George - Chapter Twenty Two: Once in a Lifetime - Part One

OMG! I'm so sorry this took so long to publish!!! I am so particular about wedding chapters and I finally feel like this one is ready. Thank God!!! Lol!

I've split it into two parts because this is George, and he likes to talk, and he was very particular about what could be cut from this chapter. Plus, there's a ton of pictures. I took over 1,000 just for this chapter (I might have a picture taking problem).

Anyway, without further ado, I finally present to you, George and Steph's wedding. Hope you enjoy and that it was worth the really long wait!

♥Sandybeachgirl♥

****Steph****

“I’m starting to wonder if I’m going to find a dress that’s exactly what I’m looking for.” I lamented as Charlotte and I stood in a dressing room at the bridal shop. “I’m having fun but none of the ones I’ve tried on has given me the feeling that you had when you first put on your dress.”

She sweetly smiled and put a hand on my arm. “We’ll find it! It took me how many dresses to find ‘the one?’”

I chuckled. “I think it was ten. . .I lost count after the sixth one.” I kidded.

“Haha! It was nine.” She smiled again. “You've only tried on three dresses so don't lose hope. I’m convinced that somewhere in this store the right dress is waiting for you to find it.” She turned around and started looking through the dresses that the consultant had picked out. “Once you find your dress, what else do you need to do?"

"Oh my. . ." I sighed. "Well, there's the invitations, the flowers; which one of the magazines you gave me had some great ideas. . ."  She turned around and smiled at me before scanning the dresses again. "There's the food, the decorations; it's almost overwhelming."

"Well at least you know the when and where" She turned around and held up a dress for me to inspect and I shook my head. 

"That was the easy part, it didn't take us long to make the decision to have it in Appaloosa and at the end of August. With his work schedule picking up after that and with Ethan and I starting the catering business around the same time, it just made sense to have it sooner rather than later. Plus, I don't think George would have agreed to waiting; not that I would want to either."

She laughed and pulled out another dress that had the lace detail and form that I had wanted. I nodded and as we continued to talk about the wedding, Charlotte helped me out of one dress and into the other.

"With the wedding being at the ranch, though, you won't have to worry too much, right?"

"That's true. I talked to your Mom and Aunt Kate the other day and they already knew who to call for food and decorations. If it wasn't for them, and you, I think I just might start freaking out." I admitted the last part as she fastened the last button on the new dress and as she walked around to face me, her face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"I think you might freak out when you see this dress. . ." I tried to turn around to look in the mirror but she stopped me before I could. "Oh no! You need to go out and see it for the first time in the big mirrors." She opened the dressing room door and as I stepped out a mile wide grin spread across the consultant's lips and she nodded at Charlotte who had the same grin on her face. I started to comment on it when I caught the first glimpse of the dress in the large mirrors.

"Oh my. . ." I breathed in and held my breath as I stood staring at myself in what I realized then would be my wedding dress. I had seen that happen to Charlotte when she tried on her dress; from the moment she had seen herself in it, she had known she had found the dress. 

"It's perfect." Charlotte whispered. "It's exactly what you're looking for and you look gorgeous in it." I studied the dress and in stunned silence nodded. "Four! Only four dresses and you find the dress."

Her joking brought me down slightly from the cloud I had been floating on and I smirked. "Unlike the fifteen for you. . .?" We laughed as we walked back into the dressing room and after changing and making arrangements for the first fitting; we decided to grab lunch at a nearby cafe. We had just ordered our food when Charlotte's cheerful expression turned more serious.

"Steph. . .there's something that I wanted to talk to you about and it's, well it's a little awkward so it's probably why no one else has talked to you about it."

"I'm pretty sure I know about the birds and the bees, Charlotte." She nervously chuckled at my teasing but soon became serious again and I started to worry.

"After you and George talked to the family in Appaloosa about having the wedding at the ranch, some of them started to wonder about something; especially Grandpa." At her mentioning Grandpa Chuck, I sat up even straighter.

"Is he okay?"

"He's fine." She quickly offered before taking a big breath and letting out a slow sigh. "This is going to be harder to ask then I thought." She looked down at her lap and nervously smoothed out her napkin causing my anxiety to increase.

"Shitfire, Charlotte. Just ask! You're killing me."

