by Tinnean
“This dance is yours, sailor,” Wills said.
“Babe—”
“Unless you’d rather pay a visit to the men’s room?” He waggled his brows.
I looked toward Ben, who was watching us. He grinned wryly, shrugged, and raised his glass in a silent toast.
So I led him to the dance floor, and I realized the band was playing “Isn’t It Romantic?”
Wills pulled me into his arms, and as if of their own volition, my hands wound up on his ass.
“Know something, babe? I’m the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” He sighed happily, rested his head on my shoulder, and began to sing along with our song as we swayed across the dance floor.
He was wrong, though. I was.
OUR WEDDING day dawned bright and beautiful and cooler than the day before. It passed in a complete and total blur. We ordered room service and had breakfast in bed. Newsday, the local newspaper, came with it, and I was pretty certain we read it, but I didn’t remember the headlines, the comics, or what Dear Abby had to say. We showered and stood side by side in front of the double vanity while we shaved.
“Happy birthday, baby.” I leaned sideways and kissed the spot just under his right ear.
“You give the best birthday presents, you know that?”
“It’s my pleasure, but I’m getting a pretty awesome gift as well.” I never thought I’d have this, have someone like him who loved me and wanted to marry me.
“Mmm. The ceremony doesn’t start until 4:00 p.m.,” he said as he ran his electric razor up over his neck.
“I know. How are we going to pass the time?” We’d already decided we’d wait until tonight to consummate our marriage.
“Let’s go for a ride.”
“Okay.”
We smoothed aftershave over our cheeks, dressed, and went down to the parking lot.
“Are we going anywhere in particular?” I asked as we wedged ourselves into the ’Vette.
“The south shore. We’re going to Jones Beach.”
“We didn’t bring our suits. And… uh… last I heard, they don’t allow nude swimming there.”
“No. I thought we’d walk along the boardwalk for a bit.”
“Okay.”
“And there’s a restaurant there that has the best French onion soup. They hollow out a round loaf of French bread for the bowl.” He took his gaze from the road for a moment and smiled at me. “Just like you do.”
“Sounds good.”
WE HAD lunch, strolled along the boardwalk, and watched as kids splashed on the shore.
I glanced at my watch. “As much as I’m enjoying this, I think maybe we’d better head back.”
“That’s a good idea, just in case we hit traffic.”
JILL WAS pacing the lobby of the inn when we walked in. “There you are! Do you have any idea what time it is? Come on, we have to hurry!”
I checked my watch again. “Jill, it’s only three.”
“Yes, well, you don’t want to be late, do you? Theo, your tux is in on the other bed in your suite. Oh, Wills, your face is sunburned. And your hair….” She shook her head. “Jack’s waiting for you. Now, hurry!”
“Yes, Jill.” She grimaced and rubbed the mound of her abdomen. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. These Braxton-Hicks contractions… I’ve been getting them for the past month. Go on upstairs. Where’s your brother?”
Since we had no idea, we took that question to be rhetorical and headed for the elevator.
OUR SUITE consisted of two bedrooms and a living area. I was in the second bedroom, fussing with my bow tie. Wills usually had trouble with his, and I approached the other bedroom to help him.
“Here, son. Let me give you a hand with that.”
“Thanks, Dad. I don’t know why I’ve become such a wreck.”
I came to a dead halt. Was Wills having second thoughts?
“It’s a big step,” his father said softly.
“Yeah, but I’ve been living with Theo for over a year. Were you nauseous when you married Jill?”
“No. But I can’t say the same when I married your mother. Of course I was a good deal younger then.”
“Do you… do you think she’d approve?”
“Oh, yes. All she wanted was your happiness, and she’d have loved Theo.” Jack sounded certain of that, and I blew out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. Wills said something I couldn’t hear, and Jack snarled, “Damn Tony!”
“Dad, did you ever think that maybe he loved you?”
“When we were boys, yes, I have no doubt of that. Once I went away to college, though, he became wrapped up in his own life. And then, of course, I started dating your mom.”
I wondered how Wills’s mother could have such a miserable brother. What had gone wrong in his life?
And then Wills said, “No, I mean that he was in love with you.”
“Tony? In love with me?” And I didn’t know who was more surprised, me or his dad. “He was one of the most macho… I… I never thought….” He was silent for a moment, then said thoughtfully, “That would explain so much.”
“I’m sorry, Dad.”
“It’s not your fault, Wills. None of this was your fault. His poor wife.”
“Do you think she knew?”
“If I didn’t—”
There was a tap on the suite door, and I hurried to it. Paul, who was my best man, and Harry, who was Wills’s, stood there. “Ready to go tie the knot?” Paul asked.
“Sure.” I went to the bedroom. “Wills, it’s almost time. We’ve got to—” Had something more passed between them? “What’s going on, babe? You’re not… you’re not having second thoughts, are you?”
“Ass. I’ve finally got you where I want you. Do you think I’m about to let you go?”
“I’d better go down and check on Jill.” Jack smiled and shook his head. “She insisted that unless she was actually in the hospital giving birth, she was going to be here.” He gave a final tug to Wills’s bow tie and smoothed my lapels. I noticed a sheen of tears in his eyes. He cleared his throat. “Harry, I’m trusting you and Paul to make sure they show up on time.”
