Page 26 of Faking the Pass

Frosted Cardboard

R osie

After the main course was finished, the dessert trays were presented.

There was, of course, a wedding cake. And it was spectacular.

Frosted in ivory buttercream, the four-tiered cake was decorated with buttercream beach roses and white chocolate seashells and starfish embedded into the sides.

It was sprinkled with iridescent candy pearls, and it was simply too much to resist.

There were also trays of gorgeous handmade chocolates, all in a nautical theme, all of which Presley tried—in addition to eating two pieces of wedding cake.

Apparently I wasn’t the only one surprised to see him eating sugar, because his brothers took notice.

“Watch out there, Superman. Your system’s going to go into shock from all that kryptonite,” Merc teased.

Dylan chimed in. “This is the first time you’ve eaten dessert in years, isn’t it?”

“Decades,” Wilder corrected. “His body is a temple.”

“Fuck you, it’s my wedding night,” Presley responded before shoveling another forkful of wedding cake into his mouth.

“Language,” his mom said with a tut-tut noise.

“There are ladies present, son,” his dad scolded.

Presley gave Jessica and his mom and me a sheepish grin. “Sorry.”

Lily had already left the party, picked up by a sitter at around seven o’clock. The little girl went without a fuss because she was eager to see her cousin Theo, who was strapped into his car seat, calling out to her loud enough for us all to hear.

The toasts began as the dessert course wound down. Merc went first.

“When Pres called me and told me I needed to haul ass here from California during a game week, I assumed something was bad wrong. But tonight I know the opposite is true. Something here is very right. I haven’t seen my brother smile this much or laugh this much in a long time, and it warms my heart. ”

He lifted his glass toward me. “The reason is sitting right there, looking like a princess— way too good for this joker, by the way.”

Everyone laughed, and he went on.

“Seriously, I knew back in high school there was something special about the connection between you two. Which is why Rosie would never give me the time of day… when everyone could plainly see I was the hotter brother.”

There was more laughter, louder this time. When it dissipated, Merc said, “To Rosie and Presley… who’s still not as hot but is clearly the luckiest SOB alive.”

“To Rosie and Presley,” everyone echoed.

Glasses clinked around the table, then Wilder rose from his chair. “I’m going to claim it’s a tie since I’m also the luckiest man alive.”

Beside him, Jessica grinned and did a cute little wiggle as Wilder started his toast.

“I want to say I can’t imagine a better fit for this family—and for Presley—than Rosie. While it might not have been the smartest thing I’ve ever done to put her in a small boat wearing a dress the weight of a freighter anchor…”

This time I couldn’t help but laugh with the others. That thing had weighed a ton .

“...I couldn’t be happier I sent her to that cottage with my brother’s house key. It’s been quite a journey, and there’s more to come, but I truly believe these two can weather any storm and come out stronger. A toast… to the newest Mrs. Lowe.”

There was more clinking of crystal and a rousing recitation of, “To Mrs. Lowe.”

Dylan pushed his chair back and stood. “I’m still waiting for my good luck to roll in.”

There were chuckles and head nods.

“But I haven’t given up yet,” he said. “And Pres, you and Rosie give me hope that the right one is out there somewhere for me and Lily. I wish you both happiness and health and a houseful of little Lowes. All girls preferably… because I need someone to commiserate with about attending mandatory daily tea parties and reading Madeline seven hundred thousand times. So far .”

He grinned. “To Pres and Rosie.”

“To Pres and Rosie,” the family echoed.

His brothers were really going above and beyond in their collusion with this whole tall tale. Each of their toasts had seemed so sincere and had choked me up more than once.

Maybe they should have all gone into acting instead of professional sports.

During this whole time, I’d lifted my glass at the appropriate moments and had taken obligatory sips, but it had been a struggle not to get up and run off into the darkness.

If this had been real, I would have been the happiest girl in the world. I couldn’t adore Presley’s family more.

The dinner had been amazing. The setting was breathtaking. The flowers and the music and the intimate little chapel were all perfection.

But it was too much. I wasn’t sure I could take any more.

I was about to stand up and thank everyone then excuse myself to go back to Danielle’s room and change, when she rose from her chair, a shy expression on her face.

“I’d like to say a little word if it’s okay.”

I shot her a warning look to inform her it was not okay, but she ignored it.

