ONE EAGER BRIDE TO GO

by Pamela Burford

  "You already have." Sunny pulled him to her and kissed him, her head swimming with the joyous, intoxicating prospect of waking up next to this man for all the days yet to come. By the time they broke off the kiss, they were breathless and laughing, dizzy with the unadulterated perfection of it.

  "Noon, you said?" Kirk checked his wristwatch and gave her an unrepentantly wicked grin. "Want to help me get that desk cleared off?"

  * * *

  Epilogue

  «^

  Don't you dare cry. Amanda called on every ounce of willpower to keep her emotions in check as the organist struck up the wedding march. She stood with the rest of the attendants in the vestibule of the Episcopal church that Sunny's family had attended for generations. The interior of the cozy post-and-beam structure was dominated by warm oak, and stained-glass windows splashed rainbow bursts of morning sunlight across the assembled guests. It was the ideal setting for Sunny and Kirk's wedding.

  Kirk stood on the dais at the front of the church, looking tall and straight and extraordinarily handsome in a dark, double-breasted suit. He was accompanied by the priest and his cousin Ryan, who served as best man.

  Amanda was a bridesmaid, along with Charli, Raven, Sunny's youngest sister, Samantha, and Kirk's older sister, Anne. Sunny's other sister, Jill, was her maid of honor.

  In deciding what her bridesmaids should wear, Sunny had taken a cue from the last Wedding Ring bride. When Charli had finally gotten her big church wedding in July, she'd asked her three Wedding Ring pals to be bridesmaids, as well as her many sisters and a passel of cousins. With so many varied tastes, colorings and body types, Charli had invited each woman to wear a pastel dress of her own choosing. The result had been dazzlingly eclectic, the long church aisle resembling a field of multihued wildflowers as the female attendants walked down it in pairs.

  Being the freest spirit among the four best friends, and having suffered through her own share of ugly, froufrou-laden bridesmaid dresses, Sunny, too, refused to impose her taste on anyone else. Thus Amanda now wore a slim, tea-length column of silk illusion with a matching opaque underslip, in the pale ice-blue that flattered her fair coloring. Charli wore a fitted lilac-colored gown with cream accents, while Raven had chosen a long, flowing peach sheath. Samantha and Anne wore pale lemon-yellow and a muted apple-green, respectively. They all carried bouquets of white bouvardia, a pretty tubular flower.

  Kirk's groomsmen were the first ones down the aisle, which was decorated with swags of iridescent tulle and fragrant, multicolored flowers. The bridesmaids followed, single file. As she passed row after row of beaming guests, her smile firmly affixed, Amanda felt her throat tighten with a jumble of emotions, her delight in her friend's newfound happiness tempered by thoughts of her own failed marriages.

  But that won't happen to Sunny and Kirk, she thought. Sunny had waited so long to find the right man, only to discover that he'd been there all along in her heart and her bittersweet memories, her first and only love. Amanda didn't doubt that Sunny would make Kirk a wonderful wife. Just as she knew for certain that he was thoroughly devoted to his bride.

  The attendants arranged themselves on either side of the dais as Jill Bleecker, the maid of honor, joined them, followed by little Ian, the ring bearer, looking heartbreakingly adorable in his miniature suit and bow tie. He'd been paired with Kirk's seven-year-old niece, Maggie, who, in her capacity as flower girl and self-appointed baby-sitter, kept the toddler focused on his task and steered in the right direction.

  Finally the bride made her procession down the aisle. Like Raven before her, Sunny was accompanied by both her mother and her father. Amanda had helped Sunny choose her gown, a feminine ivory confection that looked spectacular on her. The fitted, strapless bodice was adorned with vertical tucks and a sprinkle of ivory and pink silk flowers across the bust. The full skirt was a floor-length froth of ivory chiffon, layer upon layer of the filmy stuff over a more substantial silk underskirt.

  Sunny wore her wavy auburn hair loose, the sides pulled back by antique silver combs and adorned with the same varieties of fresh flowers that made up her neo-Victorian bouquet: forget-me-nots, lady's slipper orchids, eustoma, poppy pods and champagne roses.

  Sunny kissed her parents and joined her groom on the dais, her expression a mixture of unquenchable joy and soul-deep serenity. Amanda felt her throat tighten in sheer happiness for the friend she loved as a sister.

  Not one tear! she commanded herself. Everyone knows you don't do tears, even tears of joy. You're the damn ice queen!

  Okay, maybe ice queen was overstating it. Amanda had never been accused of being coldhearted or distant—at least not by anyone who really knew her. But neither did she put her feelings on display. Bitter experience had taught her to play it close to the vest.

  The wedding service was both dignified and moving. Even Amanda could appreciate it, and she wasn't one for organized religion. When Sunny and Kirk recited the parts they had written themselves—celebrating their rediscovery of each other and the wonder of the bond they shared, both as a couple and as a family—Amanda found herself perilously close to losing it.

