Brian was thankful everybody was looking at the maid of honor when she stepped out from between the white panels—being held open by Jackson and Nate—because he was pretty sure everything he felt when he set eyes on her would show on his face.
And he couldn’t stop it because she took his breath away.
The dress hugged her beautifully, showing off skin that was sun-kissed from days outside, despite the copious amounts of sunscreen he’d suffered through watching her rub into that skin. Her hair had been in a messy and wispy ponytail more often than not, but this ponytail was smooth and sleek, showing off the curve of her neck and the small pearls gracing her earlobes.
But it was her expression—soft and joyful—that captivated him as she slowly made her way between the chairs.
“Mommy looks pretty,” Oliver declared from his perch on Leo’s lap. Her cheeks flushed a deep pink, but Brian agreed with the boy wholeheartedly.
Once she’d taken her place in front of the officiant, opposite Kyle and Wes, and Johnny switched the music to the orchestral piece Steph had chosen, he was forced to tear his gaze away from her to watch the bride. Therewas a rustle as everybody stood, and then the boys parted the curtains again so Evan could escort his daughter to the arch.
Steph was beautiful today, as well, with tears glistening in her eyes as she made her way to the groom. Brian basked in his cousin’s emotions, but once she’d handed her bouquet to Siobhan and Evan had taken his seat next to Terry, his gaze was drawn straight back to the maid of honor.
He’d seen her standing next to a bride before, and he couldn’t stop the memories of the first time from flooding his mind. Siobhan had been expressionless the day she served as Kelly’s maid of honor. She’d smiled a few times through the day of course, managing to fake being happy for the bride and groom. But when all eyes were on Kelly and Brian, and he could see her over his bride’s shoulder, her face had been carefully and deliberately blank.
Her face wasn’t blank today. Her smile never dimmed, even when she had to discreetly dab tears from her cheeks. Watching her as she watched Steph say her vows, he finally understood what Siobhan had meant before. Her reservations about him marrying Kelly hadn’t been about him. The coldness had come from her complicated emotions regarding her sister and an inability to throw herself into the joy of a wedding she knew shouldn’t be happening.
Shaking off the unpleasant memories that had no place here, he watched Steph and Kyle exchange rings. There were more words and happy tears, with a lot of sniffling in the audience, and then—finally—the groom could kiss his bride.
Brian joined everybody else in standing as the newly joined husband and wife made their way down the aisletogether. And then it was Siobhan’s turn, on Wes’s arm. She blew a kiss to Oliver, who had been so well-behaved through what must have seemed to him to be the boring parts.
Then her gaze landed on Brian and she gave him a smile that warmed him to his core. Being so close to Siobhan while she was wearing that dress and they were in front of literally his entire family was going to make for a very long day.
After everybody filtered through a makeshift receiving line, the bride and groom walked to the edge of the pond alone. It gave the couple a few minutes together to just breathe, and Rob had switched to a zoom lens—with Steph’s blessing—to get some sweet shots without intruding on their moment.
While that happened, the guys took the rain panels off of the pavilion canopy. Everybody grabbed a chair, so shifting them into casual groupings in the shade didn’t take long. Then Brian grabbed his brothers and they moved the flowered arch to a spot centered behind the bride and groom’s chairs at the head table.
The head table, of course, being the same rugged plywood across the sawhorses they’d used for drying the rocks, but now with a white fabric tablecloth hiding it. The edges were weighted down with the flower rocks they’d painted.
And one frog, Brian thought with a smile.
Rather than spacing things out over the course of a typical reception, they’d be front-loading the wedding-related things so the family from Maine could head home. It was a long drive to make twice in one day, and in appreciation, Steph and Kyle wanted to make sure they didn’t miss anything fun.
There would be toasts and then the cake first. When tinkering with the schedule, nobody had objected to eating dessert first. Plus, if things ran long, the Maine crowd could take finger sandwiches for the road, but eating wedding cake while driving was messy.
Brian missed the toasts while he and Joey went to retrieve some of the camp chairs leaning against his grandparents’ RV. Once the formalities were over, they’d set them out because rented folding chairs got very uncomfortable after a while. He did catch the very end of Siobhan’s, though, when Steph hugged her maid of honor and then they wiped away each other’s tears.
More photos were taken. The cake was cut. More photos. Brianna and Lily, Kevin and Beth’s teenage daughter, took charge of serving the slices. More photos. Laughter when Siobhan bent down to talk to Oliver and he cupped her face in his hands to tell her she was pretty, leaving smears of frosting on her cheeks.
And Brian did his best not to watch her. Not to watch Oliver. To not even think about them because that shutter sound was constant and he didn’t want Steph’s wedding album to be a highlight reel of Brian’s yearning.
After the cake plates were cleared and the family had settled into mingling and chatting—which was something that could go on for hours—Steph clapped her hands. “I’m going to toss the bouquet now!”
She led the way to the open grassy area next to the tent, gesturing for everybody to come along. The younger girls were excited, jockeying for front row positions even though it would be at least a decade before their turns came.
A look passed between Steph and Siobhan, and Brian felt as though a boulder had been dropped into the pit ofhis stomach. He knew his cousin, and something in her expression told him she was teasing Siobhan. And when her gaze flicked to him, the big lump of dread did a slow roll. Whether Siobhan had said something—she was Steph’s maid of honor, after all, so they were close—or Steph was fishing, that bouquet was going to her and it was about him.
Siobhan was shaking her head, and Brian thought he heard her say Oliver’s name as she looked around. Unfortunately, her son was happily ensconced on Ellie’s lap and unavailable to act as a human shield against tossed flowers.
Terry clapped her hands. “Is everybody ready? Wait, Siobhan, get in there. And Hannah, Rob hasn’t gotten you to the altar yet, so you get in there, too.”
There weren’t a lot of single ladies in the group, and Brian saw the wink Steph gave Siobhan before she turned around. He also saw another quick shake of Siobhan’s head, and the way she was trying to fade backward without attracting attention. She clearly didn’t want to be in that kind of spotlight, but there was nothing she could do without bringing the mood down.
So he’d handle it himself, Brian decided. As Steph lowered the bouquet in front of her, he snapped his fingers. The sound was mostly drowned out by the buzz of excitement in the crowd, but Stella heard it and snapped to attention.
Brian watched and, at just the right second, made his move. “Catch.”
The bouquet was the only thing being thrown, and it was arcing high in Siobhan’s direction. Stella sprinted through the women and launched herself, snatching the bouquet out of the air as if it was her favorite stick.
