Page 105 of One More Time
‘Yep, except I don’t think that was a drive-thru. And I’m pretty sure it was at the old Aladdin Casino. And I don’t plan on dying on a toilet. But otherwise, yeah, just like that.’
Lucy was stunned. Surprised, but not angry. Just shocked really.
Nicky reached into the pocket of his khaki pants and pulled out a black velvet box. He opened it to reveal threerings. Two wedding bands and an enormous diamond solitaire that glimmered even in the dim car light.
Lucy chuckled. ‘Wow. You know when they say an engagement ring should cost two months’ salary, I don’t think it counts for rock stars on tour.’
Nicky smiled. ‘Worth it.’
Lucy fondled the rings lightly with her fingertips, then tugged the engagement ring from its velvet recess. Inside the band she noticed etching. Writing. It said,There with you, that was it.
She looked up to Nicky with watery eyes, questioning.
He answered her by pulling the two platinum bands from the box and placing them carefully on top of the paper in her palm. Inside the larger ring was etchedEverything from you. And in the smaller, wasAnything for you. No question mark.
‘Yes,’ Lucy breathed.
‘Yeah?’ Nicky asked, as though he had really been unsure of her answer.This fucking guy.
‘Of course,’ Lucy replied. ‘You’re it for me, Broome.’
‘You mean it?’
‘I would accidentally marry you any day.’
In a flash, Lucy had an engagement ring on her finger, and Sonny was opening the back door for them.
Within thirty minutes, the top was down on the Rolls and they were in a carport with blinking twinkly lights and cherubs staring down at them.
A very nice man in blue suede shoes (who was not Elvis) said, ‘Do you, Nicholas Trent Broome, take this woman, Lucy Diane McManis, to be your lawfully wedded wife?’
And he did.
And then she did.
They slipped rings on each other’s fingers and when the man who was not Elvis said, ‘You may kiss the bride,’ The Crystals ‘Then He Kissed Me’ bubbled from the car’s speakers.
And Nicky kissed her. Long and slow, and with far too much tongue for the number of witnesses present (three).
Their wedding dinner was drive-thru Jack in the Box in the back of the convertible right under the blazing neon of the Welcome to Las Vegas sign in the cool desert night air. It was, without a doubt, the best wedding Lucy had ever had.
It was sure as hell going to be the last.
ENCORE
NICKY
Lucy guided the Jeep to the curb on Stockley Street, right in front of the old house. It looked like it needed new siding and probably a new roof, but Nicky would have recognized it anywhere. The image of it had lived in his memory like one of the seven wonders of the world. He could remember the feeling of joy in his belly as he’d glanced at it in his rearview mirror, headed back to Dover to load up his shit and spend the summer with Lucy. And he could easily recall the despair when he’d driven by it in Super’s first beat-up old tour van.
The Jeep they were in now was a hell of a lot nicer than either of those cars, and a whole lot of years had passed. But he and Lucy were finally getting their summer at the beach.
‘There it is,’ Nicky said as Lucy put the car in park.
‘Yep, there it is,’ she parroted. ‘Hey, Nicky?’
‘Yeah?’
‘I didn’t get us an Airbnb on Silver Lake.’
