CHAPTER TWO

Sutton woke up, looked around at her surroundings and smiled. It was the first morning in a long time that she'd woken up in the trailer, Dan's arms wrapped around her. She felt him shift next to her and tilted her head round to smile at him. "Morning,"he greeted her.

"Morning,"she responded. She looked around. "You know, this place isn't so bad, really. I can see myself moving in here."

"You don't really mean that."

Sutton bit her lip nervously. "No,"she admitted. "But I want to. I really want to make this work, I want to be the sort of person who doesn't mess up what's good in her life because she doesn't appreciate it."

Dan gently stroked her cheek. "I don't want you to change,"he told her. "I love you just the way you are."

"What, even if I'll never be comfortable moving in with you?"

"Well…when we get to that stage, I'm sure we'll work something out."

Sutton smiled. Then she pushed back the covers and climbed out of bed, retrieving her clothes from the floor.

"You're itching to get out of here already?"Dan joked.

Sutton smiled. "After what happened last time, Kristin wants us all round at Emma's place as soon as possible." She planted a kiss on his lips, then skipped off in the direction of the bathroom.


Emma stretched in her bed and smiled to herself. She'd woken up feeling on top of the world once before and the day hadn't gone as well as she'd expected. But this time it felt even more certain. She knew that the rest of her life was about to start.

She pulled on a gown and headed out of the bedroom, to be greeted by Laurel emerging from the other bedroom and Mads appearing bleary-eyed from the kitchen, both of them still in their pyjamas. "My bodyguards sleep okay?"she asked.

"That couch is hard,"Mads complained.

"And I can't believe that used to be my bed,"Laurel added. "Guess I've got used to the one at Jordan's place."

Emma looked at them both and laughed. "Come on, you're supposed to be making me look beautiful! No offence but at the moment you look like you need more work than I do."

There was a knock on the door and a moment later Sutton and Kristin came in. Sutton gave her twin a hug. "Didn't get to say this last time round, so Happy Wedding Day!"

Emma smiled at her. "Thanks, Sutton."

Kristin took Emma gently by the shoulders and gave her a sad smile. "I've only known you for a couple of years and now you're all grown up."

"I know, Mum. Maybe you should think of it as gaining an adoptive son-in-law?"

"I'll try." Kristin patted Emma's arm. "So come on. This is your special day and we're going to make sure you enjoy it."


The Mercers' back garden had had chairs laid out and a stage prepared ready for the ceremony, with the celebrant having taken her place. Char and Peter were sat in one of the rows near the front and other friends and family were occupying the other seats. Ethan was surprised to see his father quietly enter the garden. The older man gave him a curt nod then took a seat near the back.

"Emma called him,"Dan explained quietly. "I think she wanted it to be a surprise."

"It's certainly that,"Ethan agreed.

Jordan and Justin were standing with them, Justin seeming slightly uncomfortable. "Are you sure you want me here?"he asked. "It was kind of my fault that things went wrong last time."

"Hey, if people blamed me for some of the things my dad did, I'd have no friends at all,"Jordan commented.

"Yeah, I know but…If I'd spoken out about Dad sooner, it might not have gone that far."

"Look, all of us here have made mistakes,"Ethan told him. "You helped us find Emma in the end so we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. Thank you."

Dan noticed Laurel appear at the end of the aisle and make wild gesticulations. "I think we're on,"he commented.

The string quartet in the corner began playing and then Emma appeared, holding onto Kristin's arm, with Sutton, Laurel and Mads trailing in her wake. Given the state her first wedding dress had been left in after her kidnapping ordeal, she'd trade it in for a simpler white dress, with her hair pinned up and decorated but no veil. Ethan thought he'd never seen anyone look so beautiful.

They joined hands and faced each other. "Emma, before I met you I didn't think I was worth much," Ethan stated. "I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life drifting, never achieving anything, in and out of jail. And then I met this brave and beautiful girl that I couldn't help falling in love with and I thought that if I could be there for her, be a shoulder for her to cry on, a hand for her to hold, then I'd have done something worthwhile with my life. And somehow you ended up falling in love with me too and I want to thank you for that. And I'm going to go on being there for you whenever you need someone for the rest of my life."

"Ethan, you were the first person to look at me and see me for who I really was,"Emma told him. "Before I met you, I didn't have a family, I didn't have a home, I didn't have a future. And the only reason I've got those things now is because you gave them to me. You're my home, my family and my future. You're the only man I've ever loved and all that I've ever wanted. You're the best man I know and I'm so grateful you came into my life. And I never want you to leave it."

They recited their wedding vows, their eyes, and the eyes of almost everyone else present, glistening with tears of happiness. The celebrant smiled at them. "By the power invested in me by the State of Arizona, I now pronounce that you are husband and wife."

The kiss that followed went on a long time.