Page 73 of Cleats and Pumps

Tommy shrugged, but I knew he was onto me.

The moment the bats began to fly around the boat, I knelt down behind Tommy. Mom winked at me and tapped him on the shoulder.

He turned, smiling at her, and when she pointed to me, he gasped, causing me to chuckle.

“Tommy, I’ve waited what feels like a lifetime to ask you this. I…” I had to pause a moment to get myself under control. Then I drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Tommy, you are the key to the things that make my life work, and make my life worth living.”

Tears ran down my face, and I was happy I’d been trained to speak through emotions, or I’m not sure I’d have finished what I was trying to do.

“You are my everything, Tommy. Would you consider being my husband?”

Tommy fell to his knees in front of me and then, using his hands, pulled my face into his. Until that moment, it’d been too dark to see he, too, was crying. Our wet faces merged as happiness rolled through me.

“Of course, you big lug. Of course, I’ll marry you!”

I’d like to say we were able to marry right away, but that’s simply not how things happen. We planned a spring wedding, which got postponed when Tommy’s grandmother got sick and almost died of pneumonia. Then, after she recovered, we’d planned to marry in June, but then one of the cast broke his leg, and we ended up having to do back-to-back rehearsals to prepare his understudy for the part.

I’d worked pretty much full-time for a year and a half, which meant I had three full weeks of vacation coming to me. When Iwent to speak to Anton about it, he didn’t even hesitate. “Go, get married. I’m sorry about you having to postpone,” he’d said.

So in October, we were finally able to tie the knot.

We ended up getting married at Hippy Hollow Park, mostly because it was irreverent enough to make the conservatives shake their heads. It was also beautiful there, which was another bonus.

The wedding planner had decorated the area beautifully, if not a bit ostentatiously. Oh well, if we were going over the top, this was when to do that.

I spent the night before our wedding telling Tommy how much I loved him. We’d decided not to write our vows, mostly because I sucked at writing, and I’d rather tell him how I felt when it was just the two of us.

“Tommy, I love you and want you forever. I’m, well, I don’t write like you, as poetic as you are, but my heart is true. You are the light of my life…” I fumbled through a few more lines before Tommy took pity on me and kissed me, putting an end to my awkward vows.

“Listen, Amos,” Tommy said, and I watched as he became emotional. “I didn’t think I’d ever get to have you as my boyfriend, much less my spouse. I figured you’d never love me the way I’ve always loved you. The fact that you do, and have this past year and a half… well, all I can say is my heart is full of love and happiness. I promise you, all my life, I will be everything I can be for you.”

I leaned over, taking his beautiful lips with mine, and then we had an epic makeout session before I was able to ravage him in the bedroom.

The next morning, I was feeling good. Owen and Jason had Tommy on one side while Josiah and Mom were with me on the other. The wedding planner had put up little shelters to give us privacy, which I quickly became pleased about. Otherwise, I’msure my face would’ve been on some paparazzi mag showing me cussing out my father.

When he walked into the tent, both Mom and Josiah froze. “Dad, why are you here?” I asked, having to stuff my anger down.

“I came… well, I came to talk to you.”

“Dad, this isn’t the time for you to tell me how disappointed you are in me,” I said and began to walk out of the tent.

“Wait, son…”

“No, Dad, if you won’t leave, then I will.”

Mom put her hand on my arm. “Hear him out,” she said. “I think you’re going to approve of what he has to say.”

She gave him what appeared to be a glare before exiting the tent.

Josiah shrugged apologetically, before turning and following Mom.

“Listen, son, I’ve screwed up. I… well, I’ve known it for a while. I just didn’t know how to fix it,” he said, shaking his head. My father was a man of few words. To the best of my knowledge, none of those few words he’d given to me had ever been an apology, so I couldn’t help but hear him out.

“I got so caught up in what I thought was best for you, I forgot to see you as a man who could make his own choices. I know it was stupid, but I thought if I ignored you, if I didn’t condone your acting, you’d see what a mistake leaving football was…”

He looked me in the eye then and sighed. “I read that article, the one Tommy wrote about what you went through with the team. Son, I had no idea what you were dealing with. I feel like such an ass. I can’t believe they’d do that to you.”

“I’m glad you read it. I honestly never thought you would.”

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