moves. Er, I should make that past tense. He used to charm the girls with his amazing dance moves. In fact, at one of those clubs not so far from here, he met Tara and I’m sure it was his dancing that attracted her. Right, Tara? Right?” He turned and looked at her. She laughed and shook her head. “Okay, maybe not.” He paused. “Tara, you are an amazing woman, and you totally deserve someone special. Jacob, good thing you married her first.”
Another burst of laughter filled the room. Sloane’s heart shifted in her chest.
“Jacob, when you met Tara, I’d like to say I knew immediately that she was the perfect woman for you. However, that would be a lie because at first I thought she was way too good for you.” He paused again for the laughter. “Tara is beautiful and smart and funny and kind. But it turns out you two are perfect for each other. Since you’ve been with her, Jacob, I’ve seen you relax and loosen up and not take life so seriously, something I apparently failed to teach you. She brings out the good side in you—which is pretty damn difficult.”
He grinned at the audience he had in the palm of his hand.
“For a long time, Jacob swore he wasn’t falling in love with Tara, but I knew it was true love the day he actually talked to her on the phone. Yep. Not just texting, folks. They talked to each other. That’s how I knew it was serious.” He paused to take a sip of water as more chuckles filled the room.
“Now I think I’m supposed to pass on some kind of profound advice about marriage. But I’m the last guy in the world who should give advice about love or marriage.” His self-deprecating eye roll and smile made Sloane’s heart quiver. “However, not knowing anything about a particular topic has never stopped me from talking about it.” The laughs this time obviously came from those in the crowd who knew him. “So I decided to do some research and get advice from the experts. First of all, I went to Emily, my five-year-old niece.” More laughter rippled through the room and behind Sloane, Emily bounced on her chair and clapped at mention of her name. “Here’s Emily’s advice for Jacob—be a good kisser. If you’re a good kisser, Tara might not remember that you never do the dishes.”
He took another sip of water. “Then I went to our buddy Trent. You might not think a guy who’s been divorced twice would have good advice about marriage, but hey, he swears he’s learned some things. Trent says the most important thing is to learn how to fight. Now…” Levi settled his hands on the podium, “…telling newlyweds to fight might not sound like the best advice. But Trent says there’s a right way and a wrong way to fight, and you should learn how to fight the right way.” He smiled at Tara and Jacob. “And then I went to Jacob’s grandparents, who’ve been married fifty-three years. That’s right, folks.” Someone started clapping. “Yeah, let’s give them a round of applause.” Levi applauded too. “So here’s the advice from Trudy and Gill Leech. They say that there will be times you’ll hate each other and you might fall out of love. But the key to a successful marriage is letting yourself fall in love with each other again. And again.” He paused. “And again.”
Levi picked up his wine glass. “Now, as a man who will drink to pretty much anything, it gives me great pleasure to invite you all to raise your glasses and join me in a toast to Tara and Jacob.”
Sloane smiled, her heart full of emotion once again, and lifted her wineglass to clink against the others at the table. She watched Levi walk over to Tara and hug her, then give his best friend a big, masculine hug and back slap that was clearly heartfelt. She took in the beaming smiles of Levi’s family, full of pride and amusement, and she knew exactly how they felt.
Dammit. This was so bad.
The bride and groom cut the cake, the music started and Tara and Jacob danced to Ben Howard singing “Only Love”. Sloane’s heart took another dive.
She watched Levi join in with that maid of honor—Brenna…no, Brynn—for a short dance, and then he was done with the formalities and was making his way through the tables toward her. His tux fit his