Troy couldn’t believe how excited the entire town of Claremont became for his wedding, especially the fact that they only had six days to prepare for the event. It was as though every shop owner, every church member, every family member and friend got in on the act of decorating the place for the wedding of the century, or at least of the decade.
“We’ve been waiting for this for years,” his grandmother proclaimed several times throughout the week, and almost every time she said it, whoever happened to be within earshot responded the same: “I know, right?”
Troy attempted to help out wherever he could, but the majority of the week found him accepting hugs and high fives of congratulations or planning for their honeymoon, which they decided would be spent driving around the Southeast in search of towns for Destiny to write about in her upcoming books. Troy was so proud of his future bride and the fact that her new writing contract would provide them with a reason to travel a little and also allow her to spend the majority of her time working from home, their home, in Claremont.
Her family and her friend Rita had made a couple of trips from Atlanta this week to bring all of Destiny’s things and to add a bit of a feminine touch to his place. Destiny had immediately fallen in love with the 1920s house he’d inherited from his great-grandparents. Similar to the Tingles’ place, it had a porch surrounding the home and plenty of space to be filled with their love. Troy had been thrilled to hear her parents marveling at the appeal of his old house.
“A perfect location for Destiny to write,” they repeated when they first looked at the place. Troy thought the same thing.
His grandmother and mother had promised that the refrigerator and freezer would be stocked when they returned from their honeymoon, with his grandma specifying she didn’t want Destiny worrying about cooking when she had a book to write. Troy suspected that, if Grandma had her way, Destiny wouldn’t have to cook for at least a year.
Troy loved that his family embraced his new love and had all gotten in on the fast-paced planning of the week. When Destiny said she wanted to get married by the fountain in the square, his grandfather had been the one to call a town meeting and assign duties for the special day. And the wedding decorations put the Fourth of July and First Friday scenes to shame. All the shop owners had white tulle and bows draped across their awnings. Multicolored flowers bordered the sidewalk all the way around the square and formed a path for the bride to walk from Gina Brown’s Art Gallery to the fountain. There were no chairs for guests because everyone in town had been invited, and they’d never find that many chairs to cover the square in Claremont. So the crowd stood surrounding the fountain and waiting for the appearance of Claremont’s newest resident...and Troy’s future bride.
“You nervous?” Aidan stood a few feet away from Troy as best man, with his three younger brothers, Josh, Adam and Cole, on the other side as groomsmen.
“Nope, just ready.” And he was. He’d been preparing for this day, for this moment, since he wrote that first love letter at age twelve.
“Looks like she’s ready, too,” Brother Henry said, and Troy turned to see his bride. Her sister, Bevvie, along with Becca, Rita and another of Destiny’s friends from college, walked ahead of her as bridesmaids, but Troy barely noticed. Destiny outshone them all.
She’d been excited about wearing her mother’s wedding gown, and Troy could see why. The white lace dress fit her beautifully, showcasing her slim figure and her hair, which was falling past her shoulders the way Troy liked. But the gown had nothing on the woman wearing it. Her smile beamed as she made her way down the aisle; her eyes sparkled with excitement, with happiness. She looked...the way Troy felt.
By the time she reached the fountain and her father placed her hand in Troy’s, Troy couldn’t wait any longer, and he moved toward her, then brushed a tender kiss across her lips. “You’re beautiful, you know, and I’m one lucky guy.”
The crowd laughed, and Brother Henry shook his head.
“Troy, you do realize that goes at the end of the ceremony,” the preacher said.
“Don’t worry, I don’t mind repeating,” Troy answered and heard more giggles, including Destiny’s.
Brother Henry laughed, too, then started the ceremony. Troy and Destiny said their vows flawlessly, and then they were treated to cheers and applause before the entire town joined in the reception. The Tollesons had prepared everything on their menu for the guests, and the Sweet Stop had prepared not only a wedding cake but every other kind of treat from the shop, as well as an ice-cream buffet with all of the toppings.
By the time the reception ended, everyone in town had personally congratulated the couple, and Troy was eager to leave and start the honeymoon. “Are you ready for the bombing of the birdseed?” he asked his bride.
Destiny hadn’t stopped smiling since Brother Henry pronounced them husband and wife. “I am,” she said, “but I need to tell my mother the news first.”
“You haven’t told her yet?
She grinned. “No, I was waiting for the right moment. I think that’s now.”
They walked to where her parents stood holding pouches of birdseed along with everyone else in town, forming the two lines leading the way to their car.
“Mom, I need to ask you something,” Destiny said.
Her mother looked surprised but said, “Okay, honey, what is it?”
“I’m going to need a photographer to take pictures of the couples in my book, and Lamont Sharp said I can select the person I believe would do the best job. You think you’d be up to it? It’d mean traveling around the South every now and then to take the pictures. But Troy and I were thinking maybe we could all do that together, make it like a family vacation.” She looked to her father. “And it’d mean a lot to me, Daddy, if you’d come, too.”
Her mother’s eyes welled with tears, and she looked at her husband. “What do you think, Phillip? It sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? It’d—it’d be a dream come true for me. Do you think you could take some days off every now and then for us to spend time together like that, as a family? Oh, Destiny, are you sure you want me to take the photos?”
“I can’t imagine anyone I’d rather have.”
“And I’m due for some time off,” her father answered, causing Destiny to grab him in a fierce hug.
“Thank you, Daddy,” she said. “It’ll be wonderful, I just know it.”
Troy hugged Destiny’s mother and then shook hands with her father before turning to his bride. “So now are you ready for the birdseed run?”
Destiny laughed. “I am!” And then the two darted through the center of their friends and family, everyone cheering and tossing birdseed as they sprinted toward the car.
Destiny laughed breathlessly as she shut the door and additional bouts of birdseed pelted the windows. “This—this is almost too much fun to leave, isn’t it?”
“Almost, but still, I’m ready to go.”
“Me, too.” She leaned over and kissed him, not a little peck but a long, drawn-out kiss that caused another round of cheers from the crowd. “You know,” she said, when they finally ended the kiss, “if we’re going to have those six kids you wrote about in your letters, we should probably start with a honeymoon baby. What do you think?”
“I think,” he said, kissing her one more time because he simply couldn’t help himself, “that my prayers—and every one of my letters—have been answered.”
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from Daddy Next Door by Carol Voss.