by Jillian Dodd
Kylie smiles her way through it on the way down the aisle though, and I can’t help but notice the way her eyes rarely leave Zack. She’s finally in the moment. Remembering why she’s here and why they’re doing this.
I sneak a look over my shoulder at Zack in time to find him knuckling tears away before they can fall.
Oh gosh. My chest tightens along with my throat, and a familiar stinging sensation makes itself known behind my eyes.
What would it be like to be in her shoes right now? With the man I loved fighting back tears when he saw me in my wedding dress? To be so in love, so completely committed to another person, that I’d be willing to join my life with his in front of everybody who mattered to us?
And why is Kellen watching me watch Zack?
He offers a smile when our eyes meet. I wonder what he’s thinking right now.
The officiant has to raise his voice over the rising wind. “It seems Mother Nature has something to say about this ceremony. She’s just as excited over the soon-to-be newlyweds as the rest of us.”
Get on with it. I’m biting my lip hard enough to hurt.
The air smells like rain—heavy, thick, wet. It’s going to pour like all get-out in no time.
“We should proceed before things get any wilder out here.” The poor guy is almost screaming now. “This beautiful occasion is in celebration of Kylie and Zack, two wonderful people I’ve had the honor of knowing for years. It brings me great joy to officiate over their union.”
One of the pedestals holding a flower arrangement tips over in the wind, which sends a few guests seated near it scrambling to get out of the way. Kylie and Zack both look over, surprised. Kellen jumps into action to set it back on its base, though I feel it’s a waste of time.
Nothing is going to be standing long in this wind.
“Kylie, do you take Zack—” The man’s voice is cut off when a palm leaf smacks him in the face, but he recovers quickly enough.
A couple of the people on Zack’s side scurry off to find shelter.
“Do you take Zack to be your lawfully wedded husband?” There’s going to be a welt on the poor guy’s face, but he’s staying strong.
“I do!” Kylie’s voice is loud, fierce. She’s determined to get through this, even with hair escaping her carefully crafted updo. It’s blowing around her face, though she’s doing her best to tuck the loose strands behind her ears.
“And you, Zack. Do you take Kylie to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
“I do!” Zack is squeezing Kylie’s hands hard, like he’s willing her to do this without her losing her mind.
Flowers are tearing loose all around them, flying in all directions.
Kellen steps in with the rings, which the couple exchange. There’s no need for them to raise their voices anymore. We’d all like to hear it, but it’s nearly impossible. All that matters is that they hear each other.
Kellen finds me, grimacing, and I know I must look the same as he does. Brokenhearted, hoping this is all over soon.
After all the work she put into this entire week too. None of it really mattered, not in the face of this disaster. Not when the exchanging of vows and rings and declaring their love to the world is what brought us all here in the first place. I’m sure she would have rather had it pour rain the rest of the week so long as today was beautiful.
Instead, it was the other way around.
The officiant raises his arms to signal the ceremony is over. “I now pronounce you husband and wife!”
And as if on cue, Mother Nature decides to congratulate the happy couple.
By pouring an absolute curtain of rain down on them and the rest of us.
Like, the kind of rain that makes it difficult to see too far ahead. The kind of rain that drains everything of color. There’s nothing in the world but gray clouds and walls of rain.
“Oh no!”
Just about everybody near me runs for cover, screaming and shrieking, but I know right away that there’s no point in running. This is the sort of rain that soaks a person within moments, like a sudden before-and-after situation.
One second, dry. Coiffed. Made up.
The next? Drowned rat.
My heart is breaking for Kylie, who looks just as much like a drowned rat as I feel. All the girls are soaked, there are flowers blowing around in all directions and sticking to just about everything, and palm leaves are now whipping through the air at top speed.
A few empty chairs blow over. The arch sways back and forth until it finally falls backward and crashes to the ground.
Kylie and Zack are standing in the center of everything.
And Kylie is laughing. Like, laughing until she bends at the waist, one hand on her chest, gasping for air. Zack takes her by the arms and starts laughing, too, until they’re leaning against each other for support.
Soon, the entire wedding party’s in hysterics with two of the guys splashing around and throwing flowers at each other while the girls dance around with their bouquets raised overhead. Hayley throws her head back, arms stretched out to the sides, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen her look so completely free and uncaring. Brandon finds her and sweeps her off her feet, swinging her in a circle and making her shriek with laughter.
It’s perfect, in other words. Right down to the moment when Kylie and Zack take each other’s faces in their hands, look into the other’s eyes, and cement their union with a kiss.
I couldn’t have come up with anything better if I wrote a thousand books.
And in the middle of it, Kellen’s eyes find mine, and we smile.
The cherry on top.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
I don’t think this is the reception anybody had in mind.
But just like that disaster of a ceremony, it’s perfect.
There won’t be any pictures of the bridesmaids sitting around the bride with everybody’s dresses arranged just so. And I sure hope the hair and makeup people got enough pictures of their work before the ceremony because not a single thing they did held up against the storm.
