Chapter 7
Once everyone was gone for the evening, Bruce and Kate sat back with a glass of wine, sitting in front of the fireplace. Bruce held her hand up in the air.
“That ring looks amazing on you.”
Kate admired the sparkle. “It is absolutely perfect. Just like you.”
Bruce hugged her. “Perfect I am not, but I make do.”
They sipped their wine.
“I’m a grown adult and I have no clue why I was so nervous to share with our parents.”
“No matter how old you get, you are always your parents’ child. Hell, I’m over forty and I know my mother still sees me as her little boy from time to time.”
Kate curled up closer to Bruce on the couch. “I get it. I wanted them to jump for joy. The fact that it took them a moment to come around was almost scary.”
“We made it through. That is all that matters. But did you have any doubt that we would?”
“No.”
Bruce sipped his wine. “And besides, even if they did not like it, there was no turning back. You are Mrs. Bruce Stanger.”
“Hmm. That is true. Can you say that again?”
That sly grin came across Bruce’s face. “What? The part about you being Mrs. Bruce Stanger?”
Kate kissed his soft lips. “I love hearing you say that.”
“If I would have known that I would get this kind of response, I would have made you Mrs. Bruce Stanger a long time ago, pretty lady.”
Bruce kissed his wife.
“Let’s set the date,” Kate suggested.
“Alright. Let’s give it two months. That will put us both past the busy season and make sure that we have the time to properly spend with our family and friends celebrating over the weekend. I have a few speaking engagements coming up and want to clear some of the travel off of my schedule.”
Kate whipped out her cell phone and opened the calendar. “Here is the date.”
Bruce looked at the phone. “Okay, July 5th it is.”
Although they were already married, Kate was excited all over again to marry him. She shared with him her idea of getting married at the beach.
“You want small and intimate right?”
“I do.”
“I have an idea.”
*****
Kate gathered every wedding magazine she could get her hands on. She wanted the right inspiration for the ceremony. She and Bruce settled on a cerulean blue theme accented with silver.
She put her mother in charge of the centerpieces. Mrs. Stanger was in charge of décor. Linda was in charge of finding the caterer and the music. Kate would oversee all areas. She knew they were pressed for time and two months would not be a lot of time to pull it all together. Especially when she and Bruce had full schedules.
Neither of them worked normal nine to five jobs so they needed to carve out the time wisely. But being in control of their own careers allowed them make the time they needed for family and for their wedding.
So far, everything was coming together smoothly. The anticipation building as the day drew near.
Kate was happy that for the next few speaking engagements and conferences, Bruce would be in town. For the first time, he invited her out to see him in action.
On an extended lunch break, Kate drove over to the convention center where Bruce would be speaking. She was in awe of the man she had fallen for. On stage, he was charismatic, commanded attention, and was witty and knowledgeable. She knew there was something about him that attracted people to his workshops, but to see Bruce in action, room filled to capacity with people eager to learn from him, made her admire him even more.
Kate sat in the back of the room, watching him at work. It was as if she was getting to know him all over again. He had seen her at work, and she hadn’t had a chance to check him out in his element.
There were so many facets to this man. He was the former Fortune 500 executive who was brave enough to branch out on his own and start a consulting business. He was also the family man who loved his parents dearly, loved to live off of the land, and was the rugged cowboy she first met and fell head over heels for.
He was easily able to make the switch between the two, but the more she took a look, the more she realized he was doing nothing more than changing clothes. Bruce was always confident, self- assured, and willing to take a step out and try something new. It was the same principles he taught during his speaker’s workshops and it was the same principle she learned from him.
Of course, maybe Bruce had picked up these life lessons in his experience. She was sure to pick them up and learn from them as she lived as well. Thankful that she had such a wonderful man by her side, Kate gathered her things and quietly left out of the back door.
Her heart swelled with love for Bruce. Even more so than normal. It was nice to have a reminder of what kind of man loved her. Not that she questioned her marriage, or had any second thoughts, she knew now that taking that risk had yielded such great return.
*****
The day of the wedding, the weather was absolutely perfect. The weather was warm. The sun was high overhead, brightly illuminating the day. Kate had no idea what the venue would look like and she was excited to see how everything had turned out.
She and Bruce decided to have the wedding at the ranch. It seemed like the ideal place for friends and family to gather and celebrate.
The ceremony was set for early afternoon so they had an early start for their day. First up was a relaxing massage to get rid of the pre-wedding jitters. She had a facial a few days before and was now completely relaxed and glowing.
As much as Kate wanted it to be a smaller, more intimate affair, with no fuss, the family wanted the opposite; an all out social extravaganza. Between the mothers wanting to invite each and every member of their church ladies’ league or all of their neighbors, and the list of decorations beginning to get out of control, Kate was sure she would lay down that night with a migraine. Instead, she sat both her mother and her mother in law down and asked them both to compromise.
Out of that came something to make everyone happy. A guest list of about two hundred and fifty people, the archway of the ranch decorated with an elaborate spread of white roses (Mrs. Walker’s idea), a caterer to handle all of the food and drinks, and a wedding coordinator to handle the day of activities.
Once Kate knew the mothers were happy, she could breathe a sigh of relief. There was nothing worse than a mother who felt like she had not had proper input in the wedding planning for her child’s big day.
It all came together smoothly and Kate was happy that she did agree to go ahead and have a ceremony and reception to celebrate such a momentous occasion with family and friends.