by Laura Burton
Tears leak out of Debbie’s eyes and I pull her in for a hug. This isn’t right. The bride shouldn’t be crying the night before her wedding. Holly and Michelle nod at me, as if my thoughts are broadcasting to our own private frequency.
“You know what? I’m gonna go get our dresses,” Holly announces and jumps up. She turns to Michelle. “Coming with? I could use the extra hand.”
Michelle hops off the bed and the two of them leave the room without another word. Once the door closes, Debbie collapses in a little heap in my lap. I stroke her hair and make shushing noises, just like I used to when we were kids.
“It’ll be alright, you know,” I say, trying to reassure myself just as much as her. “Just think, you’re embarking on a big new adventure. Besides... It’s not like you’re going to Mars.”
Debbie lets out a deep shaky breath and I dab the tears from her cheeks with my sleeve. “I know things have moved pretty fast for you and it’s all catching up. But you love Mark, right?”
Debbie shifts back to look up at me and nods. “I love him so much it hurts.”
I hum back. I know that feeling.
“And he loves you,” I say with a note of finality. “And if he ever does anything to hurt you, the whole family will be out to get him,” I say with a chuckle. Debbie’s cheeks flush as she smirks back. “I’m sorry to be a Debbie downer.”
“Literally,” we say in unison, then share matching grins. Debbie sits up and crosses her legs. “And I’m sorry for pressuring you and Ryder into…”
“Don’t,” I say, my throat restricting. “It’s not about us. We both just want…”
I’m not sure how to finish the sentence. What do we want? I want my sister to have a big, beautiful wedding with all of our family there.
I want to stand beside Ryder, holding his hand. No more games.
Debbie eyes me carefully. She’s doing the twin thing and picking up on my thoughts again. “What are you two gonna do?”
I suck in a breath and hold it in for a moment. “I know there are feelings here,” I say, exhaling slowly. “But... He just won’t talk to me. And that drives me crazy.”
Debbie bites her lip and looks at me with a guilty expression. “Well, I guess I’ve been no help. I don’t think you’ve had much time alone.”
She makes a good point. Ryder and I have been so preoccupied with the wedding and then the dare, it's been nearly impossible to sit down and have a serious conversation. Especially when Debbie keeps walking in on us.
“I guess I’m just worried he’ll suddenly think we’re better off being apart, and without giving me a say in it, he’ll cut me off.”
Debbie wipes her eyes with a big sigh. “Maybe Michelle can give you two some couples counseling.”
I laugh. “We’ll need it.”
“Look, let’s get this wedding out of the way. Then the two of you will be able to figure this out. You care about him, right?”
I chew the inside of my cheek and give a nod. “Well then,” Debbie says, recovering herself and sitting up a little taller. “I’m sure everything will work out.”
The next morning, Michelle fixes coffee for everyone as the girls and our mom get ready. Debbie slips on her white satin gown; it sits on her curves and fits like a glove. Our mom dabs her eyes with a sigh. “My sweet Debbie. You are like an exquisite wine. So beautiful.”
Our mom is quiet and chooses her words carefully. But when she does talk, it’s always to say something lovely or profound. She wraps her arms delicately around Debbie’s shoulders and plants a soft kiss on her cheek.
“I’m very proud of you,” she says, pulling back to look at her. Debbie beams, her face radiating happiness.
A knock on the door pulls my attention away from them, and I walk toward it. I pass the bathroom and catch a glimpse of Holly and Michelle squabbling over make-up. Then I open the door to see my dad in a black tux. His mustache is neatly trimmed and his greying dark hair is gelled to the side. He grins at me, his eyes twinkling, and I throw my arms around him to squeeze him.
“Hello, Tesoro,” he says with a soft laugh. He pats me gently then I break away. “You look handsome, papa,” I say warmly. He steps in and I move over to let him see Debbie, standing in her gown. The two of them stare at each other for a few moments before our dad kisses his fingertips and throws his hands in the air.
“Ah, Debbie... Bellissimo!” He strides across the room to embrace her. Then he turns to our mom. “Mi amore, look at our daughters. God has been good to us.”
I stand still for a moment, hardly daring to breathe as the feeling of warmth radiates through the whole room. My parents embrace each other and my eyes prickle as I watch my dad press his lips to my mother’s temple.
They are like yin and yang. He is bold and outspoken and deeply passionate. And our mother is quiet and gentle. Yet, even after thirty-two years of marriage, they have never looked more in love.
We make our way downstairs and gather outside the doors to the conference room. My father offers Debbie his arm and glances back at me. “Are we all ready?” he asks. The question hits me hard and my heart races as if I’m the one getting married.
Jonah and Cameron walk up in matching charcoal suits with white roses pinned to their jackets. I watch as Holly takes Cameron’s arm, her pastel pink gown swishing with her movements. Michelle joins Jonah.
Then the doors open and the wedding march announces Debbie’s arrival. I gulp. Following my sister, I focus on keeping enough distance between us so as not to trip up on her veil.
