Chapter Eleven

Graham

"I can't believe we're seriously crashing a wedding," Holly said.

"Don't think of it as crashing it," I said. "I think of it as joining the locals for a holiday season event."

"This is not a holiday season event," she insisted. "This is somebody's wedding."

"Yes, I know. But considering we've been staying at the motel and eating breakfast with the massive extended family of the groom for a few days now, I think that we almost count as guest."

"Rue put you up to this didn't she?"

"I might have mentioned the idea to her and she didn't argue with me," I admitted. "She said that we could just blend in with the rest of the guests and no one would even notice."

"Fantastic. Exactly what every bride wants. Strangers wandering into her wedding at the urging of another of her guests."

"You look beautiful tonight," I said.

Holly looked over at me and gave me a shy smile.

"Really?" she asked.

"Absolutely. That dress is perfect."

"I can't believe Rue convinced the dress shop owner to let me borrow it," she said, looking down at the dark blue velvet gown she wore.

A matching shawl wrapped around her shoulders brought out the color of her eyes and made her skin look even creamier.

"It seems like she might have some pull around here."

"Well, she told me that she grew up in the hollow, then she left and came back."

Her eyes were darting back and forth, and I saw her hands grasping the skirt of her dress as she prepared to jump forward into the stream of family members pouring out of the motel and into waiting wagons. Our plan was to wait until the perfect moment and then infiltrate the group. I figured that by the time anybody noticed that we were there, we'd already be at the wedding and it would be harder for them to make us leave.

"Now," I said, and we leapt forward and casually joined up with a group of chatting relatives.

We walked with them down the pathway that led from the main building of the motel. Most of the wagons had already left and I eyed the remaining ones, mentally calculating how many people fit into each one so that I could make sure that Holly and I ended up in the same one. The guests in front of us piled into the decorated wagons and headed off toward Galloway Farm, where Rue told us that what had been a pumpkin patch and haunted attraction only weeks before had now been transformed into a Christmas destination complete with enchanted light trail and Santa's village. The wedding would be held at the farm with the reception set up in one of the fields. Thinking about it, I wondered if Holly might be overdressed. Even if she was, though, I wouldn't have changed anything. She looked incredible and I wanted to be able to look back at this night and remember her exactly this way.

I was watching as the guests filled the wagons and was starting to worry that we wouldn't fit when I heard a familiar puttering sound approaching. I looked down the access road to see Boom Boom's tractor pulling up. He had strung the wagon with Christmas lights, but by the generator roaring in the corner, I could only assume that he wasn't able to find battery-operated ones that fit his vision. Everyone else climbed into the last of the other wagons and Holly and I waited for Boom Boom to pull up in front of us.

"Good evening," he said. "Rue's been telling me that you might need a clandestine ride to the wedding."

This was clandestine?

"Just on time, as always, Boom Boom," Holly said. She let me help her up into the wagon and I saw her pause. "You look lovely this evening."

I looked around her and saw Cornelius nestled in the hay. He was wearing a new scarf and had a tiny top hat strapped to his head.

"Tell her thank you, Cornelius." Boom Boom looked at Holly. "It was the damndest thing trying to get that hat on him. You'd think that he didn't know how beautiful he was or that he needed to look his best to go to a wedding."

"He's his own man," I said, sitting in the hay and reaching over to pet the turkey.

He warbled at me and I felt that we had officially become friends.

Two hours later Holly and I were walking along a trail through the woods on the farm, surrounded by what felt like millions of lights. They twinkled overhead and in the trees, and occasionally we came to a topiary that had been crafted out of dried vines and wrapped in lights to create illuminated animals tucked into the woods. Holly sighed, and I gave her hand a squeeze where I held it between us.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked.

She glanced over at me, looking slightly surprised as if she didn't realize that I had heard her.

"Christmas," she said. "I was remembering the conversation that you and I had about my Christmas memories from when I was little. I told you that I don't really remember anything good and don't know if I ever believed in Santa."

"Right."

