Chapter 21
CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE
Francis
I was just coming out of the house, carrying a large box full of tissue packages, when I heard my name being called. I looked around the side of the box and saw that every face in the crowd was turned toward me and smiling expectantly.
And then I saw my man, my person… He was waving at me and gesturing for me to join him at the gazebo.
Oh. My. Goshness.
“Coming,” I said, nervous laughter escaping.
I came up the aisle, handing tissues to folks at the ends of each row.
I knew some faces, but most of these people I hadn’t met yet.
They all smiled at me with such appreciation—for the tissue or the event, I didn’t know—that I kept my smile as I reached the front.
“What’s happening, my darling?” I asked him through gritted teeth and a big smile. He looked incredible in a nicely tailored dark blue three-piece suit, with a white dress shirt and no tie. My hands shook as he took them in his, and he let out a big breath.
“I would like to enter negotiations for a binding contract.”
“I… contract?”
He nodded and squeezed my hands. “I don’t want you to pass out, so I’m letting you know that I’m going to take a knee, here.”
And before God, Pastor Dianne, and a huge portion of the Fosse Pas De Bourree community, Kendall Warren got down on his knee.
There were squeals and gasps from the crowd, but all I could focus on was my person smiling that incredible smile up at me. He let go of one of my hands and reached inside his jacket.
“I realize that we’ve only recently discussed next steps in our arrangement, but I have known for some time that I would be asking to take this next step.” He pulled out a folded handkerchief and let go of my hand to carefully open the bundle and hold it up to me.
On the neatly pressed white cloth lay two gold bands, side by side.
“We don’t need to finalize our contract today if you need time to come up with a counteroffer—Oh, baby, I’m too nervous to keep up the clever business talk. Francis Liang, will you marry me? Today, next year, or decades from now? Whenever you’re ready?”
I covered my mouth with my hands, and tears burned my eyes.
“Wait. Did my mom put you up to this?”
The entire crowd cracked up, and Kendall blushed.
“I was already planning to ask you tonight in this very spot, but, yeah, she and Shay told me that I had the right idea.”
I looked toward the house, where Mom, Shay, and Auntie Judy were hugging each other and bouncing up and down cheering. My squad. I loved it.
But I noticed another figure standing several feet behind them.
My father.
In a way, he’d been the catalyst for me ending up in Foggy Basin.
If he hadn’t kicked me out, I probably would have stuck around Silicon Valley and found another job in finance and continued to kill myself at a job that made me miserable.
The past four months I’d been here had been the greatest of my adult life, and finding Kendall was the icing on the cake.
He was my best friend, my lover, my person.
And I wanted us to be husbands. Now.
My father offered a closed-lip smiled, the most he usually did, and gave a slight nod.
Not that I needed his permission, but I appreciated in that moment that he was there to witness My Ascent.
Because hitting rock bottom with My Demise was the beginning of the New Francis.
I lived for me, I lived to help others chase their dreams, and I lived to find happiness with a wonderful man who made me feel safe and loved.
“Francis?”
“Kendall, yes. Yes. I see no need for any further delay in closing this deal. I want to be husbands. Now. Please.”
A huge whoop of joy filled the yard of Maison De Reve as Kendall climbed to his feet.
“Really, baby? Because this is what I want, but if you aren’t ready—”
I reached out and put a hand over his lips. “Seriously, I want it, too. I didn’t know how to ask you the other night if you’d ever want to get married again, because it’s all I’ve been thinking about. I love you.”
“I love you, too. Now—”
Dianne cleared her throat. “May I speak?”
We both laughed, and so did the crowd, who all had cameras and phones out, snapping pics and recording video.
“Of course, thank you so much.”
She nodded. “As was said before, this won’t be a legally binding marriage, but an oath before each other and your friends and family that you wish to enter into a marriage of love and fidelity for the rest of your days. Is that what you wish?”
“Yes.”
“Please.” I couldn’t help it. Now that I knew he wanted it too, I wanted to get to the good part.
“Wonderful. Let’s begin.”
I spaced out most of her words in the beginning because I was lost in wonder as I gazed at my person, who was about to become my husband.
For the rest of our days. Together. Of course, we had a million things to work out, but the most important thing we’d learned in our time together was that we could do anything as a team. We’d figure the rest out.
