Page 25

25

A MEANS FOR CELEbrATION

SHILOH

I ’ve never feared for my life in a car before, but there’s a first time for everything. And if you ask Fulton, that curb came out of nowhere.

Somehow, though, we made it back to the venue in record time without being pulled over for speeding. I was tasked with the nearly impossible job of fixing my makeup post-crying session, and Fulton was tasked with drying his armpits out using the air-conditioning.

I spoke to my parents about not being able to make it, but when I told them about Fulton investing in the business just this once so we can make payroll, it hacked their anxiety in half like an axe felling timber. Luckily, they understood that my priorities lay elsewhere, and they were proud of me for listening to my heart for the first time.

I can’t believe Fulton bought a ticket and raced through the entire airport to find me, knowing very well that I could’ve already been forty thousand feet up in the air. The small, hopeless romantic in me was praying that he’d stop me from making the biggest mistake of my life, and I should’ve known that Fulton Cazzarelli would never abandon me in my time of need .

Feeling his arms around me and seeing him in person—it felt like fate had finally taken a chance on the awkward, work-obsessed girl with the less-than-subpar love life to match. Nothing can keep me from him, and to think that work was even a contender is laughable.

Fulton Cazzarelli is my Achilles’ heel. But as vulnerable as he makes me, he instills in me an equal measure of strength. When I’m with him, I don’t live with both feet in the future or in a permanent state of worry. When I’m with him, he lends me the courage to shut out the voices of unreason so I can swim to shore.

Now, here I am, sniffing back ugly tears while I watch my dear friend walk down the aisle in the most beautiful gown in existence. Fulton’s in a similar state as I am, discreetly rubbing his watering eyes on the sleeve of his suit—one that has just become the irreplaceable core of all my fantasies.

God, how did I get so lucky?

We steal glances here and there, and every time I lock eyes with him, I squeeze the rough stems of my bouquet a little harder. As the sun rests on its pedestal in the sky—flirting with the architecture of the flower-girdled arbor—something hot and heavy sits at the base of my throat.

Hayes sweeps Aeris’ veil back with reverent hands, and the minute he takes in the timeless beauty of his soon-to-be-wife, tears well in his eyes with a vengeance that can’t be stamped out.

I always believed in love, but I never believed it would find me. Fulton was a blessing in disguise that appeared when I least expected it, and now I stand across from him, envisioning a future where I’m the one in the floor-length dress, cupping my heart in my hands and offering it to the man who’d move mountains just for a chance to hold it.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here today to witness the union of Hayes and Aeris—two unlikely souls who have been blessed with the gift of finding each other out of eight billion people in the world. Whether you’re just joining them or you’ve been here for the long haul, we welcome you as members of their family,” the officiant states with an incandescent smile.

I glance out at the crowd, my belly warming when I discern an older woman in the front row dabbing her eyes with an embroidered handkerchief. Judging by the uncanny resemblance, she must be Aeris’ mother, her gorgeous head of hair the same silver as a frosted-over lake in the middle of winter. Beside her is presumably Aeris’ father, who’s faring far worse with wet cheeks and a red nose.

As much as I want to focus on the officiant’s speech, I blame Fulton’s dazzling good looks for accosting my attention, and it feels like the giddy high of a morphine rush is zinging through my body. Envious of his composure, my shoulders shake with a silent chuckle, and he mouths I love you from across the aisle, as if the words themselves are his salvation.

The same sentiment gets wedged in my throat before reaching my lips.

Halfway through the wedding—with a quarter of the Reapers already teary-eyed and down for the count—we get to the vows, and neither bride nor groom have to rely on a cue card to communicate their love for one another.

Aeris goes first, unbridled love oozing from her pores as she stares at her future husband with the same bandwidth of admiration that spills in my stomach like sticky oil over coastal waters.

“Hayes Hollings, the moment I met you, I thought you were the biggest dillweed on the planet,” she jokes, rousing laughter from the audience. “If it wasn’t for you taking care of me on the anniversary of my brother’s death, I don’t think I would’ve had the strength to carry on. I was at rock bottom when I met you, and you didn’t even care. You weren’t looking to fix someone— you were looking for a reason to keep living, just like I was. I know I’ve said it a thousand times before, but I wouldn’t be here today without your love, your support, your constant reassurance…even your ill-timed innuendos.

“I came to you a broken person, but my past never dissuaded you. You remind me every day that I made the best decision in trusting you with my heart. Spending forever with you is the first future that doesn’t scare me, and I’m beyond grateful that you’re the person I’m going to love for the rest of my life.”

