Savior Complex: A Small Town Love Triangle Romance

“I’m so proud of you, son,” she murmurs. “You got the girl, and she’s just so special. Thank you for bringing her into our family.”

“I love you, Mom,” I say, kissing her back before Forrest leads her to her seat in the front row. I can feel the tears stinging my eyes, and I know there’s going to be a lot of that today. It’s not every day you get to marry your best friend.

Poppy squeezes my hand before it’s her turn to walk. “You make my daughter so happy,” she tells me with a smile. “Thank you for all the ways you’ve loved her.”

I squeeze her hand back. This past year has been one of healing, and Nina and her mom have made huge strides in their relationship. It’s still not perfect, but it’s so much better than it was. I’d say it even borders on normal.

River leads Poppy down the path, and then I hear the shift of music. It’s my turn. I’m not nervous at all, but my heart is racing, nonetheless. In just a few minutes, I’ll stand in front of the love of my life and make her vows I’ll keep forever. Soon, she will be Mrs. Antonina Dorotea Winters, and I have never heard a lovelier name.

I walk down the path, taking my time to look at everyone who’s supporting us today. There are all the workers from the ranch, from the stable boys to our horse groomer to our housekeeper. I spy a few people who have stayed on the ranch as guests, including the Jones family and their young son. He’s playing his Nintendo Switch, but I’ll overlook that. Weddings aren’t the most exciting things for kids.

Jordy’s parents are in the second row, right behind Poppy and Steve. Lil is wearing a fascinator, just like her sister. I realize I owe Nina five dollars thanks to her bet that they would.

I reach the huge oak tree, and there’s my dad in his wheelchair. I stand near him and place a hand on his shoulder.

“Thank you for doing this,” I say. He pats my hand. He’s also in a suit and cowboy hat, but where I’m wearing a striped grey tie to match my suit, he’s wearing a bolo tie with a metal medallion in the center. He looks sharp.

“Thank you for asking me,” he says. “I love Nina. She’s been an incredible part of this family. It’s my honor to marry you two.”

Thanks to the good old Golden State, anyone can perform a wedding ceremony. However, as soon as I asked my dad to officiate, he quickly went online and became an ordained minister. He’s even made us call him Minister Pete the past few weeks, much to our amusement. My dad is a praying man, but he’d drop dead before setting foot in a church. To him, nature is his church, which makes this ceremony on our ranch all the more sacred.

Jordy is next, escorted by my best man Jake. She’s radiant, even if I only have eyes for Nina. There’s something about her now that wasn’t there when we were together. A true happiness. Absolute freedom. She winks at me, then takes her place on the other side of my dad while Jake stands next to me.

Nina’s friend Maren follows, escorted by Levi. It’s hard to miss the huge rock on her finger, which she has been wearing since Mac proposed last month. She told him she was never getting married but would make an exception for him. Her only stipulation is to wait until her tour is over next year, since she’s headlining her own sold-out concerts across the United States.

Claire is after that, holding the arm of River, and man is she glowing. Her small protruding belly might have something to do with that, which looks lovely in the pale pink dress Nina had her bridesmaids wear.

My sister comes next, walking arm in arm with Forrest. With her copper hair and freckles, I’m blown away at how beautiful Hazel looks in her pink bridesmaids dress. For a moment, I imagine what it would be like if Amber were here to see this. How the girls would be together. Seeing Hazel grow up into the woman she’s becoming, I get a glimpse of who Amber would have been, but also a reminder that she’s forever seven years old and will never see a day like this.

The last of my wedding party to come down the aisle is Nate, and he holds something small in front of him. As he gets closer, tears sting my eyes. He’s carrying a photo of Amber and Hazel hugging each other, and when he reaches the front, I can see he’s visibly affected by this important task. I forget my place and move forward to hug him, the tears spilling down my cheeks, even as I try my hardest to hold it together. Fuck man. This is hard. But I’m so glad they thought of this.

Nate rests the photo on the chair in the front row right next to my mother, then takes his place at the end of the line.

Finn is next, though I can tell by the look on his face that he believes he’s too old for the job of ring bearer. He stomps down the aisle, thrusts the pillow at me, then makes a beeline for his dad instead of standing next to Nate like we’d told him to. The audience loves it.

Last is Ariel, the two-year-old daughter of our housekeeper, Rosa. She’s wearing a doll-like white dress and holding an Easter basket full of petals. Last night at the rehearsal dinner, she cried until Rosa finally took her home. To my relief, she toddles down the aisle, dropping a petal at a time. At this rate, we’re going to be here until next week.

“Date prisa mija,” Rosa says from her seat. Ariel looks at her mother, and then at everyone watching her, and I watch in slo-mo as her mouth form an O and a silent cry forms into air. But then the shriek follows. Rosa scoops her up, takes handfuls of petals, and tosses them while scurrying down the aisle. She crosses in front of us and keeps going until she reaches a safe distance to soothe her screaming child.

Everything is perfect, especially as the music shifts again.

Nina and I had gone over every romantic song there was out there, but together we could not come up with something for her to walk down the aisle to. I finally asked her to trust me to pick a song, and she let me.

Maren takes her place next to the orchestra as they shift songs, going from something unrecognizable to something I’ve listened to dozens of times. When I sat and listened to this song again a few weeks ago, I knew it was everything I felt about Nina, and I knew it had to be Maren to bring this song to life.

“Something in your smile, speaks to me,” Maren starts, beginning the song by Tony Bennett. I know it’s my favorite, not hers, but it just incapsulates so perfectly all the ways I feel about her. I hear an audible sigh from the audience at the sound of Maren’s whiskey voice taking on the old crooner’s lyrics, the cool, dark tones of her singing. It’s this voice that now owns the Top 100. You can’t turn on the radio without hearing Maren Huerta belting out the latest rock ballad.

But now she’s here, singing at her best friend’s wedding. I keep my eyes trained on the back of the audience until finally a vision in white appears a few yards down the way. Nina is all I see, from her hot pink hair to the form fitting ballgown she’s wearing, to the pink high-tops that peek out from under her skirt. Her face is beaming, her eyes locked on mine as she stands holding her father’s arm, the photographer clicking away. Then she’s moving, so slowly I want to run to her, pick her up and get us married. But I wait, savoring the beauty of my bride, not sure how I convinced her to be mine.

When we first came back together, she told me we couldn’t be engaged yet. After all, I had just come off an engagement, and needed time and distance from that relationship before asking her to marry me. But I knew she was mine from the day I first saw her. There was no denying how I felt about her.

So I waited a week, then asked her. She said no.

I waited another week, then asked her. Again, she said no.

We did this several more times. Sometimes I waited a week. Sometimes a day. Every time, she let me know it was too early and to be patient.

Patience has never been my virtue, but finally, I listened. I waited months, saying nothing about wanting to marry her, all the while holding that engagement ring in my pocket just in case the moment ever arose. Apparently I waited too long, because one night we were at home having dinner, Cherokee at my feet waiting for food to drop. It was such a normal night, not one thing special about it. But she asked me if I was ever going to ask her to marry me again.