Chapter 14
CHAPTER 14
A fter the words were out, crazy as they were, Aiden wouldn’t take them back, no matter how many people tried to make him do so. And everyone but his sister, Beth, tried to make him do so. She smiled at the news and said, “Starla will be thrilled.”
Aiden perked up. “Hey, I want Starla in the wedding. Can she be our substitute flower girl?”
“Absolutely, especially because your original flower girl bolted, along with the rest of Erica’s family. Like roaches when the lights come on,” Beth added, which was such an unusually cruel thing for her to say that Aiden blinked at her, shocked speechless for a few seconds.
Jenna, on the other hand, was oddly silent, at least for the first thirty seconds until her brain kicked into gear. Then Aiden wished for a muzzle for her. “You can’t marry a stranger , Aiden!” she yelled, so loudly that even his mother shushed her, though she clearly believed the same thing.
“She’s not a stranger, she’s June,” Aiden said, giving June’s hand a squeeze. She was silent beside him, smiling her usual gentle smile.
“I don’t understand,” his mother said slowly, sinking weakly into a chair.
“We’re making lemonade here, Mom.”
“I don’t think that’s an appropriate analogy for a lifetime commitment, Aiden,” his father said, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
“You can’t! ” Jenna reiterated, throwing herself into her own chair, sobbing.
“Okay, let’s dial down the crazy,” Beth said. “First of all, raise your hand if you can remember Aiden ever making a bad or crazy decision in his life.”
She waited, but no one raised a hand.
“So let’s cut him some slack here and give him the benefit of the doubt that he knows what he’s doing.”
Aiden tossed her a grateful smile.
“But you can’t just substitute a new girl when one falls through. This isn’t multiple choice,” his father said.
“If it were, June would be the better option,” Beth stubbornly insisted. “I know you guys don’t know her, but I do. She’s wonderful. Starla and I both love her, and apparently so does Aiden. Out with the bad, in with the good, I say.”
That gave everyone including Aiden pause. Her statement, though supportive, made him feel guilty. He wasn’t marrying June because he loved her, and certainly not because he was choosing her over Erica. But there was no way he could tell his family about June’s father’s offer or their callous arrangement. The dishonesty pinged his conscience, but Beth was right on one count: they would love June once they got to know her, more than they had ever liked Erica. She was a natural fit with their family, if they could get over this awkwardness. He eased his arm around June, pulling her tight against his side. Her palm slid up to rest on his heart.
“Mom, Dad, I’m marrying June today. I’d like to do it with your support, but know I’ll be doing it either way.”
“But we don’t know her,” his mother said softly, casting an apologetic glance at June who merely continued to smile gently in return.
“So what?” Beth interjected again. “We knew Erica and couldn’t stand her.” Aiden winced and June gave him a pat.
“Fair point,” his father agreed, and his mother snickered. There , Aiden thought. If they were laughing, they were sold.
Ten minutes later, he and Kent and the minister went to stand at the front of the church. The congregation rippled restlessly, clearly waiting for some sort of announcement. When none was forthcoming, they began darting each other furtive glances. And then the music started and there was no more time for the possibility of subversive gossip.
Since June’s mother was deceased, it was only Aiden’s mother who was escorted down the aisle by his father. She lit both mother’s candles and tossed Aiden one last glance, as if to say, I hope you know what you’re doing.
Me too, he thought. But then the procession began, such as it was with only Beth and Jenna and Starla to accompany his three groomsmen. Beth had given June her bouquet to carry. The doors at the back of the church closed. Everyone stood. Aiden’s heart thundered so hard he was certain everyone could hear it. And then the doors opened and he caught sight of June, serenely beautiful, so much that he momentarily forgot it was supposed to be someone else walking toward him. Even if her dress was light pink, even if she wasn’t the one he had chosen for this day, even if their circumstances were ridiculous, there was no denying her beauty, her feminine allure. He got it now, why people were always comparing women to flowers, because as June descended the aisle on her father’s arm, she looked caught between a wild rose and a calla lily, stately and elegant but pink and soft and lush.
Her beauty at that moment was enough to divert him from any other thought, enough to drown out the murmur of the congregation. He followed along the minister’s words, repeating his at the appropriate moments. He almost stumbled when he had to slip Erica’s ring on her finger, but then caught sight of the massive ring she slid onto his, guessing correctly it belonged to her ham-fisted father. When it threatened to fall off, June whispered, “Doctor hands,” making both of them titter nervously.
