Page 256 of Fury

She let out a small laugh. “Yes, you do that.”

Finally, Lenore and I stoodat the head of the small church in Meager, about to walk together up the aisle to where the pastor, Drac, and Tania waited for us. Beck and Krystal and Butler were in the front row. Catch and Nina alongside them. Grace and Lock. Boner and Jill. Cassandra and her man, Taye. Alicia and Ronny, the tattoo parlor owner from Deadwood.

Lenore, amazing in a curve-hugging, long silky purple dress she’d made herself, squeezed my arm. “Ready?”

“No, not yet,” I said, holding her back.

Her eyes stiffened. “What? Why? Is something wrong?

I noticed movement from my right. Quick steps. A flash of blue.

“Psst!”

“Go on!” I said.

Zoë swished in front of us and swept down the aisle of the church.

“Oh my God,” breathed Lenore.

“Happy Wedding Day, baby.”

“Oh my God.”

I quickly kissed the back her hand. “Look at her.”

Zoë waved at us over her shoulder and kept moving, so pretty in a pale blue dress and matching short heels. She wore makeup, and her hair had been styled smooth, held in place with a rhinestone hairband. The princess crowned.

She threw fistfuls of red and purple flower petals in the air from a tiny white basket she held. The church was empty, but she didn’t care. She performed her duties with style, with enthusiasm, her arm swinging high, those dark flower petals tumbling and cascading everywhere.

Gail, Steve, and Zoë’s boyfriend, Mark, sat in the other front row, smiling huge. Once Zoë got to the front, Tania held out a hand and put her arm through hers, tucking her close to her side. They stood together, the two of them beaming at us. Drac raised his chin at me.

I whispered to Lenore, “I wanted us together on this day. Together.”

Lenore’s arm trembled in mine. “I love you. I love you so much.”

But we both knew it was more than love; it was that bond that couldn’t be broken and only made us stronger, fusing our pieces and us together. It was thatplace. Our place.

I put a steadying hand over her arm. “Let’s do this.”

We made it up the aisle. We pledged, we promised.

I do.

I will.

I am.

I love.

We are.

Lenore and I had dreams once upon a time, but the world had been cruel to us both, and I had returned that cruelty, ungrateful, vengeful. But there are such gifts in life, like Zoë. Like loyal friends. Like forgiveness. Like a true lover. Even in my numbness, I’d recognized them, because I’d hungered for them still.

I stood in that church, my wife at my side, our daughter before me, her flowers scattered over us under the eyes of that Higher Power that is called God. Split wide open, I prayed to be worthy of their gifts in this life and the next.

I kissed the scar I’d left years ago on the inside of my woman’s wrist. I kissed her lips. We were one.

After the ceremony, we had dinner with our friends at the Meager Grand Cafe, the fancy coffee shop in town. The owner was a friend of Grace, Tania, and Lenore’s. She’d shut down for the night just for us and catered the food, and created a real nice cake for us too. Grace and Tania had decorated the cafe with a ton of tiny twinkling lights stuffed in vintage bottles hanging from the ceiling, and small bunches of crimson flowers on the tables. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. A small magical paradise glowing in the dark of night just for us. Lenore loved it.

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