She nodded and finally met my stare. "Some of the family had wondered if you knew of anyone you'd want to walk you down the aisle."

"I. . ." The truth was I hadn't. I figured that I would just walk down it by myself. "Do I need someone to do that? Can't I just walk down it by myself?"

Charlotte shifted in her seat and eventually nodded. "If that's what you want, sure. . .but Grandpa in particular had wondered and offered to walk with you. Only if you want, and he doesn't want you to feel obligated to say yes, but he said he would be honored to do it but to not feel any pressure." She blurted the last several statements out so fast that it took me a moment to process what she had said.

"He offered to walk me down the aisle?" I asked as I thoughtfully pondered each word.

She nodded. "Yes. He was afraid if he asked you you'd feel pressured to say yes. I offered to mention it to you and he joked about me hinting that he's had lots of practice so you wouldn't have to worry about him messing up." She smiled as she recounted his words to me.

I smiled back at her and thought about what she had just told me, eventually staring down at my lap. Once again, someone in her's and George's family had thought of something to do for me and I once again realized that I would never be able to express how grateful I felt to be a part of such a wonderful, caring, and loving family. I could feel myself starting to tear up and as I looked across the table at her, I had trouble seeing her through the tears in my eyes. "I'd be honored if he would; but. . ." Concern started to show on her face as I paused. "I think I should tell him and thank him myself." I continued and she smiled as she sighed from her relief.

Our food came and as we started to eat, I decided to ask Charlotte a question of my own. "I um. . .wanted to ask you something. Don't feel obligated to say yes, but I was wondering if you'd be my matron of honor. . .?" In truth, I didn't know who else I would ask if she said no since she was my closest friend, besides George.

She almost jumped out of her chair from her excitement. "Of course I will! Oh my God! I'm so excited! I can help you just like you helped me!" She did jump up at that moment and we hugged before both sitting back down to finish our lunches. "Has George asked someone to be his best man?" She asked as we waited for our checks.

"I'm pretty sure he has someone in mind. The only thing he's mentioned is it being someone who deserved credit."

Charlotte guffawed right as the server brought us our checks and it caused him to jump. "Sorry." She offered as she handed him her check and card and I gave him mine. A twinkle appeared in her eyes as she leaned forward "I know exactly who he's asking. . ."

Soon after saying goodbye to Charlotte, I walked out of the elevator and into the apartment expecting to find George by himself but instead was greeted by both George and Trev.

"How was your visit at ASU?" I asked as he and I hugged.

"Good. I'm glad I took Coach Haines up on his offer to stay for a week." 

We finished hugging and George smiled as he walked up to me. "I asked Trev to stop by while you and Charlotte were dress shopping. I needed to ask him about being my best man."

"Ah. . .the someone who deserves credit. I guess we both did that then, asked the two people that hinted, plotted, and did who knows what else to get us together." George looked somewhat surprised. "Charlotte filled me in at lunch about the whole 'deserving credit' joke. Although it really isn't a joke, since she and Trev should get partial credit. . ." I looked over at Trev to see him smiling and nodding. 

"I don't know if Charlotte and I will ever fully reveal the efforts we made for this. . ." He pointed back and forth between George and me. ". . .to happen. Maybe someday." He pulled out his phone and looked at it for a second. "I gotta go. Thanks for asking Little Bro. I promise I won't embarrass you. . .at least not too much." He and George hugged and he waved as he walked out the door.

"So. . ." George began to hint as he placed his hands on my hips and pulled me closer. ". . .did you find a dress?" 

"I might have."

"What does it look like?" 

His excitement about finding out made me laugh and I shook my head. "I'm not telling you anything. . .except that it's white."

"Not purple? You look gorgeous in purple." He started to nibble on my neck. "You look amazing in red." He added as he dotted kisses across the front of my neck to the other side where he continued to nibble. "Incredibly sexy in black. . ."

"Hmm. . .I know what you're doing. You're trying to lower my defenses so I'll tell you what my dress looks like." 

He suddenly pulled back and faked being hurt. "I would never. Can't I admire my fiancée without having an ulterior motive?"

"Normally, yes, but not this time." I teased him.

"Hmph. Fine, maybe I was trying to get you to tell me, but I meant every word I said."

