I felt a tear rolling down my face. “I love you, Dad.”

“I love you, too, Josh.”

When my dad slapped the shit out of his legs, I jumped. “Fuck, Dad! You just scared the shit out of me! We were having a moment.”

He stood up and reached down for my hand. “Moment is over, son. Let’s go. You’re getting married in a few hours, and I have to go and give your mother a wake-up call.” He wiggled his eyebrows up and down.

“Oh, for the love of God…I didn’t need to hear that, Dad. Shit, I think I’m going to hurl.”

“Josh?” Gunner said.

I turned around, looked at my three best friends, and smiled. “Jesus H. Christ. If I were a woman, I’d be wet right now from the sight of the three of you!”

They all laughed.

Brad walked up and shook my hand. “You look pretty damn good yourself.”

“It’s getting close to that time. Did you want to walk down to the beach and check everything out?” Gunner asked.

“No.”

Jeff started laughing. “Why the hell not?”

“I want to be surprised!” I said.

The three of them just stared at me.

“Pussy,” Brad said.

“Shut the hell up, you bastard!”

Gunner winked as he said, “You know when I said I was going to push you in the water? Dude, I was only kidding.”

I smiled as I sat down. “I really do want to be surprised. I think Heather does, too. She told Jenny she wanted it simple with only a white arch sitting on the beach. I trust Jenny. I’ve seen her plan three kick-ass weddings so far, so I’m pretty sure she’s got this.”

“Okay. How about a beer from the bar then?” Jeff asked.

“Fuck yes!” I jumped up.

Just then, Matt came running in with his dad, Mark, right behind him.

“Josh!” Matt yelled.

I bent down and held out my arms for him.

Like always, he stopped, just short of me. “I’m going to hug you, Josh,” he said.

“Go for it, buddy!”

He slammed into me, and I hugged him back.

He pulled away and smiled. “Guess what?”

“What?”

“Jeff and Ari found a place that has horses! They are going to take me for a ride on the beach!” He started to jump up and down, and he looked at Jeff, who was smiling at him.

“Oh yeah?” I said.

He turned back to me. “Yeah, and guess what else?”

“I give up!”

“Josh…you assmole…you didn’t even try to guess.”

I smiled, glancing up at Mark. Sue and Mark had pretty much given up on trying to stop Matt from saying assmole.

“Um…your mommy and daddy are going with you?”

“Nope! Better! Luke is going with us.”

“That’s pretty cool, buddy. How lucky are you that you get to be with him on his first ride on the beach?”

“I know!”

“Come on, Matt. Let’s leave the big boys to get ready now. One hour, guys…don’t forget.” Mark looked right at Jeff. “Don’t get him drunk. One beer, and that’s all.” He took Matt’s hand, turned, and left.

Jeff gave me a shocked look. “What the hell? That man has no faith in me whatsoever.”

Gunner, Brad, and I all lost it and started laughing.

Gunner slapped Jeff on the back. “Come on, let’s all go grab a beer.”

As Gunner and Jeff began walking out, Brad grabbed my arm. “Josh, can I talk to you for a minute?”

As Gunner shut the door, Brad turned and smiled at me.

“What’s up, dude?” I sat down.

Brad took a seat across from me. He smiled and let out a laugh. “Dude, out of all of us, I honestly never pictured you getting married. I’m so damn happy for you, Josh.”

“Thanks, man. I appreciate that…I think.”

He looked down at the ground and then back up at me.

Oh fuck. What if he’s doing drugs again? Or he wants to do drugs again? Dude, don’t do this on my wedding day.

“We’re going to find out the sex of the baby when we get back.”

I slowly let out the breath I’d been holding. “That’s awesome, dude!”

He nodded. “Yeah, I know. But, um…I’m scared, Josh.”

“Of what?”

“What if something’s wrong with the baby because I was taking drugs when I got Amanda pregnant? She hasn’t said anything, but I know if it’s crossed my mind, it’s crossed hers. I’m so scared.”

“Dude, it’s going to be okay. Everything has been good in the pregnancy so far, right?”

He nodded.

“Brad, you made a mistake. Stop beating yourself up every chance you get because you slipped up and made a bad choice. I honestly believe in my heart that you’re going to have a beautiful, healthy baby. Dude, don’t worry.”

He stood up and let out a sigh. “You’re right!”

I got up and looked at him. “Can I ask you something? Friend to friend.”

“Of course, Josh.”

“Have you wanted to…”

He grinned and shook his head. “Not one damn bit. I’ve never felt so much peace and happiness in my life. I actually love my job right now. It doesn’t hurt that it’s one of my dad’s biggest competitors! I’m looking forward to becoming a father. Amanda was so excited about starting a new career, but she’s decided she’s more interested in becoming a mom more than anything.”

I grinned. “Does that mean y’all aren’t moving to Florida?”

“Nobody knows this yet, but I talked to my boss and asked what the chances of me staying in Austin would be. I got hired on for their Florida office, but he said they are so happy with my work that they were actually going to offer me a raise to stay in Austin. This couldn’t have happened at a better time. Amanda and I talked about it, and we are still selling the house to pay my parents back what they want. Then, we’re going to look at some land outside of Dripping Springs. It’s close enough for me to get to work and for Amanda to go visit the girls when she wants.”

“Ah hell, Brad. You don’t know how happy this makes me.” I walked up and gave him a quick hug.

“Let’s keep it between us for right now. I think Amanda wants to tell the girls herself, and I’m going to tell Gunner and Jeff later today.”

“Will do, Brad. Gunner and Jeff will be just as happy.” I slapped him on the back before we left the room and made our way down to the bar.

As we walked by the windows, I looked down at the beach. I could see the white arch in front of the chairs covered in the light blue fabric Heather had picked out. I quickly turned away as my heart started pounding.

In one hour…she’s going to be mine.

I stood there and looked at my beautiful wedding dress hanging up on the door. I closed my eyes and thought about the day I’d found it.

“I don’t want to try on another dress. I’ll just wear jeans!” I said to Ari and Ellie.

Amanda held out another dress. “Oh hell…this is the one, Heather!” she said with a gasp. “Ouch! Motherfucker!”

We all turned and looked at her.

“Big kick!”

I sighed and shook my head. “That was what Ellie said about the last one, and Ari said the same thing about the one before that.”

Amanda handed the dress to Rachael, the sweet, patient girl who had helped me try on at least twenty-five gowns so far.

Okay, so maybe it was only ten, but it was enough to make me hate the color white now.

“Oh! This is a beautiful one.” Rachael hooked my arm and dragged me back into the dressing room.

As she helped me get dressed, I begged her to make it all stop. “Please…Rachael…don’t let them make me try on another dress! I’m starving, and I have twins to feed. I just want to go eat!”

She smiled as she did up the back of the dress. “Do you want another banana, honey?” she asked as her eyes filled with sympathy.

“No. Thank you though.”

When she stepped back, she put her hands to her mouth.

Huh…she hasn’t done that yet.