Page 81 of The Wedding Favor

“Ouch.” I stood. “I think I’m really starting to like Missy.”

“You would take her side,” he muttered.

“You know, she adores you, thinks you hung the moon and stars.”

“Did you ever think that about me?” he asked.

I smiled sadly. “I thought I did. But you need someone who does. Missy gives you that. You deserve that. So do I.”

“So, what now?” he asked.

I stood up. “You get married today.”

He took a long, stilted breath and smiled widely. “Yeah, I’m getting married today.”

I punched his shoulder, maybe a little harder than necessary. “Don’t screw it up.”

THIRTY-ONE

“My one and only wedding was perfection—we eloped.”

—excerpt from the unpublished memoir,

Darling, I Must Say by Gloria Hayes

The wedding went off without a hitch. Missy looked beautiful, so no one paid my dress too much attention, although the poor photographer had been at a loss as to what to do with me in the photos. I stood in the back a lot. Abe had taken one look at me, pressed his lips together, and handed me a fistful of chocolate. Wisely, he did not comment.

It should be noted that somehow Missy’s bouquet had been changed at the last minute—not a single pink rose in sight.

Despite my anxiety (and aside from the dress), standing beside Aidan while he got married hadn’t hurt as much I’d thought it would. Maybe it was because I saw the way Missy looked at him, with her whole heart in her eyes, or how Aidan’s breath hitched when he got his first look at Missy coming down the aisle. What surprised me was how emotional it made me, but it wasn’t heartache that made tears well up. It was… contentment. It was knowing this was as it should be.

The reception was held in the ballroom of our hotel. For a wedding that had been whipped together in only a month, it was clear Missy had put a lot of love and care into this day. Toward the end of dinner, the speeches started and before long, someone tapped me on the shoulder to tell me I was next.

I pulled out the folded piece of paper with the speech I’d labored over. I’d pulled out all the stops. Thesauruses were used. I’d practiced in front of the mirror a million times but looking at it now, it wasn’t much more than insincere platitudes wrapped in nice words.

My hand was shaking as I took the microphone from the DJ. I looked out onto the group of seventy-five of Aidan and Missy’s closest friends and family and smiled, ignoring the bundle of nerves that had taken over my stomach.

“Hi, if we haven’t met, I’m Iris. I had a speech prepared, a really great story about the time Aidan had his wisdom teeth removed and was convinced the receptionist was in love with him.” I paused for the smattering of laughter. “But that speech doesn’t seem right so I’m winging it here.”

I balled up the paper and smiled nervously at Aidan and Missy. “I’m not sure that I believe in love at first sight. Love, I think, takes time to grow. Sort of like a garden or a houseplant.”

“You plant the seed, you water the seed, and you hold your breath to see if it grows. Then somehow a miracle happens. It starts out tiny and new, a delicate, little fledgling that you have to nurture. So, you keep watering it. Sometimes when no one’s watching, you sing to it. You protect it because it’s precious to you. You keep it safe.”

My heart thumped, and my hands around the microphone were slippery with sweat. The moment my eyes found Abe in the crowd, a wave of relief passed over me. He grinned and even from a distance I could see that dimple. He’d become some kind of touchstone, my anchor in this weird sea of a wedding.

“Love is a lot like that seed. It starts out small and new and the more you feed it and water it and, yes, even sing to it, the more that love grows. Love isn’t about one moment in time, it’s about all the tiny moments gathered together. It’s about working every day to make that love grow bigger and stronger. So, Aidan and Missy.” I forced myself to look away from Abe to the newlyweds. Missy gave me a watery-eyed smile. “I hope that every day you are doing something to make your love for each other grow. It’s a precious thing the two of you have found. Water it, protect it, keep it safe.” I picked up the champagne flute someone had placed in front of me and held it up. “To Aidan and Missy.”

Afterwards, I marched over to the couple. Missy hugged me before I could get a word out. When she finally let me go, I asked, “Did I do okay? I know I didn’t get that approved first.”

Missy’s smile was brilliant. She really did make a beautiful bride, like a princess in her ballgown and the soft curls framing her face. Mostly though, it was that she was so, so happy and it showed. “I loved it.”

I turned to Aidan. He went for a hug; I held out a hand to shake. When that didn’t work, I went for the hug, and he held out a hand to shake. So, I patted him on the shoulder. We laughed awkwardly.

“Congrats,” I said. And I found that I really, truly meant it. Sure, it might always hurt a little. He had been my first love, but he wasn’t my forever love. And that was okay.

“Thanks for, um, everything,” he said.

“Send me a proof of life text every now and then, okay?”