“You may now kiss the bride,” the minister said. For the first time in more than two years, Aiden was supposed to kiss someone other than Erica. His instinct was to shy away, but something more primal took over, something that seemed to say, finally! His hands slid to June’s face, cupping it, his thumb smoothing along her jaw. June was tall enough that she didn’t have to stand on her toes, but she did lean in, pressing her warm palms lightly to his chest. Was she trembling? Was he?
It wasn’t a romantic kiss by any stretch, more of a gentle swipe of affection, but it lingered, one, two, three seconds, and then he opened his eyes and brushed her nose with his. Why? He had no idea. But the moment had been an intimate one, and he needed something all their own, something that signified the strange new world they’d entered into. Their eyes caught and held. June’s crinkled with a smile, and his did, too.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you for the very first time, Dr. and Mrs. Aiden Lawrence.”
The moment broke. Flustered and jangled, they peeled their eyes off each other and faced a few hundred pairs of eyes, all staring at them with unabashed nosiness. Aiden clasped June’s hand and together they stumbled down the aisle, dazed and stunned. Once at the back of the sanctuary, they didn’t stop and form a line, as he was supposed to. Last night he had practiced exactly what to do, but that was with Erica. He couldn’t, wouldn’t, greet each of the guests in person.
Instead he kept walking until they reached a closet. Opening the door, he hustled June inside. When the door closed, they were pitched into darkness.
“Don’t tell me you want a divorce already,” June said.
“I needed a pause button on the crazy for a moment,” he said. There was nowhere to go in the small space. They stood toe to toe. June clasped his lapels and rested her forehead on his chest. Aiden’s arms eased around her waist.
“How are we going to play this for the reception?” she asked.
He groaned. The reception. It was one thing to pull off a switcheroo at a wedding and another entirely to have to face people and answer questions about what happened. “Can’t we run away?”
“We could,” June said seriously. “But I think that might make it worse. People are going to talk. If you face it, you’ll get ahead of the rumors.”
“You’re right,” he said. “But I think we’re in agreement there’s no way we’re going to tell anyone about our little arrangement.”
“Agreed. As I see it you have two options. Option one, you’re honest and take the sympathy Erica’s running away will get you. You were the jilted lover. We’re friends, and I stepped in as a last minute replacement because reasons. People will form their own conclusions about why, and we could let them.”
“What’s option two?”
“Option two is that we’re desperately and madly in love, something you only realized today. It makes you look like a cad to anyone but the most diehard romantic,” she said.
“It makes you look bad, too.”
“These are your family and friends, Aiden. I only know my dad, Denver, and Beth here. The choice is yours.”
“Believe it or not, I’d rather have people’s derision than their pity,” he said.
“I believe it,” she said. “But it means we’ve got to sell it today. As soon as we open those doors, we have to go out there and turn into King Edward and Wallace Simpson, willing to give up everything for the sake of love. How good of an actor are you?”
“I don’t want to brag, but I was chosen as the chicken in my third grade class’s production of Chicken Little.”
She whistled softly. “That’s next level. Now I’m intimidated.”
“I don’t expect you to be as professional as I am but do your best,” Aiden said.
Her finger toyed with a button on his tuxedo. “I liked that nose thing you did back there which, now that I’m saying out loud, sounds weird.”
“Honest truth, June? It was to resist the temptation of kissing you again. Even though I’m presently a crushed husk of wasted humanity, I can’t fail to notice that you are one beautiful lady, June Kellogg.” His lips found hers and kissed her for about four seconds until suddenly—with a rattle and a jolt—she was gone. “June?”
There was a pause before she said, “Fell in a bucket.”
He leaned forward and groped for her, securing her wrist in his hand to draw her up. “Are you okay?”
“Clearly,” she said. She patted his chest. “Don’t be charming to me today, Aiden. It might literally kill me. Let’s play our parts and get through this, and then you can do away with me.”
“No way, June. I need you too much.” He slid his arm around her waist and gave it a squeeze. She stumbled, bumping into the wall beside her.
“Aiden,” she hissed. “Your flirting is lethal right now.”
“That wasn’t flirting, that was sincerity. But all right, message received. For the rest of this night, we are strictly professional. Except…” He cupped her face and kissed her, tenderly, sweetly. “Once more for luck, June. I think we’re going to need it.”
“In that case…” she stood on her toes and brushed her lips on his. “Double luck. Ready?”
“Ready.” He took her hand and opened the door.