I looked up at Jillian and smiled. She had actually asked to come to the wedding today. Carson had told her about us jetting off to Vegas, and he hadn’t expected her to care that much, but she’d insisted she wanted to come along to support us. In the three weeks since Carson’s accident, Jillian and I had been making a real effort to get along. Our relationship wasn’t perfect by any means, and we would never be close, but we could be polite and accepting – that was all I needed actually.

“Has she been well-behaved?” I asked, raising one eyebrow at Sasha, looking for a tell-tale sign that she’d been naughty.

Jillian grinned. “Oh, she’s been as good as gold.”

A clearing of the throat from the doorway made me look up. Rory stood there in a suit Carson had taken him out to buy and a maroon tie, which matched the girl’s dresses. He looked rather handsome. “The guests are getting bored. Gonna get this show on the road yet?” he asked.

I smiled and nodded, bending and planting a soft kiss on Sasha’s cheek. “Yep, let’s make this official.”

Lucie took Sasha’s hand, and Jillian disappeared from the room, probably to take her seat on the balcony where the ceremony was being conducted. “Ready?” Lucie asked.

I nodded and opened my mouth to say yes, but Rory shook his head quickly. “I just need a word with my sister before we do this,” he said confidently.

Lucie groaned and shook her head. “You’re wasting your time, I told you this already.”

Rory waved his hand toward the door, a clear indication he wanted her to leave. “I have to check,” he replied. I watched, confused, as Lucie led Sasha from the room, leaving me alone with my brother.

“Check what?” I asked, fussing with my dress with one hand and picking up my small bouquet of flowers with the other.

Rory sighed and stalked to my side, stopping in front of me and looking at me intently. “I need to check you’re doing this for the right reasons.”

I tilted my head and met his eyes as I answered his question. I knew he was worried about me; it was because he was such an awesome little brother. Clearly, he wanted confirmation that my change of heart toward the wedding was something I genuinely wanted and not something Carson was forcing me into.

“I love him, Rory, and he loves me. We’re getting married because I want to get married; no other reason, I promise,” I confirmed, reaching out and taking his hand. “And I love you for worrying about me and for always having my back and for looking out for me and Sasha all the time, but you don’t need to protect me from Carson. I promise that, too.”

He pursed his lips, seeming to consider my words for a while before he nodded. “Okay, good. I guess he’s an all right bloke. You know, as dickheads go.”

I giggled and squeezed his hand. “I’ll tell him you said so.” When the violin music began from the other room, my whole body stiffened. It was time. “Oh, God, I’m about ready to shit a brick,” I admitted.

Rory chuckled. “Does Carson know he’s marrying a potty mouth?”

I gasped and pinched his side in reprimand but before I could scold him or anything, he bent forward and planted a kiss on the side of my head and then held his arm up in offer for me to take.

As my arm slipped through my little brother’s, my body was a jangled mess. So many emotions were running through me I didn’t know which to feel first. When Rory led me out through the hotel function room and toward the balcony beyond that was cloaked by red curtains, my stomach was churning. I watched, silently chewing on the inside of my mouth as Lucie proudly led Sasha through the curtain and disappeared.

And then it was my turn.

As one of the hotel staff pulled back the curtain so we could pass, I was excited, nervous, thrilled, happy and scared all rolled into one jittery package. I had no idea how my legs were even managing to support me. But none of that mattered as soon as I stepped out onto the balcony, for as soon as I laid eyes on him, everything else faded into insignificance.

The gentle, Nevada breeze blew his light-brown hair, ruffling it in the way that made my stomach twist into a knot. He turned, facing me, watching me walk to his side. The smile on his full, pink lips made my palms sweat. His eyes consumed me, drawing me in, leading me to him up the little white carpet they’d laid out. I tried to walk to the beat of the music, but it was almost impossible to hear over the squeeze of my heart.

After what seemed like a lifetime, I stopped at his side and Rory stepped back, grinning and slapping Carson on the arm affectionately. My mouth was dry as I stared up at him. His eyes didn’t leave mine as he stepped closer to me and shook his head. “You look incredible,” he whispered, reaching out and catching a curl of my hair that had escaped the elegant twist I had at the back of my head. His tongue darted out, wetting his lips as he looked at me through sultry, heavily lidded eyes. “You ready to become Mrs Matthews?” he asked.

I nodded slowly. “I’ve been ready for three years,” I admitted.

His resulting grin was dazzling as his hand slipped down to mine and he tugged me a little closer to him as the pastor stepped forward and grinned. As the ceremony began, I made sure to memorise every single second of it, every single one of Carson’s smiles and the twinkles in his eyes. I wanted to be able to remember this moment with crystal clarity when I looked back on it on our sixtieth anniversary. After being given the gift of my baby girl’s birth, this was the second most special thing that had ever happened to me.