Moon Over Montego Bay

by Jane Graves

  "And yes, you heard me right. Y'all. For those of you who don't speak Texan," she said, looking straight at Mona, "that’s the plural of you."

  Mona sat frozen in horror, as if lightning had struck her but she'd forgotten to fall. "No wedding? I spent months planning this event! How can there be no wedding?"

  "Because your son had a terrible time answering a simple question."

  A voice came from the back of the gazebo. "Ask me the question. I'll answer it."

  Everyone whipped around to look at Nick. He started up the aisle, and Mona leaped to her feet. "Randall? What's going on here? Do something!"

  Randall looked at his groomsmen, then pointed at Nick. "Get him out of here!"

  The groomsmen left their posts and hurried toward Nick, looking like two frat boys spoiling for a fight. Sarah put her hand to her throat. This was going to end badly. Very badly. Blood, bruises, all of it. And she couldn't do a thing to stop it.

  Then Murphy stood and stepped into the aisle.

  The groomsmen screeched to a halt, almost tripping over each other. They stared up at the towering mountain of man, their eyes as big as searchlights.

  "You boys goin' somewhere?" Murphy said.

  "Uh…no, sir," the blond one said.

  "That's funny, 'cause it kinda looks like you are."

  The other groomsman swallowed hard. "Well, then. It appears we've had a small misunderstanding."

  "Appears so."

  He looked over his shoulder at Randall. "Sorry, bro'. You're on your own."

  As they slinked away, Murphy turned to Nick. "You got something to say to Sarah Lynn?"

  "Yes, I do."

  "Okay, everybody," Murphy called out. "Nick got something to say, and we're all gonna listen."

  "No we are not!" Mona said.

  "Maybe you're not, but I am," Treva said.

  Marva piped up. "So am I."

  Dickey said he was all ears, along with Imogene.

  "I'm on board, too," Carl said.

  The people on the Baxter side of the aisle just sat there with their mouths hanging open.

  "Okay, Nick," Murphy said. "You got the floor. Let's hear it."

  Nick continued up the aisle until he reached Sarah. "Ask me the question."

  There it was. That look of love. She didn't even need to hear his answer, but standing in this place right that after everything that had happened, she wanted to feel it wash over her sunshine on a Jamaican beach.

  "Why do you love me?"

  A smile lit Nick’s face. “That’s an easy one.” He eased closer and rested his hands on her shoulders. "I love you because you're warm and sexy and smart and beautiful and light up a room just by walking into it. I love you because there's a crazy woman inside you I can't wait to have fun with. I love you because you love your family, and there's a little bit of all of them in you." He held her face and stroked her cheeks with his thumbs, looking at her adoringly. "I love you because we were put on this earth to be together, and I don't want to spend another moment without you. And I promise that no matter what comes our way, I’ll be there for you every day of your life.”

  Sarah was so overcome with joy that she thought her heart was going to burst.

  Then Nick's expression grew serious. "And do you know why you can trust every word I'm saying?"

  "Why?"

  "Because if I'm lying, Murphy will kick my ass."

  Sarah laughed and fell into his arms, and every doubt she'd ever had about him floated away on the Caribbean breeze. "I love you, too," she said, nearly crying at the thought of how close she'd come to losing him.

  Randall twisted his face with disgust. "That was the answer she wanted?"

  "Word for word," Sarah said, still glowing.

  "Well," Randall said sarcastically, “next time there's a test, maybe I'd better study up."

  "Nope," Nick said. "It has to come from the heart. Last time I checked, you don't have one."

  Randall gave Nick a go-to-hell look. Then he snapped his fingers at Sarah and held out his hand.

  "What?" she asked.

  "That's a seven thousand dollar ring. I want it back."

  Liz made a choking noise. "Seven thousand dollars? Uh, Sarah…"

  "No, I'm not going to reconsider."

  "I wasn't going to say that!" Liz twisted her mouth with irritation. "Okay, maybe I was. I mean…a seven thousand dollar ring?”

  "If I keep the ring, I can't keep Nick."

  "Oh. Well, then. Never mind."

  Sarah gave Randall the ring. He lifted his chin and stared down at her with a heavy dose of Baxter arrogance. "I give it a week. One week, and he'll be gone. You'll be sorry then."

