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The limo arrived on time and I slipped in the back and gave directions to pick up Dave and Ken on the way. Then we’d go to the jeweler's and I’d pick up the necklace I was going to give to Kate before the ceremony, so she could wear it during the wedding. As we drove through the streets to pick up Ken, I felt elated that Kate and I were getting married. Once, I would have thought it meant I was being foolish, but now I knew I was being smart. Kate and I were good for each other. I’d been happier with her than I had ever been in my life and I wanted that to continue. I wanted us to be a couple, a family, parents, and then one day, an old married couple, our children grown and us enjoying our time together. That would be more than I could have imagined for myself less than a year earlier.
We picked up Ken and then Dave and drove to the small jewelry shop located on a side street close to Ethan’s in Midtown. I went inside and picked up the carefully wrapped box and returned, smiling.
“What is it? Can’t we see?” Ken said, excited about the whole business, the expression on his face like a little boy expecting to see a frog or lizard.
“You’ll have to wait to see it at the wedding. I’ll have to find Kate before the ceremony and give it to her.”
“Bad luck to see the bride before the wedding,” Dave said, shaking his head.
“Hogwash,” I said, and smiled. “I saw her less than twenty-four hours ago, so if it’s true, we’re already done and we haven’t even married yet.”
“Just sayin',” Dave said and grinned.
We arrived at Ethan’s penthouse and the limo dropped us off at the front entrance. The three of us piled into the elevator and straightened our suits and ties, smoothing our hair, and generally primping. I rang the bell at the entryway and Christie answered, her face flushed. She looked frenetic but smiled when she saw us.
“Oh, it’s you guys,” she said and smiled. “We were wondering where you were.”
“We’re here with only the second most important person of the day,” Dave said and grinned. “We have the groom all ready and waiting to marry his bride.”
We entered and Christie pointed to the living room. “Guests are sitting down already,” she said, her voice breathless. “If you need it, you can use the spare bedroom in the back and the main bathroom is for you guys. Kate will be using the master bathroom in her parent’s bedroom.”
“Thanks,” I said and we proceeded to go back to the spare bedroom, which had a sign taped to the door. Groom.
“That would be me,” I said and opened the door. We went inside and Dave went right to the mirror on the closet door and checked himself out.
“We got about ten minutes to spare,” Ken said. “If you’re going to give that to Kate, you had better do it now.”
I nodded and took in a deep breath. “No time like the present.”
Then I left the room in search of my bride.
I slipped out of the spare bedroom and went down the hallway to Ethan and Elaine’s bedroom, expecting to find Kate there but instead, she was hopping down the hallway to the main bathroom, her skirt held up. While I watched, she seemed to get stuck and fell against the wall, muttering under her breath.
When she turned around and saw me, I knew she’d be upset that we actually laid eyes on each other, but I wasn’t going to let her superstitions prevent me from giving her my gift.
I smiled. The first time I ever saw her, she almost fell into my arms. Now, a few moments before our wedding, she was still falling.
Just as I fell for her.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Kate
A year to the day that I met Drake at my father's fundraiser, I was in my parent's bedroom at their apartment on Park Avenue.
The master bedroom was decorated in a sparse Zen décor but today, it was crowded. My father sat in his wheelchair and presided over the final touches to my 'costume' for the day – a floor-length white wedding dress with a corset-style bodice and a sweetheart neckline, the sheath covered in French lace, the skirt A-line with a long pleated train that spread out behind me a full five feet, tiny satin-covered buttons down the back. It was far more than I had wanted, especially for a small ceremony at my father's apartment, but he had his ways of convincing me. He helped me pick it when Drake and I returned from Africa.
"What do you think, Daddy?" I asked, turning around in a circle in front of him. When he got tears in his eyes, and covered his mouth with a hand, I knew I made the right choice.
"Beautiful," he managed, blinking his eyes.
"Oh, Daddy…" I went to him and kissed his cheek, taking his good hand in mine and squeezing. He'd never recovered the full use of his left side, the paralysis lingering longer than we anticipated but he was getting therapy for it and had been making slow progress month by month. His name had been removed from the ballot, but he was determined to try once more in two years.
He wouldn’t walk me down the aisle, but he'd wheel me and that was good enough for me.
When we were alone, I sat on the bed beside him while he sat in his wheelchair, adjusting his cuffs.
"What did you and Drake talk about before he left Manhattan to return to Nairobi? I never did ask you and Drake won't tell me."