“Do you have the rings, Kendall?”
“Oh, yes.” He started to hand Dianne the rings, but then he hesitated.
“These rings were worn by my father and grandfather, two imperfect men that I looked up to very much. One thought would be that the rings might not represent the kind of fresh start that you and I came to Foggy Basin for, that we found in each other. But I would argue that by using the rings of the men who molded and shaped me into the man I am today, we’re embracing their legacies and taking the lessons from one and inspiration from the other to live and love the life I think they would have wanted for themselves, and for us.
One full of love and honor and happiness.
” He exhaled and smiled hesitantly. “What say you, soon-to-be Mr. Liang-Warren?”
“I say,” I began, my full heart threatening to spill over, “that by expressing our vows to love and support one another, on this special ground that has been repurposed to help make dreams come true, we are absolutely giving and receiving a second chance at happiness. I’m all for redemption arcs.
” I leaned in and stage whispered, “I learned that from the romance authors.” I gave him a wink, and he laughed, but his blue eyes filled with tears. The good ones, I hoped.
“Now that we’ve settled that, may I do my job? Please?”
Dianne was humoring us, but I could see the beads of sweat in her hairline. She’d gone above and beyond her duties today. I’d for sure be making a hefty donation to her church in thanks.
She said some lovely words to bless the rings, and we took turns sliding them on each other’s fingers.
“I know, it’s huge. We’ll get it sized.”
“It’s fine. Shh. Please, Dianne, continue.”
She laughed and wiped at her forehead with her own handkerchief.
“Hey, can someone get Dianne some water, please?” I called out. A second later, Roger bounded up the steps and handed her a cold bottle of water.
She thanked him and said, “Let’s continue, shall we?”
I held the ring tight against my finger, terrified I’d drop it, while she continued on about sickness and health and in good times and bad, yada yada. Then she got to the most important part.
“Francis, do you take this man—”
“Yes! Yes I do.”
She sighed and shook her head.
“Kendall?”
“Absolutely. To be my person for the rest of my life.”
And now I was crying for real.
“Wonderful,” she said with a smile of exasperation. “By the power vested in me by the Universal Life Church, I now pronounce you… what was it? Husbands and Persons.”
And do you know? I climbed my fireman in front of all those people. I jumped into his arms and held on tight while he kissed me with so much passion, my toes curled in my dress shoes.
“I love you, baby,” he said against my lips.
“I love you, too, but now we have to entertain these people for the next few hours? Are you kidding me?”
He squeezed me tight as he laughed. “I promise I’ll make it up to you.”
I slid down his body and held his chin in my hand. “You will. I know you will.”
I took the ring off the correct finger and slid it onto my thumb, where it fit snugly, and I knew it wouldn’t go flying off.
“Guests, thank you so much. And now, I would love to invite you all to enter the tent, where we’ll eat, drink, and be merry. The Deevers family would like to thank you for coming, and they ask that you please enjoy the lovely buffet.”
People stood and hugged each other, chatting excitedly.
“This is sure to be the event of the season in good ol’ Frosted Bagel,” I said with a satisfied grin, as Kendall wrapped his arms around me from behind.
“You did it, baby.”
“No, you did it. This really pushed me past the level of bananapantsery that I thought I could handle.”
“It turned out perfect for everyone,” he said. But at that moment, I caught sight of my mother and father talking to each other next to the pool.
“Not quite.” I pointed in their direction. “Do you mind?”
“Of course not.”
He led me down the steps, and we walked toward my parents, who were having a serious discussion.
“Dad? Mom? Can we—”
Mom high-fived Kendall and took me in her arms.
“I’m so happy for you,” she said, wiping her eyes. “You made a handsome groom, although if I would have known you were getting married, I would have insisted on different flowers. Who chooses tulips for a wedding? I would have picked orchids.”
“And it would have been beautiful, but today was perfect.”
She grinned at me. “It sure was.”
I turned to Dad, grateful to have Kendall’s hand in mine. He didn’t let go even as he hugged my mom.
“Dad, this is—”
“Kendall. We spoke earlier. He had good advice for me.”
The two of them shook hands, and I wondered just what my new husband said to my father.
Awkward.
“I know you wanted to talk—”