, it's allowed," Mama says.
"We're leaving." I shoot them a look but still laugh as I stand up, and Hunter joins me.
"What? It was a fair question." I hear Shar from behind me and chuckle as Hunter I walk off, he slips an arm around my waist pulling me closer.
"We could've told then you went off your birth control," he comments.
"I'd rather make them suffer," I say, and he chuckles.
"But... umm...."
"Um, what?" he smirks as our tingling eyes meet. The sun is starting to set, and it's becoming dusk.
"How soon can we get started on the baby-making?"
"Everyone is getting drunk. We can sneak out of here right now," he lowers his voice as his eyes flash with lust.
"Let's go," I say urgently.
He picks me up, and I squeal, drawing attention from the yard, and everyone starts whooping and cheering. There goes a sneaky exit. Oh well.
Hunter carries me bridal style all the way out of the yard to the dirt road.
"You can put me down now," I say as he continues walking along, holding me like I weigh nothing.
"Not until I carry you over the threshold," he says.
"Here it is," I whisper as we reach our house.
The house is perfect, totally perfect, it's a blue farmhouse-styled house with a welcoming but smaller front porch, I see us out back more and wanted more space in the front for a garden. We did a bunch of easy-to-care-for shrubs and a few flowers.
The inside is laid out perfectly for us, the main level has a huge family room, with an attached kitchen all open, a big kitchen, a small bathroom, and of course a huge back porch that overlooks our apple tree and a playground for Harley.
The upper level has four bedrooms and two bathrooms and has great views of the orchard from the master balcony.
I haven't seen it all furnished yet and I am so excited.
We step up onto the porch, me still secured in his arms, as Hunter opens our front door.
"Ready, Darlin?"
"Let's go home, Hunter," I say.
And with that, he carries me over the threshold to our happily ever after.
The end!