Page 112 of Sure Shot
“You will,” I remind him, taking his arm. “Someday Nicole is going to call you up to say that she met a nice hockey player—”
Dave grunts. “Hush. Everyone is standing up.” He guides me forward. We step out of the library, and I get my first look at the crowd. Smiling faces are turned in our direction as Dave leads me slowly forward. I’ve never seen so many candles and flowers.
“Bessie—you know I love you, right?” Dave whispers.
“Yes,” I whisper back.
“And that I’m really happy for you. Even if he is a hockey player.”
“Yes,” I repeat, squeezing his arm.
Dave stops walking as we reach the front, and I get my first up-close look at my groom in his gray tux. He’s perfectly shaved, which is different. But the look on his face is even more unusual. It’s completely disarmed. He tilts his head to the side and smiles at me, his green eyes glittering. Like he can’t quite believe this is real.
“The man knows he’s lucky,” Dave whispers. “That makes this a little easier for me.” He takes my hands and turns to look at me. “This is where I leave you, Bess. But I’ll never really leave you.”
“I know,” I choke out. “Now shut up before you make me cry.”
The people closest to us chuckle. There’s Eric Bayer with Alex. And Rebecca and Nate. And Silas, Delilah, and Castro.
I’d come to New York to get a life, and make a five-year plan. Five months later, I have a life that looks nothing like I’d planned—it’s more amazing by every measure.
Dave leans in and gives me a kiss on the cheek. “Go marry your boy.”
Henry Kassman’s face splits into a big grin. He gives me a slow nod.
So I do it. I step forward, where Tank is waiting to take my hand. He lifts it to his mouth and kisses my palm, gazing at me as his lips brush my skin. There’s a look in his eyes I’ve never seen before. He’shumbledby this.
And so am I.
Somehow my bouquet gets handed to Zara. Dave takes his place beside his wife, and the minister begins to speak. I miss most of what he says, because I’m too lost in the moment. I’m holding Tank’s hands as he stares into my eyes. His thumb makes a gentle swish across my wrist, the same way it did when I got flustered and introduced myself to him in Nate and Becca’s backyard.
We didn’t bother with a rehearsal, so when it’s time for the vows, it’s the first time I’ve ever heard Tank say the words. “I, Mark, take you, Bess, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward…”
Just wow.
“…To love and to cherish until death do us part.”
Then it’s my turn. I clear my throat and do my best. It’s all so humbling that my voice shakes. I must do okay, though, because the minister pronounces us to be man and wife. And then Tank kisses me while the whole room cheers.
Cinderella has nothing on me.
Thirty-Six
Everybody Likes Sweet Potatoes
Tank
One Year Later
“If he finished the peas,try the sweet potatoes again,” Bess calls from the bedroom. “Everyone likes sweet potatoes.”
I look down into the soulful brown eyes of our foster child Roberto, who is six months old. “¿Escuchas eso?” I ask him. “A todos les gustan las batatas.”Everybody likes sweet potatoes.
Roberto kicks his fat little feet and bounces in his chair.
I dip the tiny spoon into the pureed sweet potato and lift it to his lips. Roberto takes the food into his cherubic mouth. And one second later he blows a raspberry, spraying sweet potatoes all over my Bruisers T-shirt.
“Aw, baby. Really?” I sputter, while Roberto giggles. “Honey!” I call. “Not everyone likes sweet potatoes.”
