26. Chapter 26
Chapter 26
J ane thought the chaos would all be contained to before the wedding, but after the wedding brought plenty of chaos, too. First, there were some pictures, and then there was the talking. So much talking: “Jane, over here,” and “Jane, can you come here for a second,” and “Jane, do you know where this is,” and “Jane! So good to see you.” And she wasn’t even the one who’d just gotten married.
All of the talking— so much talking going on—and she still hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to the one person she really wanted to talk to: Luke. He’d made it to his seat, which was the good news. The bad news was that she hadn’t yet.
They were starting off the reception off with the toasts, before the meal was served, so she would have to wait a little longer. Blake’s parents said a few words first, and then Haley’s parents went next. And then it was Jane’s turn.
She stood up. She wiped her palms on her dress, and picked up the microphone. She told the story about being there when Haley and Blake first met. She talked about how she knew there was something different about Blake right from the beginning—and how she could tell it was different for Haley, too—and how perfect it was that they’d met the way they had.
“Looking back,” she said, “it all made sense that Haley met her future husband the way she did. Everything was totally on brand: being nosy and looking at someone’s phone, being even more nosy and commenting about what was on someone else’s phone, being perfectly indignant that anyone would think of those things as nosy at all.”
There were some laughs, and she continued. “But what’s so great about Blake is that he loves those things about Haley. He loves her for exactly who she is, all her quirks and beautifully unique qualities. He loves her fierce loyalty and her strong opinions and her funny take on the world. He might sometimes be calm when she wants him to be riled up, and he might sometimes let things go when she wants him to take a side. But he is the perfect complement to her and I couldn’t be happier that they found each other.”
She paused, and took a breath. “When I was little, people would sometimes ask if I had a sister. I would say, no, I don’t have a sister, until one day it occurred to me—yes, I did. Haley is as much my sister as anyone could be. I grew up with her, and I cried with her, and I laughed with her, and I fought with her, and I wished for her. I still wish for her. I wish her and Blake all of the joy life can give them.”
She turned to Haley, and they were both crying. “I love you so much, and I am so happy for the both of you.”
***
Tommy concluded things with his best man speech. He lightened things up, as Tommy always could, and had them all laughing and shaking their heads by the end. He and Jane gave each other a quick one-armed hug, and then dinner started.
Laughter and conversation bubbled up all around them, and Jane finally got a second with Luke. “Can we go talk for a minute?” she asked.
They were just about to bring out the plates. “Now?” he said.
She knew Haley, already deep in conversation, wouldn’t mind. “Just quick,” she said.
“All right,” he said, tossing his napkin on the table and sliding out his chair.
They went out by the water. The wind was picking up, flipping through her hair, and the sun was low in the sky. She tucked her hair behind her ear. “Hi,” she said.
“Hey,” he said, then: “You gave a really nice speech in there.”
“Thanks,” she said, and cut to the chase. “So … I tried texting you earlier.”
“You did?”
“But you didn’t text me back.”
“I didn’t get anything to text back to.”
“You didn’t?”
He shook his head. “My phone died. I never plugged it when I got back last night,” he said, then considered. “This morning. Whichever.” He handed her his phone. “Go ahead, try to power it on.”
She handed it back to him. “I don’t need to.” She held onto her elbow with the opposite hand, her arm across her body. “If it wasn’t dead,” she said, “would you have texted me back?”
“Of course,” he said. “Obviously.”
She hesitated, and then she just said it. “You didn’t look at me when I walked down the aisle.”
“How do you know I didn’t look at you?” he said, his mouth turning up at the corners. “I looked at you.”
“Are you sure?”
“Jane,” he said. “I’m pretty sure.”
“ Pretty sure?” she said, because she couldn’t help herself.
“I’m sure.” His gaze was steady. “Are you and Tommy …”
“Are me and Tommy what ?”
He rephrased the question. “What were you and Tommy talking about earlier?”
“He wanted to clear the air before the wedding.”
“Did the air need to be cleared?”
“Apparently,” she said, then: “Haley’s dad got to him. Actually, Haley’s mom got to him via Haley’s dad. I just think he wanted to make sure there was no bad feelings or whatever.”
“Are there?” he said. “Bad feelings?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Are there good feelings?
“They’re fine feelings. Neutral feelings. Closure-type feelings,” she added, to really drive the point home. “I’m more worried about the feelings,” she motioned in between them, “here.”
“Are those neutral feelings too?” he said, looking at her.
Jane held his gaze. “They don’t feel neutral to me.”
