A Bad Boy is Good to Find - By Jennifer Lewis Page 0,111

up a slow rendition of Louis Armstrong’s “Wonderful World.” There was no arguing with the skies of blue in Con’s mind as he turned and saw his lovely Lizzie walking up the flower-edged aisle on the arm of her cousin.

Their eyes met, hers sparkling. She bit her lip and he hoped she wasn’t going to cry. But if she did, hey, no problem. They were happy tears, right?

When she reached him he took her hand. She squeezed his palm, and he squeezed back as they climbed the two steps to the arbor together and stood facing each other, holding hands as Raoul had instructed.

Raoul himself radiated pomp and ceremony, and quite possibly divine majesty as well. “My name is Raoul Johnston, and I have the privilege of performing this ceremony today for Lizzie Hathaway and Conroy Beale. We’re here to celebrate the love they have found in each other and to witness and proclaim the joining together of these two persons in marriage.

His voice resonated across the lawn, each word ringing with dignity and sincerity. “This is the union of two individuals in heart, body, mind and spirit and is not to be entered into lightly, but reverently, honestly and deliberately.”

Con whispered “Amen!” He’d be eternally grateful they hadn’t gotten married just for show. He couldn’t have forgiven himself for that.

The first reading was from some children’s book and it had made Lizzie go completely to pieces during the rehearsal, so he held her hand tight as Maisie started to read it in her clear, ringing voice.

“‘The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams.

‘What is REAL?’ asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. ‘Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?’

‘Real isn't how you are made,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but Really loves you, then you become Real.’

‘Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit.

‘Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. ‘When you are Real you don't mind being hurt.’

‘Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,’ he asked, ‘or bit by bit?’

‘It doesn't happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get all loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.’”

Lizzie’s breathing got a little erratic in the middle there, so he chafed her hand with his thumb, feeling kind of panicky and raw and very very real.

He wanted to kiss her right now, to lose himself in her softness, but Raoul had been strict about the importance of sticking to his planned order of events so he straightened his shoulders and drew in a long, slow breath.

The next reading was by Danny, who recited from memory, hands by his side. During the rehearsal, Con had recognized the familiar prayer from their mother’s prayer book, but hearing it now, at his own real wedding, he suddenly felt as if his mother was right there, kissing him on the cheek again and giving him her blessing. He squeezed his eyes shut, overwhelmed by the powerful sensation and by the almost painful joy of hearing his little brother’s voice after so many years not knowing if he was dead or alive. When he opened them, Danny was smiling at him and Lizzie.

“I missed you, bro,” he said. “And I’m not letting you and your lovely wife out of my sight ever again.”

“Deal,” Con croaked. Lizzie squeezed his hand.

Gia sang a song in her sweet clear voice, and Dino unveiled a limerick he’d composed for the occasion. The jazz band played a rousing interlude, then a hush fell. Con’s heart beat faster. It was time for the vows.

Raoul had written them. Very simple and basic. When the wedding was a charade they’d planned to just respond “I do” to the usual questions. No sense telling a whole bunch of heartbreaking lies on camera. Now he and Lizzie really meant it, they wanted to say the words