I’d mess up your lipstick.”
“Go ahead.” She steps closer, lifting her hands to the sides of my neck. “A kiss from you is worth any amount of messing up.”
That’s all the invitation I need. I slide my hand to the back of her head and bring my mouth down on hers, tasting all the wholesome goodness that is my wife. She parts her lips under mine. The spinning of my heart starts to go to my head.
“Daddy!”
Bella’s voice slides into our growing haze, and Liv and I slowly separate and turn toward our daughter. She’s like a perfect flower in a pale blue dress and white petticoat, her hair fastened back with a spray of bluebells.
“Hey, Snowbell.” I hold out my arms so she can hurry into them. “You’re more beautiful than the moon.”
“You look like a clown.”
Liv laughs, fishing in her purse for a clean tissue to wipe the lipstick off my mouth. She takes out a pocket mirror to fix her lipstick.
“Where’s Kelsey?” I ask.
Liv nods toward the Wonderland Café, where Kelsey is coming down the porch steps. I indicate to Liv that I’m going to meet her, then I cross the grass toward the bride.
She catches my eye and smiles. She’s in an ivory-colored dress that hugs her figure in all the right places and shows off her long legs. Without her glasses, her eyes are a piercing blue, and the navy streak in her smooth, blond hair gives her an edgy, otherworldly look.
We stop in front of each other. I look at her face and suddenly see the wild, rebellious young woman I’d first met in college.
“You must be a lousy lay,” were the first words she ever said to me. “Come on, I’ll buy you a beer.”
“You look incredible,” I say. “My brother is one lucky guy.”
“I thought I’d be nervous, but I’m not.”
“That’s because it’s right,” I tell her. “So what finally made you realize you wanted to marry him?”
“It felt like something snapped inside me, but in a good way.” Her gaze flickers past me to the trellis where Archer is standing. “Like a lock. He’s been my world for so long, and knowing his loyalty and devotion, and seeing what you and Liv have gone through… What’s more important in life than committing to being a family? To loving someone else that much?”
“Nothing is more important.” I move closer to her. “I’m going to hug you now.”
“You’d better.”
I pull her close, and she slides her arms around my waist. Over twenty years we’ve known each other, and now she’s marrying my brother.
After parting, we walk back to the entrance to the wedding, where Liv is giving Bella and Nicholas last-minute instructions. The guitarist starts to play, signaling the beginning of the ceremony, and the guests stand.
The two children walk out first, with Bella clutching a bouquet of flowers and Nicholas carefully holding the rings. A chorus of “awws” and affection rises from the guests.
Liv and Kelsey exchange a hug. Liv whispers something in Kelsey’s ear before stepping past the trees and starting down the aisle.
I hold out my arm to Kelsey. “May I?”
“Lord, yes.” She slides her arm through mine. “It’s about freaking time, isn’t it?”
“I’ll say.”
A hush, expectant air fills the space, murmurs of awe rising, the guitar music playing softly alongside the breeze. Kelsey’s hand tightens on my arm the closer we get to where Archer is waiting with Nicholas and Patch at his side.
I can’t help thinking that the next time I walk a woman down the aisle, that woman will be my daughter.
Kelsey and I stop at the base of the stepped platform. The officiant moves forward.
“Who presents this woman to be married to this man?” he asks, looking at me.
Something sticks in my throat and for a second, I can’t speak.
“On behalf of her family and friends,” I say, after clearing my throat, “and in honor of her parents, I do.”
I press my lips to Kelsey’s cheek. She hugs me and whispers, “Thank you.” I put my hand on her back and guide her up the steps, following to take my place beside Archer as his best man.
The ceremony is simple, with Archer and Kelsey reciting poems before exchanging vows. Not once do they take their eyes off each other. Only once do I have to put my hand on Nicholas’s shoulder to remind him not to fidget.
As Archer and Kelsey exchange rings, I look across to where my wife is standing. At the exact same instant,