Page 103 of A Nantucket Wedding

Then came the friendly, familiar zing as the zipper interlocked the two sides, and Alison could actually hear it because everyone in the room had gone quiet, waiting for the moment when the dress was completely on Alison.

Then, everyone went:Ahhhh.

Anya had fit the dress to perfection. The ivory silk accentuated the tan Alison had achieved over the summer, and she absolutely glowed.

“And now, my wedding gift from David.” Alison lifted a black velvet jewelry box off the dresser and opened it, bringing out the diamond jewelry.

The necklace sparkled against her skin like tiny rainbows of light.

“I’ll fasten it,” Felicity said.

Alison added the earrings, three-carat studs. “I’m ready!” she announced.

“Mom,” Jane said. “You need to wear shoes.”

This set the three little girls into hysterical laughter, and they bounced up and down on the bed, giggling, until they realized they could see themselves in the large mirror over the dresser. Then they settled down and smoothed their skirts and turned this way and that, eyeing themselves in their wedding finery.

Alison stepped into her ivory satin heels. “Now. Time for photos.”

Everyone had a phone, and everyone was suddenly clicking and rearranging the groupings, and they were laughing like kids, all of them, when they heard a noise at the door.

Felicity ran downstairs.

“Mom!” Felicity cried. “The limousine’s here.”

“My heart is beating really fast,” Alison said, pressing her hand against her chest. “I think I’m having a heart attack.”

“I think you’re having wedding-day flutters,” Jane said sensibly, taking her mother’s arm. “Let’s go. We can drink champagne in the limo.”

“We can?” Daphne asked.

“It’s ginger ale for you three,” Felicity said. “And not too much of it. You don’t want to have to pee in the middle of the ceremony.”

This idea sent the three little girls into more explosions of giggling, and Felicity and Jane had to separate them to get them downstairs and into the car.

Alison was left alone. For a few moments. To look at herself in the mirror.

She looked beautiful.

She couldn’t stop smiling.

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The limo driver had made a mash-up of wedding songs, and all the way from Surfside to Wauwinet, the group sang along to The Dixie Cups’ “Chapel of Love” and the B-52s’ “Love Shack” and “Celebration” with Kool & the Gang. By the time they arrived at the hotel, they were all breathless. Alison saw roses in the others’ cheeks and knew her cheeks were pink, too.

The limo arrived at the Wauwinet at exactly four forty-five.

“Don’t open the door yet!” Alison begged the driver. To her daughters, she said, “Is my lipstick smeared? How do I look?”

“No, your lipstick is perfect, and you look amazing,” Jane said.

“And you girls all look like princesses,” Felicity told Daphne and Alice and Canny.

“I don’t want to be a princess,” Canny said sternly. “I want to be president of the United States.”

“Me, too!” Daphne cried.

“You can be my vice president,” Canny said.

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