Page 55 of The Beachgoers
twenty
— Now —
IT’S REALLY HAPPENING.
First, Lauren’s maid of honor, Celia, sets down her guitar and takes her place.
Next, Elsa greets all. From behind the driftwood podium, she welcomes everyone to the vow renewal ceremony. Beside her on the sand, a tall candle burns in a lantern hanging from a shepherd’s hook. On a table set there, a shellacked seashell holds two gold wedding bands. There’s a small candle on that table, too. The rings catch its light.
Those rings are the reason Lauren and Kyle are here.
Which gets Lauren to glance at the diamond engagement ring on her finger. It’s the same diamond ring that Kyle got on her finger ten years ago in his shabby apartment the night she planned to pack her things and leave. For good. They were done. Neil was dead. She might as well have been, too.
And what Lauren knows now is this: Kyle getting that ring on her finger was his way of throwing her a life ring. It kept her from going under; she knows that now as she stands here in her two-piece wedding dress. Stands beside the man who saved her that sad September.
Kyle Bradford, all those years ago, actually kept her afloat.
Got that ring on her finger. Got food in her mouth. Kept her broken heart beating.
And somewhere along the line, some month, some week, some day—some hour—shedidlove him again.
* * *
When Elsa suggested to Kyle this summer that he and Lauren renew their vows, that it would be a reason to correct his misspelled name on his marriage certificate, Kyle did it.
He had a panic attack.
A month-long panic attack, practically, at the thought of a formal event happening in front of everyone—with him and Lauren at the helm of the night. Then, when he finally came around to it all, finally scheduled the ceremony, got the suit, had the menu selected, and calmed down, his nerves were decimated with Shane’s arrival. All plans were off; the ten-year vow renewal, cancelled.
And now, this.
Now, Kyle standing with his bride. Kyle as calm as the September sea before him. Maybe that’s what’s most surprising to him. How relaxed he is here. He stands before the driftwood podium and faces Lauren. She’s stunning in that two-piece wedding dress. Up close, he notices every detail even more.
The midriff-baring top edged with a scalloped hem.
The delicate lace of the long skirt.
The way a sea breeze moves wisps of her straight blonde hair.
The tiny white silk flowers woven into her crown of vines.
At last, Kyle nods for Elsa to begin the ceremony. And she does, calling upon Evan and Hailey. Evan stands, carrying a familiar-looking glass jar, while Hailey cradles that jar, too. Together, they walk from the white chairs to the podium.
“We affirm this union tonight with a happiness jar. The beautiful jar Kyle and Lauren’s children are carrying,” Elsa explains to all, “is the same jar that Kyle used earlier this summer. He filled it with sand and shellsandLauren’s diamond ring, then planted it where she’d find it on the beach. When she did, Kyle dropped to one knee and proposed to her all over again.”
When Evan gives Elsa the jar, she glances inside it. “Mementoes from that day fill the jar already. A dried beach rose and a stick of driftwood. A photograph of Kyle and Lauren. A ribbon from a bouquet of flowers. A champagne cork. And now?” Elsa hands Lauren a small shovel. “We’ll add more happiness from this special evening.”
Lauren bends, scoops up a bit of the soft Stony Point sand and pours it gently into the jar. She then gives Kyle the shovel and he does the same. Hailey’s next, taking pieces of frosted sea glass from Celia and dropping them, one by one, clinking into the jar. Finally, Evan takes a few seashells from Jason and sets them in the jar’s sand, too. Afterward, Kyle places the jar on the table near the podium.
Once his kids return to their seats, Elsa motions for Kyle to begin his vows.
* * *
“When I was writing a speech once, someone advised me,” Kyle says with a nod to Elsa at her podium, “to throw away my notes. To look at the sea. To take a walk on the beach. Elsa here told me that when I’m good and ready, my heart will knowexactlywhat to say.”
“Kyle,” Lauren whispers, taking his hands then.
Kyle looks at Lauren standing there as he begins his vows. “Lauren,” he says. “I’m good and ready. And here’s what I want not only you, but every one of our family and friends here tonight to know. It’s this.” He takes a long breath of that sweet salt air. “Twenty years ago, I made the best decision of my entire life—to steal a boat.”
