by Liz Botts
“It’s memorable, right?” Beau took my hand, and led me to a clump of family members so we could say hello.
After we made the rounds of greeting our guests, I excused myself to finally freshen up. Brushing my teeth had never felt so good. When I got back the DJ announced our entrance, which seemed silly since we had already come in. Still, tradition called for a fun entrance as a married couple. In the entryway Beau scooped me up, and carried me into the reception hall to catcalls and laughter. Despite the heat coloring my cheeks, I knew that this was exactly what I had hoped for when we had hired this DJ.
Beau set me down at the table reserved just for the two of us. Just as he pulled out my chair for me someone started clinking their water glass with a spoon, so Beau leaned down and planted a sloppy wet kiss on my lips. I laughed as I wiped my lips. If this could be the tone for the rest of the night I would be perfectly happy with all the imperfections.
Dinner began with a clatter of dishes from the kitchen as waiters brought in trays laden with soups and salads. I glanced toward the wedding party’s table, which we had expanded to include their dates. Judging by the smiles and laughter, they all seemed to be having a good time. Knowing that we were missing out on that fun, a momentary pang of sadness squeezed my chest, but then Beau took my hand and I looked into his eyes. And oh, that was so much better than anything else at that moment.
In between the soup course and the main course, wine was distributed for a toast. Beau had talked to the kitchen ahead of time, so we got a sparkling grape juice instead. My delight must have shown on my face because Beau laughed. Maybe I was giddy from the excitement of the night, but I decided that I had never heard anything as amazing as Beau’s laugh.
“We don’t want a repeat of the champagne,” he said, the left side of his mouth lifting up in a grin.
Katie stood up and took the microphone that the DJ offered her. “I just want to say a few things about Beau and Elle. These two are amazing together, but everybody knows that. It’s the little things they do for each other that really inspire me. Like the time Elle had the stomach flu and Beau brought her this stuffed animal that he’d recorded his voice on. How sweet is that? Of course he didn’t mention the fact that it would talk to her if she pressed its paw, so when Elle leaned on it in the middle of the night, and it talked to her… well, you can imagine how that turned out for the poor bear.
“In all seriousness, though, Beau and Elle are the type of couple we all want to be. They love each other as equals, with all their hearts, minds, and souls. I am so happy for the two of you. Thank you for letting me be a part of this day.”
We all clapped, and tears pricked the backs of my eyes. Her speech had been short and to the point, but I could hear all the sincerity and love behind her words. Then Gerry stood up, and reached into the interior pocket of his jacket. He shuffled several sheets of loose-leaf paper before taking the microphone from Katie.
“Does he have four sheets of paper?” I asked Beau, feeling slightly horrified at the prospect.
“Don’t worry,” Beau said. “I helped him cut it down to three paragraphs before the ceremony. He wrote out every story he could think of. Hopefully he sticks to what he has written down. Otherwise none of us will ever eat our dinner.”
Gerry shuffled the papers again, making a strange noise over the sound system. I cringed. Not quite as bad as nails on a chalkboard, but close. Finally, he cleared his throat and said, “When Beau asked me to be his best man, I said no.” Laughter caused Gerry to pause. He laughed nervously. “I was nervous about giving this speech. That’s why I said no. When Beau asked me to be best man.”
We listened to Gerry ramble for a good five minutes, before he wrapped up with warm congratulations. Everyone lifted their glasses in a toast. I set mine down just as more clinking on the glasses sounded. Beau leaned toward me at the same moment I leaned toward him. We kissed quickly, and as we broke apart one of us snagged the tablecloth. My wine glass full of sparkling grape juice tipped, spilling down the side of the table. I gasped as I scooted out of the way so fast I knocked my chair over, and fell with it.