"And I liked hearing it, especially the last part. . ."

He pulled me close again and looked deep into my eyes. "That you look incredibly sexy in black?"

I shook my head and he looked confused. "The part where you referred to me as your fiancée."

His head bent down even more and his lips gently touched mine in a way that told me of his absolute love for me. As he slowly pulled his lips away, he gently stroked my cheek with his hand and rested his forehead against mine. "And soon, I'll be calling you my wife."

I kept my eyes closed as I smiled at the thought. "And I'll be calling you my husband."

He pulled me into a hug and slightly squeezed me. "Can we just run away now?"

"We could," I pulled away so I could look up at him. "But then you couldn't see the dress." I teased him.

He laughed, a sound that always brought me joy. "Your white dress. That has sleeves? No sleeves?"

I shook my head at his determination. "And you say I'm bad with surprises. You're just going to have to wait to find out."

The next six weeks flew by with more wedding preparations. We eventually picked out wedding invitations and sent them out and sorted through them as they returned. We made two weekend trips to Appaloosa to pick out cakes, decorations, food, and to determine where we wanted everything set up. Not long after we had decided to hold the wedding in Appaloosa, we had talked about having it outside and I had immediately thought of the meadow that he and I had ridden horses in during my birthday weekend. It was large enough that the wedding and reception could be held there and the views were amazing. 

With three days to go until the wedding, George and I made our final trip to Appaloosa and with each passing mile we grew more and more excited. By the time we pulled up into his mom's driveway, we were both grinning from ear to ear and excitedly chatting non-stop. As we walked hand in hand up to the front door his mom stepped outside and was immediately hugging both of us.

"Come inside! Come inside!" She eagerly ushered us into the house and the smell of goopy carbanara cooking greeted us.

"You didn't have to cook, Mom." George tried to reason with her.

"Nonsense. You drove 5 hours and even though it's a pleasant drive and you’re excited for the next couple of days, you need to have a good meal."

He nodded and thanked her before he motioned toward the door. "I'll get our things." He started walking toward the garage door.

"I'll help you." I called after him but he shook his head.

"I got it." He sweetly smiled at me for a moment and then turned to start walking out the door.

"How about I help you then?" I turned around and asked Bridge.

"Sure! Do you want to help cut vegetables for the salad?"

I nodded and we moved into the kitchen. As I cut the vegetables, George made several trips up and down the stairs with bags. We had not only packed for the days leading up to the wedding, but also for the wedding itself and then the honeymoon. By the time he made the last trip upstairs, I finished cutting the vegetables and had decided to help him unpack a little before dinner.

"Steph?" Bridge called after me and the seriousness in her voice caught me by surprise. "Can I talk to you a second?"

"Sure." I took several steps back into the kitchen and patiently waited for her to continue.

"I know that the two of you are going to be incredibly busy the next several days, and I wanted to talk to you alone at some point. I figure I better seize the opportunity while I can." We smiled at each other and I nodded.

"I just wanted to let you know how happy I am that you and George found each other. One of Carson's and my wishes for each of the kids was that they would find what we had; a partnership with someone that enabled them and their partner, to become a better version of themselves. The person that would encourage them to be themselves; love them unconditionally even knowing their weaknesses, and provide a balance to their lives that no one else could. I truly believe that you are that person for George, and I have to say, I also believe that he's that person for you. I can't tell you how much happiness I feel, how grateful I am to see the smiling, happy, carefree man that he has become since meeting you. And I just wanted to say, thank you." Tears had started to flow down her cheeks and before I had time to think, I walked up and hugged her.

"Thank you and thank his dad, wherever he is, for raising such an amazing man. He's all those things to me that you just mentioned, and more." We stood there hugging until a voice interrupted us.

"Is everything okay?" George's voice carried from the stairs. Bridge and I parted and both started to chuckle.

"We were just getting emotional about the next couple of days." Bridge told him and I nodded. He walked over to us and squeezed my hand as he looked between his mom and me.

"I have a feeling that's going to happen many times in the next couple of days." Bridge and I nodded our agreement and once we had collected ourselves, the three of us sat down for dinner and then had a relaxing night talking and reminiscing.