"Well, I just realized that I do have one good memory. When I was really little, about Charlie's age, I think, there was a doll that I wanted more than anything. She was so beautiful. The toy store in the town where I grew up had her displayed in the front window. I looked at her just about every day starting at the beginning of November. I didn't even mention her to my parents because even then I had realized that there wasn't much point in being hopeful when it came to them. Deep in my heart, though, I had a glimmer of belief in magic. I thought that maybe there was a chance. Other children talked about the amazing things that Santa brought them for Christmas, and I wondered if there was any possibility, even just the glimmer of a chance, that he might be listening to me too. So, I held that doll in my heart and wished that Santa would bring her to me."

"And?"

"And on Christmas morning she was sitting under the tree. It was the most incredible moment. I scooped her up and cradled her to me and I don't think that I put her down for the next two years. I'll never forget her. Her name was Mary Beth. She had this wonderful pink box."

"What happened after two years?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You said that you didn't put her down for two years. What happened after that?"

"Oh," she said, sounding slightly deflated. "We moved again. I got home from school one day and everything was in boxes. When we got to the new house and unpacked, Mary Beth was gone. I never found her."

I released Holly's hand and wrapped my arm around her, pulling her close to me.

"Should we make an appearance at the reception?" I asked.

"I don't think wedding crashers are obligated to make appearances," she said.

I smiled, and we made our way toward the field where an enormous tent rose into the sky and a dance floor had been set up outside. Heaters were positioned around the perimeter, making it warm enough that guests were filling the space and celebrating. The bride and groom were in the center, wrapped in each other's arms and dancing far slower than the music dictated, lost in each other. I guided Holly out onto the floor and twirled her into my arms, catching her close to me and lowering my lips to hers for a kiss.

Time ticked by as we danced in the starlight and I could feel the heat between us rising. Her heart was pounding, and her breath was getting deeper as she pressed into my arms and draped her head onto my shoulder. My hands ran down her back and settled on her bottom, drawing her against me. I wondered if she could feel my need for her, and as if she had heard my thoughts, she looked up at me, her eyes widened in an expression of wonder.

The tension between us was broken by a sudden jubilant shout from behind the tent and we rushed around to see what was happening. Cletus was standing in the back of his pickup truck, waving a bottle of moonshine and trying as hard as he could to sing along to the song that was playing though it was fairly clear that he had never heard it before. The truck was spinning around in the field, seeming to dance right along with the rest of the guests. I caught a glimpse of the front window as it turned our way and noticed that there was no one driving. The spinning was getting out of control, slipping in the mud that had been made by the snow being melted in order to accommodate the tent and the dance floor, and I could sense impending doom.

I took Holly by the shoulders and guided her back a few steps.

"You wait right here," I said.

She started to protest, but I didn't wait to listen to her. I took off running toward the truck, which had started a precarious approach of the tent.

"Cletus!" I shouted. "Cletus, open the door!"

Cletus looked down at me.

"Hey, Graham! Happy wedding!"

"Happy wedding, Cletus. I need you to open the door."

He looked around.

"But there are no doors," he said. "I'm outside."

"You're in the bed of your truck. Just lean over and pull the handle."

He let go of the top of the cab and started stumbling back. I heard guests cry out and I shouted to Cletus again.

"Don't let go!"

He snatched a rope that was attached to the back of the cab and for a moment he looked for all the world like he was water skiing. Finally, he pulled himself up Alpine hiker-style and clawed himself over to the side. I watched him lean precariously and grasp the handle. There was a touch-and-go moment before the handle popped, and the door flung open.

"There ya go," he said.

"Good. Alright. Just wait a second."

I took a step closer and watched the truck spin for a few more rotations before I jumped forward, flinging myself into the front seat. I slammed the door closed and stomped down on the brake. The truck screamed its protest, but slowed and finally stopped. When I stepped out of the truck I could hear cheering, but I couldn't see Cletus. I rushed to the bed and found him lying flat on his back, staring up at the sky. He held up his bottle.

"Merry birthday, Jesus," he said. "I'm going to pour one out for all the homie angels that ain't here no more."

He tipped the bottle over the side of the bed and with that, he passed out.

