Save the Date(99)
“It was a gesture of goodwill,” Linnie muttered, batting her veil away. “I never thought he’d actually come. He didn’t RSVP!”
“I think you’d better sit down,” Danny said, his voice low and serious.
“Technically,” Ralph said, then cleared his throat. “That’s in there just in case someone has evidence that one of you is currently still married, or is wanted by the law . . . things that would invalidate the marriage. So—”
But Ralph didn’t get to finish. Olly pressed the button on the oval thing he was carrying, and a song started playing from it, one that sounded vaguely familiar—I was pretty sure I’d heard it coming from Linnie’s room a lot when she was in high school, something about someone named Jennifer having her daddy’s car.
“What are you doing?” Linnie asked.
“What are you playing?” Rodney asked, because Olly had lifted the oval thing—it was a speaker, I saw now—over his head, like he was reenacting Say Anything at my sister’s wedding.
“It was our song in high school,” Linnie muttered, batting her veil away and glaring at Olly.
“Is this yacht rock?” Mike asked, sounding appalled. “Who is this, Air Supply?”
“Eric Carmen,” Danny, Olly, and Priya all said at the same time.
“Turn it off,” Linnie said, shaking her head. “And J.J., stop dancing.” I looked over at J.J., who had started grooving along to the music.
“Sorry,” he said, giving Linnie an embarrassed smile. “It just makes me lose control.”
“Olly, sit down,” Linnie said.
“Not before I’ve said what I need to say.” He turned the music down slightly—though I was pretty sure I could hear the song on it play again, like he’d uploaded a playlist with only one song—and stepped out into the aisle. “Linnea,” he said, looking right at Linnie. “You’re the love of my life. We found it too early, that’s all. And I know that what we had was special. It was more than just a high school thing. And I really think—”
“Oliver,” Linnie said, and Olly stopped, looking surprised, like he’d had a lot more prepared. “Turn the music off.” Linnie’s voice was gentle but firm, and Olly did—the tent seeming much more quiet now that we didn’t have any yacht rock playing. “I appreciate that it must have been hard for you to come here and do this,” she said, “and it’s not that I don’t care for you. As a friend.”
“But . . . ,” Olly said, shaking his head, “Linnie, what we had . . .”
“Was a long time ago,” Linnie finished for him. “You meant a lot to me in the past. But that’s all it is now. You need to move forward. You can’t still be hung up on your high school girlfriend. If you don’t move on from the past, you’re going to miss out on some really amazing stuff in the future.”
Olly just looked at her for a long moment, then nodded. “Okay. I’m—um—really sorry for doing this during your wedding.” He looked around, and it was like he was just now seeing himself, standing in the aisle, all the people staring at him, J.J. cracking his knuckles threateningly. “Sorry,” he muttered, heading back to his seat again. “Um—do you want me to leave? Or . . . ?”
I saw Rodney roll his eyes, but Linnie nodded. “You can stay,” she said, adjusting her veil again. “Just . . . quietly.” Olly gave her a thumbs-up, and Linnie turned back to Rodney.
“Um . . . okay,” Ralph said, after a moment. “If nobody else has anything to add, we’ll continue. . . .” Everyone laughed at that, not because it was all that funny, but because it was like we collectively needed something to break the tension.
The ceremony moved forward, with Linnie and Rodney reciting the vows they’d written to each other. Halfway through Linnie’s I had to steal a tissue from Jenny K., and I was beyond thankful that Brooke had put waterproof mascara on me. When they’d finished reciting their vows, Ralph stepped forward again and asked for the rings, which Max produced from his suit pocket. After they’d exchanged rings—and both of them had declared I do—Ralph smiled.
“In accordance with the law of Connecticut and by the virtue of the authority vested in me by the law of Connecticut, I do pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss—” But the rest of Ralph’s statement was drowned out as Rodney swept Linnie up in a kiss and everyone else started cheering, the crowd jumping to its feet, applauding—and then wolf whistling as Linnie and Rodney’s kiss kept on going.
When they finally broke apart, I smiled at my sister, feeling a lump start to rise in my throat. And just like that—she was married.
CHAPTER 22
Or, When Maple Syrup Goes Bad
* * *
HELLO, STANWICH!” GLEN YELLED FROM the area where the band was setting up on the stage at the front of the tent—the place where Linnie and Rodney had exchanged vows had been converted, with remarkable speed, to a dance floor. There were four other members of Any Way You Want It, all of whom had Glen’s same middle-aged rocker vibe. “How’s everyone doing?” There was some scattered, half-hearted applause, but Glen smiled like he’d just been given a standing ovation. “Glad everyone’s having a rocking night!”