Finding Home in Redemption

Chapter Thirty-Three

November

The weather wasn't exactly right for a wedding, but no one's spirits were dampened. It was raining, and on top of that, the temperature had to be near freezing. Every time someone opened the courthouse doors a gust of wind blew in, and I started shaking all over again.

I looked at Sam, in her suit, and for the first time felt jealous I wasn't a groomsman. When Maria went to her and asked if she'd be a bridesmaid, we oddly weren't shocked when she said Pop had already asked her to stand with him. That gave Maria the bright idea of asking Brennan to stand with me on her side. He only agreed because he was going to be in a gray suit as well, any other color and he said he would have run.

Ryan kept eyeing Sam, and I wanted to scream from the rooftops that she was single. She wasn't ready to tell anyone that she and Matt had broken up, though. She was upset about it, as anyone who was in a relationship that long would be. There were just too many differences between them and Matt had ultimately broken her heart.

Sam caught Ryan's glance, and she scowled. She didn't like the attention apparently. I looked at my soon to be step-brother and almost laughed at the smirk on his face. This was going to be fun to watch.

Pop and Maria walked out of the office with all of their papers, and we followed them into another room. The judge greeted us, and the ceremony began.

Brennan stood behind me beside Maria and Sam stood beyond Ryan beside Pop. We probably looked like a strange assortment of people.

Rings and "I do's" were exchanged and after Pop leaned in to seal their marriage with a kiss, he pulled her into a hug and whispered, "I love you," into her ear. Her shoulders started shaking as she cried and laughed at the same time.

"I married you in complete blind faith that you would finally say those words to me today," she said, wiping her tears away.

"I've said it to you in my head a million times," he answered. I won't lie, I had a tear fall down my cheek with that line.

"I guess since you're already crying this is probably the best time to tell you," Ryan walked up to his mom, smiling. "Bentley's been helping me look for a place in Taylorsville, and we finally found one last month. I won't be going anywhere when we get back."

"You're staying?" She started jumping up and down and jumped up to hug his neck. He caught her and laughed while she repeated how excited she was about him finally living near her again. I looked at Pop and felt my heart start to ache. I knew my degree eventually would take me away from Taylorsville if a particular man didn't do it first. He seemed to have the same thought because he looked at me and gave me a sad smile.

Why was walking into your future so hard when you didn't want to leave the people you loved most behind?

"Let's get going. Jerry said everybody's waiting for us," Pop said.

Brennan's mom had sent me multiple texts throughout the last hour asking me questions about the set-up of the room Pop and Maria rented for the ceremony. She'd taken over the task of setting up, and she'd been there since early morning making sure everything was in place.

When we all arrived, the parking lot was already filled with other cars due to another wedding ceremony in one of the other rooms. We parked and ran in as fast as we could to get out of the freezing rain. Pop opened the doors to room R4, and when we walked in, everyone stood. Cheering and clapping overwhelmed us, and I knew if I could see Maria's face, she'd have tears in her eyes. Ryan looked over at his mom, and I must have been correct because he laughed and patted her on the back.

Brennan grabbed my hand, and we walked to the head table on the other side of the dance floor.

The newlyweds shook hands and hugged everyone before making their way to the table and sitting between myself and Ryan. I looked around wondering where Sam was, and I saw Ryan furiously typing on his phone. My phone dinged.