Noah burst into laughter. “I think you mean cosplay, Gram. And we’re not. This is everything that comes with the deluxe package.”
Gram nodded as though that explained everything.
Tito shuddered and looked down his nose at Noah, which was difficult since Tito was a good six inches shorter. “You know these women?”
“They’re our grandmothers,” Libby explained with a shrug. “Kind of.”
Tito waved them forward. “Then come in and sit down. We’re in the middle of their vows.”
“Wait!” Libby said, holding up her bouquet. “You’re not here to object to the wedding, are you?”
“Object?” Gram asked in disbelief. “Why would we object? I’ve been shipping you two since you first laid eyes on each other.”
“And I could see your connection at Blair’s wedding shower for my sorry excuse for a grandson, Neil,” Ruby added. “Let’s get this going.”
The two women sat down as Tito lifted his arms and stared up at the hole in the ceiling. “Let us resume.”
“What time is it?” Noah asked.
Nana Ruby looked at her watch. “Eleven fifty-nine.”
Noah grabbed Libby’s hand and shoved the ring on her finger. “Lib, if you don’t like this, we can get you a new one.” Then he held his hand out to her and she slipped the other ring on his finger.
“It’s perfect.”
Noah turned to the shocked Tito. “Quick. Declare us man and wife.”
Tito looked dismayed. “But we have more service first. We haven’t gotten to the dancing angels yet.”
Libby’s mouth dropped open. “Dancing angels?”
“Maybe later!” Noah shouted. “Declare us man and wife!”
Tito shook his head. “Okay, I declare you man and wife, you may—”
Noah pulled Libby into his arms and placed a hard kiss on her mouth.
“—kiss your bride,” he finished in defeat. “You ruined the wedding.”
Libby pulled back and stared into Noah’s face. “No, it was the most perfect wedding ever.”
Chapter Twenty
“We did it,” Noah said beaming. “Happy Birthday, Libby.”
She stared into the face of her husband. Noah’s my husband. “I can’t believe we did it.”
Worry wrinkled his forehead. “Are you sorry?”
Their decision had been impulsive. They’d made it while they were drunk. Noah hadn’t even said the words I love you, yet she knew he did, just as she knew they hadn’t made a mistake.
She shook her head. “No.”
“Say cheese!” Gram said, holding up her phone.
Tito stood behind them, posing with his harp as Gram and Angelica snapped photos.
“We need a picture with you and Nana Ruby,” Libby told them. “Angelica, can you take a photo of all us?”
“Photos are included in the deluxe package,” Noah said, when Angelica started to balk.
“Come on, Gram,” Noah said.
“I gotta send this tweet first.” She tapped on her phone and looked up at them with a grin. “Done.”
They spent the next five minutes taking photos. Libby insisted the paid wedding guests be in the photos and Noah found the two men who’d been kicked out, sitting on the floor of the front room, and invited them back in.
Tito took center stage for all the photos. One of the men kept grabbing at Tito’s loincloth and the pseudo angel kept smacking his hand away. Libby giggled through it all, wondering how everything could be so perfect.
Then just as Noah predicted, a bright light shone from the hole in the ceiling and Tito rose back up into the air, his wing catching on the edge of the hole.
“Angelica! Lower me back down!”
Angelica kept pushing a button on the wall by the stereo system. “It’s stuck.”
Noah ushered the three women toward the exit, snagging Libby’s hand in his as they moved. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Tito!” Angelica cried out, hurrying toward the platform. “I’ll get the ladder, baby.”
“How’d you two get here?” Libby asked the grandmothers after they’d made it into the lobby.
“We took a taxi,” Nana Ruby said, covering her mouth as she yawned. “It’s waiting for us outside, and I think I need to get back and go to bed. I haven’t been up this late since Nixon was in the White House.”
Gram curled her upper lip. “That’s a crock of bullshit and you know it. You were up late on that cruise you went on last summer. The one with the used tire salesmen convention.”
Nana threw up her hands in exasperation. “That was one night—one night—and I was drunk, besides.” She leaned closer to Gram. “And when I told you last week, you said you’d carry it to your grave.”
“I haven’t given up anything, you old fool. You’ve given yourself up.”
“Never mind.” Nana released a huge groan. “Maude. It’s time for both of us to go back and go to bed.”
Gram didn’t look pleased. “I wanted to take Noah and Libby out for their wedding dinner. And wedding cake.”
“I suspect they have other things on their mind,” Nana said with a sly grin. “Especially after what Noah told us earlier.”
Libby swung her gaze up to her new husband. “What did you tell them?”
Noah gave the two women a small shove toward the front door. “Thanks for coming to the wedding and I’m sorry about the dinner reservation. Let’s try it again tomorrow night. Say around eight?”
They nodded as they hurried into their waiting taxi, Gram pausing to shout, “You kids have fun.”
Noah and Libby stood outside Little Heaven, still holding hands. She glanced up at him, surprised to see he was staring back at her with a look of amazement on his face.
“What?” she asked, feeling self-conscience.
He slowly pulled her into his arms. “I can’t believe you’re mine.”
A slow smile spread across her face as warmth filled her chest.
He kissed her, but this time it wasn’t full of fire and passion. It was soft and gentle, like a welcome home. Tears burned her eyes and she smiled up at him. “Let’s go back to the hotel, Noah.”
He nodded and was about to flag down a taxi when Paul, the cab driver who’d brought them there, pulled up to the curb.
He leaned across the front seat and looked up at them through the passenger window. “I figured you two would need a ride after you got hitched.”
“Thanks,” Noah said as he opened the back door for Libby. He gathered up her skirts and helped her into the car. Then he settled in beside her and took her hand.
“Where to?”
“Caesar’s Palace.”
“Sure thing.” Paul glanced at them in the rearview mirror as he started toward the hotel. “Did you get the big show?”
Noah laughed. “Yeah, I got the deluxe package.” He tilted his head with an amused gleam in his eyes. “You could have warned us.”
“And spoil the surprise? Nah . . . But I’m surprised Tito and Angelica didn’t see you off. Tito likes to walk couples to the curb, strumming his harp.”