Here Come The Bridesmaids (10 page)

Jeff looked as if I'd handed him a dead fish. "Do we have to?"

"Yes!" said all the rest of us.

With a disgusted grunt, he limply took hold of my elbow. Oh, well, we take what we get.

To the sound of the music and the gentle waves, Jeff and I walked up the aisle.

Some of the guests were wearing sunglasses, so I couldn't tell whether they were teary-eyed. But the others couldn't hide it.

I caught a glimpse of Mary Anne. She wasn't teary-eyed. She was past that stage. Water was cascading down her cheeks. If she were any nearer the surf, she'd make the tide rise.

I smiled at her and gave a little wave.

Jeff and I stood on either side of Reverend Gunness, who was beaming.

I turned to face Dad and Carol. They had held back, so they could proceed down the "aisle" by themselves.

They began walking, slowly. They held hands. Carol pressed her bouquet to her chest. Her dress billowed gently behind her. She waved to her family, who were clustered together up front. Small tear rivers were running down her face.

Dad's head was high. He was smiling so hard I thought his cheeks would break. His tie flapped over his shoulder, but he didn't seem to notice. Or care.

He looked about college-age. Like photos of him from when I was a baby. I couldn't believe the difference. I just stared and stared at him.

When he and Carol finally stopped, his eyes met mine. I could see them go glassy all of a sudden.

He blinked, and a tear slowly dropped off his eyelash.

That was when I lost it. I sobbed just as Reverend Gunness said "Dearly beloved."

But no one seemed to care. I sure didn't. The reverend kept reciting. I kept on crying. Jeff managed to dig the rings out of his

"Dawn

pocket. Dad and Carol said "I will," loudly and dearly.

And when it was all over, the crowd burst into cheers.

The singers' voices rang out again. People were shaking hands, laughing, rushing toward the happy couple.

Mary Anne ran toward me, arms open.

"He did it!" she cried. "He did it!"

We squeezed each other tightly. Mary Anne was crying so hard, her shoulders were heaving. I realized how much this wedding meant to her. Her own life had changed so wonderfully when her dad found happiness. She wanted the same for me.

And that was more important than my horrible foul-up, a casual beach wedding, and an unwanted dress.

I am so lucky.

My eyes misted over again. Before I buried my face into Mary Anne, I spotted something out of the corner of my eye.

It was Jeff’s paisley tie, flying high overhead.

Chapter 14.

Shannon.

"These seats are too hard."

"Do I have to go to Sunday school?"

"I'm firsty!"

"Thirsty! Can you say th?"

"Fffff."

"How come they have cushions on the floor?"

"Where's Mommy?"

"My collar is too tight."

'Taylor stepped on my shoe!"

Welcome to the Barrett-DeWitt wedding.

The words were flying all around me. Who was saying what? I'm not sure (except that Ryan DeWitt is the one who hasn't got the th sound yet).

Mallory and I had our hands full.

At first we thought it wouldn't be too bad. Buddy and Lindsey are the two biggest mischief makers, and they were to be in the wedding, as ring bearer and flower girl.

So our mission was to stay in the back pew with the remaining children of Mrs. Barrett (Suzi and Marnie) and Franklin (Taylor, Madeleine, and Ryan).

No other kids were there. Mrs. Barrett said that kids often are not invited to weddings.

I thought that was kind of cruel.

Until we sat with the kids in church.

Shannon

"I have to go I have to go I have to go!" Madeleine said, tugging on my nice new silk blouse.

"I'll take her," Mallory whispered.

An older couple was walking down the aisle. The wife was arm in arm with an usher. She and her husband gave us a withering glance (I read that expression in a book and if s perfect).

Fortunately it was still early. The organist was playing softly in the choir loft overhead. Guests were straggling in.

The three ushers were dressed in gray morning coats, which are like tuxes with long tails. One of them looked a little bored, until he saw the kids.

He wandered over to us, smiling, and held out a quarter in his open palm. "See this?" he asked.

The kids nodded. The usher rubbed his hands together and opened them again. They were empty.

"Oops, I see it!" he suddenly exclaimed, then reached behind Taylor's ear and pulled out — the quarter.

"Whoa!" Taylor said in awe.

As the kids oohed and aahed, a woman walked up behind the usher and said, "Hrrrrmph. I'm a friend of the bride."

Stomnon

"Oops, excuse me." The usher took the woman's arm and guided her to a seat.

"I can do that trick," Suzi said. "Shannon, can I have a quarter?"

"Sssh," I urged.

"I have a nickel," Taylor offered.

Suzi frowned. "It might not work with a nickel."

"We're back!" shouted Madeleine. "They have wooden toilets — "

"Madeleine, shhh!" Mallory hissed, her face turning bright red.

"This is boring," Suzi commented.

"Don't say that," Taylor warned her. "Your mom is getting married."

"Why?" Suzi asked.

Taylor rolled his eyes. "Because she's old. She has to have a husband!"

"Whaaat?" I spoke up. "No law says a woman has to have a husband."

"Your mom is marrying Franklin because she loves him," Mallory explained.

"Eeeewwwww." Taylor and Suzi broke into giggles.

"Who do you love, Mallory? Ben Hobart?" Suzi teased.

Mal turned beet red.

WHONNNNNNNK!

The organ suddenly blared out. Madeleine

screamed. Marnie jumped into Mallory's lap. Ryan burst into hysterical tears.

A loud fanfare began. Now lots of guests were arriving. The ushers were running around like penguins. I heard a voice saying, "She's here!"

I lifted Ryan to my shoulder and stood up. Mallory was already walking Marnie back and forth.

