Page 96 of My Scorned Best Friend

She walks past the white chairs with our guests, smiling at everyone, her white flower bouquet gripped tightly in her hand. By the time she reaches me, I’m already antsy since the women in our family insisted we had to spend last night apart. I feel as if I haven’t gotten to look at Clara in months, and my eyes soak her in.

“Hi,” she says after my dad shakes my hand and kisses her cheek before sitting down.

“You look stunning.”

Her cheeks pinken. “Thank you. You look so handsome.”

“You should see what I’m wearing underneath.” I wink and she laughs.

The officiant clears his throat and we both straighten up to pay attention.

We say our vows and exchange rings, and when the officiant tells us we can kiss, I dip her, kissing her sweetly.

We make our way down the aisle, smiling at all of the important people in our lives and go into the house to take a few moments to ourselves.

“I’m Mrs. Xavier Greene. Mrs. Greene. Clara Greene. Are you sure you don’t want to be Harrison?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure.” I chuckle.

We take a moment to really kiss one another, then stand there holding each other and savoring the moment.

Ben shouts into the house, “Come on, it’s time to party!”

We come out to join everyone. Sure enough, the yard has already been transformed into a party. A DJ who played the music for the ceremony puts on colored lights now and the music is pumping. Propane heaters are strategically placed to keep the nip out of the air, and the only two people on the dance floor are Cam and Chevelle. Fisher, Cade, and Adam are on the outskirts, watching them with their arms crossed.

I feel pulled to join them.

Mandi is at a table, lost in her phone.

“Time for the bride and groom to have their first dance,” the DJ says.

I lead Clara out to the dance floor, and as I spin her around the first time, the projection screen comes down and the video of us getting married at eight years old plays.

Our family members gush over the video, not having seen it before, and my dad and Marla watch Clara and me with smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes. Some of my family are in tears, some are in disbelief, but mostly I see smiles. I have no doubt that all the people we love who have already passed on are all here tonight, smiling down on us.

I take my wife in my arms and slowly move us around the dance floor. Our foreheads resting on one another’s, we stare into each other’s eyes.

“Still scared?” she asks.

“No. I’m just happy as hell you waited for me.”

“Always.”

* * *

We arrive home from our honeymoon in Bali to a big pile of mail at both of our houses.

When we get to my house, we decide to go through the stack while we relax on the couch.

“So much junk mail,” Clara says. “Should we tell the family we’re home?”

“No. We have at least one more night without them knowing.” I bring her a drink and sit down next to her.

“This one looks interesting.” She flips around a gray envelope. “No return address, but it’s addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Greene. Our first piece of couple mail.” She holds it to her heart and bats her eyelashes.

“Huh,” I say. “Open it.”

She carefully tears it open as though she’s going to frame it or something. Her eyes widen when she sees what’s inside. “Um, did we miss a message string while we were gone?”

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