Racing Outside the Line: A Love Story at 190 Mph (28 page)

The next afternoon was calm and relaxing consisting of pampering arranged by my wonderful fiancé.’ I began to get excited butterflies in my stomach as we all got dressed in our wedding finery. Chelsea put on a beautiful champagne-colored strapless dress. Standing in front of the mirror she asked me, "How do I look?"

"Very sophisticated and stunning," I replied sincerely. "I wonder what my brother’s reaction will be." Her blush increased exponentially and she put her hands up to hide her face. "Oh my gosh," I laughed, "You really like him, don’t you?" Even though she refused to respond, I had my answer. I had never seen her all teenager-like over a guy before. Suddenly, I felt worried. I hoped Desmond wouldn’t screw it up.

The other girls dressed in various tropical colors of blue, orange, and yellow. I glanced outside to see the sky taking on a more orange tint, which signaled that it was just about time to begin. Looking up, I noticed Wyatt walk through the door smiling at me. He looked handsome in a light beige suit with a baby blue dress shirt and a dark blue tie.

"Okay, ladies," Wyatt said, "time to head out. Esperanza has a cart waiting to take you out to the beach." The girls each hugged me and left the room, all but Chelsea who continued to stand by my side.

Wyatt turned to Chelsea, "Chelsea, you look beautiful."

"Thank you, Wyatt," she gathered up our bouquets. They were simple; a cluster of red roses and orange lilies tied together with a long satin ribbon. She moved to the door and waited for us.

Wyatt walked closer to me, "When did you grow up so quickly?" He was shaking his head and his eyes were most definitely misty. "If your parents were here to see you, they would be so proud of the woman you have become." Tears gathered in my eyes and began to spill onto my cheeks. I missed them so much for so many reasons, my only solace was that they had known Seth. They had met him and been part of his family growing up. They knew the man I was about to marry and approved of him at least as a good guy, if not as a son-in-law. "You just amaze me, honey. I don’t think my son can ever really understand how lucky he is." I stepped forward and hugged him. He had been trying to look out for me for so many years.

My lower lip quivered as I tried to get out what I wanted to say. "I wish my dad could be here," Chelsea came forward and handed me a tissue. I pulled myself together and continued with a smile, "but there’s no one else in this world I would want to walk me down that aisle more than you. You’ve been there for me through so much," I stopped speaking, unable to continue without bursting into tears. Wyatt smiled at me and pulled me into his arms.

"Shh… I know, sweetie, I know. No more tears, huh." He pulled back and looked down at me. I managed to stop the tears and waved at my eyes to dry the unshed ones. "You’re about to officially become my daughter, I won’t have you crying through it or I’ll just put my foot down about the whole thing." He chuckled a little and gave me a quick hug.

"Now, I have something for you," he smiled proudly. "Come sit with me while I tell you about it." We moved to the couch and he pulled out a square box. "It was your mothers." I got misty-eyed just thinking about the fact that it had belonged to my mom, even though I had no idea what it was. She never wore much jewelry, so I didn’t own a lot of things that had belonged to her. I opened the box and discovered a blue and white lace garter inside.
What an odd thing to have saved
, I thought. Inspecting the garter closer, I noticed writing on the inside of the box: Wyatt and Mia 9/10 Thomas and Abigail 8/28. Was this Wyatt’s garter too?

"When I married my beautiful Mia," Wyatt's eyes got misty, "your dad was my best man. He had been dating your mom for a few months, and he knew she was different, he knew he would marry her, but he needed a push in the right direction, so I made a bet with him. I told him he couldn’t fight lady luck. If he caught the garter, it was a sign that he should marry her. You know how he always went on and on about lady luck, so he went for it. He didn’t know, though, that I arranged for all the bachelors to make it look as though they were trying to catch the garter, when in actuality, they were doing their best to get it thrown at your dad. I wish we had a video of it. The darn thing went back and forth a few times before finally landing at his feet. The other guys pretended to be fighting each other so that he had no choice but to pick it up. The look on his face was priceless, but it worked. He used the same garter at his wedding, but your mom refused to throw this one, and hung onto it for sentimental reasons. I thought it would be fitting for you to wear it on your wedding day."

