All of My Soul (35 page)

“Oh, Carter. Thank you so much. That was so
beautiful.”

He wrapped his arms around my waist and
hugged me back. “I meant every word of it.”

I pulled back to look him in the eye. “I hope
you find your own other half soon. You deserve to be happy
too.”

He smiled but his eyes looked sad. “I’m just
glad you and Lincoln are happy together.”

“We are. Thanks to you. I can’t thank you
enough for everything you’ve done for us.” Carter had put in some
long hours getting all the loose ends of Mackenzie’s case tied up
in addition to dealing with the fallout from my picture being
broadcast at the fundraiser. He had worked with the governor’s team
to create a story about the video system being hacked. The hotel
had issued a fake apology, evidence had been destroyed, and someone
had even created a phony police report, making things look legit so
nothing could be traced back to me or the senator. I didn’t like
lying, but Lincoln and Carter said this was the only way to ensure
no one’s political career was damaged. No one tied the event on the
roof with Mackenzie and Asher’s attack on me, and that was the way
I wanted it.

“Well, I guess it’s my turn,” Rebecca said,
her voice projecting from the microphone speakers. It had been
difficult deciding who would be my maid of honor since I loved
Rebecca, Kennedy, and Emily all equally. Emily would have matched
up better with Carter as the best man, and Kennedy had become like
a sister to me, but in the end, I decided on Rebecca. We had lived
together for a long time, and she truly was my best friend. It made
me sad to think about moving out of her house and in with Lincoln.
I mean, I obviously wanted to live with my husband, but I was more
than a little sad to think about leaving Rebecca and Tabitha.

But I promised both of them, I would still be
available to babysit. After all, I still didn’t have a job, however
I wasn’t going to worry about that for a while. Lincoln and I were
going to enjoy our new lives together until the next hockey season
started. Then I’d focus back on my job hunt. Now that my e-mails
weren’t being deleted, I had several good leads from my advisor,
and I knew I’d find something.

Carter, Lincoln, and I returned to our seats
as Rebecca began her speech. “If I’d known how good Carter’s speech
was going to be, I would have insisted on going first.” She smiled
at Carter as everyone in the audience laughed.

She cleared her throat and continued, “Eight
months ago, someone knocked on my front door. Imagine my surprise
when I opened it and found Lincoln Monaghan standing on the other
side.” She chuckled and flipped her hair. “I thought I had won the
jackpot,” she admitted, and the crowd laughed. “Turns out he was
looking for my sister. So naturally, I did what every good sister
would do and interrogated him until he cracked and admitted that
Jillian had ditched him the night before.”

Everyone laughed loudly, and I patted
Lincoln’s thigh as he hung his head in his hand in
embarrassment.

“He swore he just wanted to get to know her
better, so I took a chance and invited him in.” She turned to me.
“You’re welcome, by the way.”

“Thank you,” I mouthed to her with a big
smile.

She cleared her throat again and paused for a
moment. Her face turned serious. “Anyone who has had the pleasure
of knowing Jillian knows how special she is. The only reason I let
Lincoln into our house that day was because I could see in his eyes
that he knew it too. He knew she was a rare and beautiful person
whose soul matched his, and it’s been an honor to watch the two of
them fall in love.”

Tears were now falling freely down my face,
and I dabbed at them with my napkin.

“What I’m about to say comes from all of us.
Frankie, Elliot, Emily, and me. Lincoln, I don’t have to tell you
to take care of our sister because we know you always will. You’re
the only one we would trust to not only provide for her, but to
love and encourage her.”

Rebecca’s eyes had filled with tears by this
point, and her voice wobbled. I looked down the table and saw Emily
wiping a few tears away as well.

My sister cleared her throat and swallowed
hard, trying to fight against the emotions bubbling just under the
surface. “Jillian, Dad would be so proud of you.”

I sniffled against my napkin, and looked out
at our mother. She smiled through her own tears and nodded at
me.