  No. Nick wasn't going anywhere, and she'd never be sorry. She'd made a mistake in thinking she wanted the wrong man, but that wrong man wasn't Nick.

  "Goodbye, Randall," she said. "We'll send you a card at Christmas."

  Randall's arrogance slipped a little, but it took him no time at all to recover. "She's all yours," he told Nick. "You two deserve each other."

  "Randall!" Mona said. "You're giving up? Just like that?"

  "Mom? Do you really think I should want a woman who wants Nick?"

  Mona blinked. "Oh."

  He started back down the aisle, where he met another man just arriving. He was in his late fifties, graying, and stodgy as a Supreme Court justice. He looked around the gazebo, clearly wondering who'd forgotten the etiquette book.

  "What's going on?" he said. "Is the wedding over?"

  "Charles!" Mona said. "Where have you been?"

  "I was on a conference call in the Admiral's Club at O'Hare. I didn't hear my flight announcement. I had to take the next one.”

  "You gotta start getting places on time, Dad," Nick called out. "You keep missing the good stuff."

  "Randall?" Charles said. "What is Nicholas doing here? And why is he…" He drew back with a horrified expression. "Kissing Sarah?"

  "It doesn't matter," Randall snapped. "We're leaving. I need a drink."

  "At eleven o'clock in the morning?"

  "It's five o'clock somewhere. Let's go."

  As Randall stormed away, Charles looked left and right, clearly wondering how the world had turned upside down in his absence. Finally he simply followed his son down the boardwalk. Sarah would bet within five minutes, Charles would be catching Randall up on their reorganization plans, and it would completely slip Randall's mind that this was supposed to have been his wedding day. Sarah watched them making their way around the pool and into the building, waiting to see if she felt some regret. Any regret.

  She didn't.

  Treva and Carl approached Nick and Sarah. "I don't understand," Treva said breathlessly, with a touch of excitement. "You and Nick? What's going on here?"

  "Well, it's going to take some explanation," Sarah said, "but basically…uh, it's kinda like…"

  "Love at first sight," Nick said.

  Treva's eyes brightened. "Love at first sight? But how can that be?"

  "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth," Carl said. "Just be glad you got the horse."

  Treva gasped. "Carl! Don't be rude!"

  "Hey, you don't like Randall any better than I do!"

  "But at least I have the good grace not to say it in front of all of Montego Bay!"

  Mona stalked across the aisle. "Are you saying you don't like Randall? My son?"

  "Now, it's not exactly that we don't like Randall," Treva said, with a smoothing-things-over voice. "I just think maybe he and Sarah weren't suitable for each other."

  "Nonsense. My son is suitable for any woman. It's your daughter and her trashy family who aren't suitable for him!"

  Treva drew herself up, planting her fists on her hips. "Hey! Who you calling trashy?"

  "Her trashy family, that's who! I worked my fingers to the bone for this wedding, and now it's ruined!"

  Murphy came forward and held up his palms. "Now, ladies. I got nothin' against catfights, but I'm thinking we need to ge
t things under control here. Try to be a little civilized." He looked at Treva. "Okay. She said something snotty last. It's your turn."

  "I don't need another turn," Treva said, lifting her nose a notch. "I've said all I'm gonna."

  Mona glared at Sarah. "You're obviously not the woman I thought you were."

  "That's funny. I was about to say the same thing about you."

  If the look on Mona's face hadn't been so terrifying, it might actually have been comical.

  "Mrs. Baxter?" the officiant said, glancing around nervously. "Are we…finished?"

  "We most certainly are!"

  Mona fanned her gaze over the Baxter side of the aisle, where the family sat helplessly. It was as if a natural disaster had struck and they were buried neck-deep in the rubble. And poor Giselle. How could any wedding planner have planned for this?

  Mona signaled to them, and they rose in unison. She herded them out with as much decorum as she could, but Emily Post hadn't addressed what the mother of the groom was supposed to do when the bride left the groom for the other son of the mother of the groom.

  Only one person remained seated, a woman wearing a hot pink dress with fringe around the bottom and stratospheric heels. Mona flicked her hand impatiently, insisting she get up, only to realize she wasn't a Baxter.

