Yours Truly (Part of Your World, #2)(111)

The wedding planner came out of nowhere, talking into a headpiece. “Ready?”

Briana looked at me, holding her bouquet.

I smiled. “Ready.”

Briana hooked her arm in mine and I adjusted Ava on my hip. The coordinator opened the front door of the cabin and Briana and I came out onto the porch. Everyone stood.

I didn’t like this part, where everyone was going to stare at us. But I very much liked the marrying-the-love-of-my-life part, so it was worth it.

We walked the aisle, smiling at our handful of guests. Daniel sat holding his daughter, Victoria Montgomery Grant, next to Zander’s husband.

Alexis and Zander, our matron of honor and best man, waited for us under the trellis with Lieutenant Dan, who hopped on one foot at the sight of us coming.

Rosa and Gil were beaming as we passed. Gibson and his wife were in the same row. Gibson still hadn’t retired.

Jill and Walter were with Jewel and Gwen, who sat with the twins between them. I raised my pant leg discreetly to show them the squirrel socks I had on. They were eight now, but they still loved it.

Ben sat with my sister Jane. They’d moved in together last year. They rented my old house from us after Briana and I got our own place. Our new place had lots of room for the baby and an extra guest room for when Rosa visited. We had two deep freezers completely full of Salvadorian food.

Benny’s kidney transplant held, and he was doing great. He was running marathons, was back to work, and had become as much a part of my family as Briana. There were rumblings that he and Jane were next. Briana said she was going to personally hand my sister the bouquet.

We passed Grandpa, and Briana snorted quietly. He was openly smoking. Mom shrugged like she’d given up. Dad winked at me.

When we got to Amy and Jeremiah seated on the corner of the first row, I stopped and handed Ava to her aunt. My little brother was holding my niece, who was only a few months older than my own daughter. They’d be good friends one day, just like Briana and Amy were.

Briana handed her bouquet to Alexis and took my hands.

We’d written our own vows.

I looked in my beautiful wife-to-be’s eyes and couldn’t believe how lucky I was. She took my breath away, every day, just like the first time I saw her.

The officiant said a few words about marriage, and loving and supporting each other. He read a poem about two very different people being the perfect match because they filled the parts the other one was missing. And then it was time for the vows.

I’d thought long and hard about what I wanted to say. And what I’d come up with felt exactly right.

I looked her in the eye. “Briana, I agree to be harmless to you.”

She smiled, because she knew that was all of it. It was the only promise she needed to hear.

It was her turn. She gave me a wry grin. “Jacob, I agree to be harmless to you.”

The smile ripped across my face, followed by the sting of tears. And then I really couldn’t feel everyone’s eyes on me at all. It was just the two of us, alone together, showing up. Because that’s what love does. It shows up. And I’d never stop doing it.

I kissed my bride.





Acknowledgments




Thank you to nephrologist Dr. Jared Fialkow for your expertise and ER nurse Terri Saenz Martinez and Kristyn Packard, LPN, for answering a million DMs about life in the ER. Thank you, Liesl Burnes, RN, for the random and frequent late-night messages asking weird hospital questions. Beta readers Kim Kao, Jeanette Theisen Jett, Kristin Curran, Terri Puffer Burrell, Amy Edwards Norman, Dawn Cooper, and sensitivity reader Leigh Kramer—I couldn’t do it without you. Thank you to Sue Lammert, a licensed clinical counselor specializing in trauma, Dr. Karen Flood, and Dr. Julie Patten, licensed psychologist, for helping me to depict the mental health aspects of this book with sensitivity and accuracy. As always, my disclaimer that any errors in this book are my own and are no fault of the people who advised me.

A big thank-you to the Forever team for all they do: my editor, Leah Hultenschmidt; publicist, Estelle Hallick; cover designer, Sarah Congdon; production editor, Stacey Reid; Michelle Figueroa, Tom Mis, and Nita Basu from the audio team; and the countless other people who worked so hard to get this book into your hands.

Thank you, Valentina García-Guzio, for help with the Spanish. Thank you to Stephanie Arndt for the title suggestion when we had to rename the book at the last minute, and a nod to Sara Reda for chatting with me via DMs for days about what narrators I should check out for the audiobook.

Stacey Graham, I can’t believe we’re five books in! OMG! Thank you for taking me here, I’m loving the ride!





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Discussion Questions





At the beginning of the book, Briana feels so much despair about her life situation, how nothing has worked out like she planned. Have you had thoughts like that in your life? Were you able to turn things around or find a different kind of outlook?

Compare and contrast Briana’s bleak outlook with Benny’s. What role does hope play in combatting depression?

How did Jacob’s social anxiety shape his daily life? Did you recognize some of those qualities in yourself or in others you know? How might Jacob’s story change your perception of meeting someone who seems shy or aloof at first?