feel like they’re a part of the whole event. “That’s a very big deal, you know.”
“We know. Dad told us that about a million times,” Tyler said.
“I’m still mad I don’t get to go to Bermuda,” Hunter said.
“Oh, come on, now,” I said. “Let’s put that behind us. And besides, we have a whole week to do things together! It will be better than Bermuda.”
They eyed me with keen suspicion, the kind of suspicion only little boys can harbor.
“Like there’s anything we can do about anything anyway,” Tyler said.
I knelt down to his level and looked him in the eyes.
“Tyler, it’s not easy to just trust anyone completely. Believe me, your father has thought all of this through. He only wants what’s best for both of you. Someday, when you’re a dad, you’ll understand just how carefully these choices are made. So promise me you’ll both give Sharon a chance, all right?”
They looked at each other. Tyler had his hands stuffed in his pants pockets. Hunter was kicking the dirt and sucking his teeth.
“Okay,” Tyler said.
Hunter said, “We’ll see. If she’s nice to us, then we’ll be nice to her.”
“No, no, young man. That’s drawing a line in the sand, and that’s not how this has to be. You have to begin with an open heart, Hunter. Promise me?”
“Okay,” he said after a moment of consideration.
I looked up to see Archie coming toward us. He was drop-dead gorgeous in his tuxedo.
“Is everything all right?” he said.
“Sure, Dad! Let’s go get you married off!” Tyler said.
Hunter was less sure but managed a crooked smile all the same.
“Let’s go. The sooner you get married, the sooner I get cake!” he said, and he scooted away with Tyler.
I stood there looking at Archie. He was so handsome I wanted to cry. Men in tuxedos were like men in uniform. There was just something so appealing about the formality of it. And he was wearing a Brackish bow tie, made of peacock feathers. I could feel his excitement, and then it all changed. He looked at me then as if he’d never seen me before. We both knew what the look meant. It was recognition.
“You look really, I mean, you’re beautiful, Holly,” he said.
I smiled at him and said, “I’ll still be the girl next door if you ever need me, Archie.”
He was quiet then as it all sank in. Perhaps he realized in that moment that he was marrying the wrong woman, but it was too late to do anything about it. And don’t you know, here came the bride, a vision of cleavage and bad taste in ecru lace with too many sparkling baubles all over her dress refracting the light like a light saber from Star Wars.
“Holly, is that really you? You’re so . . . um, pink!”
It’s unbecoming for the bride to be a bitch on her wedding day, I wanted to say, but I held my tongue.
Instead I said, “You look lovely, Sharon. What a beautiful bouquet. Congratulations.”
I was going to be a lady about it all. People were taking their seats. The chamber music began playing slightly louder.
“Good luck!” I said to them and walked away.
What else was I supposed to do except hide my feelings? I took a seat in the very back, next to an older couple, and waited for the ceremony to begin. The ceremony was being performed by a friend of Sharon’s who happened to be a judge. He was standing at the end of the little makeshift aisle with Archie and his two sons. Hunter, of course, was fidgeting, unable to stay still.
First, some older ladies were brought up the aisle. Then two women who were bridesmaids, even though they seemed a little too old to be in a wedding party. And a little tiny golden-haired girl followed them, dropping flower petals. She was walking so slowly and dropping her petals with such deliberation that the guests smiled and chuckled. She couldn’t have been over three years old and she easily stole every single heart.
The music became louder again, the guests stood, and along came Sharon, on the arm of a man I assumed was her father. I was puzzled and a little slighted to know that Archie and Sharon’s relationship had come this far and I’d never been introduced to anyone in her family. But in my heart, I knew it was because Archie considered any introductions to be unnecessary to a neighbor.
Just get this over with, I thought. Please. Let this