  "Who are you?" Mona said.

  "I'm Brandy. Who are you?"

  "The mother of the—"

  Oops. There was an identity she couldn't claim anymore.

  Kelsey glared at Brandy, her fists rising to her hips. "What are you doing here?"

  "I told you I'd come to the wedding, didn't I? And it was a good one, too, even though nobody got married."

  "Go away."

  "Nope. I mean, it looks like it's over, but you never know. You people are better than a reality show. I think I'll stay right here." She turned to Nick. "So what gives? You told me you were gay."

  "You were right. It was just a phase."

  "What about your vows?"

  "I left the priesthood."

  "And you already hooked up with a runaway bride? How's a girl like me ever supposed to get a shot?"

  Then her gaze drifted up and to her left, where Dickey stood beside her, staring directly down the front of her dress to catch a glimpse of her rather large assets.

  "Who are you?" she asked.

  "Cousin of the bride."

  "You're not a gay priest, are you?"

  "No. I'm a congressman from Idaho."

  "Politics? That's sexy. Girlfriend?"

  "I just broke up with a supermodel. She was too clingy."

  "I thought about being a supermodel," Brandy said. "But I don't like celery and rice cakes."

  Unbelievable. Supposedly there was somebody for everybody, and maybe it was true. At least Dickey might actually score, as long as he didn't mind getting horizontal with the most obnoxious woman on earth.

  Before Mona followed the others out, she stopped in front of Nick. It was as if twenty years of animosity had bubbled to the surface, and all of it was reflected on her face.

  "I don't know how all this came about," she said. "But this time you've done something beyond unforgivable. Consider yourself disowned. You don't have a family any longer."

  Nick's face remained impassive, but his hand tightened against Sarah's. As much as he acted as if he didn't care how his family treated him, she knew he still felt the pain of their rejection.

  "That's where you're wrong, Mona," Sarah said. "He has a family."

  As soon as the words were out of her mouth, her mother and father and the rest of her family eased up beside her and Nick, closing ranks, enveloping them in a protective cocoon of warmth and acceptance. They weren't worldly. They weren't sophisticated. But they loved her without question. And that meant they loved Nick, too.

  Mona turned and stalked out of the gazebo. Sarah looked up at Nick, speaking quietly. "Are you okay?"

  A smile slowly warmed his face. "Of course I'm okay. This is the best day of my life."

  It was the best day of hers, too. Nothing else had even come close.

  Nick looked down at the bouquet Sarah held. "Are you going to carry that thing around forever?"

  Sarah realized she was still holding the overpriced, ostentatious bouquet Mona had insisted on. Instead of tossing it aside, she decided somebody ought to get some good out of it. Kelsey, for instance. How else would she ever make it to the altar? With her bad attitude about marriage, she needed all the help she could get.

  "Hey, Kelsey!" she shouted. "Catch!"

  Sarah lobbed the bouquet in a wide arc. Caught by surprise, Kelsey automatically stepped forward to grab it. In that moment, though, Brandy leaped up and went for the flowers, too. As the women came together, Brandy elbowed Kelsey squarely in the face, knocking her backward. As Kelsey landed on her ass, Brandy reached out her other hand and snagged the bouquet.

  "Holy crap!" Kelsey shouted from her sprawled-out position on the floor, her hand over her eye. "Are you crazy?"

  "I got it!" Brandy said in a singsong voice, waving the flowers victoriously. "I got the bouquet!"

  "Which would be just fine," Kelsey said, picking herself up off the floor, "if you'd been invited to the wedding."

  "Doesn't matter. I got it. You didn't. It's mine!"

  "Well, so what?" Kelsey snapped, tugging down the hem of her dress. "It doesn't count, anyway, because there was no wedding."

  "You're just saying that because you lost. It's a bridal bouquet, so it counts. I'll be the next one to get married. Ha!" She hooked her arm through Dickey's and dragged him out of the gazebo. "So…is it true all the potatoes in the world come from Idaho?"

  Liz looked at Kelsey. "Does she know you could kill her with nothing but the power of your mind?"

