Nope. I’m safer right here, on the patio, where the awning shades me from the sun and the sound of water lapping at the shore provides the perfect background noise.
Only …
The water’s not lapping.
I look up from my screen at the realization. Normally, the water is gentle—okay, I don’t know exactly what the water’s like all the time, but over the past several days, it’s been calming and peaceful.
Now? Not so much. There are waves—actual waves. It’s starting to look pretty risky out there. I don’t see many bathers willing to go farther out than knee height.
The sky’s not so clear either with clouds piling up on the horizon.
Something tells me that Kylie’s going to have more to deal with than puffy-eyed bridesmaids today.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Oh boy.
This had better be the fastest wedding in the history of weddings.
There isn’t any rain yet, but there’s quite a stiff breeze blowing. Breeze that’s threatening to turn into full-blown wind.
And the sky isn’t blue for the first time all week. It’s a deep, menacing shade of gray with lots of angry clouds piled up on top of each other.
Yet here we are, all of us in our cute little chairs lined up in rows on either side of the long white runner. There are fifty guests in all, the rest of them having arrived late last night and this morning. There are floral arrangements on stands, one at the end of every row, and a beautiful arch just dripping in roses and orchids at the end of the runner.
It’s a shame it looks like the palm trees in the distance are about to blow right over.
“Uh, this is looking dicey,” somebody sitting near me says, like it needs to be said.
“I witnessed the rehearsal last night. It’s a short ceremony.”
That seems to ease a few minds, at least a little.
If they’d only get started, we might end up getting out of this with dry clothes and hair.
Once again, I wonder if it was worth getting all gussied up today. Two days in a row.
When the officiant steps up, standing under the arch, it looks like we’re about to begin. Zack and his guys file in next to that spot, and soft music plays from carefully concealed speakers.
Thank goodness it’s time to get this show on the road.
Kellen looks fantastic, needless to say, wearing the same seersucker suit the rest of the men in the party are wearing. That’s one thing that surprises me about this, seeing as how Kylie wanted everything to be so fancy. Maybe she gave Zack a say in something after all.
Brandon walks his mom down the aisle before joining the rest of the groomsmen. He catches my eye, and I wink, making him smile. I hope we can spend more time together at the reception since there hasn’t been much of a chance so far.
We all turn, expectant, waiting for the girls to file down the aisle. They’re dressed identically in soft, flowy dresses the color of the sea beyond the ceremony site. Hayley’s eyes look conspicuously watery when they meet mine, which of course gets me a little choked up.
No matter how big of a game she talks, she loves her sister. This means a lot to her.
The music changes, and we stand in response. I have to hold my arms at my sides to keep my dress from blowing around in what’s less a breeze now and more of a wind. An increasingly steady wind.
Kylie smiles her way through it on the way down the aisle though, and I can’t help but notice the way her eyes rarely leave Zack. She’s finally in the moment. Remembering why she’s here and why they’re doing this.
I sneak a look over my shoulder at Zack in time to find him knuckling tears away before they can fall.
Oh gosh. My chest tightens along with my throat, and a familiar stinging sensation makes itself known behind my eyes.
What would it be like to be in her shoes right now? With the man I loved fighting back tears when he saw me in my wedding dress? To be so in love, so completely committed to another person, that I’d be willing to join my life with his in front of everybody who mattered to us?
And why is Kellen watching me watch Zack?
He offers a smile when our eyes meet. I wonder what he’s thinking right now.
The officiant has to raise his voice over the rising wind. “It seems Mother Nature has something to say about this ceremony. She’s just as excited over the soon-to-be newlyweds as the rest of us.”
Get on with it. I’m biting my lip hard enough to hurt.
The air smells like rain—heavy, thick, wet. It’s going to pour like all get-out in no time.
“We should proceed before things get any wilder out here.” The poor guy is almost screaming now. “This beautiful occasion is in celebration of Kylie and Zack, two wonderful people I’ve had the honor of knowing for years. It brings me great joy to officiate over their union.”
One of the pedestals holding a flower arrangement tips over in the wind, which sends a few guests seated near it scrambling to get out of the way. Kylie and Zack both look over, surprised. Kellen jumps into action to set it back on its base, though I feel it’s a waste of time.
Nothing is going to be standing long in this wind.
“Kylie, do you take Zack—” The man’s voice is cut off when a palm leaf smacks him in the face, but he recovers quickly enough.
A couple of the people on Zack’s side scurry off to find shelter.
“Do you take Zack to be your lawfully wedded husband?” There’s going to be a welt on the poor guy’s face, but he’s staying strong.
“I do!” Kylie’s voice is loud, fierce. She’s determined to get through this, even with hair escaping her carefully crafted updo. It’s blowing around her face, though she’s doing her best to tuck the loose strands behind her ears.
“And you, Zack. Do you take Kylie to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
“I do!” Zack is squeezing Kylie’s hands hard, like he’s willing her to do this without her losing her mind.
Flowers are tearing loose all around them, flying in all directions.
Kellen steps in with the rings, which the couple exchange. There’s no need for them to raise their voices anymore. We’d all like to hear it, but it’s nearly impossible. All that matters is that they hear each other.
Kellen finds me, grimacing, and I know I must look the same as he does. Brokenhearted, hoping this is all over soon.
After all the work she put into this entire week too. None of it really mattered, not in the face of this disaster. Not when the exchanging of vows and rings and declaring their love to the world is what brought us all here in the first place. I’m sure she would have rather had it pour rain the rest of the week so long as today was beautiful.
Instead, it was the other way around.
The officiant raises his arms to signal the ceremony is over. “I now pronounce you husband and wife!”
And as if on cue, Mother Nature decides to congratulate the happy couple.
By pouring an absolute curtain of rain down on them and the rest of us.
Like, the kind of rain that makes it difficult to see too far ahead. The kind of rain that drains everything of color. There’s nothing in the world but gray clouds and walls of rain.
“Oh no!”
Just about everybody near me runs for cover, screaming and shrieking, but I know right away that there’s no point in running. This is the sort of rain that soaks a person within moments, like a sudden before-and-after situation.