****George****

Thursday, August 26

I woke up the next morning and wrapped my arm around Steph's waist and laid there enjoying the quiet moment since I knew it would be rare in a couple of hours. She stirred a little and snuggled her back even more into my chest and I smiled as my arm tightened around her and I breathed in the familiar scent of lavender. I would forever associate the smell with her, and had even recently passed by a floral cart in the city and stopped when I noticed the fragrance. I had looked around expecting to see her and was disappointed to see the cart instead.

The motion of her stirring even more broke through my memory and I leaned my mouth closer to her ear. "Morning, Sunshine."

She rolled onto her back and sleepily smiled at me. "Morning." She stretched out her lean body as she yawned and I gently ran my hand up and down her stomach as I admired her. "What time is it?" She wondered and I briefly glanced at my old clock. 

"It's seven thirty. We should probably get up, although I would love nothing more than to stay here with you all day."

"We could be late. . ." She breathlessly hinted while she lightly ran her fingertips along my chest, sending what felt like electric waves through my body and I slowly lowered my mouth to her neck and began to plant kisses that traveled to her earlobe. I teasingly licked it before I tried to reason with her and myself.

 

"We're never late and it wouldn't look good if we were. . ." I said as I continued to tease the sensitive flesh of her throat.

"One time wouldn't hurt." She whispered as her hands started to run through my hair. I knew we should stop, that we should get ready since people would be expecting us in the meadow in less than an hour, but as my hands started to glide along her velvet skin and my lips touched her soft full ones, I knew I had lost the last bit of self-control I had been clinging to.

We surprisingly arrived at the meadow only five minutes late; taking the shortest showers possible and grabbing a breakfast on our way out the door. I was thankful that no one seemed to notice that we arrived late, or at least no one mentioned it.

We had arranged to meet the business that we had hired to set up all the structures, tables, and chairs that morning and Uncle Charlie and Aunt Kate had also agreed to meet us there in case we needed their expertise about the land. After about an hour, we all felt happy with the proposed layout and Steph and I stuck around for another hour, answering any questions that came up as the crew started to put things together. Part of the setup occurred on that day and most of the rest, the next, with last minute details taking place the day of. We informed the woman in charge that we needed to head back to the ranch and that she could call if she needed, and we soon entered the front doors of the main house.

"Did you get everything settled?" We heard Mom ask as we entered the kitchen.

"I think so. We can't thank you enough for helping with the catering and rental company. We definitely couldn't have done this without all of your help." I looked around the room at the family that stood there and Steph nodded her agreement. 

"We do have some experience throwing a party." Uncle Charlie said and chuckles echoed throughout the room. "It's our pleasure, really." 

I noticed Aunt Star move toward Steph and I knew instantly that she wanted with her about the decorations. I had mentioned her being an interior designer to Steph and on our first trip to Appaloosa to plan the wedding  She had sought Aunt Star’s advice about who to contact for the wedding decorations. Aunt Star had immediately offered her services and while she and Steph went off to discuss flowers, and ribbons, I made sure I had what I needed for next thing I had planned.

After about thirty minutes, Steph and Aunt Star appeared in the kitchen and I walked over to grab Steph's hand. "Did you figure out everything you needed?"

She nodded. "Just finalizing things." She smiled over at Aunt Star right as Uncle Charlie came back inside from the stables. 

"You're all set." He smiled as he looked at me and then tipped his hat at Steph. "Have fun."

"Have fun doing what?" She slowly turned and raised an eyebrow at me. "What have you done?"

Everyone in the kitchen started laughing and I waved at them as we started to walk toward the door. "I knew that there would be very few moments for us to be alone together in the next couple of days, so I asked Uncle Charlie to help me plan a little outing for just the two of us." As we neared the back gate she saw Midnight waiting for us and smiled.

"Are we by chance going to the waterfall?" She placed her arm through mine as we continued to walk toward the gate.

"Yes, and while you talked with Aunt Star, I packed us a lunch." We neared the back gate where Midnight waited and I helped her climb up. After leading Midnight out of the gate, I climbed up myself and we rode the trail to the waterfall. We spent the next couple of hours relaxing by the water, eating, and mostly discussing our honeymoon. Soon after I had proposed, I had asked Steph about places she had dreamed of going and without any hesitation she had mentioned Italy. Once we had picked our wedding date, I mentioned Italy as a possible honeymoon destination and we both decided that it would be the perfect place.