“I know”—she paused to collect herself—“I
know he’s here today. It may feel like he’s missing, but he’s here
in the love we all share. He’s right in the middle of it, and I
know he’s given you his blessing on your marriage. Dad would have
loved you, Lincoln, just like we all do, and he would have been
overjoyed to give you Jillian’s hand in marriage. So I speak for
our whole family when I say…” She paused and sniffled as she raised
her glass. “May your marriage always be blessed. May love always
surround you and may the only tears you cry be happy tears.”

I didn’t know if she had more to say, because
at that point I couldn’t take it anymore. I vaulted up out of my
chair and hugged her tight, not caring if I messed up my hair or
spilled her drink.

My mother and siblings surrounded us, their
faces just as tear-stained as mine, and we formed a giant hug with
me in the middle. Even Frankie and Elliot, who were normally so
stoic and serious, looked completely overtaken by their
emotions.

Eventually I was shuffled into Lincoln’s
arms. He held me against his chest, and I breathed in his delicious
scent, allowing it to calm me.

“Are you okay?” Lincoln whispered in my ear
while gently rubbing my back.

I sniffled and nodded as I pulled away from
him. He immediately cupped my face and wiped my tears with his
thumbs.

“Are you happy?”

A smile broke out on my face. “It probably
doesn’t look like it, but I am.”

“You look beautiful.”

I laughed, knowing that probably wasn’t true.
“Are you ready?”

He nodded. “You first.”

Lincoln handed me the microphone, and I took
a deep breath and slowly pushed it out. I had never been a fan of
public speaking, even if the crowd was only a small group of our
loved ones.

“Okay,” I said into the microphone. “I guess
it’s our turn now. I’m going to do my best to try to not make
anyone cry.” Our friends and family laughed. “Although some of you
are still crying, so that doesn’t count.” My mother smiled and
waved her tear-soaked napkin at me.

“There are so many people I need to thank. I
don’t want this to sound like an Oscar speech, but we wouldn’t be
here today if it wasn’t for all of you. So I think first, of
course, we have to thank our parents.” I looked at my mom and then
at Elizabeth and the senator who now insisted I call him Ron since
we were family. “We wouldn’t know what love is without your
example, so thank you for raising us in households filled with
love. I think I speak for both of us when I say I know we didn’t
always agree on everything, and there were times we made your lives
difficult, but we know everything you did for us you did out of
love, and we want to thank you for that.”

Both Lincoln’s parents and my mom looked as
if they were going to cry again, so I moved on. “To our siblings.
Lincoln and I both want to say thank you all for your friendship. I
know not everyone can count their siblings among their friends, but
we do, and I couldn’t imagine our lives without your friendship.
You have all been there for us, and we’re so thankful to have you
all in our lives.”

Since it was such a small reception, that
just about covered all the wedding guests except Lincoln’s
teammates.

I took a deep breath. “And finally to my
husband.” My voice broke as my throat got tight. “I will never be
able to express”—I cleared my throat—“how much you’ve changed my
life. I think back to what my life was like eight months ago, and I
can’t even believe I thought that was living. It seems obvious now
that I was just a piece of something bigger. I wasn’t complete
until I met you. So thank you for not giving up on me. Thank you
for everything. I love you eternally.”

Emotion overtook me, and I couldn’t continue
my speech without breaking out into tears again. It wasn’t all I
wanted to say to Lincoln, but I knew he knew what I meant, how I
felt.

I handed him the microphone, and he pulled me
into his embrace. He studied my face, maybe looking for signs that
I was upset, but when I smiled, he smiled back before kissing me
lightly.

He held me close to him as he cleared his
throat to begin his speech. “Well, I think my wife covered just
about everything, so good night folks!” Lincoln grabbed my hand and
acted like he was about to drag me away from our reception. I
laughed and pulled back against him, squawking my objection.

He held the microphone up to his mouth.
“What? Seriously? We can’t leave yet?”

I shook my head as the crowd laughed.

“All right. Fine,” Lincoln said in fake
disappointment. “But can you really blame me, folks? I mean, have
you seen how hot my wife is?”

I gasped and covered my face. My mom was in
the crowd! I could feel the blush rise up under my skin, and I
heard people laughing, hollering, and applauding. Deacon shouted
something from the back of the crowd, and I peeked out from under
my hand. I blushed again as I looked at my mom and brothers. I
thought they would be uncomfortable, or at least feeling slightly
awkward at Lincoln’s not-so-subtle sexual insinuation, but the
three of them simply laughed at my embarrassment.

