sight of Marcy and Wyatt—which wasn’t hard, because Wyatt Walker was the tallest man in the crowd. “Sophie!” Warren called, and Marcy immediately shushed him. Sophia giggled quietly, and she was surprised to hear Ames doing the same thing.
They reached the end of the aisle, and he went left with her, taking her to the end of the marked area where the bridesmaids were supposed to stand.
He circled around the back of the altar and took the spot closest to the aisle. Sophia turned so she could watch her best friend walk down the aisle with her father.
Once everyone in the wedding party had taken their spot, Patsy took her first step. Each one after that seemed to take a very long time, as her father had been fighting cancer for a few years now. She seemed to be gripping his arm with everything she had to keep him upright, but the smile on her face did not slip even once.
Sophia admired Patsy on so many levels, and she drew from her strength over and over.
Ames stepped forward once Patsy’s father had pressed a shaking kiss to her cheek and handed her to Cy. He escorted the older gentleman to the first row, where he sat next to Patsy’s brother.
Once Ames had re-taken his spot in the wedding party, Cy nodded to the pastor, who welcomed everyone to the “happiest event happening in Coral Canyon today.”
Sophia felt that joy streaming through her, filling all the empty spots inside her. Patsy deserved the whole world, and if there was anyone who could give it to her, it was Cy Hammond.
She watched her friend for the first few minutes, and then she found her gaze wandering to Ames. He didn’t look at her at first, and then the next time she let her eyes dart toward him, he was looking at her—and he didn’t look away.
A smile sprang to her face, but Ames didn’t return it. He was always so stoic. He kept everything he felt behind a cage, and Sophia wished he could just let go and allow himself to get caught up in the magic and joy of his twin’s wedding.
She lifted her eyebrows, silently asking him why he looked like a serial killer at a wedding. She broadened her smile, and Ames finally ducked his head slightly—but not before she saw the first inklings of a smile.
Ah, so his bad boy exterior could be cracked. Sophia stifled a giggle and focused on the ceremony.
Patsy had just finished reading her vows for Cy, and he turned toward her and said in that loud, Hammond voice, “Patsy, it’s true that you almost ran me over when we first met. I think I may have fallen in love with you a little bit then. Every day since has been an exercise in falling, and I’m so glad and grateful you said yes into that speaker system at Whiskey Mountain Lodge.”
Sophia could remember that day keenly, and she pressed one hand over her heart as a silent aww moved through her. Cy had always adored Patsy, and anyone with even one good eye had been able to see it.
“I can’t wait to ride into the sunset with you, side-by-side on our motorcycles. Which are not horses.” He chuckled. “I love you, and you’ve made me a better man, a better friend, and a better brother.”
Sophia could not imagine anything more romantic, and the next thing she knew, Cy and Patsy were pronounced husband and wife, and she cheered along with everyone else as they sealed their union with a kiss.
The roar filled the trees, then the sky, then everywhere. Sophia basked in the good energy here, with so many good people who’d come to celebrate this day with Patsy and Cy.
She’d always wanted a big wedding too, and she’d never thought she’d get it. She wasn’t even sure her family would come if she told them she was getting married.
The wedding party started to move again, and Sophia inched forward until she could loop her arm through Ames’s once more and go down the aisle again. She smoothed down her pale green dress once she reached the last row of chairs and exhaled.
“That was amazing, right?” she asked Ames.
“Yes,” he said, turning back to watch Cy and Patsy parade down the aisle while another round of applause went up. “Completely amazing.” He started to clap too, his smile finally appearing on his face.
She stuck close to him while the event transitioned from ceremony