When the time came for us to leave the waterfall, we reluctantly packed up our picnic, knowing after that our moments alone would be few and we spent several moments standing at the water's edge with our arms wrapped around each other. 

We spent the remainder of the afternoon visiting the meadow again, to check on progress of the setup and that evening we had dinner at Mom's with Uncle Jeff and Aunt Star.  As Steph and I got ready for bed she started to share her thoughts about Uncle Jeff.

"He's very interesting. He reminds me of you but not so. . .open."

I nodded. "He's been through a lot and has always been careful about who he lets in."

"But he's very close to all of you, especially your mom." She hinted and I sighed as I tried to begin to put into words what I felt about Uncle Jeff. "It has to do with your dad, doesn't it?"

I nodded again and took a big breath before beginning to explain. "Mom and Uncle Jeff have always been close and besides Aunt Star, she's the person who's the closest to him. During college, he, and my aunt, went through something that caused him to go into a deep depression and the only person who got him to snap out of it was Mom. He never forgot that and they became even closer." I looked out the window and at the lights from Uncle Jeff's house that peaked through the trees.

"Then years later, Dad died and the whole family rallied around us; but Uncle Jeff made it his mission to make sure that not only Mom had what she needed, but that the four of us did too. He held Mom when the doctor told us that Dad had died, he held her hand when she had to start making funeral arrangements. He, my aunt, and my cousins were here every day for months checking on us, being there for us. He even went toe to toe with Trev a couple of times when he thought he'd acted out of line." I somewhat joked and she sweetly smiled at me.

"Of all the members of the Hobble family, he's the one I've always been closest to. After Dad died, whenever I've needed good, sound advice, I've gone to him. He hasn't replaced Dad, but his efforts and presence definitely helped me personally get through a time in my life when I was completely overwhelmed, lost, and very angry. When I look back at that time, right after the accident, everything is a blur except Mom, Trev, Charlotte, Will, and Uncle Jeff."

"That's why when Charlotte left it hurt so much. . ." I looked up at her and nodded.

"For me, they were what I clung to when Dad wasn't here anymore. I didn't have him, but I had Mom, Trev, Charlotte, Will, and Uncle Jeff.  And I was okay with Trev and Will leaving when they went to college, but when Charlotte left like she did. . .I felt like it was Dad all over again. I had no control over it, I couldn't stop it from happening; and, once again, Uncle Jeff stepped in and helped mostly Mom and me as best he could. I ended up going to see a psychologist again for several months afterward, something that he suggested after he saw how her leaving had brought back some of the anxiety I had felt after Dad's accident."

I looked back out the window and noticed that the lights had become blurry from the tears that had formed in my eyes. "He's always known when I'm going to miss Dad the most, and that's why we've seen more of him today and will in the next couple days. . ." My voice trailed off and I continued to stare out the window until I felt the soft, warm hand on my cheek gently wiping the tears away. I slowly turned my head to look into her eyes and noticed the tears also falling from hers.

"I. . ." She started to choke on her words and took a deep breath. "I just wish I could take the hurt away. Make it so he could be here." She whispered as she wrapped her arms around me and hugged me hard. 

"You do take the hurt away, and maybe in some way, he is here." I kissed the top of her head and we continued to hold each other in complete silence. I knew that if she hadn't already, that she too would face some sad moments in the next couple of days; but unlike the past, we could now face those moments together and even during that moment of sadness, that realization brought a smile to my face. 

Friday, August 27th

The next morning we woke up and the day of chaos began. Our list of things to do that day seemed to be a mile long. Trev, Will, Emily, Brooke, Charlotte, and Ethan would arrive that morning, Steph and I needed to periodically check in at the meadow and make sure our own things got placed for the next day, we had a brief rehearsal scheduled that evening and then the rehearsal dinner at the ranch. 

As we began the day, Mom, Steph, and I congregated in the kitchen quickly eating some breakfast and sipping on tea and coffee. It wasn't long before Steph rushed us out the door, and I privately teased her how different she acted from just the precious morning when she had encouraged us to be late. 

