“I wish everyone could be here to see what you’ve done with the place,” Bruce said as he walked up the aisle. “I hope Tina doesn’t feel like the place is half-empty.” Only about a third of the invited guests had managed to arrive.
“Oh, but that’s the best part,” she replied, walking to meet him. “It won’t be.”
“What do you mean?”
“Mayor Jean wrote a few emails and sent her husband out on a few recruiting calls this afternoon. The entire town has promised to show up and fill the sanctuary for today’s ceremony.”
His wide smile only made him more handsome. “That’s pretty amazing.”
It was easy to smile back. “Matrimony Valley’s a pretty amazing place.”
“Speaking of amazing, I don’t know if you noticed in all the chaos of last night, but when I got back to the hotel I saw Samantha Douglas getting a very sweet good-night kiss from Rob.”
“Oh, my,” she replied. “If Samantha gives us a good write-up after everything that’s happened, I’ll tell Rob he can have free flowers for the rest of the year.”
Bruce laughed. “If you ask me, he’ll be sending some to a certain wedding writer on a regular basis.”
She grinned. “I can make that happen.”
They stood, side by side, in the quiet of the church for a moment. This day was loaded for him in ways that had nothing to do with what was transpiring between the two of them. There were a million things she wanted to say, to ask, but she settled on softly asking, “How are you doing?”
When he pulled in a deep breath, Kelly steeled herself for a sad reply. “You know, it’s not so bad. I’m happy for Darren.” He looked at her for a long moment, and Kelly felt her stomach flip. “Actually, I’m sort of happy, period.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Not quite sure how that happened.”
The way he looked told her he knew, as did she, exactly how that had happened. That, in spite of everything, the space between them had filled with an unexpected potency. Even last night’s drama couldn’t take away how here, alone with him amid all these creations she’d worked so hard to make, in a place so near and dear to her heart, Bruce felt...close.
Against her wishes, the lines between Matrimony Valley’s promise of a happy ending and her own belief in something like that for herself were blurring. Of course, it was easy to embrace hope today, inside the emotional bubble of Tina and Darren’s wedding. Tomorrow or someday very soon, that bubble would pop.
“Did you get Carly’s hair sorted out?” Kelly asked, needing to fill the silence.
“Yeah. The girls are up in the bridal suite getting all glammed up. The headband ought to work great, Tina tells me. Thanks for that.”
“She’ll be adorable. I’ll make sure Lulu makes a fuss over how perfect she looks, but I don’t think I’ll have to say much to persuade her. Lulu’s so excited to get to come to the wedding anyway.”
He leaned against the pew opposite her, so that they stood on either side of the aisle. Their voices echoed in the empty sanctuary, but still the place felt close and intimate. “That’s a great idea,” he said in a fumbling tone. “Filling the church for them and all.”
They were both talking about inconsequential things, making noise so they didn’t talk about the very consequential thing happening between them. The fluster Kelly felt belonged to a teenager, not a woman of her years, not a professional working hard to make an event go off smoothly. Still, his praise, his gratitude for the effort being made here, warmed her.
“I hope Samantha goes on for pages about how well you all did. She ought to give Matrimony Valley a five-star rave, or whatever a great write-up is called.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “I’m starting to believe we really are going to get a happy ending here. Unconventional, but happy.”
“That’s what matters, isn’t it?”
Another stretch of silence fell between them. “Do you think...?” He started, then stalled, fussing with the burlap loop of one of the pew decorations. “Do we get a second one? People like us, that is?”
She knew what he meant, but she asked anyway. “A second what?”
“Happy ending, I guess. Or do we just...learn how to be happy for...other people’s happiness.” He seemed to lose his nerve just then, turning as if he might leave, then turning back again. “Maybe it’s just the valley. The whole happily-ever-after of the place. I...” The word hung in the air, an unfinished sentence.