People at nearby tables stood up, startled by my sudden fall, as Beau leaped up to help me stand. When I was on my feet again, I checked my dress. No stains. Another crisis averted. The crinoline under my skirt felt bulkier than it had before. Maybe it shifted when I fell, but now wasn’t the right time to go check. I couldn’t wait to take it off. After the dancing — when the photographer had left, but before the paddle-boat cruise — seemed like the ideal time to make the change. Comfort and fun went hand in hand.
When we finally got our dinners, Beau and I dug in happily. Neither of us had eaten much over the course of the day. I’d had friends that had gotten married tell me that the lack of food over the day was the worst part. I swear fettucine alfredo never tasted so good.
Suddenly Evie squealed. Her high-pitched voice carried over the dinner conversation and kitchen noise. Beau and I jumped up when we saw a flicker of flame rising off the wedding party table.
“Marcus lit a scarecrow on fire!” Evie yelled.
“Calm down,” Margot said, in her best authoritative voice, the one I’d heard her use when trying to prove her point in a family argument. “It’s only a little fire.” She picked up a glass of water, and dumped it on the poor scarecrow that accompanied our floral center-pieces. The fire hissed out as a thin curl of smoke drifted up.
“Only Marcus could manage to set something on fire at a wedding,” Beau said, shaking his head and chuckling.
I stared at the smoldering scarecrow, imagining all the things that could have gone wrong, but didn’t. Truly, I would never be able to let go of this cynical part of myself, but at least it wasn’t ruining my wedding anymore. With a smile I turned back to Beau. Focusing on my new husband. I loved saying that to myself.
Our photographer shoved his camera in my face just as I was taking a bite of my now cold pasta. “Hey,” I said. “That’s not a shot we asked for.”
“Dude, give us some space, huh?” Beau said, placing his napkin on the table as he pushed his chair back to stand up.
The photographer leaned close to us, his mouth pulled down in a frown. “You put on your sheet that you wanted a shot of each table. You are a table, so I’m taking your picture.”
“While we’re eating? Come on,” Beau said, his voice tense.
The photographer grunted at us before moving on to another table. He moved from one group of guests to another, taking a candid shot each time. Most tables had at least one person eating, and I was pretty sure that all the pictures would be funny but not particularly flattering.
“Why did we hire that guy again?” Beau asked, spearing a green bean with his fork.
“Hmm? Oh, we didn’t. We wanted another guy but they sent this one instead,” I said, calmly watching as the photographer continued to annoy our guests.
“What? I had no idea we didn’t sign up for this guy. Why on earth didn’t you tell me? I’d have thought that would be a really important detail that you’d be freaking out about.” Beau stared at me, his eyes bugging out.
I stopped eating as his words sunk in. He was right. Why hadn’t I freaked out about that fairly major detail? I had no reason. So I smiled at my husband and said, “I guess I was just so focused on us that it didn’t matter to me. Strange, huh?”
“Well, I don’t like the guy. He’s awful. We’ll complain when we get back from our honeymoon.”
By eleven o’clock, I had reached my breaking point. Beau gathered me in his arms, and drew me to a corner of the reception hall that was blessedly empty. Without saying a word we began to dance, just the two of us. I rested my head on his chest and listened to his steady heartbeat. The sound soothed me. The moment was magical, until the photographer found us.
“Seriously,” Beau said. “I think we’ve reached the end of our contract. We’ll be in touch.”
The photographer looked at him seemingly confused. Then he checked
his watch, and a slick smile crossed his face for the first time all day. He tipped his head to one side. “It looks like it’s five minutes after eleven. I guess I’ll be getting overtime.”
Beau’s hand flexed into a fist at his side, so I grabbed it. “We’ll be in touch with your company,” Beau said in a tight voice. “To file a complaint.”
The photographer just shrugged, picked up his equipment bag, and headed out. I let out a huge breath that I hadn’t realized I was holding. The tension the photographer had caused was finally gone and we had an hour left of this reception to enjoy ourselves. I felt like Evie wanting to shout that now it really was time to party. I refrained, but my sudden exuberance made me lean over and kiss my new husband soundly.
