CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
The day dawned bright and golden, the sky wide and endless above the harbor. The scent of salt and roses mingled on the breeze, carrying laughter and the music of fiddles across the docks.
Vanessa stood in front of the mirror, her dress simple but breathtaking, ivory silk that flowed like water, hugging her form before spilling into waves at her feet. Her hair was pinned with tiny pearls, each glimmering like droplets of the sea. She barely recognized herself, but her smile was radiant, steady.
Her heart raced, not from nerves, but from joy.
On the pier, guest gathered in rows, lanterns strung high above their heads. Sailors, dockworkers, designers, and friends, everyone who had been part of their world, waited eagerly. At the center stood Zack, dressed in a crisp navy jacket, his broad shoulders straight, and his eyes searching for only one face.
When Vanessa appeared, walking toward him, he felt his breath catch. She was luminous, every step toward him pulling at his soul like the tide itself.
And when she reached him, slipping her hand into his, everything else disappeared.
The ceremony was simple, but their vows were anything but.
"I used to think the seas were my only home," Zack said, his voice rough with emotion. "But then I found you. You are my compass, my anchor, my horizon. Wherever you are, that's where I belong."
Vanessa's voice trembled as she replied, "I never thought I'd fall in love with a man who belongs to the waves. But Zack, you've shown me that love is stronger than distance, stronger than storms. You've shown me that love is stronger than distance, stronger than storms. You've made me braver than I ever knew I could be. Today, I chose you always, and in every tide to come."
The crowd erupted in cheer as they sealed their vows with a kiss. Zack swept her into his arms, spinning her once as laughter bubbled from her lips, and for a moment, it felt like the world celebrated with them the sea, the wind, the sky.
That night, as lanterns glowed and music filled the harbor, they danced together on the pier, surrounded by family and friends. But in each other's arms, they felt utterly alone, lost in a love that had begun with fire and grown into something unshakable.
Later, when the star blanketed the sky, Zack leaned close, his lips brushing Vanessa's ear. "You'll always be my forever."
"And you'll always be my home," she whispered back.
The waves kissed the shore, the stars shimmered above, and their story, once wild and uncertain, settled into the calm promise of eternity.
Vanessa and Zack's love story comes full circle from passion to storms, from doubt to devotion. Their marriage marks not an ending, but a beginning; a forever they chose, hand in hand, no matter where the tides may take them.