Mom stayed at the ranch while Steph and I walked to the meadow and the progress that had been made from the previous afternoon shocked us. The tents had been constructed, lights had been strung, and at that moment, people had begun placing the table and chairs for the reception and rows of chairs for the ceremony. The sight of it all coming together made me smile and as I turned to look at Steph, she looked at me with the same smile.

"Shitfire. . .We're getting married tomorrow!" Her eyes got huge with excitement and I couldn't help but laugh, causing some of the people working to stop and smile at us.

"Please tell me that when we're old and grey that you'll still be saying 'shitfire.'"

"If it gets you to laugh like that, you got yourself a deal." 

I smiled at her as I pulled her closer. "You always make me smile and laugh; and make me want to do things like kiss you in a meadow. . ." I gently placed a hair that had blown out of place behind her ear and looked into her eyes as my hand moved underneath her chin. I tilted her head up as I inched my lips toward hers and as our lips connected, it felt as if I fell in love with her all over again. It still amazed me the effect that she had on my heart, the pulling feeling that only happened whenever I thought about her, saw her, kissed her. . .reminding me that my heart belonged completely to her.

"Aren't you supposed to wait until the guy in the front says You may now kiss the bride?" The sound of Trev's teasing snapped Steph and I back to reality and as we stopped kissing we looked over to see not only him but Charlotte, Ethan, Will, and Emily walking up to us.

We all hugged and after everyone looked around we started figuring out what needed to be done. Charlotte had brought Steph's dress with her so I wouldn't see it and she, Charlotte, and Emily decided to go back to Mom's to move Steph's stuff to the ranch. We had agreed to keep with tradition and not see each other after the rehearsal dinner until the next day when she walked down the aisle. If she had decided against it though, I would have been more than happy to forgo it.

Steph and I said goodbye to each other and I watched as she walked away with Charlotte and Emily until they were out of sight and turned around to see Trev, Ethan, and Will chuckling and shaking their heads.

"Did I act like that when I married Emily?" Will asked.

"You mean love sick, miserable when she wasn't around, looking longingly after her when she walked away?" Trev teased and Will nodded. "Yup. . .and so did you." He looked at Ethan and I fully expected Trev to laugh, but instead he looked down at the ground with a thoughtful expression.

"So what do you have left to do?" Ethan wondered.

"Not nearly as much as Steph." I felt somewhat bad that she had a longer list of things to do. I looked at my watch and noticed that it was getting close to eleven. "I do have somewhere I need to be at eleven. . .I left my clothes at Mom's, can you grab them for me and take it to the ranch for tonight?” They agreed and as I walked, I looked around at the changing trees and the autumn flowers that had started to bloom. 

Some sunflowers caught my eye and I briefly stopped to pick one. Sunflowers had always been Grandma’s favorite and as I entered the back of the cemetery, my eyes rested on her headstone. I hadn’t been there since her funeral and seeing her name etched into the stone made my heart hurt. Knowing that she would have been in her element with planning a family get together caused a sad smile to spread across my lips. She had always loved hammering out the details of family celebrations and would have loved helping with Steph’s and my wedding.  And as much as I felt Dad’s absence, I also felt hers. I let out a loud, long sigh as I gently placed the flower down on the edge of her stone and slowly turned to walk towards Dad's.

I knew that I would eventually visit the cemetery one of the days before the wedding, and I had figured that when I did, that it would be one of several times that it really hit me that he wasn't there to witness me getting married. I had accepted it but it didn't mean that it still didn't hurt, and like I had found out the night before, sometimes the reality of it snuck up on me.

"He would probably joke with you right now about talking about the birds and the bees." Mom said from behind me.

I chuckled. "That's probably not far from the truth." I heard her footsteps in the grass until she reached my side and we stood in silence for several moments, each stuck in our own thoughts.

"Are you okay?" I barely heard her since her voice was a whisper.

I nodded. "I think it really hit me last night. It still hurts that he's not here, but. . .I'm 'okay.'"

She took in a big breath through her nose. "He would love Steph, love the two of you together, just like I do. He would be grateful, like I am, how she helps you smile, laugh, be a better version of yourself. He'd be happy for you and he'd want you to be happy. Just try to remember that."

I nodded and stared at his headstone. "Is that why you wanted to meet me here?"

She nodded. "I figured you'd visit here sooner or later and it seemed like a good spot to talk to you."

