Chapter Six
Will stood in front of the tiny church. A Nativity scene of wooden cut-outs graced the small lawn to the side of the doors. Shapes of Mary and Joseph painted blue and purple, and baby Jesus painted white and gold. The camels looked as if they’d been made by someone who had never seen a camel and only told briefly what they looked like, and one of the Wise Men looked downright fierce.
Will had missed this funny little town.
Strains of piano music reached his ears; Ellie was already playing while people found their seats. He straightened his suit jacket—a rushed purchase in Tacoma before making the turn to Huntwood—and walked inside.
Instead of a guest book, Jackson and Summer had placed a matted photograph of themselves on an easel. Brightly colored markers lined the ledge at the bottom of the easel, and a small card instructed guests to sign the mat.
Will scrawled his name, then realized some kind of message would be more appropriate. Moving the marker above his signature, he added, To a lifetime of happiness.
Only when he was finished signing did he realize that he’d signed just below Ellie’s message. Her tiny, straight characters were unmistakable, and a couple years ago, he’d even created a font using them as inspiration.
Well, hell and damn. Ellie’s message was exactly the same. To a lifetime of happiness. Will examined the markers. Could he change his message now? Where were the erasers? Where was the Wite-Out?
A sharp finger poked into his back. “Get inside, ass-cabbage. It’s show time.”
Will turned and gathered Hayley into a hug. “Good to see you too, sis.”
“Let go,” she said, squirming out of the hug. “Plenty of time to catch up later. Jackson’s already up there, and so is Summer’s best friend. Marius and I have to walk down together next.”
Will noticed, suddenly, the hulking man standing next to his sister. Marius. He and Marius had met very briefly a couple weeks ago. Will nodded at the guy, said hello, and shook his hand.
“I’m gonna go up there, too,” Will said. “I should be in the wedding. Do you think that would be okay with Summer and Jackson?”
Hayley’s mouth dropped open in surprise before she said, “They’d love that. You go first. Just stand up at the third step on the groom’s side. You know where that is?”
“I’ve watched movies, I know where to go.”
“Okay,” she said, then gave him a big shove through the doors.
Several people turned to stare at him as he stumbled forward.
“Sorry,” Hayley whispered behind him, her voice sincere. “Didn’t mean to push so hard.”
He recovered his balance and pasted a neutral expression on his face. The piano music faltered for just a half-beat before resuming.
The chapel was nearly empty, and he didn’t recognize any of the twenty or so people here. Friends and family of the bride, probably. A pastor waited at the front, along with Jackson and the maid of honor, and Will walked forward, trying to minimize his limp as much as possible.
Jackson’s grin grew wider as Will approached, and he stepped out of formation to pull Will into a hug. “I’m so glad you’re here,” he said into Will’s ear.
Will smiled back and stood on Jackson’s left.
As Marius and Hayley marched forward, Will sneaked a glance over at Ellie.
She looked…amazing. And amazing wasn’t even a good enough word for it. He couldn’t see much around the piano, just her head and neck. Her eyes, behind her glasses, were focused on the music in front of her. Her mouth was slightly pinched, and that little furrow between her eyebrows signaled that she was concentrating.
Concentrating on avoiding him?
No, he couldn’t give himself that much credit in her life. For all he knew, she wasn’t just dating Nathan Emory—she could be married to him.
But Will hadn’t seen a ring on her finger in the photos Hayley had sent.
Not that he had looked. Besides, empty fingers didn’t necessarily mean someone wasn’t married. Not all married couples exchanged rings.
He remembered the first time he’d proposed to her. They’d been seventeen and in the middle of an epic squirt gun fight at her mom’s place, right after her parents had gotten divorced. Will, Jackson, and Hayley had gone over there to cheer Ellie up, and Will had loaded his dad’s truck with all their Nerf Super Soakers.
After Hayley and Jackson heard Eleanor’s mom offering cookies and lemonade, they’d scampered off to the kitchen. And Will had held Eleanor at squirt-gun-point and demanded her hand in marriage. “Marry me, Ellie McGowan,” he’d said.
“Ellie?” she said, her nose wrinkling.
“It’s how I think of you in my head sometimes.” He pumped the Super Soaker. “Capitulate to my demand.”
She’d laughed before sashaying forward. He’d been unable to look away from her large, curvy breasts, which were plastered with the wet cotton of her t-shirt. She’d looked like a comic book heroine with her rounded breasts and narrow waist.
She saw him looking. “Like what you see?” she’d asked.
Words failed him, so he nodded.
“You wanna marry it?” she’d asked.
He nodded again.
Then she squirted him, right in the crotch. His mouth dropped open in shock at what she’d done, and in shock at the cold water.
Her expression had morphed from something like playfulness to “oh shit,” and she turned and ran.
“I will get you, Ellie McGowan!” Will had shouted, running after her.
And he’d chased her for the next eight years.