Six months before the wedding, Danny took me to a rest stop on a highway outside town.
It was a special place.
Years earlier, Dad had taught me how to make my first solo highway merge there.
I remember being terrified.
Dad had ridden beside me.
“Don’t panic,” he said.
“Look where you want to go.”
Those words stayed with me.
Now, years later, Danny stood beside me at that same location.
Then he got down on one knee.
I started crying before he even spoke.
When I told Dad later, he cried harder than I did.
He tried to hide it.
He failed.
Then he hugged me and said:
“You picked a good man.”
That was one of the greatest compliments Dad could have given him.
The Wedding
We planned a simple wedding.
No enormous ballroom.
No extravagant decorations.
Just our backyard, about fifty guests, close friends, family, and the people who mattered most.
But I had one request.
Dad would walk me down the aisle.
Ever since I was a little girl, I had imagined it.
I imagined his huge hand holding mine.
I imagined him trying not to cry.
I imagined him giving me away to the man I loved.
I even imagined him looking at Danny with that intimidating Hawk stare and silently warning him to take care of me.
The morning of the wedding, Dad seemed different.
He kept checking his phone.
He stepped outside several times to make calls.
His face looked tense.
I asked him if something was wrong.
“Everything’s perfect, baby girl,” he said.
Then he kissed my forehead.
“Today’s the best day of my life.”
I believed him.
I wish I hadn’t.