I sighed and then turned to sadly smile at her. "Thanks, Mom. Not just for this, for everything." I took several steps toward her and gave her a hug that obviously surprised her since it took her a moment to respond. Her arms eventually wrapped around me and she squeezed me. "I love you."

I squeezed her back. "I love you too, Mom." 

We slowly pulled apart and she squeezed my hand as she started to walk away. "I'll give you a moment alone."

She walked back toward the ranch and I stared at his grave again until the wind lightly blew and I looked up at leaves of the tree that hung directly above and smiled a little as I looked back at his grave "I love you, Dad." I placed my hand on his headstone for a moment and then turned to walk back to the ranch.

I found Steph and the rest of the family there and we had lunch before we broke off again. I had several things that I needed to make sure were in place for tomorrow and needed to be done before the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. By the time I finished with what I needed to do, I had to hurry to the meadow. As I watched Steph and Grandpa walk down the aisle, I felt myself start to tear up and I knew that when the real event took place the next day, I wasn't going to be able to hold it together.

The rehearsal went off without a hitch and we all returned to the ranch and gathered in the tents that had been set up just outside the main house. The dinner was delicious and afterward there were several embarrassing stories told about me, some iced tea toasts, and then we witnessed Trev and Charlotte stand up and walk to the center of the tent.

"So seeing as we're both the best man and the matron of honor. . ." Trev's big voice announced and people started to quiet down. "We figured it was part of our duties to say something during this blessed event, and as obvious from the red faces of the bride and groom, I see that it meets with their approval." The family busted out laughing while Steph and I ducked our heads down from the teasing we knew was about to happen.

"What some of you might not know is that Trev and I schemed, planned, lied. . ." Charlotte looked at Trev and he raised an eyebrow. ". . .I don't think we stole. . ." Trev thought for a moment and shook his head and there was more laughter.

"And even if we did, we'd have to deny it. There are lawyers present here, you know?" He jokingly cautioned Charlotte.

"Right! Anyway, we did just about anything that was legally possible to get these two together, because whether or not George and Steph realized it, we knew from the beginning that they were perfect for each other."

"For instance, my birthday party. . ." Trev turned back to look at Steph and me. ". . .My surprise birthday party. You see, it wasn't a surprise for me, although I did an amazing job at acting surprised, didn't I Sis?"

"Yes, yes you did."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Why would you fake your own surprise party?"

"Well, Little Bro, the two of us started scheming soon after you returned to Appaloosa and knew we needed to figure out reasons to get you back to the city so you and Steph could get to know each other better. And what better reason than to throw a surprise birthday party for a brother who you can't resist surprising. . .And who just happened to be there?"

I looked over at Steph and her jaw was on the floor. "You. . .you tricked us!" Steph blurted out and Trev and Charlotte smiled back at her.

"There's no way. You two aren't nearly that good at surprising or deceiving people." I jokingly argued.

"Oh really? Steph, how many times in between the months of October of last year and February of this year did I call you from work to tell you that a shift needed to be covered?"

"I. . .I can't remember, several."

"And how many of those times was George there?"

I again watched Steph as her eyes got huge. "He was there every single time. But how. . .?"

"How did I convince someone to not work?" Charlotte offered and Steph nodded. "I gave whoever it was one of my shifts. Usually a weekend one so they could make more money."

"And you knew about this?" Steph smirked as she pointed to Ethan. He smiled at the two of us and nodded. 

"It's actually one of the ways I got her. . ." He motioned toward Charlotte. ". . .to talk to me."

Charlotte smiled over at Ethan before turning her attention back toward Steph and me. "Sometime around March, these two finally figured out what Trev and I knew from the beginning, that they were perfect for each other and thank God because I just don't know how many more shifts I would have given up to make that happen."

"And we had run out of birthdays to fake surprises." Trev joked and the family erupted with laughter. Once it had died down, they looked at us with pleading expressions. 

"You aren't mad at us, are you?" Charlotte wondered and I glanced over at Steph. She smiled at me and squeezed my hand before we looked back at the two of them. 

"How could we be mad at you? The two of you really are the reason that we're sitting here today." Steph stated without a drop of sarcasm.

We both stood up and walked over to them and as she and I hugged each of them the family began to clap and express their approval.

