Lily fixes my veil in the kitchen of the Sawyers’ farmhouse, her eyes alight with all the excitement and happiness a maid of honor should feel for the bride. “Are you ready?”

I breathe in the beauty of this moment and the messy path that led to it. Our lives are such a muddled pot of heartache and blessing, loss and triumph, sorrow and joy. I nod and wring my hands, a lump already in my throat. “I think so.”

Lily opens the door and we step out onto the porch, into the late October air. My father turns around, so handsome in his tuxedo, and a breath of forever passes between us. One I will carry with me for the rest of my life. I dab my knuckle beneath my lashes, a vain attempt to save my makeup.

I don’t know how much time we have. His tumor is growing every day and his headaches are worsening. We could have two whole months—sixty lifetimes, each encompassed within a single day. Or he could be gone in two weeks. I don’t know how this story will end. But I do know that I can enjoy right now. My father has taught me this. Today, he is here. So I will praise God for today, and trust in his provision for tomorrow.

He cups my cheek with his palm. “You, my daughter, are too stunning for words.”

A tear gathers and spills.

Dad catches it on his thumb, then holds out his arm, and the three of us walk through the yard, beneath a canopy of trees that have not yet lost all their color, toward the rows of white chairs filled with family and friends, and the soothing melody of Lily’s sister playing “Clair de Lune” on her violin. We stop in front of a pair of trees that hide us from view of our guests. Lily gives me a hug, hands me my bouquet of flowers, then joins Liam ahead. He winks at me with a proud smile on his face. Lily takes his arm and they make their way down the aisle. There is a brief pause of anticipation as the violin stops, then starts up again with Canon in D. Everyone stands. The sunlight dapples through the leaves.

I look up at my dad—the man who has loved and cherished and protected me from the moment I entered this world. “Are you ready?”

“Emma, I’ve been ready for twenty-seven years.”

Wrapping my arm tighter around his, I let my father lead me down the aisle. Toward Jake, my groom. The man who will love and cherish and protect me for as long as we both shall live.