Page 55 of A Dead End Wedding

She stood, flicked her braid off her shoulder, and waved her hands in the air like a model on a TV game show. The flower shower immediately aligned itself into a smooth rainbow of scent and color aimed for a side wall, where the flowers dropped to a table in overflowing heaps.

“Wow,” Carlos said. “Never a dull moment around you, my friend.”

I sighed. He wasn’t wrong.

Tess peeked her head around the corner, grinned at me, and then stepped out into the aisle. She was so pretty she took my breath away in her green dress. She was wearing the pendant I gave her, too. A warm glow started in my chest and worked its way through my entire body.

She was perfect, and tomorrow she’d be mine.

“You are a very lucky man,” Carlos said.

“Truer words,” Dave said, walking into the church behind us. “Hey Carlos. How have you been?”

“Better, now that I’m not in danger of being brained by a bush,” Carlos said. They shook hands, and I was relieved to see that there wasn’t tension between them.

“Hey, gorgeous,” Tess said, and she ran up to me, threw her arms around my neck, and kissed me right there in front of everyone.

“I think that’s my line,” I murmured. “Love you in that dress.”

“I still can’t believe you bought it! I only said I’d like a dresslikethis one.” She brushed one hand down the silk, looking slightly scandalized. “I’ve never owned a designer dress in my life, and now I’ll be wearing two in one weekend!”

“Three,” I admitted. “I bought you the blue one, too. It was a surprise, in case you wanted to change at the reception.”

“I don’t know. I love my wedding dress so much I’ll probably wear it all night. But there’s always the honeymoon!” She turned to Dave and Carlos. “Hello, you two! I’m so glad you’ll be part of our day!”

“Where’s Molly?”

Tess pointed to the hallway that led to the bathrooms and the room for parents to feed their babies. “She had to take a call about the band. They’re getting interest from Europe. Can you believe it?”

That was one of the many things I loved about Tess: her genuine joy in her loved ones’ accomplishments. Life with Tess wouldn’t be perfect, but perfect was boring.

We’d argue and make up and disagree and compromise.

And I’d love her forever.

Even if she had the scariest morning bed-head hair I’d ever seen. I grinned just thinking about it, and she gave me a side-eyed look.

“I can hear you thinking, Jack Shepherd. If you think you’re getting out of this now, forget about it.”

“No, butyoucan escape, honey,” Mike said, following Ruby down the aisle toward us. “It’s never too late.”

I gave him alook. “Oh, it’s far too late for you, old man. Prepare to share your desserts with me from now untilforever.”

He grinned and shook my hand. “A few hours premature, but welcome to the family, Jack.”

Suddenly, my eyes burned.

Must be allergies from all those flowers.

Pastor Nash came out of the hall behind the altar and clapped his hands, smiling at all of us. “Now that the gardening emergency has been dealt with—thank you, Shelley—shall we begin?”

Tess only tripped once during our practice runs, and Shelley made a very minimalist amount of flowers dance down the aislein front of the “flower girls.” Eleanor, Ruby, and Lorraine loved it.

Mrs. Nash gently got us back on track when her husband got carried away with one of his stories, and we were well in hand and ready to go within an hour and a half, just in time for dinner. Mike had offered to host the rehearsal dinner, since my granddad couldn’t make it into town until tomorrow morning, but Tess and I had invited everyone to her place for steaks and whatever else we felt like grilling.

Now that the troll had moved on, I felt better about having them over.

I felt a tug at my sleeve and looked down to see Shelley’s worried face.

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