He dropped them off right in front of the door, and they scrambled out.No sense in them wasting precious minutes while he looked for a parking space.
As soon as he pulled into one, Amy’s head slumped against Ray’s shoulder.He kissed her forehead.“Why didn’t you stay at the hotel and nap?”
“Why didn’t you?You didn’t sleep last night either.”
“Sleep is overrated.”He turned off the engine.“We’d better go find them.They may already be finished and outside looking for us.”
An optimistic guess.Courtney and Drew were the third couple from the end of their line, which stretched almost the length of the room.
“This was the shorter line when we got into it,” Courtney said when Ray and Amy walked up to them.“But I think the other line is moving faster.”
“Why don’t we go stand in that line?”Amy suggested.“We’ll hold your place in case we get up to the front first.”
As they moved slowly forward in the line, Ray shifted his weight from one foot to another to keep himself awake.Amy wound her arm around his waist and leaned into him.
“Are you being romantic or just using me to hold you up?”he teased.
“Busted.”She leaned in even closer.“You do feel strong and supportive.”
“Lean on me anytime,” he murmured.
Just ahead of them in line was a young, dreamy-eyed couple, obviously in love.“I thought this was a great idea when you suggested it,” the girl said to her fiancé, “but I’m starting to have second thoughts.”
“Now?”the man responded.“After we’ve been standing in line for an hour?”
“Not doubts about us.”The girl sent her man a loving look.“Just about… doing this here.Instead of at home.”
“It was your idea to elope.”The man squeezed the girl’s hand.“You said it would be less hassle, less money, less waiting.”
“Not to mention less drama dealing with my mother,” the girl said.“With all the people she planned to invite, arguing over the perfect venue, having her take over my wedding to make it the one she didn’t have…”
“Sounds like Carrie’s mom,” Amy whispered to Ray.“Carrie got so overwhelmed by all her mother’s demands and expectations, she decided on a destination wedding instead.Lucky for me and Doug, she chose Hawaii.”
“Still,” the young woman in front of them said to her boyfriend, “she is my mother.The only one I have.It wouldn’t be right to deprive her of the pleasure of my wedding.”
Amy and Ray inched closer to the front of the line.Almost even with Courtney and Drew, who’d been three feet ahead of them when they’d first arrived.The clerk in this line must be way more efficient.
The young man in front of them threw up his hands.“Katie, I love you, and I’ll get married in a ditch or at the Taj Mahal if you want.Just make up your mind.What do you want to do?”
Katie pressed a finger to her lips.“I think… I want… let’s do this.”
“Good.”The man let out a deep sigh.
Ray wound his arm around Amy’s bare shoulder.Her skin felt so good next to his.Why did women always have to make everything so complicated?If you loved somebody, you wanted to spend the rest of your life with them.Period.All the pretty flowers and chopped-liver canapés were just icing on the wedding cake.
“When I was a little girl,” Amy whispered, “I used to dream about the perfect wedding.The right dress, the right ambiance, the right food—everything seemed so important.But now…” She looked up at him dreamily.
“Now what?”
“Now it seems like the only important thing is choosing the right man.”
That’s my girl, he almost said aloud.They were nearly to the front of the line.Across the way, Drew and Courtney had moved up ahead of them and would probably be waited on in the next minute or so.But, just to cover their bases, he stayed where he was.
In front of them, the young woman spoke again.“On the other hand…”
“Oh, for God’s sake, Katie,” the fiancé exploded.“I’m not twisting your arm.If this isn’t what you want, let’s just wait.”
“You sure?”the girl asked, wrinkling her nose.
“Absolutely.”The man crooked his arm through the girl’s elbow and led her out of the line.
Leaving Ray and Amy in front of the window.
“Next,” the clerk said.
