Valentine Wedding Hound

by Rachelle Ayala

  The crowded bar fell silent as people looked at each other nervously. The woman who had bid earlier tapped the man next to him, but he made a ‘no’ gesture with his hand. The tall Asian man in the corner who’d bid nineteen held himself still, his eyes trained on Linx.

  Linx licked her bright red lips and narrowed her eyes, like she was a wild cat stalking her prey, but Grady wasn’t one to quail. He met her gaze head on, his arms crossed as if he could care less what she did.

  “Going once. Twice,” Shelly shouted. “Three times. Sold to the woman in the motorcycle jacket.”

  “Woohoo!” Amy grabbed Jenna, dragging her from Larry’s lap. “You’ve just raised twenty thousand dollars to Dogs for Vets, and we just so happen to have the director of Dogs for Vets sitting right here at your table.”

  Smoothly, too smoothly, Grady uncrossed his arms and rose from his chair. His large, lanky body swaggered to Jenna’s side and he gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Bet you didn’t know, did you?”

  “I had no idea,” Jenna exclaimed. “I asked Linx for a recommendation for a charity. Why, you two, is there something going on that I don’t know about?”

  “Nothing at all.” Grady’s smirk mirrored Linx’s crooked smile.

  Jenna’s attention was dragged back to Amy when she put the mic in front of her.

  “Congratulations,” Amy said. “By popular vote and the judges call, you have moved onto the season finale, where your wedding will compete with Cherie Lin for the grand prize on Valentine’s Day.”

  “I, uh, don’t know what to say.” Jenna gaped at Larry and her family’s surprised and shocked faces. Except Cait made hand signals like she tried to tell her something.

  What had Cait done now?

  “Give your groom a kiss for luck,” Amy said. She turned to the cameras. “We’ll be back on Valentine’s Day, live, as our executive producer, Ronaldo Silver, and I hustle between Jenna and Cherie’s weddings. Be sure to vote on one last dare our brave brides will have to take. Text your vote to …”

  “I don’t know what just happened,” Jenna whispered to Larry. “But Cait’s in big trouble now.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Larry knelt at the altar next to Jenna inside the large Catholic church. He could feel her every breath and sense the excitement thrumming through her body. As discreetly as he could, he peeked at her, beautiful and humble in a traditional wedding gown. It wasn’t flashy, and it didn’t have lace or beads to embellish it, but in Larry’s eyes, it was the most pure and holy of all.

  Jenna had embraced the wedding as a sacred rite, a channel of God’s grace, and a worship service. Father Gonzales stood in front of them, reading from the Holy Scripture. He’d put his foot down to the reality show, and they were only allowed to film discreetly, from fixed angles, without interrupting the ceremony.

  It turned out that the contract Cait had signed for Jenna stipulated that if she was one of the finalists, then she had to make her wedding available to the show. However, out of deference to the Church, Amy would not be present since she wasn’t a guest, and no one would be interviewed by the camera crew.

  Shelly, also, had bowed out as bridesmaid, even though she was a guest of his mother. She, however, had agreed to go to the reception and show the guests how to dance.

  After giving the marriage sermon, the priest instructed Larry and Jenna to stand and face each other, holding hands. His heart filled with happiness, Larry helped Jenna up from the kneeling bench and took her hands in his.

  This was his bride, the woman he pledged his life to, and the mother of his future children. He would love and cherish her, and he would never stop giving thanks to God that such a wonderful creature would love him in return.

  He repeated his vows, ending with his promise. “I swear by the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit to be a faithful and loving husband to my bride, Jenna.”

  Jenna gazed into his eyes with love so rich, that he didn’t mind the fact his scarred side faced the congregation. Her voice, as she spoke her vows, was a sweet balm to every burn he’d ever suffered.

  Larry thought back to the first time his heart reacted to Jenna. She’d been coming down the stairs on Christmas Day, wearing a glittery black evening dress for the Hart family’s ugly sweater contest. She was so beautiful, it hurt, but she was cold, too, as if she wasn’t truly a part of the festivities. Larry had hid the ugly side of his face from her, but it was too late. His heart was straining at the leash, already halfway in love with her, despite the odds of her ever noticing him.

  But, later on, when Jenna touched his scars, he’d felt like melting into a quivering puddle. She’d been curious, yes, but her eyes also mirrored the pain he’d endured, as if she tried to imagine his suffering and failed. What undid him was that she cared how he felt. No one had seriously put themselves in his shoes and wondered about the terror of smelling his own flesh burn and the overwhelming agony of flames searing so much of his body.

  “And I, Jenna, take Larry to be my husband. To respect and to honor him, to love and to cherish him through sickness and health. I swear by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit that I will cleave only to him, and to welcome any children the Lord should bless us with.”

  “Let us have the blessing of the rings,” Father Gonzales said.

  Connor stepped forward but he spread out his empty hands and shrugged.

  Panic lanced through Larry. Had Connor forgotten the rings?

  At that moment, the church doors opened and Harley padded down the aisle, his nose working overtime and his head turning from side to side.

  “What have we here?” Father Gonzales bent forward and reached for Harley, who was standing beside Connor.

  The pillow for the rings was strapped onto his back.

  Jenna smiled and Larry had to chuckle. Was this their final dare?

  Harley seemed to think so, because he raised his head back, shook his jowls, and howled happily. “Waaarroooh.”

  “I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Larry Davison,” Father Gonzales said after he gave them the nuptial blessing.

  Jenna’s heart stuttered and skipped as she tried to remember every detail of this magnificent moment. She was married to her best friend and sole lover, the one person out of billions that God had created just for her.

  Larry leaned toward her and she reached up, touching their lips in that glorious instant—their first kiss as husband and wife.

  “You win,” she whispered.