Moisture smears the edges of my vision, and a full-throated sob nearly impedes their exchange.

Hayes swallows before beginning, desperately trying to keep himself together. “Aeris Relera, the night you turned me down and made fun of my penis size was the best night of my entire life.”

Good thing there aren’t children here—at least, not children who can understand words yet.

“I was a complete loser when I landed on that barstool next to yours, and I’d given up hope on my career, my love life, everything . I was so used to living in the darkness that I didn’t realize how badly I missed the light…until I saw you .

“And there you were, looking more beautiful than anything I’d ever seen before, drinking away your sorrows. In that moment, I felt like I’d been put on this earth just to love you, to hold you up on the days when you couldn’t. I had no conception of what love was—and even less understanding of how to be a good boyfriend—but you gave me a chance when I was the least deserving of it. I’ll keep saying it until I’m on my death bed, but you fixed me . You showed kindness and compassion to a heart wrought with scars, and slowly, over time, you healed the gaping holes inside me. I’d be nothing without you. I’d be lost without you.

“You’re the reason I get up in the morning. You’re the goddamn reason why my heart’s still beating and I’m still breathing. Getting to spend the rest of my life with you is a future that I won’t take lightly. I never pictured myself growing old—much less with the most incredible person in the world—but I’m going to spend every waking second loving you in hopes that you can feel a fraction of the love you’ve shown me.”

I wouldn’t be surprised if Hayes has Aeris’ name tattooed somewhere on his body. He’s so madly in love with her that even the blind could see it. And that kind of love never dies.

“Do you, Aeris Relera, take Hayes Hollings to be your lawfully wedded husband? In sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, to laugh with and to cry with and to love no matter the tribulation, for as long as the two of you shall live?” the officiant asks.

There’s no hesitation.

“I do,” Aeris says.

“And do you, Hayes Hollings, take Aeris Relera to be your lawfully wedded wife? In sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, to laugh with and to cry with and to love no matter the tribulation, for as long as the two of you shall live?”

Hayes is even quicker to the punch. “I do.”

“Can we please have the couple exchange rings at this time?”

I’m not sure why I was expecting a wild chicken or some elusive, fluffy ring bearer to trot down the aisle, but it’s baby Eda who presents the stunning rings to the couple, all smiles and laughter while she’s koala-ed to her father’s side.

Hayes places Aeris’ ring on her finger, and Aeris reciprocates the gesture.

This is it. The vows were a spoken commitment, and the rings are a physical one. Their souls are tethered to one another forever. Just the thought of that makes me love love. I didn’t always, but there’s no other feeling like it in the world. And when you finally find your person, you begin to realize the true extent of your purpose. Time is ephemeral, but the way we spend it is eternal.

The waterworks are still flowing out of me with no end in sight. It feels like my whole chest is aflame with emotion, and the only person in the world who can douse the fire is the one waiting for me, so consumed by my eyes that he doesn’t dare to look away, not even for a second.

With one last hurrah, the officiant closes out the ceremony. “Then, with the power vested in me, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride!”

Wasting no time to fulfill his promise, Hayes grabs his wife and dips her, enveloping her in a kiss that’s hungry and searing and all-consuming. Then, with perfect timing, there’s a loud bang and a sizzle of light as fireworks burst into the sky, taking advantage of the fading sunlight to print their golden flares onto a backdrop of blue. Brilliance splices through the overhead palm fronds as a chiaroscuro dances across my vision. Cheers sound like cannons all around me, but the world stops when I fall into Fulton’s eyes all over again, just as I did when he first walked into my coffee shop.

“You’re killing me in that dress, Sunshine.”

“A little impatient, are we, Mr. Cazzarelli?”

“Oh, impatient doesn’t even begin to describe it.”

Fulton is behind me with his arms wrapped around my torso, his lips brushing over the carotid artery that’s one pulse away from entering overdrive. I squirm from the fluttery sensation of his mouth on my neck, and each expertly placed kiss has me internally begging for a moment alone with him.

“There are children present. ”

A low noise grates up his throat and rings through my belly. “Eda’s a baby. She doesn’t count.”

Before I try—and fail—to list all the reasons why grinding at a wedding reception is not appropriate, there’s a huge commotion over by the giant speakers, and I catch Aeris with her back turned toward a flock of adoring women.

“I’m throwing it!” Aeris screams, tossing her bouquet high up into the air as a handful of guests dive out of its path like it’s a live grenade. It’s a frenzy of dresses, flailing arms, and a litany of creative swears, but the die-hard, superstitious partygoers are in for a sore surprise when the flowers sail right into a little baby’s grabby hands.