“I want to thank you all for including me in this special day,” she said.

“I have to admit I was worried about Rosie getting married this way… so soon after her wedding to the groom-who-shall-not-be-named fell apart. It’s certainly not the usual way things happen, but then Rosie isn’t the usual girl. ”

She gave me a wet-eyed glance, and I willed her to stop there.

She didn’t.

“I’ve attended weddings that were planned for two years and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Danielle said. “I think we all have. And then we hear about the divorces that follow six months later. In this case, I am not worried about that at all.”

Right. Because she already knew the divorce was coming. Why was she even making a toast?

Danielle continued. “She probably doesn’t remember telling me this, but when Rosie and I first became friends and we were sharing all our war stories, she told me about Presley.”

Oh no.

“You know your friends.” She looked around at the rapt audience who all nodded their heads.

“You know how they look and sound when something is important—and when it’s no big deal,” she said.

“And Presley was clearly a very big deal in Rosie’s life.

I could tell from the sound of her voice and the look on her face when she talked about him.

I think she always carried a little part of him with her.

Though they weren’t ready for things to progress back then, sometimes life has a way of working things out for you. ”

I gasped in shock at her use of the same phrase Mrs. Lowe had said to me just a little while ago.

Both of them were wrong, though. Life was not working out for me.

Life was the cruel bitch who’d served me up not one but two fake weddings in a matter of weeks.

And now she’d sentenced me to fake bridal hell—because I had to make myself laugh and smile at all these lies. It was almost more embarrassing than being a runaway bride.

After everyone joined in Danielle’s toast, Presley got to his feet.

What was he going to say? Probably some version of, “Well… I guess we’re married now.”

What else could he say?

His brothers started chanting, “Speech, speech, speech,” like a pack of middle school boys at an assembly.

The wine had been flowing pretty freely for a couple hours now.

Presley calmed the racket with a gesture before speaking.

“I have hands-down the best family in the world… though clearly Merc is getting a little blind in his old age.”

There was laughter and Merc yelled, “What are you talking about?” then squinted and feigned difficulty seeing.

“We need to get you here to New England—then we’ll let the fans decide who’s the ‘Hottest Nautie,’” Presley said.

He looked down at me and smiled. “Too late for this one though, brother. She’s mine. And you’re right. I am lucky.”

He sounded so sincere it made my throat ache. I blinked and looked down, fiddling with my cloth napkin as Presley continued his speech.

He thanked each of his brothers and Jessica and Danielle for sharing the day with us and making it work on short notice.

Then he directed his attention to his mom and dad.

“What the four of us must have put you through over the years… I can’t even imagine. All the sprains and broken bones—and broken windows—and fender benders.”

His mom wiped away a tear, and his dad added, “Don’t forget the lawnmower you took apart to ‘see how it worked.’”

Mr. Lowe was a man of few words. Since we’d been together today, he’d mostly just talked to his oldest son, Wilder. But I could see on his face how much he loved Presley.

My new husband laughed. “I still owe you for that one.”

Then he got serious. “I’ll always be grateful I was born into this family, and while a few weeks ago, I couldn’t have imagined the events of today… having you all here tonight just underlines for me that you’ve always got my back no matter what.”

“You bet your ass we do,” Wilder said.

“Thank you all for being here,” Presley said. “Thank you for your love. And thank you…”

He turned to look down at me again. “...for welcoming my wife into the family.”

My wife. Chills went from the top of my head to the tips of my fingers and toes. Who would have thought two little words could fry an entire nervous system? Despite the loud thumping in my ears, I heard Dylan’s yell.

“I hate to tell you this, but we already like her better than you, bro.”

“And I can’t blame you,” Presley said. “She smells better, and she’s never given you a super-atomic wedgie.”

When the laughter died down, he lifted his glass and took my hand, pulling me to my feet.

“To Rosie, or should I say, Mrs. Presley Lowe.”

“To Rosie,” the others all said, and there was a final round of clinks and sips.

It was probably wrong that I didn’t also say a few words of gratitude to the group, but I was literally speechless.

When I’d fallen for Presley in high school, I’d had no idea .

If I had known what a good guy he was back then, what a phenomenal family he had, I’d probably have camped out on his doorstep and baked him fresh cookies every day until he’d agreed to give me another chance.