“Thanks,” I whispered as I swallowed down the lump in my throat.
The woman walked away with a small plate of pepperoni and cheese. I sagged against the edge of the table.
Nora and Sully went with a buffet style dinner over a sit down one which meant the time for cake was a little earlier than usual.
The open bar was only for the first two hours of the night and we were well into the second one now. I was tempted to get my own glass of wine to calm myself down but resisted the urge.
Ripley climbed the dais and clinked his ring against the side of the bottle of beer he was holding. His voice lifted. “We thought about doing a roast for Sully tonight but figured we shouldn’t unman him before his wedding night.”
The crowd laughed.
I found myself threading through the onlookers to get a better look at him. Ripley lost his tie and his jacket, leaving him in just his fitted black shirt that made him look amazing.
“I’m going to keep it simple. I might be the big brother of this crew of idiots, but Sully has always been the steady one. The one who takes care of everyone—including this town. I couldn’t be happier that he and Nora found one another. Makes a guy believe in love, even a big grease monkey like me.” His gaze landed on mine for a second before he refocused on his brother. “Here’s to a lifetime of happiness, you two!” He held up his beer.
My stomach pitched.
That man was far too potent for his own good.
Parker got up next to him. “Since when are you perfect speech guy?”
Ripley grinned. “Short and sweet, baby.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She shoved him away. “I’ve been poring over my Notes app for six weeks and he just goes off the cuff. This is my life.”
“You finally lost a bet!” Cash called from the crowd.
She squinted at Ripley. “I’ll remember this.”
Rip blew her a kiss. Cash rushed over and put him in a headlock.
“Don’t make me break you two up tonight of all nights,” she called out. “I’m trying to be heartfelt here, dammit.”
Ripley looped his arm around Cash’s neck. “Behaving.”
“Better.” She huffed out a breath. “Nora, you’re my best friend. I’m so glad we reconnected this year. Now we’re really sisters, since we both decided a Murdock was in our future. The best decision I’ve ever made was to hook myself to this family. I can’t wait for you to stand up for me just like I did for you. You deserve every happiness and I see it in every smile between you and Sully. You’re the best mom to Danny and I can’t wait to raise kids with you.”
“Are you pregnant?” Someone shouted.
“You shut your mouth!”
The crowd laughed.
“Raise a glass to Sully and Nora. Happy wedding day, you two crazy kids.”
Nora leaned back against Sully and smiled up at him. Sully dipped his head down and gave her a gentle kiss as everyone toasted them.
“Now, we’re going to finally get to try that cake that’s been staring at me since I got here!” Parker downed her champagne.
I melted back into the cluster of people and hustled back to the dessert table to do one final sweep. The silver knife was polished and ready for the photographer to get the perfect shot of the first cut.
She’d beat me over to the table and was snapping photos as her assistant had the tripod set up to get some video.
I could see the imperfections around the back of the cake from the trip, but no one else would notice.
I’d turned it to maximize every angle.
Nora and Sully came over hand in hand.