I hadn’t heard the story before and I smiled over the affectionate way Wyatt explained it, "Thank you Wyatt. That means a lot to… oh my God!" Wyatt looked at me as though I had lost it. "It’s perfect!" I whispered looking over at Chelsea who was standing by the door trying not to intrude on our moment. I pulled Wyatt closer to me and whispered in his ear, "I need your help to reenact what you did to my dad, on my brother. I think he needs a little push. Will you help me?"

Wyatt looked confused, "I didn’t know he was seriously dating anyone."

"He’s not, not yet, which is why he needs a little push to get serious."

"Well, I do think the boy needs to stop playing the field, but are you sure this will have that effect on him?" He looked skeptical.

"It’s worth a shot," I was sincerely hopeful. It would be perfect to have my big brother and my best friend happily married to each other.

He studied me for a moment before giving in, this was Wyatt we were talking about here, and he had never said no to my "I’m excited about this great idea" face, I certainly didn’t think he would be starting now. "Okay, I’ll see if I can’t set it up."

I hugged Wyatt again and said loudly, "I’m ready now," so that Chelsea could hear. She opened the door and we began our walk down the long hallway. Esperanza met us halfway and complimented me on how beautiful I looked. She walked us out to a golf cart vehicle and made sure Chelsea and I were properly situated before climbing in herself.

Minutes later, we pulled up to a concrete paved garden area with rose bushes all around. I could hear the ocean much closer and could tell the beach was just beyond a group of trees ahead of us. I could also hear soft music playing. A concrete pathway led to an archway covered in white roses that it was clear I would be walking down momentarily.

My stomach did spins.
I’m getting married
.
This is it
. This would be the last man I would ever be with. It seemed fitting that he was the first as well. I expected to feel somewhat sad or nervous about never dating someone new, but I didn’t. Seth had always been my one and only, no one had ever compared to him. The butterflies in my stomach were because I wanted to see that look on his face that said I was his one and only too. I didn’t know what that expression would look like; I just wanted it to be there.

Chelsea fixed a strand of my hair and hugged me, "I’ll never forget the wispy little thing you were when you dragged yourself in to sit next to me in psych class your freshman year. You were a pitiful mess. If you had told me then, that someday you would marry the man who made you that mess and that he was a mess without you, I would have had you committed right then and there. I’m so happy for you, Lexie." Her words were full of such warmth and sincerity that it made me teary all over again.

"Thank you," I whispered in her ear, "for taking care of me until he got around to realizing that he couldn’t live without me. I would have curled up and died a million times over, if you hadn’t been there for me."

She didn’t say anything in response, but when I pulled back, I noticed her eyes glistened in the fading sunlight and her jaw was set determinedly in a clear attempt to hold back a sob. She smiled at me and nodded strongly once before turning around and walking slowly toward the archway. I watched as Esperanza handed Chelsea her bouquet, said something quietly, and then signaled for her to continue walking.

"Guess it’s our turn, sweetie," Wyatt placed my arm through his. "You sure you’re ready for this?"

"Wyatt," I said patronizingly, "you know that
I
have been ready to marry your son since almost birth."

He laughed, "Yes, honey, I’ve been well aware of that," he patted my hand and we walked forward. He continued to laugh softly as Esperanza handed me my bouquet, pulled out the back of my dress so that it lay evenly, and signaled for us to start walking.

The music grew in strength as I got closer to the edge of the concrete pathway. A wooden plank walkway was laid out on the sand that picked up from there and led out toward the shore. I couldn’t see Seth yet, but took in the two rows of pristine white chairs, the bright, vibrant flowers everywhere, and the archway of brilliant orange flowers that towered above the heads of everyone. The orange in the flowers mirrored the beautiful shade of the sky as the sun began to set.

As we got closer, the music changed to the current "here comes the bride’" song, Pachelbels Canon, and I noticed a single violinist and a single harpist playing the music. It was enchanting and magical. Everyone was smiling at me, and I found myself unable to keep from smiling back.