  She bit the inside of her trembling lip. Her vision wavered; she scratched a nonexistent itch on the bridge of her nose, swiping at the damp corner of her eye.

  Charli, standing next to her, whispered in her ear, "You're busted. I saw that."

  Amanda barely managed to contain the gust of laughter her friend's words triggered.

  "Want a tissue?" Charli asked.

  "You have tissues with you? Where?" Charli's elegant, curve-hugging dress had no pockets that Amanda could detect. It was the kind of dress Charli would never have worn before she'd met Grant. Back then she'd considered herself too plain and frumpy for body-conscious clothing.

  Charli patted her gown's attached cummerbund. "Under here," she whispered, her own eyes moist. "I just know I'll need them before this thing is over." With a sly grin she added, "And so will you."

  Amanda's friends knew her too well. She might fool the rest of the world, but not these special women she'd known since kindergarten.

  The wedding wrapped up with an enthusiastic newlywed kiss and the traditional pelting of rice at the church steps. The wedding party and the eighty guests reconvened at a beachside restaurant with a sun-drenched, panoramic view of the Atlantic Ocean through two walls of picture windows. Hors d'oeuvres and mimosas were followed by a delicious buffet brunch, while a string quartet provided delightful background music.

  Sunny and Kirk made the rounds to all the tables, greeting each guest in turn. The parents of all the Wedding Ring pals were in attendance, as well as Grandma Rossi, the picture of ninety-something elegance in her best black dress and plum-colored fingernails, courtesy of Amanda, who had become her personal manicurist.

  Amanda knew that Kirk had phoned his late wife Linda's parents in California to tell them about his remarriage and to personally invite them to the wedding. They'd accepted the news with grace and affection. This was what Linda would have wanted, her mother had told him, even as she'd wept at this final proof of her loss. Kirk had assured them that they would always be an important part of the family, that they were still his much-loved mother- and father-in-law, and that he'd make certain they saw Ian regularly. Linda's parents hadn't been able to make it to the wedding, but they'd invited Kirk, Sunny and Ian out to California for Thanksgiving.

  The couple had decided to postpone their honeymoon until February, when Garrison University closed for winter break. They already had reservations at the best resort in Cancún.

  After the meal and the cake and the many toasts, some poignant, some funny, all warmly sincere, the four Wedding Ring pals kicked off their shoes, grabbed their elegant jackets and wraps, and strolled outside onto the beach. Seagulls wheeled in the unbroken azure sky on this brisk, early October afternoon. The endless expanse of sand was deserted except for a handful of hardy beachgoers in sweaters and sneakers, or bare feet and rolled-up jeans, meandering at
the water's edge, occasionally stooping to retrieve a seashell or a surf-tumbled stone. A couple jogged by in shorts and T-shirts. A teenage boy searched for buried treasure with a metal detector.

  "So." Amanda pushed her wind-whipped hair out of her eyes as she turned to Sunny. "Are you used to it yet? Not having a job to go to?" Sunny had worked at Wafflemania until a little over a week ago, when her boss had found a replacement.

  Sunny grinned, holding the layers of ivory chiffon up off the wet sand as she edged closer to the water. "You'd be surprised how quickly you can get used to not wiping down tables and asking 'Decaf or regular?'"

  "Well, you're not exactly a lady of leisure," Raven said. "A toddler edging into the terrible twos can be a handful."

  "A very welcome handful," Sunny said. "And as much as Marianne and Fred adore him, I get the feeling they're just as happy not having to baby-sit every day while Kirk's teaching. Their energy level isn't what it used to be."

  Charli said, "Now they get to be the kind of grandparents who coo and cuddle for a little while until Junior starts acting up, at which point they can turn around and hand him right back to Mom or Dad."

  Amanda saw a self-satisfied smile crease Sunny's face when she heard the word Mom. Sunny was a mom now, at long last—perhaps not biologically, but in every other way—and she couldn't be happier about it. Neither could her friends.

  "What are your plans?" Raven asked Sunny. "I know you must have some. As rewarding as it is to raise Ian, I can't picture you being content with that for long."

  "You know, it's funny," Sunny said. "I'd always assumed I would be content with being a mother, but now I'm not so sure. It was certainly enough for my mom."

  "Your mom had four kids on her hands," Amanda reminded her. "Big difference."

  "Maybe you'll have a few more someday, too," Charli told Sunny.

  "Well, we'll see." Sunny swiftly backed away from the water's edge as a wave surged ashore. "Kirk made an appointment to reverse his vasectomy. We're keeping our fingers crossed. But whether it works or not won't change anything between us. I'm blessed and I know it. And after running around after Ian for just a few days, I've got to wonder…" She rolled her eyes. "How on earth did my mom do it with four?"

  "With any luck, you'll get a chance to find out," Raven said with a tender smile.

  "So what are your plans?" Amanda asked, pulling her blue velvet wrap around herself and chafing the gooseflesh from her arms.