We’ve all since gone to our rooms to dry off and clean up. It seems most of us had at least one more nice outfit to wear for the reception, but that’s not the case for everybody. For example, the people who only showed up this morning, who brought their wedding outfit and maybe something to wear while hanging out at the resort.
In other words, by the time we all gather in the banquet room, we are a real motley crew. There are khakis, capri pants, and even a couple of pairs of jeans. Then, there’s me, wearing the dress I wanted to wear for last night’s party—at least I’m getting some use out of it after all.
“Okay, I need to know.” I pull Hayley aside and murmur in her ear, “Did somebody slip your sister a sedative today? No judgment if it was you.”
She snickers, and we both look across the room. Kylie’s hair is down, a mass of waves that makes her look like she just stepped out of the water. Then again, that’s pretty much what she did after half-drowning out there. Her makeup is much more neutral than it was during the ceremony, before it got ruined. She’s wearing a comfortable sundress and sandals.
And she’s absolutely radiant. I’ve never seen her look more beautiful.
“If someone did, they deserve a great, big thank-you.” But she scoffs just the same. “No, I think she’s finally developed a sense of humor about this. I hope that doesn’t change when she gets home; she could use a little easing up in her life in general.”
“Yeah, I hope she doesn’t forget.”
She’s basically survived what would break a lot of people—an absolute disaster on her wedding day. Her beautiful dress was ruined, and everything she’d spent so much money on was destroyed.
But she’s smiling. Laughing. Hugging and dancing and living in the moment.
A man’s voice rings in my ear. “Don’t pretend to be modest about this. I think we both know who we have to thank.”
Just knowing he’s so close is enough to wake me up fro
m the inside out, making my blood hum, making my heart race. I can’t hide a little smile as I look over my shoulder to find Kellen standing just behind me.
“Oh look, something else.” Hayley makes her exit, leaving the two of us together.
“I’m not going to take credit for this, so don’t even try. It was all up to Kylie. She chose to handle what happened today with grace.”
“But you helped.” His eyes are warm, sparkling. “Don’t worry; I won’t go around, accusing you of being full of yourself, if that’s what you’re concerned about.”
“Listen, if I helped her feel even a little bit better this week, I’m satisfied with that.”
He chuckles. “Fair enough. And you did; I know you did. I was there, remember?”
“Briggs!” Zack waves him over.
“Duty calls,” I tease, though really, I would rather he stay with me. That would be selfish, wouldn’t it? If I told him so? Even though it would be the truth. Is there anything wrong with being honest and letting him know how much I like being with him?
As usual, I’m so busy asking myself what to do that I lose the chance to do it. He is already on his way across the room, throwing his arms around his friend so somebody can take a picture of the two of them. There’s real affection there, and I remember him mentioning how he promised that he would take it easy on the partying this week for the sake of being a good best man.
He spends a lot of time talking me up, making me sound like this great person, but he’s the substantial one. Not me.
Okay, maybe me, too, but I’m not the only one. That’s my point.
He has a way of jumbling my thoughts up, this guy.
“Come on. Let’s dance.” Brandon takes me by the hand and pulls me onto the floor, where even though dinner hasn’t yet been served, people are already cutting loose and having a great time. Why not? Nothing about this day is going according to plan.
And if this wedding has taught me anything, it’s to go with the flow. When things feel right, you just have to keep going. Don’t ask yourself if you’re making the right move. Don’t scrutinize things too hard. Don’t get caught up in the way things are supposed to be, the way you imagined them being, because guess what. Life almost never goes the way we planned it.
So, there’s a choice to be made in those moments.
Either moan and complain and cry or dance.
I’m sure the staff is so glad Kylie is still happy that they would go along with just about anything at this point. Which is why the rest of the night is sort of scattered, relaxed. Dinner is served, and people meander back to their tables to eat. Kylie and Zack sit at a table by themselves, in full view of the rest of the room, with the wedding party surrounding them.
I’m supposed to be sitting alone—or at least at a table full of random stragglers who don’t have dates. But things have already fallen to pieces when it comes to that with everybody pretty much deciding where they want to sit.
Kylie couldn’t possibly care less, it seems, shrugging and waving her hands around. “Just make yourselves comfortable!”
To Hayley, that means taking me by the hand and pulling me across the room to her table. She was supposed to be sitting with the rest of the bridesmaids, but they’ve all scattered to sit with their other friends. Brandon has the chair to her left, and she points me to the one on her right.
“I don’t belong over here!” I laugh, though that doesn’t stop me from sitting down. I wasn’t exactly looking forward to making small talk with a bunch of people I’d never met, who would have inevitably asked what I did for a living and then would have just as inevitably asked tons of invasive, embarrassing questions.
If I’d wanted invasive, embarrassing questions, I would’ve stayed home and spent the week with my grandmother.
“No such thing anymore.” She shrugs before looking over my shoulder.
Something tells me I know what’s about to happen before it actually does.
“This is much better than the seating arrangement Kylie came up with—no offense,” Kellen says, looking at her brother and sister.
