Page 25 of The Note
“Jesus,” Gus muttered, pulling me closer to his side.
“I… I mean, I don’tlovethe snow, no.” I had the distinct impression I was missing something.
“I’m just saying, it’s too bad you don’t have somewhere warmer you could be. IfIwere a writer who could do his jobanywhere, you couldn’tpayme enough to hang out this far north in the winter.”
“I… Well. I—”
“Mom, shouldn’t you be watching your other son? The one who got married today?” Gus cut in.
Mrs. Fletcher grinned. “Why, August, it’s just that we had thisunspoken agreement. You remember?”
Gus closed his eyes and shook his head. “Oh, God.”
“Anunspokenagreement?” I said, looking between them in confusion.
She turned that pretty smile on me. “Mmm hmm. That if Gus finally came clean to you about his feelings, the way he should have years ago, I’d welcome you to the family with open arms. And Tyler, I amthrilledto hold up my end of this bargain.” She stepped forward and kissed my cheek just as the music on the dance floor ended. “Mmm. Your cologne smells likemaple, honey. I like it.”
“Um. What was that?” I whispered, after she’d walked away. My heart was beating frantically, because it sounded like… it sounded like…
“That was my mother being subtle,” Gus said, which explained exactly nothing.
Before I could question him, Dermot the wedding planner stepped up on the little stage the Inn had erected in one corner of the tent that afternoon for the band to play on. He took the microphone from the lead singer and beamed down at the wedding guests.
“Alright! A round of applause for Mr. Fletcher and Ms. Corcoran on their first dance together ashusband and wife!”
The crowd cheered appreciatively and we all clapped.
“Now it’s time for a couple of toasts! First, I know we all can’t wait to hear from the Man of Honor!”
I sucked in a nervous breath. I’d been working on my speech for weeks, but I’d scrapped the whole thing yesterday and rewritten it from scratch, because none of the shit I’d written before seemed to apply anymore.
“You’ve got this,” Gus said, low and confident. But then, the man would have said that to me even if I were trying to climb El Capitan without a rope. He’d always been my number one supporter.
Andthatrealization gave me the confidence to step to the front of the room and grab a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. I climbed the stairs sedately and stepped up to the microphone.
“I know you were all promised a love poem today,” I began with a rueful smile. “But I’m afraid I’m gonna have to disappoint you. My sick rhymes need a little more work, so look for them at Marissa and Alex’s silver wedding anniversary, okay?” The crowd laughed, and Marissa and Alex, who were standing in the center of the dance floor with their arms around each other, grinned. Gus rolled his eyes.
“But that’s okay,” I continued seriously. “Because these two don’tneedpoetry. All too often, we get caught up in the trappings of love. The hearts and flowers, the over the top declarations, the sweeping romantic gestures. Thelove notes.” I looked at Gus and bit my lip, loving the way his eyes flashed.
“And don’t get me wrong, those things are great,” I continued. “They’re awesome. Except sometimes we get so caught up in those symbols that we miss the other stuff that’s even more important. The essential stuff. Thelifestuff. Like, who’s there for youevery single day? Who takes care of you when you’re sick and drives you home when you’ve been drinking? Who sends you cat memes that make you smile, and laughs at totally un-funny things in a way that reminds you not to take life too seriously? Who makes your belly flip because they look at you like you’re the coolest thing they’ve ever seen? Who challenges your opinions, and shakes their head at your ridiculousness, and saves you from… impromptu poetry recitations?” Marissa laughed out loud and I smiled. Then I looked at Gus and our gazes locked. “Who believes in you so strongly, you can’t help but believe yourself?”
Gus stared at me so intensely, I could feel myself flushing. I cleared my throat and focused on Marissa and Alex again.
“Some of you might know there was a big issue with the wedding decorations yesterday. We almost didn’t have the right flowers… or any flowers at all. And at first, I freaked out a little, because this wedding wasimportant, you know? And I wanted it to beperfectfor my sister and my friend. Aperfectsymbol of love, for all their friends and family to see. Aperfectmemory for them. Aperfectstart to aperfectlife.”
“But as we were sorting things out, Gus and me,” I said, pointing to him across the dance floor, “I realized that ten years from now, Marissa and Alex weren’t going to look back on this day and care about theflowers, just like they’re not going to remember the finer details of the cake or the food or even this toast. The wedding is important, sure, but only because it’s a symbol of themarriagethey’re gonna have. A marriage that’s going to be chaotic andimperfect,and wonderful and beautiful andreal,because they are two of the best people I’ve ever known and the love they shareisperfect. They’re going to look back and think about how far they’ve come, and how lucky they were to open their eyes, after all those years of being next-door neighbors, and see what they could really be to each other. And then they’ll go right back to dealing with all the craziness that life hands them, because they’re stronger together. And isn’t that, really, what all of us want?”
I chanced a look at Gus and found him staring at me like… like the entire reason forhisexistence had been distilled into one person… And that person wasme.
Oh my God.
I took a shuddering breath and forced myself to continue.
“So, let’s everyone raise a toast to Marissa and Alex. On this first day of your marriage, onValentine’s Day, the most romantic day of the year,thank you for reminding us all that love isn’t just about bright red hearts and poetry — especially if it’smypoetry.” I winked. “It’s about knowing you can do life better with your best friend by your side, and that some things, like love, are worth the wait. To Marissa and Alex!”
Everyone cheered and raised their glasses and drank obediently, but I couldn’t get down off the stage fast enough. I felt like I was possibly going to combust.
Gus met me as I was skirting around the dance floor. He grabbed the hand that wasn’t wrapped around a champagne glass, and looked deep into my eyes. “That was—”