Chapterette Nineteen
The river lapped against the sides of the boat as it churned through the waves. I leaned against the railing, reveling in the peaceful sounds of the paddlewheel slipping through the water. Beau wrapped his arms around me, and kissed the top of my head. I sighed with contentment. At that moment, I knew how a wedding was supposed to feel, like a slice of bliss.
“Did you ever think the insanity would end?” I asked.
Beau chuckled. “It seemed doubtful for a while there. But would you change anything?”
I paused, gazing out at the dark water while I pondered his question. Would I change anything about our wedding? I had always heard that the details and the imperfections made weddings memorable. Even Beau had fed me that line over the past few weeks, but did I believe it?
I wasn’t so sure. If I could go back to the beginning there were definitely some things I would change, including me. The way I had been acting this whole time made me cringe. Letting other people help was one thing, but letting them domineer the whole process… that made me someone I didn’t have a whole lot of respect for. I frowned. “Maybe not the outcome,” I said, “but maybe the way I handled myself.”
Beau kissed the top of my head again. “That makes sense, but I think it turned out exactly like it should.”
We stood together in silence for a few moments. I blinked at the thought that maybe Beau was right. Sometimes I couldn’t see the beauty of the end result because things slipped from my power, but in my defense I had good intentions when I had given up control this time. Although now that I thought about it, maybe I hadn’t given up as much as I had thought. Had I taken back some of my sanity by letting Evie and my grandma help me? No, I shook my head, startling Beau, who pulled away slightly.
Without saying anything, I settled back against his chest to finish thinking about things. I had not had any jurisdiction over my little sister. I hadn’t even known she was “helping” until halfway through wedding planning. A surge of guilt rose in my throat as I thought about how hard she had worked to make this day nice for us, and we had met each “help” with resistance or subversion. Every time she brought an idea or plan to me I had done my own thing. If she ever put it all together her feelings would be hurt beyond belief.
“There you guys are!”
Beau and I turned to see Evie bounding toward us across the deck. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”
She skidded to a halt in front of us, the flip flops she had changed into making twin slapping sounds. Her grin widened as she drew a deep breath. “So I took it upon myself to get you guys a little gift for your honeymoon since I know money is tight.”
I stepped out of Beau’s arms so we could both face her. “Wow, Evie, that’s so sweet.”
She held out an envelope to me. The white paper gleamed in the moonlight. I accepted the gift, and ripped it open. I pulled out a gift certificate for the hotel we were staying at that night. Our names were scrawled across the gift line, but it was the date of service line that confused me.
“This says that we are staying here for the next three days, but that’s not right,” I said, looking up at my sister.
She grinned at me again. “I decided that since most of the family is staying through Monday that you guys should too. Won’t that be fun? We can just keep the party going.”
I felt Beau stiffen behind me, his arm bracing against my waist. “That’s sweet, Evie,” I repeated. “But we can’t.”
“What?” Evie asked at the same time Beau said, “Huh?”
I smiled as gently as I could. “I managed to pick up some extra classes and put the money down on an actual honeymoon. I wanted to surprise Beau.” I paused so I could look up at my husband. “Surprise!”
“Where are we going?” Beau asked. He obviously couldn’t contain his excitement as a smile spread across his face.
“The Florida Keys. It’s as exotic as we could afford.”
“It’s awesome.” Beau hugged me.
Evie stood quietly, her mouth twisted into a frown. She didn’t look mad, though, maybe disappointed. She knotted her hands together in front of her dress, and suddenly looked every bit the little girl I had always wanted to protect. I stepped forward to pull her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around me.
“I’m really happy for you. Maybe I can get the hotel to cash it out so you can take the remainder with you, but tonight is on me.” Evie ran a hand along her cheek. “You guys deserve so much awesomeness.”
She hugged me again, then Beau before she headed back inside the boat.
