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“Lance and Indigo still live in Michelle’s house, and that neighborhood has a Christmas light competition. It was Michelle’s favorite thing to do with Lance, so he and Indigo have kept it going. Last year they did a breathtaking live nativity,” Ivy explained.
“No, you guys did a breathtaking live nativity,” Indigo corrected her. “We just set up the lights.” She turned to me. “It’s kind of Lance’s way to keep her memory alive.”
“That’s really very sweet,” I said with a smile. “I can see how Lance would do that for his mom.”
“Let’s pick a date in the new year, then!” Mrs. Violet said. “Not much going on in January or February. If he wants Michelle to be present, maybe you could do it in the hospital chapel.” She leaned over to me. “Michelle was a nurse at the Bells Pass Hospital.”
I nodded in understanding but hadn’t taken my eyes off Indigo. Something didn’t sit right. She was nervous having this discussion when most engaged women would want to do nothing but talk about their wedding. I leaned forward and took her hand to stop her from fiddling with her ring. “Indigo, have you changed your mind about marrying Lance? It’s okay if you need to take a step back.”
“No!” she exclaimed immediately. “No, that’s not it at all. I love Lance, and we’re very happy. It’s just that,” her eyes darted to Ivy briefly before they dropped to the table. “We’re already married. I don’t wear my wedding band at work.”
“What now?” Addie asked, looking around Heather to see her friend. I was shocked Ivy hadn’t said anything, so I turned to glance at her, and she sat stock still, her mouth hanging open.
“You all know how Lance is, right?” she asked, and everyone nodded but me.
“He’s shy, quiet, and doesn’t like a fuss being made,” Becca said.
“You also know he has the traumatic brain injury and sometimes, things get stuck.”
“Things like ideas?” I asked and she nodded, finally looking up at everyone.
“Not in a bad way, but in an emotional way. He was very stuck on getting married where Michelle could see us. I told him that wherever we were, she’d be there, but—”
“Lance’s brain pathways don’t reason like that all the time,” Ivy said and Indigo nodded.
“Ivy, he was so,” she moved her hands around in front of herself in a flutter. “Churned up? I guess that describes it, so I finally agreed to get married wherever he thought was best. I don’t have any family, so it’s not like they were going to come. He promised we’d have a reception later on, so I agreed to just the two of us and the justice of the peace at the cemetery by his mom’s grave.”
Ivy let out a breath that sounded pained. “Let me guess. You got married on September seventeenth?”
She didn’t need to nod for us to see the truth. “He wanted a new memory for that day, Ivy. I couldn’t be the one to deny him that by being selfish.”
Ivy reached over and took her hand, squeezing it tightly. “You did the right thing, honey.”
“Absolutely, dear,” Audrey said, her gray hair bobbing as she nodded. “That boy has been through enough in life. You offered him grace by putting your wants aside. That’s what makes a strong relationship.”
“Don’t get me wrong, it was a beautiful day,” she said, taking out her phone. “The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and leaves were just starting to change.”
She passed her phone around to show everyone the image of them holding hands in front of the justice of the peace.
“That,” I said, gazing at the image, “is the definition of intimacy. You were locked together in that moment, and being alone made it easy to be vulnerable with each other at the most important event of your life.”
Indigo took the phone back. “You think so? I’ll remember it forever as the day we were bound together by more than rings and paper. He agreed to let me hire a photographer to take some pictures, as that was my only hang-up. You know I don’t have any family, so if we have kids and they want to see our wedding photos one day, I want to have something to show them.”
Ivy squeezed her shoulder and nodded. “I agree with you. It will be nice to have those as the years go on. Maybe it’s time you start wearing your band at work. Lance too.”
Indigo dug under her shirt and brought out a chain where a wedding band hung. “We still wear them, but maybe it’s time to put them on our fingers.”
“Why haven’t you told anyone?” Becca asked. “It’s been months.”
“I was afraid of how you’d react. Like, logically, I know it was our choice. We could do what we wanted, but Bells Pass expects a wedding every Christmas, and we weren’t going to give them that this year.”
I groaned quietly. “Let me guess, the legend of the gazebo?”
Heads nodded from around the table, but it was Audrey who spoke. “It’s a real thing, dear. You’ll see.” The wink she punctuated that sentence with was enough to tell me I wasn’t off the hook from the gazebo legend just because I was new here.
“While it’s always exciting to have a wedding to celebrate, we understand why you did what you did,” Ivy said, surprising a few of them by the looks on their faces. Ivy waved her hands in front of her. “I know, I know. I usually pester the new couple about getting married, but I felt it would be different with Lance. We could hold your reception if you’d like, which would still be a celebration!”
“We tried to plan one, but the community center was booked until after Christmas,” Indigo said. “What can you do?”
