Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
Hailey
I’m really doing this.
The thought runs through my head on a loop the whole time I’m getting ready. It repeats over and over while Maggie helps me do my hair and makeup and drives us to the Arboretum so I can get married to Jason Chalmers.
It doesn’t even feel real.
From the moment we came out of that boutique carrying a wedding dress in a white garment bag, reality seems to have gone on vacation. This is just some dream or elaborate hallucination.
Even when I’m standing at the top of the walkway, looking down at Jason standing in front of his friend who’ll be performing the ceremony—Maggie’s boyfriend—with Maggie and another couple standing off to the side, it’s like some weird pre-teen fantasy come to life.
I’m marrying my older brother’s best friend?
Not even fantasy. More like … dream you wake up from and go, Wow, that was weird.
Music starts playing, and I recognize it as the piece I told the woman who came up to Maggie and me as we were getting out of the car and demanded to know what I wanted as my processional.
I’ve played the standards—the Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin and the trumpet pieces that people often walk in to—but those didn’t feel right to me.
Or maybe I’ve just played them so many times I’m sick of them.
So I went with the Gavotte from Bach’s Partita in E Major for unaccompanied violin.
The D minor Partita is my favorite, but since this one’s happier and more uptempo, it feels more appropriate for a wedding.
When I meet Jason’s eyes, standing there in his gray suit, white shirt, and sapphire blue tie, a pink rose pinned to his lapel, he gives me an encouraging smile. And I take that as my cue to start walking.
The music continues until I stand in front of Jason, his blue eyes brilliant as he smiles at me, and he reaches for my hand.
Maggie steps up and takes my bouquet, and then I’m standing face to face with Jason, my hands grasped in his.
His friend starts talking, and he must say something funny because everyone chuckles, but I’ve missed it.
I miss nearly all of it—though it’s pretty short, at least I think so—until Jason is repeating his vows, “I, Jason Chalmers, take you, Hailey MacKay, to be my wedded wife. To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.”
That last line hits me like a punch to the gut. We both know that we’re not going to last until death do us part. Why did he let his friend keep that part in?
But before I can say anything—and besides, what exactly am I going to say right now in the middle of everything?—it’s my turn. Bouchard gently repeats my first line when I don’t say it right away.
Clearing my throat, I lift my chin and say it. “I, Hailey MacKay … do take you, Jason Chalmers …”
And almost as quick as it began, it’s over, and Bouchard’s saying, “You may now kiss the bride.”
My eyes go wide, and Jason steps in close, kissing me chastely on the lips, but that’s not good enough for our tiny audience.
“Aw, come on, man!” shouts his other friend. “You can do better than that!”
Jason’s eyebrows raise as he looks at me, and he gives me an almost sheepish grin before stepping in close, his arm slipping behind my back as he pulls me against him, his lips covering mine.
It’s still a chaste kiss, as these things go. But it lasts longer than the peck from a second ago, his lips the right combination of soft and firm against mine, and he even bends me back a little before righting me to the whoops and hollers of his friends.
“That’s what I’m talking about!” the other guy crows, and Bouchard claps Jason on the shoulder.
“Congratulations,” he says more quietly, then offers his hand to me. “And to you, Mrs. Chalmers.”
The name echoes in my ears. Mrs. Chalmers? That can’t be right.
Jason laughs it off and makes an offhand comment about me keeping my last name, which, yeah, of course I am.
We hadn’t even discussed that.
It didn’t occur to me that there was any other option. Would I want to change my name?
I mean … maybe? If this were real.
Like, really real. Like we weren’t planning on eventually getting divorced. Like if he weren’t just marrying me because he feels guilty and wants to make sure I’m taken care of after what he sees as neglecting me for years.
“Sorry,” says a voice behind me, and I turn to face her. “I think I forgot to introduce myself before. I was just caught up in trying to make sure you had music. I’m Marissa.” She smiles, offering me her hand to shake.
“Hi. I’m Hailey.”
Her grin grows wider. “Oh, I know. You’ve been the topic of many conversations lately. The whole team is very curious about you, especially since Chalmers skipped Abernathy’s barbecue last week to take care of you.”
“I told him he could go without me,” I protest.
Marissa nods. “I believe you, but obviously he didn’t listen.”
“When does he ever?” I playfully gripe.
“Ha. Tell me about it.”
“Hey!” her boyfriend objects. “I listen!”
“Of course you do, sweetheart,” she says. Then to me, in a lower voice, “Bless his heart.”
This is met by a chorus of, “Ooooohh,” from the guys.
“She just blessed your heart,” Bouchard whispers.
“I know!” Dozer cries. “Ouch. I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Ignore them,” Marissa tells me. “I know things are pretty crazy right now, but I’d love to get together with you sometime.
This is a tough city to make friends in, and I know you’re new to town, so I don’t want you to have to fight for friends the way I did.
And once games start, you’ll meet Tina. She likes to take all of us newcomers under her wing. ”
“You’re hardly a newcomer anymore,” Maggie chimes in.
“Well, not now that you and Hailey are in the picture. To some of those women, though, you’d think I just fell off the turnip truck.
