Chapter 310: Under the Rose Arch
** Harper **
When the small group returned to the terrace, they could see from behind the garden gate that the ceremony area was already filling up with a colorful crowd. Guests were busy hugging each other and finding their seats, while the music and casual icebreaker jokes from the DJ were playing in the background, topping up the scene with a merry festiveness.
In that merry festiveness, the wedding party got together and did one last runthrough of the procession order, among other details. Then Eli led his groomsmen out of the garden — where the bride would step out of a few minutes later — and got into their positions at the wedding arch first.
The audience quieted instantly, everyone sitting up straight in anticipation, and it wasn’t until then that the gravity of the moment suddenly settled on Harper, hitting her like a flash.
The time had come. Once she crossed the garden gate and walked down that aisle, she would be married. She would be his wife.
That simple fact sounded so ... dauntingly fascinating.
"Things finally catching up to you now?" Her father’s smiling voice came from beside her. "Or was Eli’s nervousness contagious?"
Harper let out a small chuckle at that reminder. "I suppose the experience isn’t complete without feeling at least something, is it?" She took a small deep breath in. "What was it like for you, by the way? What were you thinking when Mom walked toward you down the aisle?"
"Hmm ... Pretty sure I was wishing she didn’t pick a veil that actually covered her face, because it was so hard to see how beautiful she was all covered up like that. But of course, if she asks, tell her that I absolutely loved the mysterious, obscure type of beauty that the veil gave her."
"..."
Her father laughed at the slightly speechless look she returned him. "Anyway, I guess I was the less sentimental type, more like you. The wedding didn’t change a thing in my book — you already know the person you are marrying and the life ahead you’re looking at, don’t you? I might even say that today feels more special to me, being on the other side of the aisle right now, because hey, it’s unbelievable to see my baby girl all grown up and starting her own family already. You make me so proud."