We all moved back to our seats and right before I sat down I looked over at the two of them. "You realize that this means that we're going to have to get you back. . ." I jokingly warned them causing laughter to ring out from the tent again.

Soon after Trev and Charlotte's admission, Steph and I stood up and walked around to talk to various family members. We had just finished talking with my cousin Maggie when I noticed Grandpa walking up to us.

"I think I'm going to make my way back to the house and get some rest, but I wanted to catch the two of you before I did." He smiled at the two of us and before he could continue Steph placed one of her hands on his arm.

"I can't thank you enough for offering to walk me down the aisle tomorrow. You will never know how much I appreciate it." She lightly squeezed his arm and he placed his hand on top of hers.

"It's my pleasure, really. And if I hadn't, Amanda would have come back and haunted me." His joking expression turned serious as he continued. "I've been waiting for the right time to tell both of you this, not wanting to say anything too soon, but also not wanting to wait too long." I had never really known Grandpa to be so cryptic and I wondered what he could possibly be talking about.

"I see I've thoroughly confused you." He looked at me and I nodded. "Your Grandmother had an uncanny ability at reading people. She knew things about people well before I did and after a couple years of marriage, I finally learned to listen to her." Steph and I both chuckled and he continued.

"When you came for Christmas last year," He looked at Steph. "She pulled me aside and told me to watch the two of you interact, which I did. And while I noticed that the two of you might have had a little spark then, she insisted that it was more. She was convinced from the conversation that she witnessed in the kitchen between you two and what we saw the rest of the night, that you two were perfect for each other. Maybe Trev and Charlotte inherited some of her ability." He joked again before continuing.

"Shortly before she passed away, she approached me about changing her will and wanted to add Steph to it. She knew you liked to bake and cook and she wanted to leave you something that she knew you would enjoy."

"And I do, but I've often wondered why she left it to me." Steph admitted to him and he smiled as he told us Grandma's reason.

"Because she became convinced that the two of you would end up together; and after years of seeing her be right about such things, I had no doubt that she was right. Believe me, she would have wanted you to have it either way, since we consider you family, but she seemed one hundred percent convinced that the two of you were meant to be together and that you would eventually figure it out for yourselves. It's something that I thought the both of you should know since I know she would have told you herself." He looked down at his watch as Steph and I stood there stunned and then smiled back at us. "It really is getting late and I need all the beauty sleep I can get these days." He patted me on the shoulder and then squeezed Steph's hand. "I'll see you tomorrow." He walked towards his truck and drove off toward the small house on the property that he and Grandma had lived in after Uncle Charlie took over the ranch, and after several moments of stunned silence Steph turned slowly to look at me.

"Did you have any idea?" She whispered.

I shook my head as I turned to look at her. "None. Were we really that blind? It seems like everyone knew we should have been together but us."

She smiled. "I think I might have figured it out before you did. You're pretty stubborn, you know?" 

"Oh wow, that's the pot calling the kettle black." She smacked my arm and I caught her hand with mine before she pulled it away. "You know, in less than twenty four hours, that's going to be spousal abuse."

She laughed and as I continued to hold onto her arm, I pulled her closer. She looked up at me with an expression that had become very familiar and moved even closer. "Do I need to kiss the Tiger's booboo to make it better?"

It was my turn to laugh, and I shrugged before answering her. "It couldn't hurt to try?"

She smiled as her face moved within inches of mine and her warm breath tickled my chin. She peered into my eyes for a moment before her lips completed their journey and I closed my eyes as I felt her soft lips touch mine. A happy sigh escaped from her lips when the kiss ended and she once again mischievously smiled up at me as she placed her hands on my chest. "To be continued tomorrow." 

Right at that moment, Trev loudly told me that they were leaving and that I should too since it was bad luck to see the bride until the wedding. I looked at my watch and it was five minutes until midnight. "Stupid tradition." I mumbled and Steph laughed. 

"Almost eleven hours. . ."

"Doesn't help." I pulled her quickly into one last, passionate kiss and broke away from it just as fast. "I'll see you in eleven hours." I said as I walked backwards toward the car and she smiled at me and nodded. "I love you." I said as I opened the car door.

"I love you too." She called after me and I somehow found the will power to get in the car, turn it on, and drive away; beginning to count down the hours until I would see her again.