Page 77 of Faking the Pass
“We need to get you here to New England—then we’ll let thefansdecide who’s the ‘Hottest Nautie,’” Presley said.
He looked down at me and smiled. “Too late for this one though, brother. She’s mine. And you’re right. Iamlucky.”
He sounded so sincere it made my throat ache. I blinked and looked down, fiddling with my cloth napkin as Presley continued his speech.
He thanked each of his brothers and Jessica and Danielle for sharing the day with us and making it work on short notice.
Then he directed his attention to his mom and dad.
“What the four of us must have put you through over the years… I can’t even imagine. All the sprains and broken bones—and broken windows—and fender benders.”
His mom wiped away a tear, and his dad added, “Don’t forget the lawnmower you took apart to ‘see how it worked.’”
Mr. Lowe was a man of few words. Since we’d been together today, he’d mostly just talked to his oldest son, Wilder. But I could see on his face how much he loved Presley.
My new husband laughed. “I still owe you for that one.”
Then he got serious. “I’ll always be grateful I was born into this family, and while a few weeks ago, I couldn’t have imagined the events of today… having you all here tonight just underlines for me that you’ve always got my back no matter what.”
“You bet your ass we do,” Wilder said.
“Thank you all for being here,” Presley said. “Thank you for your love. And thank you…”
He turned to look down at me again. “...for welcoming my wife into the family.”
My wife.Chills went from the top of my head to the tips of my fingers and toes. Who would have thought two little words could fry an entire nervous system? Despite the loud thumping in my ears, I heard Dylan’s yell.
“I hate to tell you this, but we already like her better than you, bro.”
“And I can’t blame you,” Presley said. “She smells better, andshe’snever given you a super-atomic wedgie.”
When the laughter died down, he lifted his glass and took my hand, pulling me to my feet.
“To Rosie, or should I say,Mrs.Presley Lowe.”
“To Rosie,” the others all said, and there was a final round of clinks and sips.
It was probably wrong that I didn’t also say a few words of gratitude to the group, but I was literally speechless.
When I’d fallen for Presley in high school, I’d hadno idea.
If Ihadknown what a good guy he was back then, what a phenomenal family he had, I’d probably have camped out on his doorstep and baked him fresh cookies every day until he’d agreed to give me another chance.
But that was then, and this was now. And the reality now was that Presley had only made things that much harder with his beautiful speech and this entire beautiful day.
Now when we split up I’d have the additional guilt of disappointing his wonderful family.
The string quartet, which had gone quiet during the toasts, started up again.
“May I have this dance?” Presley asked with a little bow.
“We’re going to dance?” I asked, surprised. I sort of thought the festivities were over.
“Just for a few minutes,” he said. “My mom would be disappointed if we didn’t have a first dance. And this is her only chance to get my dad to dance until thenextwedding. It could be another ten years at the rate Merc and Dylan are going.”
“Of course.” I nodded and followed him out of the pergola to the center of a tiki torch circle that had been set up near the musicians.
Their song segued into the same one that had played during my walk down the aisle in the chapel—my favorite song from our high school days.
