Page 9 of Keep

CHAPTER THREE

Curtis

She was stunning, a goddamn vision.

I couldn’t stop staring from my position at the end of the line of groomsmen.

And the bride looked pretty good too.

When I finally managed to rip my eyes away from the sight of Cassie’s exquisite beauty I could appreciate that her sister was radiant in her bridal gown as Cord finished walking her down the aisle. Cord held onto his daughter’s arm longer than he needed to and blinked away a few tears when Dalton stepped up to receive his bride. For a moment I wondered if the father of the bride would be willing to let go at all but after one more wistful smile at his daughter he withdrew to his seat beside his wife. Saylor patted his arm and then reached for his hand.

Cassie caught my eye, an angel in her pale blue maid of honor gown. She smiled. I wondered if she could read my thoughts, that I wished we were the ones getting married today. We’d talked about it before, agreeing that it would happen once she was done with school. I knew I’d never have the resources to give her a scene this glamorous but I had no doubt that one day we’d have a moment like this, a moment when we stood up in front of friends and family and made promises about forever. Inside my head I could almost see it unfolding as I stared at the girl I loved.

Then I felt like kind of a dick for letting my mind wander during Dalton and Cami’s wedding so I started paying attention to the ceremony.

Cami and Dalton were the real deal. They were two of the best people I’d ever known and even an oblivious fool like me couldn’t miss the way they held hands at every opportunity and constantly bantered with affection. Cami was a striking firecracker full of intelligence and quick wit, qualities well suited to her profession as a newspaper reporter. Dalton, a former pro ball player, tended to be more easygoing but he could hold his own with Cami’s sharp mind. Cassie told me her sister had decided to keep the wedding on the small side, which to Cami and Dalton meant around two hundred guests. That kind of made me scratch my head because I barely knew twenty people I’d want to invite to a wedding, let alone two hundred. But then again, a good percentage of the guests in attendance were members of the extended Gentry family so they were starting out with a pretty solid number. When I glanced around the elegant hall I had no trouble spotting them taking up three rows of chairs behind Cord and his wife, aunts and uncles and cousins galore.

Dalton on the other hand had no shortage of friends but he didn’t have much family. His parents had been divorced long before his father died last year. His mother arrived alone and I thought Cassie had mentioned he had a few cousins who planned on showing up but the only member of Dalton’s family I was familiar with was his brother Hale. Hale Tremaine stood at the groom’s side with a serious expression and looked altogether like a different guy with his smooth shave and tux.

“Love is what we all share,” boomed the voice of Deck Gentry, the unofficial head of the family. I’d been surprised to hear that he was presiding over the ceremony because I thought you had to be a priest or a judge or something. But it seemed I was wrong because Deck told me he went to a website called Life Church of People, whatever that was, and paid a small fee to be ordained. I thought he was full of shit but he showed me his certificate and here he was looking very solemn in a black robe while saying meaningful things about love that made me feel a little choked up.

“And we all have our own stories,” continued Deck. “Whether they are just beginning, or well underway or as yet unwritten. We are all lucky to be here with Camille and Dalton as they celebrate the day they make this enduring commitment to one another. Today we are reminded that love is the best and most hopeful part of our humanity. And on that note, Camille and Dalton, I now pronounce you wife and husband.”

A soft sigh rolled through the crowd of spectators as Cami tipped her face up to receive Dalton’s kiss. The two of them were an enchanting picture up there and no photograph would ever do them justice. Deck was right. We were all lucky to witness this. My eyes strayed from where Cami and Dalton remained passionately lip locked and found Cassie. She dabbed her eyes as she watched her beloved twin.

Once the ceremony was over the mood quickly shifted to a high energy celebration. My task was to help herd all the guests down the corridor to the larger ballroom where the reception would happen. Cassie stayed close to her sister and I lost track of her in the sea of friends and colleagues and Gentrys. Somehow I found myself walking alongside Deck.

“Good job,” I told him. “I would never have guessed you had such a romantic soul.”

Deck was indignant. “What are you talking about, Mulligan?” he said, pausing to glance fondly at his wife and daughter as they walked right in front of us. “I’m the goddamn king of romance.”

“Apparently you are.” I nudged him with a grin. We knew each other well. Deck had been a buddy of my dad’s back in the old days and he’d helped me with a few life situations since then. He was one of the good guys in a world that contained too many bad ones.

Deck fiddled with the collar of his black robe. The material looked itchy.

“Are you gonna wear that thing all night?” I asked him.

He grinned. “Sure.”

“Where’d you get it anyway?”

“A friend of mine is a superior court judge.”

“Really?” The news didn’t surprise me. Deck’s wide spectrum of associates tended to be a diverse lot. “Are judges in the habit of lending out their robes?”

“Perhaps. But I got this one from an online Halloween store.”

The conversation came to an end when I felt a tug on my sleeve and a small woman with dainty Queen of England features asked me where the shitter was. She used that word. Shitter. I didn’t know who she was or if she was even attending the wedding but I escorted her on a hunt for the nearest restroom and held the door open as she smiled before pressing two dimes into my hand. I hadn’t realized today’s duties would include tips. I tossed the coins into a fancy marble fountain on my way back to the reception hall.

People were still filing into the room as Cami and Dalton received their guests at the doorway. There was a lot of buzz and laughter and exclamations of good wishes along with the powerful scent of forty different kinds of perfume that made me think of the time Cassie dragged me to the Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall. The line moved fast because everyone was eager to eat and dance and drink and do whatever they did at wedding receptions. I wasn’t really sure. I hadn’t been to a wedding since I was ten and attended the backyard barbecue nuptials of a neighbor back in my hometown of Emblem. There hadn’t been any marble fountains there.

“Curtis,” Dalton greeted me, pumping my hand before pulling me into an awkward half second man embrace. “Thanks for all the help.”

“Congratulations,” I said, giving him an affectionate slap on the back before turning to Cami and offering a handshake.

“Cut out the formality and give me a hug,” she scolded, wrapping her arms around me for a friendly squeeze.

“I didn’t want to mess up your dress,” I explained, hugging her back. “Seriously though, I’m so happy for you guys.”

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