It wasn’t the valley. Or at least it wasn’t all the valley. Nor the wedding—although she knew that the wedding atmosphere amplified it in a way. Even far away from here or other weddings, however, Kelly knew she would feel this pull between them. She enjoyed the way he made her laugh. She both admired and was annoyed by Bruce’s indulgent splurges like ice cream before dinner and hopscotch on a hotel room carpet. Things like that seemed to take so much effort for her anymore.
And then there was how he looked at her—as if she were a beacon, as if her company was a gift to him. It satisfied some need she’d denied since Mark was gone: to be the person who made someone else better, stronger, more alive.
“Well,” she began, feeling her cheeks warm with heat, “I think we get to want happy endings. Everybody wants happy endings.”
“Thanks to you, Darren and Tina are getting their crack at happiness despite everything. Only...”
“Only what?”
“Don’t you want Lulu to believe there’s all the happiness she needs in the world? Life’s taken a lot from her and Carly. Don’t you think they should grow up feeling like all kinds of joy is possible for them?”
That is exactly what she believed. “Maybe that’s why I was so quick to get behind the idea of Matrimony Valley—because it shows Lulu all the possibilities that I...well...” She couldn’t finish the thought. Not safely, at least. Suddenly she was tired enough to disregard all the reasons why talking about love and happiness with Bruce Lohan was unwise. The thought of resting for a few moments of peaceful quiet in a back pew with her head against Bruce’s broad shoulder was entirely too strong a lure, not to mention unlikely if not impossible.
“Well,” she said, straightening her shoulders, “I’ve got a wedding to stage and you’ve got one to be in.” She checked her watch. “See you in a little over an hour.” She began to gather up her tools.
He put a hand on her arm to stop her. She felt every finger, every inch of his palm against her sleeve. “Kelly,” he said.
She stopped, fighting the urge to close her eyes. She didn’t respond because she didn’t trust her voice to betray how shaky and vulnerable she felt.
“It’ll be amazing, you know. This wedding. You’ll have pulled it off despite everything. I’m glad for that, and not just because Tina and Darren are my friends.”
The admiration in his voice sank to some deep, formerly hollow place that suddenly felt filled. At least halfway filled. She needed to leave now before she did something truly foolish like look up into his eyes.
Instead, she grabbed for her bag of tools and tucked all the remaining ribbon inside as fast as she could. “I’m glad for that, too,” she said, and deliberately slowed her steps toward the little back room behind the altar.
Slowed, because her heart was telling her to run.
* * *
Fifteen minutes later, Lulu’s eyes popped wide and her mouth hung open in a stunned “oh” as Jean, Josh and Jonah brought her into the sanctuary.
“It’s amazing,” Jean admired.
“Half the flowers weren’t the ones Tina wanted, I had to mix two different reds with the ribbons and add in burlap, and the candles are a mix of what I had in the shop because the order didn’t come in.”
“It’s still amazing,” Jean repeated.
“Two-thirds of the wedding guests won’t be here. The groom’s own parents aren’t going to make it, nor will the ring bearer.”
Jean grabbed her hand. “And it’s still amazing.”
“This stressed-out florist is dangling by her last perfectionist nerve, Jean.”
“Nevertheless, very soon Mr. and Mrs. Darren Billings are going to become Matrimony Valley’s next husband and wife.”
“And probably our most memorable wedding,” Kelly added.
“So far,” Jean added with a wink.
“Let’s go sit you down,” Josh said to his wife. “Somebody is supposed to still be resting her ankle.” He gave the words a teasing emphasis, knowing she needed to be off her feet for happier reasons.
The door opened, letting in a whoosh of the still-frigid air as Rob Folston helped a beautifully dressed Samantha through the door to settle delicately on one of the back pews.
“Look what you’ve done with the place,” Samantha said. A joke, an actual smiling joke from Samantha Douglas. “How’d you pull it off?”
“It’s what we do,” Kelly replied.
“It’s what Mama does best,” boasted Lulu with a pride that warmed Kelly’s heart.
“You’re rather early,” Kelly commented. “I hope everything is okay?”
“Robert though it would be best if I didn’t have to jostle in with the rest of the guests,” Samantha said.
