Chapter22
“Hayden, I think this is the first time I’ve seen you nervous.”
Tanner stood in the corner of the small Sunday school room where he and the other groomsmen were waiting with Hayden for the wedding to start. Harrison, Hayden’s brother and best man, was right. Hayden, normally cool as a crisp autumn day, a former pro player who had pitched in front of thousands of people, was shifting back and forth on his feet and tugging on his gold bow tie. More than once he’d shoved his fingers through his hair, only to have Henry, his other brother, tell him that he couldn’t get married looking like he’d just rolled out of bed. “Riley would have our heads,” Henry said, smoothing down Hayden’s dark-blond hair.
“Sorry.” Hayden started to pace. “It’s the waiting that’s hard, you know?”
Henry, Harrison, and Spencer, Hayden’s college roommate, all nodded. They did know since they were all married.
“I feel like I’ve waited all my life for this moment.” Hayden blew out a breath. “The last few minutes are killing me.”
Tanner, the only single guy in the room, didn’t comment. What did he know about love, anyway? He’d ruined the one female friendship he cared about, and over the past five weeks or so without her, he had been able to admit that what he felt for Anita was far more than friendship. He’d ruined that, too, and all because of business. He’d put Sunshine before everything in his life, and he was paying a steep price.
The door opened, and the wedding coordinator poked her head inside, her cloying perfume entering the room. “We’re ready, gentlemen.”
Hayden dashed to the door then turned around and grinned. “Thanks, y’all, for standing up with me.”
Tanner grinned. Hayden was a good guy and his closest friend. He quickly walked over to him and clapped him on the back. “Sure thing, dude. Time to get you hitched.”
As they walked down the hall to the sanctuary, he touched the knot on his gold-colored tie to make sure it was straight. When they reached the front of the church, he lined up behind Henry and Harrison. Spencer moved to stand behind Tanner. Jared, who was officiating the service, winked at Hayden, who had started to shift from side to side again. Harrison put his hand on Hayden’s shoulder, and he finally settled.
Last night they’d had the rehearsal with supper afterward. The rehearsal itself had been easy, other than when Tanner and Anita had to walk down the aisle. She kept her distance from him, and he knew he would have to break that promise to his mother he’d made at the hospital. He andAnita were never going to work things out. Even during the supper in the church hall—barbecue provided by Hayden’s parents—she hadn’t looked his way.
Tanner glanced at the wedding guests seated in the pews. Amazing Grace wasn’t a big church, but it wasn’t small either. It seemed like the whole town of Maple Falls was here. Erma was seated next to Hayden’s parents in the front row. She was wearing a sleeveless navy-blue dress with a lace jacket in the same color.
Looks like Riley got her way.
Of course the Bosom Buddies, Erma’s squad, were seated behind her, every one of them dabbing their eyes with white handkerchiefs. And there was no division of families or friends. Riley had insisted on that. Every guest had the choice to sit where they wanted to. Because of that, she’d dispensed with the tradition of ushers.
The organ music began to play. Just like they’d practiced last night, Olivia would walk down the aisle first, then Anita, then Harper, and finally Melody, Riley’s roommate when she lived in New York.
Olivia appeared, wearing a dusty-purple floor-length dress with a neckline that looked more like a tank top than a fancy gown. But the style suited her, and she looked pretty. She moved to stand on the other side of Jared.
Then Anita appeared at the back of the church, and Tanner forgot to breathe.
From the waist up, her dress was different. It didn’t have the demure neckline Olivia’s had. Instead, Anita’s gown was strapless and low cut in an elegant way, with sheer dusty-purple fabric from the neckline to her waist. As she neared,he noticed the same jeweled barrette she’d had in her hair at Harper’s party. Her makeup was light and sophisticated. Her hair had grown out some since their fight, and he liked the length. A simple gold chain circled her neck, and he saw that the small gold charm dangling from it was a ball of yarn, a nod to Knots and Tangles. Tanner would have thought it was clever if he could think at all. He’d never seen anything more beautiful than Anita Bedford walking down the church aisle, and he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
***
Anita thought she’d been prepared to see Tanner in a tux. She’d even imagined what he would look like so she wouldn’t be caught off guard. But nothing,nothingher imagination came up with compared to the real thing.
She’d been determined to keep her attention where it should be today, on Riley and Hayden. But they were far from her mind as she stared at Tanner at the beginning of the aisle, taking in his black suit and gold necktie. All of her senses were on alert. The man had literally taken her breath away.
“Anita, walk faster,” Pearl, the wedding coordinator, whispered loudly.
She stumbled for a second, then regained her footing, but not much of her inward composure. Nerves crackled along her spine. This was the first time she’d been a bridesmaid. The first time going down the aisle. And of all people, Tanner was at the end of it. So were Jared, Hayden, and Hayden’s other groomsmen. But she only had eyes for Tanner.
She tried to ground herself in the sweet scent of the white and purple flowers Sophie Johnson had arranged, the soft, romantic music coming from the organ, and the sight of Hayden tugging on his gold bow tie for the second time since she started down the aisle. But she couldn’t stop focusing on Tanner.
That had been her problem all along.
She gripped the white and light-purple rose bouquet with gold ribbon and walked over to the side of the sanctuary to stand in front of Olivia. She’d made it, finally.
Riley had surprised all of them with her traditional choices for her wedding, considering her mixed-media art was so colorful and abstract. But Anita loved every decision Riley had made, even the sweetheart neckline of Anita’s dress. With Harper’s help, Riley had done an amazing job choosing different styles for her attendants, and she’d even managed to find something Erma agreed to wear.
Harper made her way down the aisle in her asymmetrical off-the-shoulder dress, and Melody walked in last, her jewel neckline perfectly accentuating her slender frame and dark skin.
When Melody took her place, the organist changed to the “Wedding March,” and everyone in the pews stood. Riley appeared, and Anita smiled. Her dress was gorgeous—white with a sweetheart neckline like Anita’s but with sheer lacy fabric overlaying the bodice and the tops of her shoulders. Her hair was pulled into a loose updo, and she wore the same yarn-ball necklace they all wore. Anita and the rest of the girls had laughed when she presented them with the necklaces, but Anita would always treasure hers.
