My Last - Riley & Chelle Read Online Free

Her brain kept torturing her with the list of things that she should have said, the many questions that she should have asked. She had just been so blindsided by what David had revealed, that it was like her brain had been short-circuited.
    Katie and Jason stepped up to the alter and the pastor announced that they were going to exchange vows that they had written themselves. Chelle prepared herself for the onslaught of emotion she was sure to have when they spoke. Of all the times during the day today that she needed to guard against having a breakdown, surely this – during the freaking VOWS, for crying out loud! - was the most important. And yet, because of the inherent emotion that the moment was going to bring, it could also prove to be the hardest. She steeled herself.
    Jason brushed a soft curl back from Katie's face and she smiled up at him beaming with love. He took a deep breath and said, “Katie. My angel. I think that from the first moment I laid eyes on you, when we were putting our backpacks in our cubbies on the first day of Kindergarten, I knew that this day was in the cards for us. That it was coming, as surely as a sunrise after a dark night, no matter how far away that light might seem at some points, when you're sitting in the darkness. I never lost faith in you...in us. I know we took a winding road to get here, but this is where we belong. With each other. In each other's arms, and in each other's hearts. My beautiful girl, now that I have you, trust me on one thing – I will never let you go. You are my angel, the light of my life, forever.”
    Chelle felt tears falling from her eyes, but that was fine. There was nothing suspicious about that, there wasn't a dry eye in the place. Still, she certainly wasn't out of the woods yet. She still had to get through her DFF's speech without falling apart!
    Katie took a deep, shaking breath and beamed up at Jason.
    “Jason,” she began tremulously, and then squared her shoulders, a determined look coming into her eye. She began again, her voice stronger and more confident, “Jason, you are the strength that I never knew that I had. You call me your angel, but the truth is – you are my guardian angel, and you always have been. Whether I knew that you were doing it or not...whether I even knew that I needed it or not...you were always looking out for me. Love isn't expressed through the things that we do which we expect credit for, or some elaborate show of gratitude in return. Many of the sacrifices you have made for me, I never knew about until fifteen years after the fact. I'm sure there are many more that I still don't know about.
    “The love that you have shown me, and continue to show me, regardless of if I deserve it or even know about it, is the purest love I have ever known.
    “There are so many things I adore about you, my Jason. But I think that the biggest among them is how you show me, every single day, what it means to be selfless. I love you.”
    Good Lord! Leav e it to Katie, Chelle thought, to come up with a tear-jerking speech just when I'm trying to keep all emotions in check!
    Katie and Jason kissed, and soon Chelle was relieved to see that they were making their way down the aisle. YES! Her time “on stage,” so to speak, was nearly over. Of course, there was still the whole reception to get through...but at least she wouldn't be standing on a platform in front of all the guests for the entire reception!
    Sophie and Bobby followed Katie and Jason, and then Chelle stepped to the center of the aisle and took the arm of Alex Sloan, another of the five Sloan brothers. As he escorted her down the aisle he turned to her and said with a wink, “Damn Chelle, you look good, David’s a lucky man.”
    Those four innocent words, meant to be a compliment - ‘David’s a lucky man’ - were the straw that broke the camel's back. They hit her right in the solar plexus and were just about more than she could handle. She thought she might throw up