A collective sigh greets us as we enter the room, but I pay no attention. I can’t help the gasp escaping my lips. The room is filled with white and red balloons. Soft white material drapes across the ceiling in waves and one of the hotel staff is standing at the front of the room with a bible. I glance down at the red petals lining the aisle and scan the rows of family members filling the seats. The room is completely transformed. Only the rattling windows serve as a reminder that there's even a storm outside.
Debbie plants a kiss on our dad’s cheek and he joins our mother in the front row. Then I look up and meet Ryder’s bright eyes. He stands tall and strong in a dark suit, and his hands are clasped in front of him. Nothing could have prepared me for the bold grin he gives me. My breath hitches and I walk over, as if on autopilot, to stand opposite him at the front.
“Dearly beloved…” the staff member says solemnly. Then he leans over to Mark, “That is what you say, right?” he murmurs. Mark gives him a thumbs up and a light chuckle. “You’re doing great.”
The man clears his throat and continues his speech. But his words fade from my ears and I just stare at Ryder in wonderment.
“You did all this?” I mouth to him. Ryder nods with a smile more beautiful than the sun setting over Rome. My heart squeezes. He must have had even less sleep than me.
“...Do you take this woman to be your lawful wife?”
I zone in on the staff member again and look at my sister, beaming up at her groom. But before Mark opens his mouth, Ryder speaks.
“I do.”
Mark looks at Ryder with surprise and a wave of shocked gasps and whispers wash over the congregation.
I blink at Ryder several times, trying to process what just happened, and Debbie’s laugh breaks the silence. “Excuse me?” she says, looking at Ryder like he just sprouted two heads.
“Sorry,” he blurts, his face turning magenta. “I don’t… At least, not you. I mean, you’re great, Debbie. But I mean...” He tugs on his collar and all I can do is stare, dumbfounded.
Amazingly, my sister and new brother-in-law seem to find the funny in this situation. The two of them break into fits of giggles.
“Something on your mind, Ryder?” Mark asks, slapping his best friend on the back. Ryder shakes his head and apologizes repeatedly, but Debbie shakes her head. “Come on, you can’t leave us hanging like that. I wanna know what you’re thinking.” She winks at me like this situation is all part of a big pla
n or something. Ryder clears his throat and I look back at him, shocked.
“I mean… I do. At least, I want to take Katia to be my lawfully wedded wife.” Ryder clears his throat and looks at me finally. “I never stopped loving you. And we’ve already lost so much time, I can’t stand another moment without you in my life.”
“We know. Don’t worry, your turn will come,” my dad shouts from the front row. The rest of the guests chuckle. I swallow and Michelle shakes my arm excitedly. This is probably super exciting to everyone else. Even Debbie and Mark look delighted by the turn of events. I, on the other hand, can’t believe Ryder is choosing right now to bare his soul.
“Right,” Ryder says, his cheeks dimpling. Debbie and Mark look at each other for a few moments, then their faces break into identical devilish grins.
“How about a double wedding?” Debbie suggests. The guests applaud with approval as Holly and Michelle both go, “Ooooh!”
“No, no,” I say frowning. “It’s your day. Sorry, go on.” I give a quick smile to the presiding staff member who looks like he has no idea what to do.
“Come on,” Mark bellows so loudly it echoes around the room. “As long as I get to marry this beautiful lady, I don’t care if everyone gets married at the same time.”
I glance at Holly and Michelle and they're both looking hopefully at their boyfriends. The men are looking back with pale faces and the sight prompts a small laugh to escape my lips. But then I look at Ryder and suddenly nothing seems funny at all. “Katia,” he says in a deep voice. The people around us fizzle away and it’s just us. “I’ve missed you every day since the end of high school. In fact, I still have the last picture we took.” He pulls out an old photograph from his jacket pocket and holds it up. The two of us are crammed into a photo booth and a young Ryder is kissing my forehead. I’m looking down with a smile on my face. “I came back to New York, with hopes that we might reconnect. Now I have a good job, and I’m ready to settle down and make that commitment.”
The whole world around me grows light and my chest becomes so tight I can hardly breathe.
I’ve only had an hour of sleep. Maybe this is delirium kicking in and I’m just playing out a fantasy while Mark and Debbie exchange their vows.
“Right. Then it’s settled. You two are getting married. Right here. Right now,” Debbie says. Just like that, everyone in the room comes flooding back into view. I inhale sharply, unable to break away from Ryder’s intense gaze.
I rub my pinky against the cold band on my ring finger to check that it’s really there. Then I bite my lip, trying to decide whether to go ahead with this or not.
“This is perfect," Mark says. "I get to see my best friend marrying my new sister-in-law without having to fly back from Tokyo.”
“WHAT?”
My dad’s voice launches me into action as I catch Debbie’s look of pure dread. “I do!” I shout, looking at Ryder again. A rise of delighted chatter fills the air and Ryder’s face breaks into a beaming smile. “You will?” he asks softly, stepping forward to take my hands.
As his skin touches mine, every part of my body relaxes. Everything about this feels right––as if it was always going to end up this way. From the storm stopping us and Ryder having to stay up all night to decorate, to Michelle’s dare forcing us to face our true feelings for each other.
