CHAPTER44
Despite Erin’s initial worries, the beach wedding crew had done an amazing job. It was beautiful. Tasteful. White chairs sat on either side of the makeshift aisle which reached a simple wooden arch, with flowers climbing either side and draped white, gauzy cloth.
At the couple’s request, the guest list was small – around twenty-five in all: Tara’s close friends and their partners; Ben’s friends; his parents, Anton and Geraldine; his best man, John; and John’s daughter, Harriet, a year older than Lily.
When the music began, everyone turned to see Tara standing alone at the end of the aisle.Here we go, she thought.Time to get married.
Although they’d planned a small wedding, those faces staring back her made Tara nervous. It reminded her of group therapy, only everyone was better dressed. Their faces were full of hope, full of expectation and (unlike group therapy) full of champagne on empty stomachs.
‘I mean, sure, love is great and all, but once you get to know everything about the other person, then what? You just sit there, never being surprised again until one of you dies?
Really, Tara? she thought.You haven’t thought like that in years, but now is the perfect time? What is wrong with you?
Her heart raced. Her stomach flipped into her throat and back down again into her feet. Little beads of sweat were forming around her hairline and beginning their slow descent down her face and back. As her eyes fixed on Ben at the other end, beaming from ear to ear, she froze. Literally froze. All she could feel was her heart beating rapidly in her chest.
Stop it, she thought.You can do this. Walk up there, say I do, walk back with some free jewellery. People do this every day.
She hadn’t considered how overwhelmed she’d feel at this moment, or how, even at forty-two, walking herself up the aisle might unlock some deep-rooted daddy issues she hadn’t considered until now. Or even the reality of walking in the sand in high heels, an absolute error in judgement Whatever it was her feet and legs were completely numb.
She wasn’t sure how long she stood there for, how long she kept smiling as the music played, but she saw a look on Beth’s face that told her it was longer than any of them expected.
‘Ma’am?’
She felt an arm link into hers. A familiar warmth she’d once known.
‘I’ve got you,’ Aiden said quietly. ‘Just one foot in front of the other, right?’
She nodded, gripped his arm, and took her first step towards the rest of her life.
* * *
‘As many of you know, many moons ago, Aiden and I once dated,’ Tara began. A nervous laughter rumbled across the room. The wedding speeches had gone swimmingly until now. Tara felt that with no father of the bride, she’d speak on her own behalf.
‘But a simple twist of fate determined that Aiden and I were absolutely, one million percent not meant to be. That twist of fate being him meeting one of my best friends, Alex.’
Alex felt her arse tighten.Please do not let this be some weird long-game revenge arc, she thought.I cannot run in these heels.
‘However, if I hadn’t met Aiden, then he wouldn’t have been able to introduce me to his boss, Ben – the man that I was and am one million percent meant to be with. The absolute love of my life.’
As Tara leaned down to kiss her new husband, Alex unclenched. Maybe this wasn’t going to end in her getting slapped again.
‘I guess what I’m trying to say is that life is really fucking weird – oops, sorry, Lily and Harriet – and in the blink of an eye, everything can change. We get so wrapped up in the small things, that sometimes we forget that these small things are actually springboards to much bigger, better, life-changing experiences.’ She picked up her glass and took a sip. ‘Twenty years ago, when I left university, I never expected to find myself back here in Kerry, newly married and pregnant at forty-two.’ Tara laughed, raising her glass. ‘Surprise, lads! It’s apple juice.’
Gasps rang out, Ben’s mother’s loudest of all.
‘But deep down, I knew that wherever I was, whatever I was doing, no matter how many mistakes I made, there would always be four girls beside me – for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health.’ She watched as her friends all linked hands and Tara held her own to her heart. ‘I love you all and thank you, everyone, for coming.’
* * *
The wedding reception ran from Erin’s patio, all the way down the path and onto a gazebo on the beach. Tara thought it was nothing like she’d pictured for her wedding; it was better than she could have ever dreamed of.
Her original surf ’n’ turf menu stayed the same, alongside cheeseburger sliders and veggie options for the three guests who preferred not to eat anything that once had a face. There was also an array of mini desserts: brownie bites, old school pudding cupcakes and a selection of bitesize tarts. The wedding cake, already cut and half demolished by the kids, was a three-tier, raspberry-and-champagne-infused sponge with white chocolate buttercream and a layer of raspberry conserve.
They ate dinner on the patio and took dessert in the gazebo, six tables, with white linen covers, everyone floating from group to group, commenting on the food and sharing stories of the happy couple. John’s daughter, Harriet, ate herself into a heightened state of silliness while Lily managed to go from indifference to vaguely interested when the evening dancing began.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Ben and Tara to the floor for their first dance as husband and wife.’
Beth applauded wildly as they walked hand in hand to the floor. Fully expecting something unconventional for their first dance song, Beth was surprised when she heard ‘I Do’ by Aloe Blacc and LeAnn Rimes begin to play. A song about love choosing you when you thought you were through with it. It was just perfect.