Kit’s entire face drains of color when he notices the vegetative warfare dangling from his daughter’s fists. “Oh, hell no. No. You’re not getting married until I’m at least in a retirement home,” he declares.

Fulton and I just laugh, and over the course of the next few hours, we teleport around the venue, engaging in small talk and consuming a delicious spread of food. It’s night by the time I get the itch to dance, and Fulton’s on his second slice of chocolate-coconut pavlova cake.

“Will you dance with me?” I ask him, apparently having ripped him from his sugar-coated reverie.

He fails to school his bewildered expression, half of the cake falling out of his mouth and onto his plate. “What?”

“Dancing—you know, when two people move their bodies to the rhythm of music. Sometimes alone, sometimes together. I’m surprised you haven’t heard of it.”

Fulton gulps thickly, cringing as he forces the rest of his dessert down. “I might be decent on the ice, but put me on land and I can barely walk without tripping over my feet. Do you really expect me to know how to dance?”

“Does this mean you don’t want to? ”

“For you, Shiloh, I’d dance until my feet fell off,” he pledges, jumping to said feet and offering me his hand.

I don’t even realize that I’m being swept into his arms and onto the spacious dance floor until we’re in the middle of the mosh pit, the catchy beats of a pop song blaring into the echo chamber around us. I start to sway to the tempo, finding my footing while butterflies play a restless game of tag in my gut.

Fulton’s slower to feel the music, glancing around awkwardly like someone’s waiting to catch him in the act, so I ease him out of his head by placing his hand on my waist and pulling him closer. It’s not long before we’re dancing with each other, our bodies lightly grazing in a tango of temptation that’s making it harder for me not to drag him down to the beach for some privacy.

When he brings my backside flush against his front, I’m about to commit a morally unsound decision before Lila shimmies over to us and interrupts the moment.

“The last time I saw Aeris throwing it back like that was during a toga party our freshman year of college. And that was after a bottle of Pink Whitney,” she shouts over the music, nodding her head to the newlywed who’s, indeed, pulling some moves on her husband that I’ve never seen before.

“I have no idea how she moves like that and makes it look good,” I yell back.

Lila bumps shoulders with me. “That would be Cali’s doing. Pretty sure the girl has shown her more action than a strip club in Las Vegas.”

Reminder: contact Cali if I ever need private dance lessons to spice things up in the bedroom. Though, knowing Fulton, that won’t be a problem.

I laugh as the blonde grabs my hand and twirls me underneath her arm, and I can’t remember a time when I was this happy. Aside from every interaction I’ve ever had with Fulton. He makes me unsteady, but this is a kind of unsteadiness that I don’t mind.

“Speaking of action, did you guys hear that crazy crash last night? It sounded like a miniature earthquake,” she says.

I immediately stop moving and choke on air, all while Fulton’s gone as white as a ghost—and that’s saying something, considering my man is exceptionally unseasoned.

Cross acting off my list of potential careers. “Noise? I didn’t hear a noise.”

Fulton backs me with a resounding alibi. “Me neither. We must’ve…slept through it.”

Lila’s eyebrows jump to her hairline. “Must’ve been one hell of a night’s sleep.”

Fulton and I both look at each other, donning matching grins that definitely don’t vindicate ourselves. “Oh, you have no idea.”

As the festivities stretch on into the late evening, most of the guests have trickled out, leaving behind the Reapers family and a very exhausted baby Eda. Everyone sits around one of the impractically large tables, picking at demolished leftovers or talking in hushed whispers to accommodate the sleeping child nestled against her mother’s chest.

“We’re so glad you could be here,” Aeris tells me, giving me one of her famous hugs.

I thought I was done crying for the night, but I guess I was wrong. Hayes and Aeris’ love doesn’t just extend to each other but to everyone around them. I feel it now, surrounded by the people who have become closest to me, all celebrating the roots of their homegrown bond.

“It wouldn’t have been the same without you,” Hayes adds.

“I’m so sorry. I should’ve said goodbye in person. Actually, I shouldn’t have considered leaving at all,” I apologize, guilt coagulating in the cavity of my chest.

Aeris waves me off. “Don’t be. We understand how important family is. And just know that you’ll always have a place here with us, even if you and Fulton are no longer together.”

Knowing the word-for-word protest that’s about to come out of my boyfriend’s mouth, I grab his hand and reassure him with a loving squeeze, losing myself in the solace of his eyes.

“Trust me, I’m not going anywhere.”