But the real showstopper, the real reason we're here, well, besides the cake and the champagne and the dancing that's going to come later and the wedding night that's going to come after that, is so we can see Abby as she walks down the aisle.
Her dress is long, white, satin, strapless, and designed by Fig. Abby had one request, that she could dance in it. God, I can’t wait to spin my wife around the dance floor of this barn.
When she comes down the aisle, everyone turns, everyone stands, and they look at the most beautiful woman in the room. And she is. Abracadabra. She is a sight to be seen. My heart skips about a dozen beats and my eyes, they well up with tears. And when I take a good, hard look at her, I know like I knew before – she’s the one for me. She makes me feel alive and known and seen. Like I'm home.
I watch her take those steps down the aisle, holding that bouquet of pink and red roses, thinking she looks so delicate and loving that for her because I know for a woman who's been through so many hard times, the chance to feel soft, to feel special, means a whole awful lot.
She hands the roses to Fig and takes her place beside me. Her hands are in my hands, and her heart, well, I'm holding it tight too. Pastor Andy asks us to recite our vows, to have and to hold from this day forward, through sickness and in health.
The words are easy to say. The promises are ones I know I can keep because Abby, she's my wife. She's my best friend and she's my forever.
"I do," she says.
"I do," I repeat.
"I now pronounce you husband and wife," Pastor Andy says. "You may kiss the bride."
And when I step toward her and her mouth meets mine, it's more than a kiss. It's the beginning of a life.
Afterwards, we dance in that big red barn. The music now isn't a harp. It's a big old band, and everyone's having a hooting and hollering time. My cousins, Cash and Williams especially, are getting down.
Abby asks if this is everything I imagined. "It's more than I imagined," I tell her. "It's everything. And what about you? You're the bride."
She laughs. "This is beyond my wildest dreams. But you know we still have our wedding night. And I’ve had plenty of dreams about that too."
"Now have you?" I ask, holding my girl ever so tightly, kissing her again, hard.
My cousin Cash whistles, and Abby laughs. "Oh my God. Those Rowdy boys really are rowdy. They think they're at a party, not a wedding."
"You want me to go Rough ‘em up?"
"No, I don't want you to go rough them up, but maybe you need to go rough up Rye.”
We look over at my brother in the corner. He's drinking a beer, growling about something.
“You think Rye has a chance of ever being happy?" Abby asks.
"You want to know what I heard?"
She nods as I swing her around the dance floor. "My father is about to send him off to our old family hunting cabin in the Rough Valley."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I heard him talking to Grandpa Reynolds before the wedding, saying if Rye doesn't snap out of it, he's going to send him to the cabin to clear his head because he is in one bad mood."
"You mean like send him out to the sticks alone and tell him not to come back until he’s able to be nice?"
"I don't know. Look, he looks like he's going to argue with anyone who gets too close. He needs someone to soften him up."
"Or screw him silly," Abby says.
"I like what you're thinking." I give her another kiss, more than ever ready to drag her out of this place altogether.
Soon enough, I can. And I do.
We make our way to the Home Away From Home Bed and Breakfast. Hijinx is happily spending some time with Plum and Rueben while we're away in Hawaii for our honeymoon next week. But before we can get to the warm, sunny beaches of Maui, we have one night here together.
"Funny, if I had been able to stay at this bed and breakfast that first night in town, maybe I would've never ended up with you," Abby says as we enter the quiet lodgings.
Mary hands us our keys without another word, knowing this night is ours. She looks away, probably not wanting to think about what's going to happen next. I appreciate her discretion and realize she's probably had to do a lot of looking away over the years, managing a hotel.
"I think I would've ended up with you no matter what, Abby. You and me, we are a perfect pair. Remember?"
"Oh, I remember," she says as I scoop her up from the floor and carry her to our room, unlocking the door and carrying her past the threshold to the bed. She laughs as I move on top of her, toward her, into her, filling her, taking her. "Oh my God," she moans.