"Look, Marnie," Suzi called out above the music. "If s Barney! Look!" She began grinning, moving stiffly, and dapping her hands. "Hi, boys and girls!"

"Shhhh!" said a man a few rows ahead of us.

Suzi plopped down into the pew. She looked crushed. "I was just trying to cheer her up."

"I thought you were trying to scare her," Taylor remarked.

"Sssshhhh!" Mallory and I said.

With a frustrated sigh, Taylor sat next to Suzi, arms folded.

"Too noisy!" Ryan cried out.

"It’s music," Madeleine explained.

Suzi began sniffling. She was still smarting from the stranger who had shushed her.

"TOO NOISY!" Ryan shrieked.

"Time to go," I whispered to Mallory. I

walked toward the center aisle with Ryan. My instructions had been clear: If any of the kids started being a major nuisance during the ceremony, they were to be brought to the church nursery in the basement.

The ceremony hadn't started yet, but I knew it was naptime for Ryan. And one of the first things a baby-sitter learns is that a missed nap makes a cranky toddler.

I zipped out into the aisle. I turned toward the back of the church.

I came face-to-face with Buddy and Lindsey. Behind them was a line of ushers and bridesmaids, arm in arm. Stacey was the second bridesmaid. She was looking at me as if I'd lost my mind.

Gulp. Wrong aisle.

DA-DAHH-DA-DAAAAAHHH! The organist was playing a wedding march. The ceremony had begun.

I spun around. Ryan clutched my shoulders tighter.

"Daddy!" he yelled.

Sure enough, Franklin was at the alter, waiting for Mrs. Barrett. He smiled at Ryan and waved.

"WANNA GO TO DADDY!"

I flew into the side aisle. Ryan and I were

Shannon

out the door and heading for the nursery before he could utter another peep.

How was the wedding?

Beats me. I spent it watching a little boy asleep in a portable crib.

Chapter 15.

Stacey.

"Oh, you look adorable!" said Andrea the bridesmaid as she touched up my eyeliner.

Jennifer, the other bridesmaid, smiled at my reflection in the mirror of the women's room in the church. "I wish I had skin like that."

"I wish I had her hair," remarked Randi, Mrs. Barrett’s sister and maid of honor.

Andrea, Jennifer, and Randi were much older than I was. At first I felt uncomfortable about that. But they were so nice to me.

And it felt great to be fussed over.

"Arrrgh!" Randi was frantically trying to keep her hair from coming to a point on the left side of her head. "Great, my sister's a bride, and I'm the Bride of Frankenstein."

"Where are my flowers?" Jennifer asked. "Flowers? Oh, flowers? Where did you go?"

"Here, flowers!" Andrea called out, then whistled as if she were calling a dog.

Randi cracked up. "Aw-roooo! Arf! Arf!"

The door opened up and an old woman walked in. "Hello, girls," she said, looking around the room. "Is there a little pooch in here?"

"No, ma'am, it was the maid of honor," Andrea replied with a straight face.

Jennifer, Randi, and I howled.

The woman gave us a curious smile and

gestured toward one of the stalls. "I imagine that must belong to you — or else this is some fancy church."

We looked in to see a corsage propped up behind a toilet paper roll. "That's where I put them!" Jennifer said.

I didn't think I'd make it upstairs. My stomach hurt from laughing so much. It was like a BSC meeting, only older.

Somehow we managed to leave the women's room looking dignified. Calm.

We walked upstairs to the front hallway of the church. The organ was honking away. The ushers were busy ushing. Buddy and Lindsey were standing around looking frightened.

"Stacey," Randi said, "can you remind the kids what they have to do?"

I gave Buddy and Lindsey a big, reassuring smile. I described everything we had done the night before, in our rehearsal at the church.

The front door was open. As I was talking, I could see a stretch limo pull up to the front.

"She's here!" someone called out.

"She's here! . . . She's here! . . . She's here! . . ." voices repeated all around us. The ushers practically ran the last few guests to their seats. Randi hurried over to me again. "Stacey, can you tell the organist the bride is here?"

I scampered up a spiral staircase to the choir

loft. The organist was playing away, rocking from side to side. I waved to catch his attention. "She's here!" I yelled.

"She's here!" my voice echoed in the church.

Ugh. I was mortified.

I raced downstairs. As I passed the open front door, I looked outside.

My breath caught in my throat.

Have you ever tuned into the Oscars early, to see the stars sliding out of their limos, waving to the crowd of gawking people? That’s what it was like when Mrs. Barrett emerged from the car in front of the church.

To begin with, Mrs. Barrett is stunning. She has long, silky, chestnut hair and an enormous smile, like a model's. In knock-around clothes, she looks fabulous. In a long, white, beaded, antique wedding gown with a plunging neckline?

Dazzling.

The beads glittered like crazy as Mrs. Barrett stepped out. The material was so fine it looked almost liquid. I could not take my eyes off her.

"Stacey, give me a hand," Randi said.

I followed her outside. As Mrs. Barrett stepped onto the sidewalk, Randi and I lifted the train of her gown off the ground.

We walked behind Mrs. Barrett into the church. She took a few steps into the carpeted

outer hallway. Randi and I spread out her train smoothly.

"Thanks," Mrs. Barrett whispered.

"You look gorgeous!" I blurted out.

"You too," she said with a wink.

"Pssst, Stacey! Come on!" Andrea called.

I turned around. The bridesmaids and ushers were lined up, arm in arm. Buddy and Lindsey were already walking up the aisle, and so were Jennifer and her usher-partner. The next usher in line, whose name was Greg, was waiting for me, with his arm outstretched. I linked my arm in his. We gave each other a smile (don't worry, he was my dad's age).