No one in the valley called Rob Folston “Robert.” Then again, no one in the valley had seen him in the suit coat and tie he currently wore. Kelly hid her smile at the too-transparent smitten nature of the kindly store owner. “Falling” for someone would never mean the same thing in her eyes after this unlikely match.
“And I wanted to talk to you,” Samantha went on. “We’ve not had a chance to really chat, you and I. Can you spare some time now, or do you have last-minute things to attend to?”
“No,” answered Kelly. “I’m actually ready. Or as ready as I’ll ever be. All we need now is...”
Lulu popped up beside her. “A bride, a groom, a minister and God.”
“Oh, I think it takes a bit more than that, dear,” said Samantha.
“Not according to Mom,” Lulu countered.
“Lulu,” said Kelly, “why don’t you pick out where we’ll sit for the ceremony.”
Lulu looked surprised. “Next to Carly and Mr. Lohan, of course.”
“Oh, no, we can’t. They’re part of the wedding party. They need to sit up front. We’re just guests, so we’ll need to sit farther back.” When Lulu looked disappointed, Kelly shooed her off with a “we’ll talk about this later” look.
“She’s darling,” Samantha said.
“She can be a handful, but she is darling. Thank you.”
“If you’re looking for someone to thank then you should make sure you take a moment to thank that best man.”
Kelly sat sideways in the pew just in front of Samantha and turned so they faced each other. “Why is that?”
“He just caught Robert and me in the lobby of the inn and gave a big speech about how impressed and complimentary I should be of Matrimony Valley and the job it’s done.”
She was still hearing praises from Samantha as Bruce and Darren appeared, laughing between themselves as if nothing at all had gone wrong in this all-gone-wrong wedding. When Bruce sent a smile her direction, her breath caught in a way that had nothing to do with professional anxiety.
She’d chosen a swirly forest green dress with a plaid wool shawl and boots for the occasion. Professional, practical, but with a touch of style while still in keeping with the wedding’s themes. As she finished with Samantha and brought the box of boutonnieres over to the groomsmen, she caught Bruce staring and felt her cheeks flush.
“And here’s the man of the hour,” she said to Darren as she handed him his boutonniere. “You look wonderful. Ruggedly handsome.”
The groom grinned down at the tuft of red, burlap and greenery as she pinned it to his vest. “Not bad, Lohan. Tina put her faith in the right place.”
Bruce laughed. “That place would be with Kelly. I didn’t have a whole lot to do with these except to say ‘okay.’”
“A wise man always knows a good idea when he sees it,” Kelly said. She hesitated just a moment as she held up Bruce’s boutonniere. “Now hold still.”
It was a perfectly ordinary thing for a florist to pin on a groomsman’s boutonniere. Still, the task felt intimate, almost flirtatious. A long-lost effervescence filled her as she slid her hand under his vest to fix the pin. The warmth of his chest seemed to radiate through his shirt, and she wondered if the faster heartbeat she felt under her hand was all in her imagination.
“We got three of the four,” Bruce said a bit too softly, nodding to Pastor Mitchell, who was fiddling with something at the pulpit. “And the bride is on her way.”
Hailey was tasked with the transport of Tina, her parents and the two bridesmaids who had made it in before the storm. Kelly would meet them in the choir room to fuss with bouquets and any last-minute arrangements. “How is she?” Kelly asked.
“Way better than this time yesterday,” Darren cut in, straightening his bow tie for the fifth time. “How much fun everyone had at the blackout rehearsal dinner helped to calm her down.”
Suddenly everything had a title. The Elk Wedding—or Reindeer Wedding, depending on the age of the person you asked—now was also the Snowbound Wedding, preceded by the Blackout Rehearsal Dinner and, if God was kind, the Very Nice but Very Small Reception. There was even a slim chance a few more of the guests would arrive in time to catch the reception. This really was going to go down as the craziest wedding in Matrimony Valley history.