“Me neither.” He took a step closer to her, and then another, and then leaned into her hair. “You look very pretty tonight,” he said, his lips close to her ear. “If I didn’t tell you yet.”
“You didn’t,” she said, even as a smile started to play on her lips.
“Then I’ll have to tell you again,” he said, pulling back and taking her in. “You look … so pretty. Just beautiful.”
She could feel the goosebumps run up her arm. “You look good, too.”
“Good?” he said, teasing, like that’s the best you’ve got ?
She tried again. “Handsome, adorable, unbelievably gorgeous, unfairly good-looking …”
He laughed. “Unfairly?”
“It is unfair,” she said. “It is unfair that you look so good, all the time, and you have that smize …” She threw up her hands. “That smize! It’s a famous smize, Luke. It’s a world-class, famous smize, and we all knew it, all of us talked about it, it cast a spell on basically everyone. You could charm anyone into doing anything you want just by …” She flung her arm at him, in the general direction of his crinkly eyes and his perfect smile. “ That . It’s unfair.”
He looked at her, giving her the smize of course , seemingly deciding which part to respond to. “Unfair to who?” he finally said.
“Well,” she said, dropping her arms back to her sides, “to me, for starters.”
He was going to completely unravel her with the way he was looking at her right now. “Could I use it to charm you into kissing me right now?”
“Yes, Luke,” she said. “You probably could.”
He took her cheek in his palm, and held it there, like he just wanted to sit in the feeling of having it in his hand for a second. And then he did kiss her. He still kissed her like he’d been waiting eight years to do it, even though it was only something like eighteen hours this time. It was impossible , she thought. It was an impossible thought, and it was impossible for it to feel like that. She wondered if it would always feel that that when he kissed her, and she knew it couldn’t—of course it couldn’t.
But that wasn’t going to stop her from trying to find out.
***
Later during the reception, they were inside dancing. It was a slowed-down song, one of the songs the band had played out on the beach the other night. Gumby was sitting on the edge of the dance floor, waving her Dr Pepper in the air with the music like a flashlight at a concert, and the rest of them were out dancing.
On the other side of the dance floor, Jane’s parents were dancing next to Haley’s parents. Uncle Bob said something to Jane’s dad, and he laughed and gave him a thumbs up. They weren’t as close as Jane and Haley’s moms, but they sort of belonged to each other, too, husbands joined together for decades by their wives. It’s nice , Jane thought, how many different ways people can be linked together in life.
Not too far from them were Ashley and Cody, who looked like they were in their very own little land that no one else had a passport to. He whispered to her, and she stood on her tiptoes and cupped her hand near his ear as she whispered back, and Jane was sure if the whole world evaporated around them, they wouldn’t even notice.
Next to them were Maddie and Ian, two peas in a pod, ideal for each other in every way. Soon it would be Maddie’s turn. She would have her big, beautiful moment, all to herself, with the sweet, steady love of her life, Jane was confident of it.
And, of course, Haley and Blake. Her best friend on the entire planet, on the happiest day of her whole life. Jane actually hoped it wasn’t the happiest day of her life. She hoped Haley had many more days like this, each one happier than the last happiest one, but for now it was the happiest day of her life and Jane was glad.
She saw Tommy dancing with Bree. He said something to her, and she laughed, and Jane smiled a little with them. It’s all as it should be , she thought. It really felt like it was. Tommy and Bree had been on parallel roads for such a long time, and maybe now their roads were finally converging.
And then her and Luke. They swayed to the music for a minute, his hand on the curve of her back like it was made to fit there, the way it had been out on the beach a couple nights earlier.
“So when am I going to come visit you?” he said.
She looked up, her eyes shining at him. “When do you want to come visit me?”
“Tomorrow,” he said with a smile.
She laughed. “I’ll still be here tomorrow.”
“How about next weekend?” he said. The smile was still there, but the question was real. “Are you free next weekend?”
“I’m going to have to check my schedule,” she said, teasing. “But yeah, I think I’m free.”
***
It was time for the bouquet toss, and a buzz moved through the room in anticipation. “Ooh,” a few people said. “Move over,” someone else said.
Jane took her place in the group with the others, Ashley and Maddie on one side and Bree on the other, a smattering of cousins and friends behind them. “Good luck, ladies,” one of the uncles called out.
Haley looked out to the crowd, resplendent in her white dress. Before she tossed it, she turned and gave Jane a sublime smile and an only-for-her wink. And then she lobbed the bouquet over her left shoulder. It sailed through the air, tumbling over itself, a blend of slow motion and blink-and-you-miss-it.
And landed perfectly in Jane’s outstretched hands.