36. Walter #2
“Why don’t you have a piece, with some of this fresh butter?”
“Is that the advice?”
“It’s not the advice. That was more of a general suggestion. Don’t deny yourself things you really, really want.”
“As in this actual bread or is that another metaphor?”
“Both.” How many motivational speeches had the poor guy listened to this week?
Walter needed to keep it simple if he didn’t want to lose Robbie.
“Weddings can be chaotic. You’re caught up in something that takes on its own momentum.
Like a cyclone. It’s totally natural to think, ‘Wait, whose wedding is this? Why does it matter if we have this color napkin or that one? I’m marrying a person, not a three-ring circus.
’” Walter pretended to juggle invisible balls.
“That’s how it is for any wedding, so multiply by a thousand for you and Fiona. ”
Robbie paused in the act of buttering a slice of bread, brow furrowing. “So sneaking away is a good idea?”
“Maybe. Partly. But there’s more to it. There’s the choice you made—this person, more than anyone else, forever.
That’s between the two of you. This is the moment where you acknowledge that you found someone you’re crazy about.
Partly because they make you that way, but it’s also that when you met her you realized, ‘that’s it for me.
I’m done. She is better than the best I could ever have imagined.
I’m going to hold on as long as I can.’ Because it’s impossible to imagine feeling that way about anyone else. ”
Walter’s thoughts tilted, tumbling from this table to wherever Hildy was right now. How long had it taken him to understand that no matter what he told himself was going on between them, part of him had never let go?
“Totally,” Robbie said, forcing Walter’s attention back to the present. “That’s Fee for me.”
“The thing about the wedding is that it’s a chance to build this whole support system around you. This is your inner circle, of family and friends and people who are invested in your happiness, coming together in this kind of ring of strength. Like at a castle.”
Robbie set down his bread, brushing the crumbs off his hands. “And the moat is like the outer circle. Business associates and our parents’ friends?”
Walter nodded as if he’d been about to say that very thing. “You’re giving all of them a gift, by letting them share your joy and excitement.”
“And a really good dinner.”
“That too. But you’re getting something in return. It’s not just symbolic, the power of a community that’s rooting for you and witnessing your commitment to each other. All those people are there to lift you up and strengthen this bond between the two of you, by seeing it and believing in it.”
“Like little kids believing in fairies.” Robbie popped the rest of the bread into his mouth before taking a sip of coffee. “So what I’m hearing is that you don’t think we should do the secret wedding?”
“What I’m proposing is … actually, it’s Hildy’s idea.”
“She’s smart.”
“Very,” Walter agreed.
“And pretty.” He gave Walter a sly look.
“That’s not really relevant to the matter at hand, but yes.”
“Okay.” Robbie shook his head, laughing under his breath. “Relevant. I like that.”
“Hildy thinks you should have the secret wedding and the other one,” Walter said, all business. “As planned.”
“Get married twice?” Robbie made an effort to lower his voice. “Is that even legal?”
“Think of it as a vow renewal. You say ‘I do’ quietly, for the two of you, all woodsy and natural, and then you say it again, in front of your community. And they’re like a chorus that amplifies your voices, you know?”
Robbie grabbed another piece of bread. “And nobody would be sad.”
“It flows both ways,” Walter agreed. “The giving and the getting.”
“Like the QR code we have on the place cards for people to donate to the World Wildlife Fund. I guess we’d miss out on that too, if we don’t have a wedding.”
“You’d also be doing me a solid.” Walter swallowed the strangeness of confiding in Robbie Schafer, of all people.
“Because of your story?” The heartbreaking part was that Robbie didn’t even sound disillusioned, as if being a pawn in other people’s moneymaking schemes was part of life.
“This is more of a personal situation.”
“It’s about Hildy,” Robbie guessed, lighting up with interest.
Walter nodded. “I’m kind of hoping seeing your wedding will soften her heart—toward me. Make her feel optimistic about love.”
“That would be so cool!” Robbie shoved him in the shoulder. “If my love for Fiona was so powerful, it was contagious.”
Walter didn’t see any need to clarify that it wasn’t the falling he and Hildy had trouble with; that had been accomplished ages ago. The issue for them was being brave enough to admit how they felt—and do something about it.
“That’s the magic of weddings. Two people who love each other, standing up and telling the whole world. What’s more powerful than that?”
Robbie blinked at him, a slight furrow between his brows. “That’s beautiful, man.”
“I learned it from Hildy. She once told me that you can see everything good about people at a wedding.” And some of the bad, but he didn’t need to remind Robbie of that. “Before that I didn’t really get it, you know? I thought it was just a party with funny clothes.”
Robbie leaned back in his chair. “You really like her, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“But does she know that?”
“I don’t know,” Walter admitted.
“Then you gotta fix that, stat. You don’t want to waste any more time.” Robbie stood, gathering his dishes. “Damn, that felt good.”
“The carbs?”
He shook his head. “Giving somebody else advice for a change.”