We stopped at the door and waited for everyone to line up. They were all opening up the small bags that contained the rice.

Emma and I both said at the same time, “Oh, great.”

Emma had begged her parents to skip this part, but they wouldn’t have it. Their little girl would not be sneaking off. She deserved a proper send-off.

“Are you ready?” Maria asked as she looked at Emma and then me.

We both nodded our heads, and before we took off, I leaned down and said, “Take off your shoes.”

Emma snapped her head and looked at me. “What? Why?”

I was looking at everyone smiling. “We can run faster if you’re not running in damn heels.”

“Oh, smart thinking!” Emma reached down and slipped one shoe off and then the other.

I leaned in to her and said, “I have a plan. Before your dad gets done talking, we take off running. We’ll catch everyone off guard that way.”

Emma laughed. “I knew I married you for a reason.”

Charles walked up. “It’s time to send off the bride and groom! May I—”

I pulled Emma’s hand, and we both took off running. Everyone began scrambling to throw the rice.

“Um…well, there goes Mr. and Mrs. Garrett Thomas Mathews!” Emma’s dad called out.

We were more than halfway to the car when the first rice pellets began hitting us. Once we got to the car, they were still pelting us.

“Shit! Why aren’t they stopping?” I yelled out.

Emma laughed uncontrollably.

“Ouch! Son of a bitch! Who threw the whole bag at me?” I shouted. I looked up and saw Billy smiling from ear to ear. I pointed at him and said, “I’ll get you back for that, you bas—”

“Garrett! We should go,” Emma said as she pulled me back.

I quickly opened her door as her mother walked up, and we helped Emma into the truck. I ran around to the driver’s side and waved. “Thanks, everyone! See y’all in a week!”

I attempted to get the rice out of my hair before I jumped into the truck. Emma was still laughing, and she grabbed my hand as I took off down the road.

“Bastards! I think some of those people purposely hit me with full bags of rice,” I said.

Emma began picking rice out of her hair. “Garrett, pull over, so I can let my hair down and get this rice out.”

I looked over at her. There was no way in hell I was letting her take her hair down. That was my job. “We’ll be home soon, and I’ll get it out. I want to take your hair down.”

She turned, and from the corner of my eye, I could see her staring at me.

“I thought we had a flight to catch. You told everyone—” She stopped talking and put her hand up to her mouth. “You lied to everyone!”

I threw my head back and laughed. “Yes and no. I won’t deny it. I needed an excuse to get you out of there and in my arms. Technically, we do have a flight waiting for us in Austin…tomorrow. Do you know how crazy I’ve been, seeing you in that dress?”

Emma laughed and then let out a gasp. “Our dance. Oh my God, Garrett…we never had our first dance.”

I slammed on the brakes and looked at her.

“How did we not have our first dance?” I asked.

She looked at me like I was stupid.

I glanced into the rearview mirror and said, “Oh, holy hell.”

Billy pulled up next to us, honking his horn, and I rolled down my window.

Margie said, “The first dance!”

Emma yelled, “We’re coming back right now!”

I shook my head and quickly turned the truck around, making our way back to the church. The reception was being held in the basement, and by the time we pulled up, everyone was already back in the basement.

When we walked in, everyone began clapping, and Emma and I both just smiled.

“I still don’t see how we forgot to do the first dance,” she whispered.

“I know why. Ever since we cut the damn cake, everyone has been talking to us. I’ve never fake-smiled so much in my life.”

Emma hit me in the stomach and smiled as we walked to the middle of the room. “Oh, Garrett. Did you remember to tell Billy the song you wanted for our first dance?”

I smiled as I reached down and kissed the tip of her nose. “Yes, Buttercup, I did.”

We were standing in the middle of the dance floor, and Charles was about to introduce us again.

“I don’t think anything else needs to be said. Ladies and gentlemen, here is Emma and Garrett for their first dance as husband and wife.”

Emma and I both laughed. Everyone knew we had been married for a year now, but it didn’t seem to matter. Emma turned and gave me that smile that made my knees weak every time I saw it. Then, “Can’t Help Falling in Love” started, and her eyes misted over with tears. I pulled her into my arms and began singing along with Elvis. The moment I’d first heard this song, I had known it was my song to her. She held on to me like her life depended on it.

“Emma, your smile melts my heart and makes me weak in the knees at the same time. Your laughter is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard, and I plan on hearing it every day for the rest of our lives.” I placed my hand on the side of her face and wiped a tear away with my thumb. “Your eyes…my God, your eyes cause me to lose my breath every time I look into them. Your lips are the sweetest things on your body, and I crave them daily. Every day I wake up next to you and hear your voice, my heart beats harder in my chest, and I fall in love with you more. I will give you everything, Emma. My entire world is yours—always and forever.”

I moved my mouth closer to her ear as I sang the last verse of the song, and Emma began crying harder.

Once the song ended, I lifted her chin and gently kissed her. “I love you, Emma Rose Mathews.”

She swallowed and closed her eyes before opening them again and whispering, “I love you more, Garrett Thomas Mathews.”

Elvis’s “Too Much” started playing, and we both laughed. I grabbed her hands, and we took off dancing. I knew how much my girl loved to dance, and no one could pass up an Elvis song.

By the time we were driving down our driveway, I was fighting to keep my eyes open. I leaned my head back and dreamed of getting out of this wedding dress. I couldn’t breathe with how tight the corset was. Garrett would like it, that was for sure. And the fact that I had been naughty and slipped off my knickers had me going crazy all night. I had tried to tell Garrett at least five times that I wasn’t wearing knickers, but every time I’d tried, someone had come up and started talking to me.