“Doesn’t Daddy look nice?” Carly came up, looking absolutely adorable in a ruffled red flannel dress, bright red tights and the little brown hiking boots with red lace laces. The little girl tossed her head with glee, clearly loving the curls Matrimony Valley’s stylist had given her. And yes, the headband added just the right touch.
“Yes, your father looks very nice,” Kelly replied, keeping her eyes on Carly for fear of revealing how truly handsome she found Bruce. “And you look extra pretty yourself.”
Carly executed an extravagant twirl, reveling in how the full ruffled skirt billowed up. “I look just like a reindeer princess.” She wagged her fingers at Darren, calling him down to her level, where she whispered, “Wait until you see Miss Tina. She looks extra-extra pretty.”
Darren smiled. “She always looks extra-extra pretty to me.”
Bruce gave a laugh. “This guy’s got what it takes to be married, if you ask me.”
Kelly checked her watch. “Nearly there. Carly, you come back with me to where the ladies are. Bruce, go make sure your groom is back behind the sanctuary and come out when Pastor gives you the signal.” She gave Darren a warm smile and grabbed his arm. “You made it. You’re getting married. It’s finally happening.”
* * *
Safely hidden behind the altar, Bruce watched Darren adjust his bow tie yet again. They were alone—the second groomsman was filling in as an usher and would join them at the last minute before the procession started. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say this thing was shrinking,” Darren gulped.
Bruce put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “The pastor who married Sandy and me told me if a man doesn’t shake in his shoes the day he gets married, he doesn’t fully understand what he’s about to do.”
“I’ve got that covered,” Darren said. He looked at Bruce with stunned eyes. “I’m getting married.”
Bruce laughed. “Despite everything. I gotta tell you, man, being married is going to be so much easier for you than getting married was. This’ll be a great story...someday. I’m happy for you.” He truly was. A part of him worried that he wouldn’t honestly be able to say that today, that the press of his own grief wouldn’t allow for joy, but it wasn’t that way. He felt Sandy’s memory as a distant hum, but not a deafening roar.
Bruce peeked through the small glass window into the sanctuary again, watching Kelly. She looked beautiful in a deep green knit dress that made her eyes shine even from this distance. It was feminine, but sensible and cozy—suiting her personality perfectly. He couldn’t stop himself from singing her praises to Samantha Douglas when they’d bumped into each other in the inn half an hour ago. Who would have thought he’d become such a big fan of Matrimony Valley?
“You’re staring,” came Darren’s voice next to him.
“No, I’m not.”
Darren bumped his shoulder playfully. “Yeah, you are. Glad to see it. You’ve been smiling, too, and that’s been gone for a while.” The groom leaned against the wall. “Is it hard? Today? Without her? If I feel the hole she left, it must be a canyon for you.”
Bruce leaned beside him, grateful for his friend’s honesty. “I was worried it’d be bad. The loss is there—it’s always there—but better than I thought.”
“You know,” Darren said, stuffing his hands in his pockets, “if Tina and I have half the marriage you and Sandy had, I’ll be grateful. You guys were amazing. All the way through everything.”
“It helps to have an amazing woman, and you’ve got one of those. You and Tina, you’ll be great together. You already are.”
Darren nodded toward the window looking into the sanctuary. “Amazing’s not a one-shot deal, you know. I think amazing can happen twice. Certain things about this town strike me as pretty amazing.”
“Enough with the amazing.” Bruce shot Darren a look. “Today’s about you and Tina.”
Darren grinned. “I’d be okay sharing, you know. Enough happiness to go around and all that.”
“I wouldn’t say that in front of your bride,” Bruce teased. “Even with everything that’s gone haywire, this is still her day.”
“Oh, I get that,” Darren replied. “But you should also know that Tina went out of her way to make sure Hailey sat you and Kelly together at the reception. Well, Lulu and Carly, too, but somehow I don’t think this was about little girls.” He grabbed Bruce’s arm. “It’d be great to see you happy again. Don’t miss a chance when it’s right in front of you.”
Snowbound with the Best Man Page 16