About twenty feet away from the tall archway, I was finally able to look up and see Seth. My heart stopped, and as stupid as it sounds, since we had only been apart for a matter of hours, I had forgotten how intensely I loved him until I saw him standing at the end of that aisle waiting for me. My heart felt as if it were going to burst as the expression I had wanted to see on his face lit up my entire being. He wasn’t smiling in that instant that our eyes met, he looked stunned, his lips slightly apart as I stood there unable to move, unable to breathe. I had waited for this practically my whole life and that moment was so overwhelming, so powerful, that it took everything in me to breathe again with him looking at me that way. He had such love in his eyes and such amazement. All the pain, all the loneliness flashed quickly through my mind and it was all ending here. I would be his wife, and he would be my husband… forever. I felt my hands begin to shake and my lip start to tremble.

Wyatt patted me on my hand and tugged me forward. Remembering what I was doing, I finally started walking again. The closer I got, the wider Seth’s smile got until all I could see was him. He was so handsome in his linen suit with his crisp white dress shirt tucked in messily. My eyes never left his as Wyatt and I finally reached our destination. The music died down and the Reverend began.

"Friends, we have been invited here today to share with Seth and Alexis a very important moment in their lives. In the years they have been together, and even in the years they have been apart, their love and understanding of each other has grown and matured, and now they have decided to live their lives together as husband and wife."

It was killing me not to throw myself into Seth’s arms right at that very moment. I watched as he reached his hand up and rubbed his lower lip with his index finger, smiling his crooked grin. I got antsy and shifted in Seth’s direction, but he just barely shook his head at me. He knew this was torturing me, and he was enjoying it. I glared at him, and he bit back a chuckle.

"Who gives this woman to be wedded to this man?"

"With the permission of her parents," Wyatt's words captured my attention. I had expected him to simply say, "me." It touched me that he had included my parents in this moment. I squeezed his hand to show him that I appreciated his thoughtfulness. "I do," he finished, reaching out to take Seth’s hand and pulling him into a hug. Then he turned to hug me and placed his hands on both of our shoulders before walking to his seat.

I turned back to Seth, who was now standing inches away from me, his eyes recapturing mine. He had that overwhelmed look back on his face as his left hand reached out for mine, and his right hand cupped the side of my cheek. In a completely unorthodox move, he quickly pulled me to him and kissed me. I heard several people say, "Hey now" and Gene said loudly, "Jumpin’ the gun a bit, son." Everyone was laughing, but I didn’t care. He couldn’t wait to kiss me, and what bride on the face of the planet would complain about that? When he pulled away from me, my grin was hurting my cheek muscles.

The Reverend cleared his throat, but as he continued, I could hear laughter in his voice as well. "May we have the rings?" I turned to Chelsea as Seth turned to Desmond, but neither of us let go of the other’s hand. Chelsea placed the ring in my hand and smiled as we both noticed my hands were shaking

Seth turned back to me and winked.

"At the request of the bride and groom, they will read the vows they wrote for each other. Seth, place the ring on Alexis’ finger."

He slipped my wedding band on my finger and looked deeply into my eyes, serious for the moment, "I, Seth Wyatt Keller, take you, Alexis Evelyn Winston to be my
exquisitely
beautiful wedded wife." Everyone laughed a little, and I could feel the tears coming, but I tried to hold them off. "I promise to never again listen to your brother when he tells me to stay away from you," he elbowed Desmond in the stomach since he was standing directly behind him, but didn’t break eye contact with me. "I promise to completely ignore my father’s threats about ever touching you," I glanced quickly at Wyatt who was dabbing at his own eyes. "I promise to see you, as you have always been, my one true love," my lip trembled, tears falling down my cheeks. "You’re the only woman that could ever make me completely happy and completely and utterly miserable all within the span of an hour." He was serious now as he reached up to brush the tears from my cheeks. "I promise to never again kiss another woman, because not one of them could ever compare to you." He kept his hand resting on my cheek, his thumb caressing me and catching the tears that kept falling. "This I swear, as the man who knows you better than anyone, as the one who loves you more than is comprehensible, as your husband for eternity." Before anyone could stop him, he leaned closer to me and placed a gentle kiss on my lips. When he pulled back he was smiling at me again.