“Well, in that case. Gentlemen. Do you take these ladies to be your lawfully wedded wives?” The staff member says, clutching his bible as we all turn to look up at him.
“We do,” Ryder and Mark say at the same time.
“And ladies, do you take these gentlemen to be your lawfully wedded husbands?”
Debbie and I glance at each other. “We do.”
“Well, then. By the power vested in me by the state of New Jersey and make me a pastor dot com, I pronounce you all husbands and wives. You may kiss your brides.”
An explosion of cheers erupt as Ryder pulls me in and I rise on tiptoe to meet his lips. Our noses nuzzle, and my heart swells so much it makes me dizzy. Who knows? Maybe this is all a beautiful, whacky, crazy dream? But as we break apart and take turns to hug Debbie and Mark, I decide that if it is, I’m never going to let myself wake up.
Epilogue
Michelle
“Should we tell them that without a marriage license, they’re not legally married?” Jonah murmurs into my ear as we watch Katia and Ryder walking arm in arm down the aisle. I stifle a laugh as we slowly follow.
“No, let them have their special day,” I whisper back.
The storm settles and radiant sunshine pours in through the windows as everyone takes their seats in the dining hall. After what seems like hours of food and drink and laughter, I catch a moment to gather my friends around for a few minutes. We're all sitting at a round table, every one of us blissfully in love, and I swallow against the bubble of pride building up inside of me.
“So, I have a confession to make,” I say.
“Here we go,” Jonah says, rolling his eyes. Everyone looks at me as if they’ve known all along. Everyone knew the dares were a setup. But there’s no way they could have known everything.
“I’m not doing my masters. I dropped out six months ago,” I confess. Holly gasps in her overly dramatic way, and Katia throws her hands over her mouth. I fix my smile and scratch the back of my neck as I let the news settle.
“I started an apprenticeship at Find My Companion, instead.”
“The matchmaking business?”
“I knew it!” Holly says triumphantly as she slams her fist on the table. “I knew you were playing matchmaker.”
“So, what? You set up these dares to get us all to couple up?” Debbie asks, raising a brow.
I sigh, relieved to be finally rid of the burden of this secret. I hadn’t even told Jonah. I glance at him and bite my lip at his look of surprise. “The manager wanted me to show her I could be a matchmaker before letting me assist with a case,” I say. “She’s super impressed that I’ve been able to match all of my friends in a... How did she put it? ‘Creative and imaginative way.’” I rub my forearm, trying and failing to hide a grin. “Because of this, I’m starting my first case next week.”
After a moment of shocked silence, Debbie marches over and kisses me on the cheek. “What a weird and wonderful friend you are Michelle.”
The others laugh.
“So, you’re not going to be a therapist?” Katia asks slowly. I shake my head. “Well, there's a degree of therapy involved when you’re a matchmaker,” I explain carefully.
“Isn’t that company famous for matching the rich and famous? So, you’re gonna be helping billionaire CEOs find the perfect woman, and hoping she doesn’t turn out to be a gold-digger?” Cameron says, cocking a brow.
I shrug. “Something like that.”
Jonah raises his glass and kisses me on the cheek. “Well, this deserves a toast.”
Everyone follows suit, holding their glasses up.
“We’ve already toasted to the brides and grooms,” Cameron says, chuckling. “And to true love and all that cheesy stuff.”
My eyes tear up as I look at my friends, sitting together for possibly the last time in a long time. “How about, to new beginnings?”
Everyone nods. “To new beginnings!” we say together.
I have no idea what the future holds, or when we’ll get together like this again. I imagine it’ll be at Holly and Cameron’s wedding. All the big names in Hollywood will be there to support Holly, who will have become an A-lister by that time. Debbie and Katia will each have their own set of twins. And I’ll become the next Emily Marks: best matchmaker in the city.
The thought brings a satisfied smile to my lips and I look around the table. No matter what the future brings, we’ll always have each other. And after all these dares, that’s the only truth that matters.
THE END
–– This is the end of the Truth or Dare series. If you haven’t already read about Emily at Find My Companion, you ca
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A Note From the Author
During the covid-19 pandemic, the world became unrecognizable. Hugs have been forbidden. Isolation and social distancing have become the norm.
I have suffered like most. Being in the house, day after day, worrying about my loved ones. Wondering when this nightmare will end.
The constant stress and worry has affected my attention span. I love reading. I will always love reading. But lately, I’ve been getting fatigued by reading long books.
Or even normal-sized books.
After hanging out in reader groups, I realized I am not alone. So, I came up with the Truth or Dare series. It’s a collection of episodic stories, that hopefully give all of the feels and entertainment, without getting readers bogged down.
I hope this collection has provided you with some much-needed escapism. And I thank you very much for reading. Writing is my family’s only source of income right now. I feel blessed that due to modern-day technology, I can support my family doing what I love while staying home to home school my kids and take care of my mother.
I hope for a brighter future, but as long as this world is crazy and unpredictable, I’ll just keep writing happy stories to keep you entertained.
If you enjoyed this book, please do consider leaving a review!
Well, until next time…
Keep reading!
Laura
XoXo
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