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When Colby and his wife make clear they’re opting to remain on the outskirts of the circle, Josh and Kat shimmy their way into it, and then proceed to get everyone whooped up with their enthusiastic moves. As our best friends are dancing, the song ends and a new one begins, which causes the circle to disintegrate and turn into an amorphous swarm, once again.
As I shake my ass to the new song with Hannah, I suddenly wonder about the whereabouts of my mother. If she’s dancing close by on the dance floor, I think I’ll pull her over here to dance with Hannah and me. When I finally spot Mom’s smiling face, she’s not on the dance floor; she’s sitting at a nearby table with Hannah’s mom and Kat’s parents, all of them laughing and looking happy as can be.
Another pang squeezes my heart and reverberates through my soul. It’s the same ache I’ve felt countless times tonight, whenever my thoughts have drifted to my dad. I wish so badly he could have met Hannah and been here tonight. We left a chair open for him next to Mom during the ceremony. And I mentioned him in my toast before dinner, too. So, while he’s up there watching me from his perch on a cloud, then Dad surely knows he’s deeply loved and missed and always close to our hearts.
By the time I return my gaze to Hannah dancing next to me, we’ve been joined by Kat and Josh and Jonas and Sarah. Nearby, Maddy and Keane are dancing with Ryan and his wife, as well as Reed’s little sister, Violet, and Kat’s youngest brother, Dax, and Dax’s two bandmates.
During the time Dax and his two bandmates, Fish and Colin, lived across the hallway from Hannah, I got to really like all three of those guys and genuinely root for their band, 22 Goats, to make a huge splash with their then-upcoming debut album. So, of course, when the album finally came out and the music video for their first single, “People Like Us,” went mega-viral earlier this year—with no behind-the-scenes assistance from me, by the way—thereby rocketing the song to the top of several charts and catapulting 22 Goats to worldwide fame, I couldn’t have been happier about it. Reed is known in the industry as The Man with the Midas Touch, and it’s now abundantly clear he truly deserves that nickname. The dude can’t miss. At least, when it comes to River Records and his other business dealings. When it comes to relationships, I’m still deeply unimpressed. But, hey, to each his own.
Speaking of Reed, where the hell is he? Now that I think of it, I haven’t seen him for a while. I look around, but Reed’s nowhere to be seen. He didn’t bring a date tonight—he never brings dates to personal parties and events—so, he couldn’t have slipped away to get laid. Is he smoking another joint in his backyard with Keane and the boys from 22 Goats? No, all those guys are dancing nearby. Plus, Reed has always been a one-joint-per-party sort of guy, and he’s already enjoyed his allotment.
When the song ends, the dance floor erupts in applause, and a half-second later, Reed’s voice booms through the sound system. “May I have your attention, please?”
I turn completely around to face the DJ and discover Reed standing next to him with a microphone in his hand. “Sorry to interrupt the dance party,” Reed says with a dazzling smile, “but I’m told a gift I got for Mr. and Mrs. Hennessey has just arrived.”
I put my hands on either side of my mouth and shout to Reed, “We said no presents!”
“It’s my house, so I can break any rule I want,” Reed quips. As the crowd chuckles, Reed continues, “I originally planned to give the happy couple this surprise earlier in the night. I’d planned to provide the accompaniment for their first dance, actually. But due to a flight delay, that wasn’t possible. Better late than never, though.” Reed motions to his trusty assistant, Owen, who opens a door, and a moment later, a man with a guitar waltzes into the room. As the man makes his way toward Reed, the latter says, “We all loved watching Henn and Hannah’s first dance earlier. What a perfect song for them, right? Well, this gentleman here is the musical genius who wrote that song and performed it on the hit record.”
As the crowd applauds, the guy waves to everyone. When he reaches Reed, the men shake hands and slap shoulders. Reed introduces the musician to the crowd by name and explains he’s a founding member of They Might Be Giants, one of Reed’s all-time favorites in the alt rock genre.
Of course, the crowd cheers and applauds again, even more wildly this time, but nobody more so than Hannah and me. Perhaps I should have suspected Reed would pull something like this, given how generous he is. Also, because he flew Josh and Kat’s favorite troubadour to Maui for a private performance during their wedding reception. But somehow, the thought never even crossed my mind. Reed is hosting our entire wedding at his house, after all. He’s already given us the best possible present.
