24. Knox #3
“Hey, everyone,” Rhett said. “I’d like to raise a glass to Jack and Ivy on this auspicious occasion.
As most of you know, Jack and I go way back.
In fact, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know him.
His mother, Carol, always welcomed me into her home for meals or whatever else I needed, even though she had to work two jobs to keep her own kids fed, let alone the neighbor kid with the dead mother and the dad who was drinking himself to death.
” He chuckled. “I know, too dark for a wedding, but it’s the truth.
But I knew back then that Jack was made to make music.
It was his purpose, his calling. And his purpose became mine.
I have no idea how or why, but I knew I could figure out how to bring his talent to the world.
I was right. Two kids from Stonehaven, Washington, made it in Nashville.
The odds were stacked against us, but we did it anyway.
I believed in his talent and my brain and, thanks to many of the folks in this room, we’ve made all those dreams come true.
Even more than the music, and the money that’s come with it, I’ve cherished the friendship the most. This family we became has been my proudest accomplishment.
” He turned toward Jack. “Jack Wilder, you’ve always been the man I looked up to most in the world.
You still are. You deserve every happiness.
” He stopped for a moment, clearly overcome with emotion.
“I know you’ve found that with Ivy. So it’s with great love and humility that I wish you both a long and loving marriage.
I hope someday you’ll have a mess of kids to add to this band of outlaws. To Jack and Ivy.”
Everyone raised their glasses.
Madeleine stood next. “I’d said to Ivy for years that I thought she and Jack were soulmates, but somehow my matchmaking never came to fruition.
It took a beautiful song to do what I’d been working on for three years.
But that’s music for you.” She picked up her glass, turning toward the bride and groom.
“There is no finer person in the world than you, Ivy. No one could ask for a better friend. Thank you both for inviting me to be here today and all month. I don’t think I’m alone in saying it’s been a truly magical time.
” Her gaze swept the table. “I wish Jack and Ivy many, many more magical months during their marriage. But even if rocky times come, I have no worries. They will get through them together. Here’s to my best friend, and her soulmate. To Jack and Ivy.”
Everyone echoed back, to Jack and Ivy.
Except for me. The lump in the back of my throat made it impossible to do anything but raise my glass.
After dinner, came dancing. Jack and Ivy chose “Making Memories of Us” by Keith Urban for their first dance. I sat next to Madeleine, watching the dainty, angelic bride dance with her broad-shouldered groom.
“They’re so beautiful,” I said under my breath.
“They are,” Maddie said.
Ivy and her daddy danced to “I Hope You Dance” by Lee Ann Womack. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room when stoic Gus James held his baby girl close, his expression bittersweet.
Gus was here, I thought. In a room seriously lacking in fathers, he was here, dancing with his daughter on her wedding day.
I couldn’t help but think of the absent fathers.
Mine and Rhett’s. Maddie’s. Jack and Luci’s.
Despite their absences for most of our lives, we’d made it through.
We had the women in this room to thank for it.
Everyone laughed when the mother and son dance was to “Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys.”
“Too late,” Rhett called out.
“You tried, Mama,” Luci shouted.
After the traditional dances were over, the rest of us flooded the dance floor to “Boot Scootin’ Boogie.
” I’d not figured on dancing, but Maddie was all about it, which meant I was too.
At one point in the night, we slow danced to “Prayed For You” by Matt Stell.
As I listened to the words, with this incredible woman in my arms, I understood for the first time what an answered prayer really meant.
“You’re mine, you know,” I said into Maddie’s ear.
“I guess God knows what he’s doing after all,” Maddie said, resting her cheek on my shoulder.
I glanced around at the others. Rhett and Holly were dancing, or clinging to each other might be a better way to put it, as if they felt the days slipping away.
Soon, they would have to go back to real life, and it sure seemed like neither of them wanted to.
I looked around for Grant and Luci but neither were around.
While I was looking for them, I saw Beck approach Blake.
He took her camera off her shoulder and placed it on the table, then offered her his hand, escorting her out to the dance floor.
Looking at them together, I knew it in my bones.
There was something real and big between them.
But again, the month had an expiration date.
In that way, Maddie and I were lucky. We already belonged in the same world.
We would go back to the same one we left, only with a different perspective.
We would go back to our lives holding each other’s hand. Hopefully forever.