” To me, she says, “It’s the accent. They think because I say y’all and fixin’ to that I must be a country bumpkin.
But I grew up in the fourth-largest metro area in the US. Much bigger than Seattle.”
“I’m not sure Hailey needs to know all of that,” Maggie says, stepping in smoothly to head off the mini rant Marissa’s starting. “We don’t want to scare her away before she’s even come to a game.”
“Has Chalmers gotten you the schedule already?”
I glance at Jason, but he has his back to me. “Oh, uh …”
“Of course he hasn’t,” Marissa says, rolling her eyes and giving an exasperated shake of her head.
“Boys never think of these things. If you give me your number, I’ll text you the link so you can add the home games to your calendar.
And away games, too, so you can at least know when you’ll be on your own.
” Her eyes go wide again, but this time with excitement.
“Okay, I know I’m getting ahead of myself, but while the guys are on the road, you and I will have to get together.
Maggie’s got a kid, so she’s not always available. ”
“You travel for work,” Maggie chimes in, “so you’re not always available either.”
Marissa rolls her eyes again, and now I’m just grinning at these two. “I travel for work far less than you have to take care of your son.”
“Yeah, okay, true,” Maggie grumbles.
“Okay,” Marissa says, looking at me expectantly. “Number?”
As I rattle off my number, a hand slides along my back, and I turn to see Jason. Marissa and Maggie smile knowingly and exchange a look that I know means they think there’s more going on with Jason and me than there really is.
But this is the deal, right? I mean, we’re not spreading it around that we’re not romantically involved. Everyone will assume we are, because of course they will. Hence the kiss. And him standing next to me like this.
“We’ve got the signed marriage certificate. We just have to file it with the county once they’re open for business, and this is all official.”
“Oh, wow. Okay. That’s, uh, that’s great.” I dart a look at the other two couples watching us.
Jason scratches his nose with his free hand. “And, um, so, apparently Dozer and Marissa made reservations for us at Alessandro’s in lieu of a reception.”
“That is the reception,” Marissa says, glaring at Jason. “And you’re welcome.”
“Right,” Jason says. “Thank you both for arranging that for us. I appreciate the way all of you have pitched in to make this happen, from Bouchard becoming the officiant—”
“That’s Minister Bouchard, to you.”
“Right. Thanks for your noble sacrifice in paying to be ordained by …”
“Oh, well …” Bouchard rubs the back of his neck. “It was free to be ordained, actually. I did go ahead and order the official documents, though, so I spent a little bit of money, but not that much.”
Jason looks amused at this confession. “Where did you get ordained? I don’t think you ever said.”
Maggie starts giggling, and we all look at her.
“The Church of Gnome,” Bouchard admits, the tips of his ears turning pink, though he’s holding his chin up like he’s not embarrassed.
“It’s a real place,” Maggie says between giggles.
Shrugging, Bouchard says, “I like what they stand for.”
“Gnomes?” Marissa asks.
“Well, I mean, that too.” Bouchard grins. “Seriously, though. Check out the website later. It’s a lot of stuff about being a good person, basically. But they lay it out nicely, and”—he shrugs—“who doesn’t like gnomes?”
“Right,” Jason says, blinking at him. “Yeah. Well, still. Thank you for finding a place to ordain you so you could perform the ceremony. And thank you to Maggie for helping Hailey with the dress and flowers and getting ready today. And thank you to Dozer and Marissa for the reservation, the music, and taking photos. You guys are the best.”
It hits me, then, that Jason has a good life here with real friends.
I hadn’t really been paying attention, caught up in my own surreality and drama with all of this.
But … he’s right. Without them here doing their best to make this special at the last minute, we would’ve just gone to the courthouse in shorts and T-shirts or something and said our vows in front of a judge.
Even if this isn’t meant to last forever, it’s still special. And that’s starting to sink in.
“Our reservations are in twenty minutes,” Dozer says, “so we should probably head out so we make it in time.”
“Lead the way,” Jason says, gesturing for the others to precede us.
When I start to move as well, he tightens his fingers at my waist, keeping me in place until the others are halfway up the path. “How are you doing?” he asks me quietly.
“I’m good,” I say automatically.
Turning me to face him, he looks me in the eyes. “Are you? You seemed kinda shell-shocked for a little bit there.”
“Aren’t you?” I ask. “This is …” I gesture around, trying to encompass everything—the park, the dress, him, the flowers, his friends. “It’s a lot. And really fast. Don’t you think so?”
He studies my face. “Yes and no. I’m used to things moving pretty fast, though, once the action starts. That’s basically been my whole life. Everything feels slow until—bam—it’s all happening at once. Why should this be any different?”
I search his eyes for a moment, but all I see is sincerity. “I think it’s fair to say that you and I have lived very different lives.”
His chin dips in a nod. “Yeah, that’s probably true. You’re okay, though? This, my friends, all of it—it was okay?”
“It was beautiful, Jason.” My voice is a whisper, and I’m getting a little choked up. Blinking away the moisture trying to collect in my eyes, I force a smile. “It was the perfect last-minute, shoestring wedding. Thank you for making it happen.”
He studies my face again, then breaks into a small smile. “My pleasure.”