“Yeah, right, like I would take offense to that. I don’t even think Kylie cares anymore.” She gives him one of her most winning smiles. “Come on. Sit down.”
As if I expected anything else.
As if she wasn’t planning this in that devious little brain of hers.
But she’s all innocent as Kellen sits next to me.
“Can I tell you a secret?” he murmurs, leaning in close to my ear.
“Of course, just don’t expect me to keep it.”
He laughs, and that, plus the look in his eyes, plus the scent of his cologne, is about enough to knock me out of my chair. “I liked it better out on your patio, when it was just the two of us.”
“Funny, I was thinking the same thing.” Though I look down at my hands with a wry grin. “I can do without the oatmeal treatment though.”
“Okay, so the situation wasn’t exactly perfect, but the company was.”
“And look, I can even enjoy some wine without being afraid I’m going to fall out of my chair, unconscious.” I even take a sip as if to prove my point.
He flashes a naughty grin. “Maybe I’ll have to get you drunk and have my way with you.”
“You’re all talk.”
He arches an eyebrow as if he senses a challenge. “How so?”
“Last night would’ve been your chance to do that. And last I checked, the most you did was tuck me into bed.”
“Oatmeal facials aren’t my thing.”
“Do me a favor and laugh or wink or something, so I know you’re only kidding.”
He does better. He picks up my hand and kisses the back, his breath hot against my knuckles as he laughs. “You know I’m only kidding. Once again, my sense of humor doesn’t always translate.”
Which is just as good of a time as any for the announcement to be made that it’s time for toasts.
Meaning he has to get up and speak.
Maybe this wasn’t the best moment for him to be reminded that his sense of humor doesn’t always translate. Then again, maybe it was, seeing as how he now has to speak in front of a room full of people and might want to watch what he says.
I offer him a smile that I hope is encouraging before he stands, taking the microphone.
“Well,” he sighs, “it’s always nice to see a wedding go off without a hitch.”
Which is exactly the right thing to say since everybody laughs warmly, raising their glasses in agreement.
He clamps a hand over Zack’s shoulder, looking down at him with a fond smile. “I remember the night these two met. Let’s just say, Kylie has had an amazing effect on my best friend because, honestly, he was a walking disaster back then.”
“Guilty!” Zack quips, earning another round of laughter.
“I remember thinking, as Zack went on and on about what a great girl he’d met, that he had never sounded that way about a girl before. Not ever. Not even when we were ten years old and he’d had a crush on the prettiest girl in our class.”
He looks down at Kylie. “Don’t worry; you’re way hotter than she ever was.”
Kylie laughs, leaning against Zack.
“Anyway, that was the first thing I thought. The second thing I thought—and forgive me for this, buddy—was that Kylie was way too good for him. Honestly, it’s true,” he insists, looking around the room when everybody laughs again. “I mean, not just physically—though I think we can all agree who we hope their children resemble, should the time ever come. She’s brilliant, she’s accomplished, and she’s the kind of person you take seriously. A substantial person. That might sound old-fashioned, but it’s probably the best compliment I can give, and there are very few people in the world who I would describe that way. And I had to wonder why she would give him the time of day since I’d known him since we were little kids, and I’ll tell you, he’s not that cool.”
When the snickering dies down, he shrugs. “I gue
ss she has a weakness for stray dogs and walking disasters. Because she looked at my best friend, who is like the brother I never had, and she saw through the shaggy hair cut and the jeans he’d been wearing since our freshman year of college. The person she saw underneath was worthy of her—at least, he had the potential to become worthy of her.”
He squeezes Zack’s shoulder. “And knowing him the way I do, I can promise you this. He’ll spend the rest of his life working at becoming worthy of you. That, I don’t doubt. You’ll never find a better friend or a better partner than this guy. Not to mention the fact that you’ll always look good in comparison to him.”
Beautiful. He ends with one more laugh, through which more than a few people are sniffling and dabbing at their eyes.
“So, let’s raise our glasses.” Kellen holds up a champagne flute. “To Zack and Kylie, who’ve already shown us how well they can weather the storm together.”
I can’t help it. I’m dabbing at my eyes by the time he’s finished too.
He’s just one of those people. He finds a way to be charming and funny while stirring emotion. He’s confident and comfortable, and he knows how to put those around him at ease.
In other words, he’s pretty much perfect.
At least, that’s how he looks in my eyes when he sits down next to me, miming the act of wiping sweat from his brow.
“Remind me to never do that again,” he murmurs with a sigh of relief.
“Are you freaking kidding? That was awesome! I’m serious. I’d think you did this sort of thing professionally.”
“Nah.” He snickers, waving a hand. “Honestly, it helps that I really do like Kylie. And she’s the person Zack needs in his life. In a big way.”
Hayley and Brandon are at least pretending to pay attention to the speech being made by one of the bridesmaids, who has an entire three sheets of paper to read from.
I lean in to whisper in Kellen’s ear to keep from interrupting, “You’re just busting on him the way you guys have been doing all week.”
He pulls back a little, eyes narrowing when he frowns. “No, I’m serious. She’s turned his entire life around.”