  "Bitch is fearless," Kelsey said, gently probing her slowly blackening eye. "I gotta give her that."

  Liz looked back and forth between Nick and Sarah, grinning like a loon. "I love it when a plan comes together."

  "Don't get cocky," Sarah said. "You're still in the doghouse."

  "Hey, Nick was in on it, too!"

  "Who instigated it?"

  Nick slowly turned his gaze to Liz.

  "Way to throw me under the bus, Nick," Liz muttered. Then she brightened. "But, hey. All's well that ends well, right?"

  Sarah couldn't have agreed more.

  That evening, Nick and Sarah had dinner with her family and her two best friends. It was a relaxed affair at Surfside, where they ate and drank and laughed together as a family should. She didn't care that Murphy ordered six appetizers, or that her mother was still confused by which fork to use, or that Imogene told her alien abduction story one more time. She didn't even care that Dickey brought Brandy along. She just made sure Kelsey was unarmed and sitting on the opposite side of the table. It had taken Sarah a long time to realize it, but she knew now that she didn't need money or luxury when she had these people in her life.

  Especially the man who sat beside her.

  She and Nick had already discussed a few important things, such as the fact that his business was online so he could be based anywhere he wanted to be. Coincidentally, he wanted it to be in Houston. Sarah worried about that because Nick loved winter weather and snowboarding so much, but he told her that was what vacations were for. Sarah said she could get a job in Park City, but Nick wouldn't have it. The last thing he wanted was for her to live so far away from her family.

  Their family.

  Nick was going to feel right at home on her parents' front porch, listening to crickets chirping at dusk, drinking sweet tea, and hearing her father's war stories. She imagined a toddler racing around the front yard, trying to catch fireflies, before falling asleep on his daddy's shoulder. Then Nick would take her hand and look at her with the love he'd promised, and everything would be right with the world.

  Soon the bright yellow sun turned deep orange, overlaid by a spectacular array of purple clouds as it dipped beneath the horizon. She and Nick sai
d their good nights and returned to her suite. Nick had asked the concierge for a bottle of champagne, and it was waiting for them inside an ice bucket on the coffee table. He popped the top, poured two glasses, and made a toast to new beginnings. Sarah took a sip, the champagne bubbles mingling with the excitement that shivered through her. She couldn't wait to see what tomorrow would bring. She'd have to brace herself, though. With Nick, it could be anything from a quiet dinner together to making love in a hot air balloon.

  He suggested they finish their champagne on the balcony. Yes. A perfect end to a—well, not exactly a perfect day, but it was definitely worth suffering through the beginning to get to the end.

  They stepped out to the balcony and set their glasses on the table. The tide sloshed lazily against the shore, and a gentle breeze swirled around them like stars from a fairy’s wand. Then Sarah looked at the sky, and a tiny gasp escaped her lips. Just above the horizon was the most amazing full moon she'd ever seen, huge and golden and shining just for them. Nick put his arms around her, and she thought, Imagine that. Kiki was right. I'm in the arms of the man who loves me.

  Then she thought back to the wish she'd made on the full moon a year ago in Park City, when she couldn't possibly have known what the future would bring. I wish I could feel like this forever.

  And forever it was going to be.

  Meanwhile, on the beach, Kelsey Morrison’s story, MOON OVER MANHATTAN, begins…

  Kelsey wanted to say it was just her competitive nature that had driven her to go after that bridal bouquet, but that would be a lie. The truth was that she was tired of watching other people paired up two‑by‑two as if they were heading to Noah's ark. She’d hoped to catch that bouquet so a little luck might come her way for a switch. But no. She had a black belt in karate, and she’d been beaten out by a woman with nothing physical going for her but one extremely sharp elbow.

  Pitiful. Just pitiful.

  Now, hours later, Kelsey sat on a beach chair at the ocean's edge, watching a full moon rise over the Caribbean Sea and holding yet another ice pack over her eye. And for what? She'd flown from New York to Jamaica, put on a stupid girly bridesmaid's dress, walked up the aisle, and then…nothing.

  Well, okay. Not exactly nothing. Sarah came to her senses approximately five seconds before saying "I do," dumped her jerk of a fiance at the altar, and ran off with his brother.