  Sunny bit her lip. "I did something without telling you guys."

  "Not allowed," Amanda said dryly. "Every detail of your life must be submitted to the Wedding Ring for review."

  Raven asked, "Is that another of those mysterious rules that keep cropping up?"

  Charli couldn't contain her curiosity. "So tell us! What did you do?"

  Sunny's eyes sparkled. "I applied to Garrison as a regular student. I'm going for my B.A."

  Amanda gasped. "Get out!"

  Raven's eyes went wide. "Did they accept you?"

  Sunny spread her chiffon skirts and executed a little curtsy. "I start in January."

  Her friends squealed in unison, startling a nearby trio of seagulls dining on a crab carcass.

  "It'll take me a while to earn my degree," Sunny said. "I'll be going to college part-time, so it won't interfere with raising Ian. He's my priority now."

  "You little sneak!" Amanda cried. "How could you keep this news from us?"

  "I didn't," Sunny said. "I just told you."

  "Yeah, now!" Amanda said. "We could've been rooting for you. Sending positive vibes your way. We're your best friends! The Club Nuziale." That was what Charli's grandma Rossi used to call the foursome even before they'd established the Wedding Ring, when the girls, typical teenagers, had been fixated on boys. Club Nuziale meant the "Wedding Club" in her native Italian.

  "It's funny. Before I fell in love with Kirk … again," Sunny said with a lopsided smile, "I shared everything with you guys. Every detail of my life," she added, parroting Amanda's words. "The three of you were, well, you were my support system. Like my family. Closer than family in some ways. You still are, only … well, it's different now."

  "I understand," Raven said, and glanced at the others. "I think we all do. It's not that you love us any less, it's just that you've found your life partner—your soul mate, whatever you want to call him. It's only natural that your relationship with everyone else is going to change, evolve—at least a little. I experienced that when I married Hunter."

  "So did I," Charli said, "when Grant and I fell in love."

  Amanda stood mute. She couldn't claim to have had similar feelings when she married her two ex-husbands—more evidence, perhaps, that she hadn't been a satisfactory wife, that she hadn't committed herself unreservedly to the one relationship that was supposed to supercede all others. She wanted to believe what her friends had assured her, that the fault had lain with Roger and with Ben, not her. But deep in her heart she knew that when it came to marriage, she was a failure. And always would be.

  She might be able to convince herself otherwise if not for one inescapable fact: both her husbands had left her, not the other way around.

  Raven, perceptive as always, seemed to sense her disquieting thoughts. "Does the birthday girl feel any older?"

  "Not at all. Yesterday was a day just like any other."

  Charli said, "I wish you'd let us throw you a party. The last of us to turn thirty—that needs to be celebrated."

  "Sunny's wedding preparations took precedence," Amanda said. "I'm not some little kid who needs to get her birthday candles and pointy hat."

  "Well, we'll have to make up for it with a belated party," Sunny said. "Birthday candles, pointy hats, hell, we'll even throw in a clown."

  "Maybe a pony ride if you're really good," Raven added.

  "We'll make it a surprise party if we have to," Charli warned her, "so no use fighting it."

  Sunny rubbed her hands together. "And then the real work begins."

  Charli shot her fist. "The last Wedding Ring bride!"

  Amanda stiffened her spine. "You ladies must not have been paying attention, or perhaps you've gotten carried away by the romance of the day. I distinctly recall informing all of you—repeatedly—that I have no intention of walking down the aisle again. Ever."

  "Nice try," Raven said. "You swore an oath, along with the rest of us—"

  "When I was eighteen!" Amanda threw her hand out. "I did a lot of stupid things when I was eighteen!"

  "The Wedding Ring isn't stupid," Charli said.

  Amanda sighed. "I know it worked for you guys, and that's really wonderful, but face it. I'm not in the same situation. None of you were married before. I was. And let me tell you, two failed marriages are more than enough wedded bliss for one lifetime."

  Sunny said, "Humor us. Let us introduce you to one man. One! If it doesn't work out—"

  "No." Amanda remained immovable. She knew that if she showed the slightest sign of weakness, she'd have no peace from her matchmaking buddies. "Any efforts on your part to set me up with a man will only result in embarrassment for all of us. I will not cooperate in any way, shape or form. I will not date the guy. I won't even talk to him. That's my final word on the subject."

  Sunny, Raven and Charli exchanged looks, silently gauging one another's reactions.

  "So that's it," Amanda said, sensing that her friends had reached an agreement, knowing what that agreement had to be. After all, they had no choice but to back down in the face of her obstinacy.

  So where was the relief she was supposed to feel?

  "All right, then," Amanda said. "It's settled, and I won't hear another word about any matchmaking. Agreed?"

  Her friends exchanged another long look, this one punctuated by devilish grins.

  "Wedding Ring husband-hunt number four." Sunny cackled. "This one's gonna be fun!"

  * * * *