“Okay, well, since we’re not allowed to leave
yet, there are a few things I would like to add.” He draped an arm
over my shoulder and pulled me against his side. I wrapped an arm
around his waist and rested my head against him.

“For a long time, my life consisted of hockey
and my family and not much else. Like Carter said, I didn’t think
anything was missing until I met Jillian, and then nothing was
right without her. She was like a breath of fresh air in my
stagnant life.”

He turned to look at me.

“You never cease to amaze me with your
generosity and kindness. You have a heart of gold, and I’m honored
to have you share it with me. You are the other half to my whole,
and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you. So thank
you, Princess. Thank you for letting me love you and for loving me
in return.”

He set down the microphone, and immediately I
stretched up on my toes and grabbed the back of his head, pulling
him down to me. We locked lips, and I kissed him with all the love
I had in my heart. I wanted to climb inside him and never leave.
I’m not sure how long we stood in front of our friends and family
wrapped around each other, locked in our kiss, but eventually
Lincoln pulled away from me.

I looked up at him and licked my lips. “Okay.
Now we can leave,” I said quietly so no one else would hear.

Lincoln laughed, and I realized everyone
around us was cheering and applauding. “As tempting as that is, I
think we’re required to stay a little longer.”

Tabitha ran up to me and jumped into my arms.
I propped her up on my hip and straightened the skirt of her
Hawaiian sundress that looked adorable.

“Mommy said I’m supposed to say
congrad-relations.”

Her mispronunciation made me smile. “It’s
con-grad-
U
-lations.”

She scrunched her nose up and looked at me
funny. “Con-grad-
me
-lations? What did I do?”

Lincoln laughed loudly, and I couldn’t help
but join in.

“No, sweetie. Congratulations. It means you
are happy for someone when something special happens.”

Tabitha absentmindedly ran her small hand
over my hair. “Special like a wedding to Mr. Lincoln?”

I smiled and nodded. “That’s right. Remember
how we said I wasn’t going to live with you anymore, but that I
would visit you all the time?”

“Yeah,” she replied without any sadness in
her voice. “Do I have to call him Uncle Lincoln now?”

Lincoln stepped forward and put his hand on
Tabitha’s shoulder. “Do you want to call me that?”

“Well, you’re my aunt… ” she said and poked
my chest with her finger. “So now he’s my uncle, right?”

My heart felt like it was going to burst.
“Yes, that’s right, Tabby Cat.”

“Can I have a sleepover with Ben?” She looked
up at Lincoln with pleading eyes.

Lincoln chuckled at Tabitha’s rapid change of
subject. “You can if your mom and Ben’s mom are okay with it.”

She squirmed in my arms, wanting to be set
down. The minute her feet hit the ground she ran up to Rebecca.
“Mommy! Uncle Lincoln said I could have a sleepover.”

My sister glared at Lincoln, and I burst out
laughing as Lincoln groaned. “Kid’s already getting me in
trouble.”

“That’s all right. It’s good for you.”

Lincoln smiled and took me in his arms.
“Dance with me,” he requested as he led me out on the dance floor
and twirled me around. Our first dance as husband and wife was in a
tropical paradise, and I never wanted to let go of him.

Chapter
Twenty-Eight

Unfortunately, we were informed Lincoln
couldn’t monopolize my attention all evening. Hours later, my feet
were killing me, and I had danced with everyone. By the time I was
back in Lincoln’s arms, stars were glittering in the Hawaiian sky
above us. In the distance, the sound of the ocean waves breaking
against the beach lulled me deeper into relaxation. I nuzzled
against Lincoln’s chest as he held me close, singing along to Ed
Sheeran’s “Tenerife Sea” quietly just to me.

The song ended and flowed into a new one, but
Lincoln didn’t let go of me. “Do you think we can leave yet?” he
asked.

I smiled up at him, bit my lip and
nodded.

His eyebrows rose up. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. I want to be alone with my
husband.”