I patted him on his belly and walked back toward Holly, taking her into my arms.

"That was amazing," she said.

"We should probably go," I told her. "I don't think even Boom Boom is clandestine enough to keep us a secret anymore."

Holly

I stood in the middle of the motel room, my heart beating so hard I felt like Graham must be able to hear it. He stepped up in front of me and I felt him tuck one finger under my chin and lift my face up to look at him. He leaned forward and caught my lips with his. He had already undressed, and my mouth was watering with the look of him. I felt his hands come to the back of my dress and ease the zipper down. He kissed me gently, guiding me as he let the dress pool to my feet. His hands moved across me confidently and soon I was bare in front of him. There was nothing parting us, nothing keeping us from one another.

"Do you want to touch me?" he asked, his voice husky and warm.

I nodded.

"Yes," I said.

He reached down and took my hands, bringing them up to rest on his chest. He guided them down, letting me feel the coarseness of his chest hair under my palms. When my hands had reached his hips, Graham released one and guided the other forward. He kept his eyes trained on mine as he pressed my palm to the side of his thick, hard cock. I gasped as he curled my fingers around the shaft, tightening my grip. I looked down and saw my hand holding him, sending a rush of arousal through me.

Graham kept his hand over mine and helped me to stroke him, setting the pace and length before releasing me to touch him on my own. His eyes closed, and he groaned, seeming to relinquish himself to my hand. When I had been stroking him for several long seconds, I felt Graham's hand touch my thigh. It ran along the inside and then stroked up until the backs of his fingers brushed through my petals. I could tell that I was wet and ready for him, and I subtly parted my thighs. His thumb massaged into my clit, coaxing me as he had the night before.

"Graham," I gasped.

He looked at me.

"Yes?"

"I'm ready for you."

He swept me into his arms and carried me over to the bed, resting me down onto it. I watched him take a box from the nightstand that he had put there earlier after a visit to the apothecary in the village. He withdrew a condom and opened it, rolling it into place in a smooth movement. My nervousness flowed out of me as he came to hover over me and I was filled with a sense of peace. Graham's lips touched mine and he lowered himself over me. The weight of his body was delicious as it pressed me into the bed. I felt his leg press mine apart, making a space for himself to settle his hips between my thighs.

The tip of his cock brushed through my trembling folds and I drew in a breath. He rested at my opening, pausing for only a second before sinking into me. There was a moment of deep, almost startling pain, but it was a sweet, welcome pain that signaled his body becoming a part of me and mine surrounding him, embracing him. I tore my mouth away from his, a slight, strangled cry escaping my lips as he slipped deeper. Graham held himself in place for a moment, giving my body a chance to become accustomed to him stretching me, and then started to roll his hips again.

Having him inside me was almost transcendent. I gave myself over, no longer in control of myself, and felt a sense of completeness and fulfillment that I could have never imagined. I pressed my hands to Graham's back and held him close, ducking my head forward to nestle into the curve between his shoulder and neck. He reached down and ran his hands down my thighs, tucking them beneath my knees to draw my legs up by his hips. I tightened my thighs around him so that I felt I was fully enveloping him.

Graham was grunting low in his throat and each thrust was getting harder and more intense. I closed my eyes, concentrating on the waves of pleasure that were rolling through me.

"Open your eyes," he growled. "Look at me."

I did and the moment that our eyes met, I felt my body taken over by a mind-blowing orgasm. I screamed out and he clamped his mouth down over mine, roaring into it as I felt his cock swell inside of me and then pulse frantically, meeting my spasms so I felt that I was drawing him deeper and more fully into me.

He relaxed down onto me and I wrapped my arms and legs around him, not wanting to lose even a moment of the connection between us. He kissed along the side of my neck and I felt another pulse inside me. I was shaking in his arms, my body spent, my emotions drained from the spiraling peak that they had reached. I had spent my life pushing people away, not trusting any to be close to me, even when I thought that I was. Now I knew what that closeness was, I knew what I had been missing, and I was more grateful than I could have ever imagined that it was this moment when I found it.