“No problem, Uncle Jack.”
“Will do, Mr. M.”
Jack hugged his son and pounded his back before turning to me and squeezing my shoulder.
“That tux suits you very well, Jack,” I said.
“Thanks, son.” He hurried out, and I stared after him. Did he realize he’d called me son?
“Paul, do me a favor and wait outside.” Wills’s words shook me out of my daze. “Harry, you too.”
He grinned at us. “You’ve got five minutes. And try not to muss each other, okay? Or Uncle Jack will hand me my head.”
As soon as he closed the door, I turned to him. “What’s wrong?”
“My grandparents… I’m sorry, it’s selfish of me. So many of my family are here, and you just have your mom and dad and Acacia, but—”
“But you’ve always had them. Even after your mother died, they stayed in your life.” I stroked his cheek. “I know how much it hurts.” All my family, who weren’t here. Who thought I was nothing more than a drug addict.
“Yes. You had to live with it for thirteen years. Where do I get off pissing and moaning about it?”
“It’s their loss, Wills.”
“You’re right.” He kissed the patch of skin below my ear, and I shivered. “And Paul and Harry are going to think we’re molesting each other in here. Come on. Let’s go get married.”
EVERYTHING WENT according to plan. We stood before the Unitarian minister, our rings on an open Bible. I was pretty sure Paul and Harry stood on either side of us, but all I saw was Wills.
He picked up my ring and looked into my eyes, smiling as he slid the ring on my finger. “With this ring I give you my heart. It will be here for you to take, today, tomorrow, and all the days of my life.” He brought my hand to his mouth and kissed the ring.
I squ
eezed his hand, then took his ring and put it on his finger.
“With this ring, I give you all my love.” In a lower voice, so only he could hear me, I said, “I was too blind to see what was in your eyes when you looked at me, but now I do. Will you keep that light shining for me?”
And before God, our families, and friends, the man I would love for all the days of my life said, “I will.”
Chapter 33
THE FORMAL pictures were done. Me and Wills, me and Wills and my family, me and Wills and his family, and his family, and his family…. I’d started to wonder if we’d finish in time for dinner.
But now we were sitting down for the first course. I’d just taken a bite of the tomato caprese when….
Dingdingdingdingding.
“You up for it, babe?”
I finished chewing, took a sip of my wine, and leaned forward to meet my husband’s lips. “Always.”
DINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDING
Pat was hitting his glass with a spoon. Again. He kept saying he needed it as therapy for his broken arm.
“It’s not broken anymore,” Wills had growled at him the fiftieth time he’d done that. He’d actually had the cast removed about two months ago.
“Okay, then just consider it a good excuse for you to kiss Theo.”
Amused groans filled the dining room, and JR threw a roll at his friend. “They’re gonna get chapped lips!”
“Hey, you know they want to make out! I’m just giving them an excuse!”
I leaned toward my husband, pausing when my lips were just a breath away. “He really is the Antichrist, isn’t he?”
Wills gave a spurt of laughter, and I chased it back into his mouth.
There was applause, and I drew back and smiled into his eyes. “Come on. Dance with me.” We’d decided on live music rather than a DJ. Not for the first time that night, the trio was playing “Isn’t It Romantic?”
“You talked me into it.”
“I thought I could.”
WAITERS WERE setting up the tables for the dessert course, but first the wedding cake. Wills had selected the five-tiered cake that would be brought out—chocolate ganache frosting on sponge cake flavored with orange zest, but on the top was a bride and groom dressed in the style of the ’30s. It wasn’t our wedding cake.
This was going to be such a surprise for Wills’s Gram and Gramps!
The MC looked toward Wills, and when he gave him the nod, he tapped the microphone and then leaned forward to speak into it.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to ask Mr. and Mrs. Matheson to step onto the dance floor.” About a hundred couples began to stand, and he laughed. “Mr. William Matheson and his lovely wife, Elaine.”
Wills’s grandparents exchanged puzzled looks, but he took her hand and led her to the center of the room.
Wills crossed the floor, stepped up onto the bandstand, and took the microphone from the MC.
“Gram, Gramps, last month you celebrated your seventieth wedding anniversary, and God bless you both. We couldn’t be together then, but we’re here now. This is for you, from all of us, with love.”
I knew what was coming. I’d been in the room when he’d spoken to the trio and had rehearsed with them.
The keyboardist began the first notes, the drummer began to dust the cymbals, and then the bassist and Wills joined in, singing the opening line of “P.S. I Love You.”
This was their song, Wills had told me. His grandfather looked like he was going to cry. He squeezed the bridge of his nose, smiled mistily, and took Elaine into his arms.
In spite of their age, they moved gracefully across the floor. It was a sweet song, representative of the period when they’d married and started their family.
I sauntered over to the bandstand. Wills continued singing as he smiled into my eyes and reached a hand down to me. I laced my fingers through his, brought his hand to my mouth, and once again brushed my lips against it.
“Come dance with me?”
He glanced at the bassist, who grinned. “I got it covered, man.”