  “We both win.” He nipped her lower lip and grinned. “The show tested our love.”

  “And we found it to be true.”

  Larry gave her his arm, and she took it, facing all their family and friends.

  Cait handed her the bridal bouquet, and triumphantly, Jenna walked with Larry down the aisle between the pews. The piano played a joyous march, and Jenna couldn’t help but kiss Larry again as they stepped out the doors to greet the world as a married couple.

  A shower of birdseed hit them from every angle. Jenna ducked and laughed with Larry as they skipped down the steps of the church with Harley at their side.

  It was a beautiful day, sunny and cool, and the church bells rang, filling her heart with joy. She couldn’t believe such happiness could exist, and she was grateful and humbled that she’d spoken to the priest and gone to confession so she could start her married life properly.

  Unfortunately, a large pink fly stepped into the ointment of her joy. Amy, wearing her signature pink pantsuit, and a camera crew were waiting outside for them.

  “Larry and Jenna,” Amy said without preamble. “I’m sorry to inform you that you’re currently behind Cherie Lin and Matt Chau. They jumped out of an airplane for their vows, and the audience is lapping it up.

  “You two, however, can catch up at the reception, and boy do I have a dare for you that’s going to make it happen.”

  Jenna looked at Larry, and Larry raised an eyebrow.

  She shook her head slightly and twisted her mouth
. “Shall we elope from our reception?”

  The contract technically didn’t cover the reception—only the wedding. It was a loophole she’d discovered last night when she actually went over it. Sure, she would miss the party and the cake, the first dance, and the toast. But she had Larry, and he was all she wanted—right now.

  Larry seemed to agree. His eyes twinkled and he nodded. “Yeah, why don’t we take off on our honeymoon early?”

  “Right, I can’t wait.”

  Larry wiggled his bushy eyebrows and smirked. “I know I can’t wait.”

  “Hey, Jenna, Larry,” Amy followed them closely, her mic stuck between them. “To catch up to the Lin-Chau wedding, I dare you to …”

  “Throw my bouquet and get out of Dodge,” Jenna finished for Amy and lobbed the bouquet high into the sky.

  She ducked with Larry into the awaiting limo, and Harley made a mad dash, running in between Amy’s legs and toppling her like a bowling pin.

  She went down, arms flailing, and the bouquet landed on her face.

  “Looks like we just lost She Wouldn’t Dare,” Larry said as he yanked Harley into the limo.

  “I don’t care,” Jenna said. “All I want to do is get alone with you.”

  She jumped on Larry’s lap as the limo drove off with her, her man, and her dog, to their happily ever after.

  Epilogue

  A video Larry and Jenna made for their fans.

  “Hey there, Jenna here! Larry and I are back from our unforgettable honeymoon in Thailand, and I’m betting you all want to know who won the She Wouldn’t Dare show. Larry, wave to them and say ‘hi.’”

  “Hi, there. Let me tell you, Thailand was awesome. The beaches, the water, the sunsets, oh, and the food. Harley would have loved all the food.”

  “Um, Larry. We hardly made it out of bed, what are you talking about?”

  “Room service was great, and so was the view.”

  “Uh, I don’t think they want to hear certain parts, if you know what I mean. Let’s tell them what happened at the wedding reception we bailed on.”

  “Oh, right. Mom, you did a great job with the decorating.”

  “Ahem. As you all know, our reception was part of the She Wouldn’t Dare reality show. It was held at the Gilded Ballroom and had an unusual theme. Not only that, the show’s executive producer, Ronaldo Silver, personally emceed the fashion show and the pet auction.”

  “Did your brother finally get a dog? Or did he get the dog lady?”

  “Larry! Stop interrupting. My brother accepted the check from my dress auction, and forty-three pets found homes. But no, Grady did not adopt anyone. He says he couldn’t possibly replace the puppy he lost years ago.”

  “What? I thought he hated dogs and that’s why he and Linx are doomed.”

  “Larry, they don’t want to know about Grady and Linx. Don’t you want to share the video of the reception?”

  “You mean where my mother made it into a masquerade ball, and every guy wore a mask covering half his face?”

  “Yes, let’s roll the video so they can see.”

  “Dang, now I wish we hadn’t missed it. I heard Shelly taught everyone how to dance.”

  “She also put in a huge order for dance gowns, and recommended me to all her friends. Is the video onscreen now?”

  “Yes, Jenna, just keep speaking into the camera and stop looking at the video.”

  “Hey, look. That masked guy must be Connor. See how he’s holding onto Nadine like she’s a precious flower?”

  “Ha, well, Brian’s red hair sticks out of the mask like a sore thumb. I’m so happy he and Cait are going to have a baby.”

  “Rob and Melisa, too. She really does look sweet in that baby-doll dress.”

  “So, um, Jenna, who won the reality show?”

  “Why, Larry. We did! They tallied the votes, and Harley won it for us by a nose. The audience loved it when Harley splattered Amy with spaghetti sauce and dumped her on her behind outside the church."

  “The bouquet on the face was a nice touch, too.”

  “Yes, it was. So everyone, if you haven’t read Melisa, Connor, or Cait’s stories, be sure to check out the rest of the Have a Hart Series. Also, look for Grady and Linx’s book out this summer.”

  “Can’t wait. Grady’s in for a big fall off his high horse. I’m popping popcorn and getting a front row seat.”

  “Hey, Larry? We’ve got to find Dale a girlfriend, too.”

  “Yeah, Jenna, and we better get busy making new little Harts.”

  “You mean Davisons.”

 

  >>><<<

  Thank you for reading Larry and Jenna’s wedding story. We heard a lot about Grady and I’m sure you want to get to the bottom of what’s bothering Grady.

  Please keep an eye out for Grady and Linx’s story, Summer Love Puppy.

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