I looked up at the expanse of black sky speckled with stars. Beau wrapped his arms around me again. “Well, Mrs. Matthews, should we get back to the party?”
I returned his hug. “In just a minute. I just want to enjoy just the two of us a little while longer.”
Epilogue
I exhaled as Beau eased the rental car off the bridge. With endless miles of water beneath us, I hadn’t been able to focus on the beauty, just every worst-case scenario possible. My darling husband laughed at me when he looked over across the seat at me. He poked a button on the GPS, and flipped on the blinker. As we drove along, the sounds of Jimmy Buffet filled the car.
Vibrant pops of pink and orange streaked across the violet sky as we made our way to the resort. I pushed the button to lower the window, letting in the warm, salty smelling air. Beau threaded his fingers through mine, and I briefly closed my eyes. The moment couldn’t have been better.
We pulled up to the hotel, where little fairy lights greeted us on all the bushes and trees. “Let’s just go check in. We can come back for the bags later.”
My heart hammering with excitement, I climbed out of the car. The lobby of the resort intimidated me in its opulence. What I had seen online didn’t do the place justice. While Beau led me toward the reception desk, I was mesmerized by the white marble fountain in the middle of the immense space.
He handed the woman behind the long granite counter our reservation form, and then continued to look around himself. If Beau felt like I did, he must have been slightly overwhelmed. We had never stayed anywhere like this.
“I’m sorry,” the woman said, breaking into my thoughts. “You must not have hit the submit button. We don’t have you in our system.”
“That’s impossible,” Beau said. “We have the confirmation email right here.”
“I’m sorry, but if you aren’t in the system, you can’t stay here. We require three weeks’ notice for all changes or reservations. It’s clearly stated on our website.”
A strange buzzing sound filled my ears. This could not be happening. The receptionist shrugged, like it wasn’t her problem at all. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I had made the reservation correctly. I was not going to let this woman ruin my honeymoon. When I glanced up at Beau, I saw that he was ready to open his mouth, but I grabbed his hand and shook my head.
“Can I speak to the manager?” The words left my mouth before I had a chance to think about it.
With a look of surprise, the woman said, “I suppose. Follow me.”
I turned to my husband. “Let me handle this. I know I did everything right. Don’t worry about a thing.”
My lungs screamed with stress as I too
k a fortifying breath. The manager was a stout man with bushy white eyebrows. He shook my hand before asking me what he could do for me. “My husband and I came all the way down here for our honeymoon. I made the reservations through your website over a month ago. Your receptionist seems incapable of rechecking the information, even though we have all our paperwork right here.” I paused, producing the confirmation email, and placing it on his desk. “Now, we want to stay at your beautiful establishment. How can you help me?”
The manager skimmed over the paperwork, then sent the woman a look I couldn’t read. She had been hovering by the door throughout my complaint. At his look, the lady ducked her head, and hurried away.
“Mrs. Matthews, clearly it is a simple clerical error on our part. I’m terribly sorry for the inconvenience. The last thing we want to do here is ruin your honeymoon. Let me tell you what I want to do for you and your husband. How does a room upgrade sound?”
Beau shot me a speculative glance as I returned to the lobby with the manager. He didn’t say anything as we followed the older man through a labyrinthine corridor, up two flights of steps, and down another hallway until we stopped in front of two huge gilded doors. Honeymoon Suite was embellished above the frame in gold lettering.
“Your key, sir and madam.”
As we stepped into the suite, my breath hitched. Even when booking our stay, I had made sure to get the most affordable option. Never had I dreamed of spending our honeymoon in surroundings like the room we stood in.
“Wow,” Beau said, leading me onto the attached balcony. He pushed the French doors open, and we stepped into the warm twilight.
“Yeah. Now this is the perfect end to our wedding.” I wrapped my arms around Beau’s waist as memories of the big day drifted through my mind. In the end, whose wedding had it been, anyway? Definitely mine. Ours. Our wedding.