Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Daniel
As Rosie stands after dinner to give her maid of honor speech, I’m still thinking about the play of emotions I watched her go through during the ceremony.
Another man would feel bad for watching the maid of honor more than the exchange of vows at his daughter’s own wedding.
I am not that man.
Mel and Javi are married now, blissfully in love. What I do next is my own damn business.
The private dining hall is set up with two long tables, each seating twenty people. Rosie’s standing at the center of one of them. I’m across the room on the far side of the other one.
Too far away, but I have the perfect seat to watch her entertain everyone.
She shares three different anecdotes about exciting and far-too dangerous adventures she and Mel went on as teenagers, all in pursuit of boys.
Each anecdote ends in a humorous lesson about how it wasn’t the right boy and definitely not the right time to fall in love.
“And then she flew across the country to go to school. I had big plans to visit her in New York City and have more of the same adventures. But within a year, she met a certain Mr. Ruiz at the bank where she did a summer internship, and the fun and games were over.”
Four years I made my daughter wait to marry the man of her dreams. Listening to the way Rosie tells the story and realizing how I feel now about a certain, sexy maid of honor, it’s a miracle they didn’t elope sooner.
So when it’s my turn to speak, as the father of the bride, I tuck the prepared notes I made back in my pocket and just speak from the heart, starting with a confession.
“When my baby girl told me she’d gone to New York and fallen in love with a man—an older man, set in his career—I didn’t know how to take it.
And he was a banker, no less, so not even someone who works with his hands.
. .” Javi leads the laughing, thank God.
I mean it with love. “I’ll even admit that I didn’t take it very well at all. ”
From across the table, Mel dabs her eyes with a napkin.
“But what Rosie left out of her speech, and what Mel and Javi won’t tell you because they love me despite myself, is that I did refuse to support this marriage when I first heard that he had proposed.
Not forever. Just until she finished college and had a job.
Four years, I begged them. Just wait until she’s.
. .” I grunt around my feelings. Goddamn it.
“All grown up. But Rosie’s right. Mel went to the city and grew up fast. She fell in love.
And despite my objections, she has been steadfast in that love.
Very grown-up and very patient. Javi, you too.
So despite my earlier misgivings, it’s an honor to see the two of you make this commitment today.
Mel, I am so proud of you. And Javi. . . I’m proud to call you family.”
“Dad. . .” Mel sighed and swiped away more tears. “You old goof.”
Beside her, Rosie mouthed those three words back to me as I circled around to give my daughter and son-in-law the tightest hugs.
I might be an old goof, that’s true. But I’m Rosie’s old goof. And I will fuck her into the mattress like a twenty-five-year-old when she makes the delightful mistake of repeating it later.
They thank everyone for coming and cut a small three-tier wedding cake, officially opening the dessert buffet, which people will need after the ten courses of tiny food art.
Then it’s time for their first dance. In the intimate space between the two long tables, Javi takes my daughter in his arms and slowly starts to spin her around in practiced circles. She melts into him, their foreheads pressed together.
The photographers circle the room, documenting everything.
Mel drags me out onto the floor for the next dance, and Javi dances with his mother. I see Rosie dancing with the best man, and it takes everything in me not to grind my teeth.
As soon as the song ends and Mel is back in her husband’s arms, I intercept Rosie on her way back to her chair.
“Can I have this dance?” It’s phrased in the form of a question to be polite. It’s a demand.
Let me hold you. Be in my arms.
She slides her hand into mine. There aren’t enough guests for us to get lost on the dance floor.
There will only be a few of these dances tonight, and while most eyes are on Mel and Javi, twirling in the center of the room, I can feel some attention on my back as I twirl Rosie and then tug her close.
My hand finds its home in the small of her back, my thumb grazing her spine and my little finger resting on the curve of her ass.
She’s taller than usual in today’s heels, and her breasts brush my chest. Her breath is warm as she puts her cheek against my jaw, and her fingers wrap over my shoulder.
The lyrics are about love that knows no bounds, a thousand years of yearning, and my whole body throbs for Rosie to know that I want this to mean something significant.
When we get back to Conception Ridge, I’m going to be her best customer at the coffee shop. I’ll pick her up from school and make her cozy dinners, then spend all night with my mouth on her cunt and my cock buried deep in her body.
But before we go home, she has a birthday to celebrate.