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Arm-in-arm and completely in sync, Susan and Amanda stepped onto the grass, walking in time to “At Last” as the wedding guests stood to take them in. It was funny that they put their hands on their chests and craned their heads to see, as Amanda had spent the better part of the afternoon chummy with them in the ballroom, eating a chicken sandwich as though it was just another Tuesday. But out there on the rolling grounds of the historic hotel, as an early moon floated glassily in the dying blue sky, Amanda sensed what the rest of them did: there was magic here, at this wedding, and across the entire island.
As Amanda passed her brother and her father, she smiled at them extra hard, wanting to translate her love for them. Jake looked on the verge of bursting into tears, a rarity for him, as he’d never been very in touch with his emotions.
Sam waited for Amanda at the top of the aisle, dapper as ever in the tuxedo they’d selected together on a random afternoon in Boston when the idea of their wedding had been a distant star. Although he’d seen her for hours in her dress, his eyes glinted with tears. This was it.
As Susan passed Amanda off to Sam, she kissed her gently on the cheek and whispered in her ear, “Go get ‘em, tiger.” Amanda laughed so hard that a tear shook from her eye. “I love you,” she whispered back.
Amanda stood before Sam, clutching her bouquet as though it could keep her stable, as Pastor Carter, the minister from the Newark church she’d been raised in, began to speak.
“Good evening, everyone. We are gathered here today in holy matrimony to celebrate the love between Amanda and Sam, two absolutely wonderful young people I’ve had the pleasure to get to know over the past few months, as they’ve spoken to me about their desires for this service,” Pastor Carter said. “I must admit that in all my years of working weddings, this has to be the most dramatic of them.”
The crowd laughed appreciatively as Sam reached out to take Amanda’s hand.
“But as they say, love always finds a way, even through the most difficult of circumstances,” Pastor Carter continued. He then side-eyed Noah to add, “I’ve also been told that, in all the kerfuffle earlier, the rings are not available for use. Apparently, they’re now in police custody as ‘evidence.’”
“Ohhh,” the wedding guests hissed and cried out.
“But as you know, the wedding ring is only a symbol of Amanda and Sam’s love, which means that today, something else can serve as that symbol until Amanda and Sam get the rings back,” Pastor Carter explained as Noah hurried forward to hand off the “stand-in rings,” which were, it looked like, mood rings, the kind that changed colors with your “mood,” supposedly.
“Noah? Is this the best you could do?” Pastor Carter held them up as the crowd, Amanda, and Sam laughed. Noah just shrugged, his face a mix of embarrassment and joy.
“All right, then. Let’s get started,” Pastor Carter said as he shifted slightly toward Amanda to begin the vows. Because Amanda was more of a traditional gal, or had been, before her wedding had gone off the rails, she’d opted for more traditional vows. “Repeat after me,” Pastor Carter said. “Sam, I promise to love and cherish you forever, to honor and support you, in sickness and in health, through hard times and good, and to be true to you every day of my life, until death do us part.”
Amanda’s voice wavered and broke as she repeated it, her eyes focused on Sam’s. She wanted him to know just how much she meant it.
Afterward, Pastor Carter asked Sam to say the same thing, which he did in that kind and confident voice Amanda had fallen in love with. Pastor Cater then passed them the silly mood rings, which they slid onto one another’s fingers.
“Now, let’s see what color they turn into,” Pastor Carter joked as the rings settled and adjusted to their temperatures. “Does anyone remember what color means they’re in love?”
On Amanda’s side of the aisle, Charlotte’s daughter, Rachel, waved her hand and said, “Purple!”
Everyone laughed as Pastor Carter said, “Leave it to a teenager to tell us that, right?”
Amanda and Sam watched intently as their rings slowly transformed, bleeding from blue to green to yellow, before they both finally landed on purple. Amanda’s smile shattered her face.
“We have purple, everyone!” Pastor Carter announced. “I’d now like to introduce you to Mr. Sam and Amanda Fuller. You may now kiss the bride!”
As Sam kissed her, there beneath the shimmering moon at the end of the most gorgeous day Martha’s Vineyard had ever known, Amanda closed her eyes and allowed herself to fade into the romance of the moment, to forget every single heartache she’d ever experienced. Had you asked her at this moment if she’d ever been left at the altar, if Chris had ever hurt her so badly, she’d have said, “I don’t know. Maybe in another life.” Before them, their wedding guests roared with joy, then watched as Sam and Amanda paraded down the aisle as the string quintet played a peppy version of “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)” before they collapsed between the double-wide doors and kissed some more.
They’d made it. They’d made it down the aisle. And now, the rest of their lives could begin.
ChapterTwenty-Six
For the first time in what felt like days, weeks, or maybe even years, Kelli sat down. Xander had led her to the table where their name tags sat next to traditionally beautiful china, around which were three types of forks, three types of knives, a tiny spoon, an even tinier spoon, and two types of glasses. Kelli had known the dinner would be extravagant, but this was really something. Xander reappeared at the table with a glass of wine for her and a beer for himself, and he collapsed next to her and unbuttoned his suit jacket. “What a day,” he said.
Kelli laughed and leaned into him, kissing his cheek and his lips.
“Hey, you two!” Claire appeared at the table with her husband, Russell, and bent to hug Kelli. “I can’t believe you’re not asleep right now.”
“Trust me. Once I get through this meal, I’ll be out like a light,” Kelli said.
“You have to stay for a bit of the dancing,” Claire urged her. “Besides. I heard you’re out two different managers now. So, who will watch the hotel if you go home?”
Kelli waved a hand toward the back, where she’d asked one of her mid-grade managers, Calvin, to take over for the night. He’d already begun to order people around arrogantly in a way that indicated he couldn’t have the role for long. But this ignited a memory, which led Kelli to text Officer Bobby immediately.
KELLI: Hey. Is it possible Sandra framed Piper last week? Can you check in on that? I’d like to ask Piper back, if possible.
OFFICER BOBBY: Sandra already admitted to it.
