Save the Date(98)

As soon as we stepped outside, I drew in a breath—it was cold out there, much colder than it had been the last time I’d been outside. The wind had picked up too, and I saw Jenny K., in front of me, raise a hand to her hair as we walked across the lawn. But it wasn’t raining, which I was very grateful for at this particular moment.

Bill was waiting for us at the back of the tent, and he nodded as Mike reached him. He raised his walkie-talkie and said quietly into it, “Go music. Go procession.” Then he pulled open the door, and Mike and Elizabeth stepped through, followed a moment later by Danny and Priya.

Marcus and I followed behind them, and as we stepped inside the tent, I felt my jaw fall open. Because it was beautiful. The back had round tables with numbers in the center, with centerpieces on every table—flowers and unlit candles. On the other side of the tent, there were white chairs separated by an aisle that was strewn with flower petals. There were lights hanging from the ceiling of the tent, in addition to twinkle lights everywhere, making the whole thing feel magical.

And there were rows and rows of people, my relatives and Rodney’s, Linnie’s friends, my parents’ friends, Jesse handsome in a dark suit, everyone dressed up and facing our direction. There was music playing, too, and I was glad to hear it wasn’t Journey. But it also wasn’t the normal wedding march and I realized after a moment that it was a recording of a doo-wop song, one Linnie had always loved—“Today I Met the Boy I’m Gonna Marry.”

I couldn’t stop myself from smiling as Marcus and I walked down the aisle. Rodney was standing at the end of it, looking nervous and proud and happy, all mixed into one. He was wearing the dark-gray suit his dad had been wearing, and I could see General Daniels, sitting in the front row next to his wife, wearing his uniform. Ralph was standing next to Rodney, looking official in his judges’ robes. But seeing the way his pants seemed much too long for him, spilling over his shoes, I had a feeling he was still wearing Rodney’s suit under his robes.

When we got to the front of the aisle, the bridesmaids split off in one direction, to stand on the left side, and the groomsmen went to the right, to stand behind Rodney, all of it going fairly smoothly, even though we hadn’t had a real rehearsal. When we were all in place, there was a pause, and then Linnie stepped into the aisle.

Everyone in the tent stood up, people fumbling with their cameras and phones, turning to face my sister, who was walking slowly down the aisle with my mom on one side of her and my dad on the other, looking simultaneously like she was both about to cry and had never been so happy in her life.

I turned and looked at Rodney, who was watching Linnie walk toward him. It was an expression I’d never seen on his face before—it was happiness and wonderment, like he’d just woken up from a dream, only to find out it was real.

Linnie reached Rodney just as the song faded out, and my parents squeezed both of Linnie’s hands before going to sit in the front row, across from the Danielses.

“Hey,” Linnie said, and even through her veil, I could see that she was smiling at him.

“Hey,” Rodney replied, smiling back.

“Good evening,” Ralph said, stepping forward, and I noticed some of the guests glancing from him to Max, like they were wondering why he wasn’t performing the ceremony. “We are here today to bring Linnea and Rodney together in marriage . . .” Ralph continued with his speech, his voice confident and assured, like he’d done this a lot, despite the fact that he was a death judge. I let myself breathe out a sigh of relief as Ralph went on, talking about how Linnie and Rodney were today, pledging themselves before friends and family and promising to honor each other through good times and bad, in health and in sickness, for better or for worse.

I glanced into the front row and saw that my dad had his handkerchief out and was blinking a lot more than usual, and it looked like Mrs. Daniels was already crying.

Ralph looked out at the assembled guests and raised his voice a little as he said, “If anyone present may show just and legal cause why this couple may not be legally wed, speak now or forever hold your peace.” He said this quickly, almost perfunctorily, and had just taken a breath to continue when I heard, from the back of the tent, the sound of a chair scraping back.

“Me. Um, I do. Have something to say.” I whipped around to see what was happening, and my stomach dropped when I saw who it was. There was Olly Gillespie standing up in the back row, holding an oval object in his hand. He was wearing a suit and tie and had a set, determined look on his face. I glanced at Danny, whose expression of horror reflected back what I was feeling.

“Um.” Ralph, clearly thrown for a loop, blinked at Olly. “Okay. Well, this is a new one. Usually that question is more of a rhetorical. You, um, have something to—”

“Olly,” Linnie interrupted, shaking her head. “What are you doing?”

“He asked,” Olly said, pointing at Ralph. “He asked if anyone had anything to say, and I do. So can’t I talk?”

“No,” Mike and Danny said together, both of them turning to face Olly, looking more menacing than I had ever seen them.

“Wedding crasher!” J.J. yelled, pointing at him. He looked around, like he was waiting for the wedding police to show up and take him away.

“I was invited,” Olly said, drawing himself up.

“He was?” I asked Linnie.