“Thanks.” Wills handed the microphone to the MC, stepped down, and pulled me into his arms. “Just for this dance,” he whispered in my ear, “I’m going to lead.”
AFTER ELAINE and Bill had made the first slice into their cake, my husband and I took a couple of plates and made ourselves comfortable at their table.
“So where are you going on your honeymoon?” Elaine asked.
“We know a little place in Key West.” Wills gave me a smile and took a bite of his cake. We’d had the best time there last year. This year it should be just as awesome, although I didn’t anticipate leaving our hotel room.
There was a bit of frosting at the corner of Wills’s mouth, and I brushed it off with my thumb. Normally I’d slip my finger into his mouth, but in front of his grandparents? I thought I’d better not. Wills laughed when I licked it off.
“Are you two going anywhere?”
“Home to bed,” Bill teased, and he offered a forkful of cake to Elaine.
“You saucy devil.” They were such a cute couple.
Wills leaned close and whispered, “You and me, babe, in seventy years.”
“I’ll be ninety-eight, babe.”
“Well, you’ve seen my gramps. We Mathesons are very long-lived.”
“But I’m not a Matheson.”
“Let me put it this way. No matter how long you live, I intend to live one day less, so I never have to live without you.”
“Is that Winnie the Pooh?”
“Kind of.”
“You’re going to be the best dad!” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Bill, Elaine, if you’ll excuse us a minute?”
I closed my hands on his shoulders, pulled him to his feet, and kissed him.
“Hey!” Pat yelled. “No one tapped a glass!
I raised my head and grinned at him. “I thought that was your job.”
“Um… yes?”
“Then get busy!”
OUR CAKE came out, a six-foot tiered beauty with two grooms on the top. We hadn’t been sure the baker would agree to that, but he’d been surprisingly cooperative. The shortcake was covered with whipped cream, and the filling was strawberry. Wills took the knife, I covered his hand with mine, and we made the first cut and then fed each other.
We took our plates and began to make the rounds, pausing at each table to thank relatives and friends for joining us. Vince and his plus one were at the same table where we’d put Paul and Spike and Tim and Cris, and another couple I didn’t recognize.
“Babe, this is Mr. and Mrs. Shaw.”
“Thank you so much for inviting us,” Mrs. Shaw said.
“You’re welcome.” They seemed like a nice couple, very accepting of the fact that their son’s best friend was gay. “I hope you’re enjoying yourselves.”
“We are. William was always like a second son to us.” He squeezed the bridge of his nose.
“Wills told me about your son. I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you. Shall we dance, Margaret? If you’ll excuse us?”
“Certainly.”
“I’m sorry, babe.”
“Not your fault. He was their only child. I doubt they’ll ever get over his death.”
And trust that son of a bitch Michael to cast a pall over his best friend’s wedding. I sent a glance toward Tim, and thank God he picked up on what I wanted.
He tapped his spoon against his water glass. Wills raised an eyebrow, but I stepped into his personal space and kissed him. No one could see, but there was tongue involved, and when I drew back, he was blushing.
Tim aimed his thumb and forefinger at Wills, who shook his head and straightened the hang of his tux jacket. He glanced briefly at Vince, and I turned my head to whisper in his ear, “Hell, babe, this is our wedding day. If I can’t kiss you in front of your boss today, when can I?”
“I guess you’re right.” He kissed me, leaving me breathless, and then held on to my
hand and grinned across the table at Spike. “So when do the Oscar nominations come out?”
“Ah, Wills.” He blushed. He’d had a small part as “first teen to be killed” in the teen slasher flick, In the Dark of the Night.
Everything old was new again, and that genre seemed to be making another comeback. I didn’t particularly care for that type of movie, but I was pleased for our boy.
“But you know what?” Paul stroked a hand over Spike’s back. “You’re not far off! They liked his work so much he’s going to be in the sequel!”
“Won’t the audience recognize him?” Wills asked. “Oh, wait! He’s going to play his twin brother!”
“Did you see the script?” Spike demanded suspiciously, and we burst into laughter.
“They really are? That was a joke, like Ripley coming back as a clone in the fourth Alien movie after she died in the third!” Wills whispered to me, “Only she really did, and it seems Spike will too. Well, congratulations!”
“Thanks, Wills.” Spike seemed to have gained more confidence in the past year, especially after what had happened earlier this past spring on the set of CIA. Vince had flown out to LA and taken care of it.
I took the seat on Vince’s other side, which was empty, since there were only four couples at this table. “Vince—”
“Theo, you’ve thanked me more than once. It’s okay.”
“Well—”
“Did I introduce you to Quinton Mann?” He was seated on Vince’s left.
“Yes, on the receiving line. It’s nice of you to join us, Mr. Mann. I hope you’re enjoying yourself?”
“I am.” He smiled at me. “I must say I was impressed by your husband’s singing.”
I couldn’t help grinning, not only for the compliment to Wills but at hearing him called my husband. I ran my thumb over my wedding ring. “He’s amazing, isn’t he? He doesn’t usually sing in public, but this was important to him.”
“It’s obvious that he cares deeply for his grandparents.”