I put my head down and looked up a moment later to see Lance gesturing for me to come up. There’s nothing more sobering than giving a speech, especially at a wedding for the girl of your dreams.
“Good luck,” I heard Isabelle say behind me.
Penny was smiling at me as I took the microphone. “Hi, I’m Gavin, Penny’s friend from college. On behalf of the Pipers, thank you all for coming. Though I haven’t known Penny for long, her family has welcomed me with open arms, and I know they’ll do the same for Lance.” I heard Kiki snort behind me. “Penny and her dad were very close, and I know that if he were here, he’d tell Lance how lucky he is, and he’d probably say something like, ‘Take care of my Sweet Pea.’ Liam loved to watch Penny dance, and he was her biggest fan. We all wish he were here.”
I looked over to a tear-soaked Penny and smiled. She smiled back, though she looked crushed. I tried to change the subject. “She’s a good friend and a good person. And from my family and hers, we wish you both many years of happiness. Congratulations! Please raise your glasses and toast this beautiful couple and the little one on the way. Cheers!”
I knew it was a pathetic speech, but I think I did what Anne and Kiki couldn’t. Everyone clapped and then the dancing began.
I danced with Anne and Kiki first. Kiki was in full rebellious preteen mode and had chopped off her hair, as well as part of her bridesmaid dress; it looked like a miniskirt in the front, with a long train in the back. Her mother wasn’t amused but she’d been giving Kiki more freedom since Liam had passed. Truth be told, Penny probably would have done the same thing if she weren’t eight and a half months pregnant.
Isabelle came to dance with me during all the fast songs. “You’re a good dancer,” she told me, so I turned goofy on her and did The Running Man, The Sprinkler, and The Bus Driver. I threw an imaginary fishing line out to reel her in and she played along, giggling. It’s not like I had anything better to do. I definitely didn’t want to count the number of times Lance rubbed Penny’s belly while posing for the photographer.
During the money dance, my father got into Penny’s line so I stood behind him. I watched carefully as he danced with her. They talked and smiled and laughed as though it wereourwedding, and he was her new father-in-law. When I asked to cut in, he happily offered her hand to me. I tried to shove a twenty down the front of her dress, but she swatted at me, laughing and pointing to a little bag around her wrist.
“We’ll have to do some special maneuvering around your massive belly,” I said.
She punched me in the shoulder. “Thanks for the speech, by the way. It was really nice. Maybe a littletoonice.”
“You’re welcome” was all I said. She nuzzled up to my neck. “You shouldn’t do that. It looks too intimate,” I told her. She pulled back a little.
As she looked up at me, I saw worry in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Gavin.”
“For what?”
She shook her head and looked away. “I don’t know.”
“Hey, after the garter toss, meet me in that little room. I wrote you a song, but it’s just for you.”
“Are you going to try to make me cry myself into labor?”
I smiled. “Wouldn’t that be funny if your water broke right now and you had to go to the hospital in your wedding dress? Amniotic fluid all over it? How would you explain that one to Milo?” She laughed. “Are you going to tell him the truth when he’s older?” I asked abruptly.
She pulled back for a second. “I don’t know, Gavin. That’s a weird question on my wedding day.” She flicked a glance behind us. “I’ll meet you in that room, but you have to move on. I have many gentlemen waiting to dance with me.” She wiggled her eyebrows.
I looked back at the long line. “Yeah, no surprise there.”
AFTER THE MONEYline dances and the garter toss, Penny met me on the dusty floral couch in the side room where I was already poised with my acoustic guitar.
“So this is an original?” she asked.
“Yes, just for you, Little P.”
I strummed a few chords and then went into the regular rhythm of the song. It was slow and easy to play.
Tonight as I watch you from afar,
I sit outside and pray,
Seeing all the things that made me love you
All the things that made me stay.
A minute turned to forever,
A kiss left on your lips to remember.
I’m your lover, I’m your friend.
