A Thanksgiving Wedding

 

“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” intoned Pastor Clarke of the Center Sandwich Congregational Church. “You may kiss the bride.”

As Rory leaned down to kiss Brittany, Tierney looked over the heads of the happy couple to catch Burr staring back at her, an intense expression in his light-blue eyes.

I love you, he mouthed.

Her lips wobbled a little, trying not to cry for her brother’s happiness or her own.

I love you, too, she answered.

Since Burr’s return, they hadn’t spent a night apart, which added up to a lot of perfect nights in his arms, their bodies slick with sweat and their hearts beating as one.

When Rory asked Burr to join Ian as his other groomsmen a few weeks ago, it hadn’t surprised Tierney too much. Burr had secured a job at the Center Harbor Police Department within two weeks of his return, impressing Rory and Ian with his commitment to Tierney by putting down roots. Besides, his slap shot was already leading the Gilford Griffins to victory. At this point, he was pretty much considered a member of the family.

Speaking of family, Burr’s sister and her family had come up for a weekend in early November and stayed at Summerhaven. Rory and Brittany were in one cabin, Tierney and Burr in another, Ian in his own, and Suzanne, Connor, and Bridey in another. Surrounded by the Technicolor glory of autumnal New Hampshire, they’d fished and hiked—and toasted marshmallows around a bonfire, much to Bridey’s delight.

Well, actually…Bridey and Jenny’s delight.

As Rory and Brittany finished their kiss, Tierney slid her eyes to Ian, who looked like a thundercloud, staring at the woman standing next to Tierney, wearing an identical black bridesmaids’ dress: Halcyon Gilbert Silveira.

Hallie, and her daughter, Jenny, had moved back up to their Squam Lake summer cottage just before Halloween, and since then, Ian had been just about impossible. Tierney wasn’t talking about his sobriety, which seemed intact, but his moods. Dear Lord, he’d been a grumpy bastard since Hallie had appeared, grunting and growling at everyone, with barely a smile for anyone.

Well, actually…anyone except Jenny.

For little Jenny? Ian’s frown was neutralized. And Jenny adored Ian. With her dark-brown braids trailing down her back, Jenny followed Tierney’s gruff brother all over the camp like a wee duckling, talking his ear off.

Rory and Brittany took hands and stepped down the stairs of the church altar, followed by Ian and Hallie, who, Tierney noted, were careful not to touch as they walked side by side in stoic discomfort. Finally, Tierney turned to face her escort, and as her eyes smashed into Burr’s, she felt it again—as she always did—BAM.

His hair had grown out a little bit, as jet-black as hers, and less edgy than his gangland buzz cut. As handsome as the devil in a tuxedo, today was the first time she’d ever seen him dressed formally, and good Lord, it had taken her breath away.

She grinned at him, clasping the hand he offered.

“Look at you, now, Smilin’ Irish,” he said in a light brogue, winking at her. “I mentioned you look a picture in that dress, right?”

“You did,” she said, her cheeks flushing from his compliment.

“An’ do ya’ know where that dress will look even better?” he asked.

She knew what was coming but shook her head back and forth, looking up at him with pursed lips. “Where?”

“On the floor of our bedroom,” he said, chuckling as she rolled her eyes at him.

“You’re insatiable.”

“That’s because you’re delicious.”

“Burr, stop it. We’re in a church.”

“Not a Catholic one. Doesn’t count.”

Giggling quietly, she squeezed his hand as they swept up the aisle, her happiness filling her heart to overflowing.

***

Tierney stood in the receiving line in front of the church, shaking hands with the departing guests, while Burr stood off to the side with Hallie Silveira and her little girl, Jenny. When Suzanne, Connor, and Bridey had visited Summerhaven in October, Bridey and Jenny had become “besties,” spending the whole weekend together.

He squatted down in front of the little girl. “Hey, Jenny. I was talking to Bridey yesterday, and she said to say hello.”

“I miss her,” said Jenny. “When’s she coming back?”

“She misses you, too,” said Burr, “but I think she’ll be back for Christmas.”

Jenny’s whole face brightened. “Bridey’s coming for Christmas? Oh, my gosh!” She looked up at her mother. “Mommy! Bridey’s coming for Christmas!”

Burr stood up, looking into Hallie’s blue eyes. “Think you’ll still be here?”

“We have nowhere else to go,” she said softly, sliding her eyes to her daughter and adding in an animated voice, “I heard, baby! What great news!”

“I’ma tell Mr. Haven!” Jenny exclaimed, running over to the receiving line and tugging on the hem of Ian’s tuxedo jacket.

Burr watched Hallie’s eyes follow her daughter, her lips tightening into a thin line when she stopped in front of Ian. As he squatted down to talk to Jenny, celebrating her news with a huge hug, Hallie’s face softened, her head cocking to the side as she watched them.

“She likes him,” said Burr softly. “Ian.”

“She’s crazy about him,” said Hallie, her face still troubled as she watched Ian lean away from Jenny, still grinning at her from behind his trimmed-back beard.

“They say that kids are good judges of character.”

She looked up at him, her lips unsmiling, her eyes flat. “Kids are naïve.”

He nodded. There was no sense arguing with her, especially since Jenny was already running back to them, her smile wide and eyes sparkling with excitement. “Mr. Haven said he’d take me and Bridey sledding if there’s snow over Christmas!”

“I can take you, too, baby.” Hallie forced a smile, pushing a lock of her daughter’s dark hair behind her ear. “Remember what we talked about? We don’t always have to bother Mr. Haven, right?”

“Okay, Mama,” said Jenny, her smile dimming.

Hallie turned to Burr. “I think we’ll go freshen up before the reception. See you there?”

Burr nodded at the young mother and daughter as they took hands. “See you there. Save me a dance, Jenny, okay?”

“Okay, Mr. O’Leary,” said Jenny with a gap-toothed grin.

He watched them walk to their car, no doubt headed for their little cottage before proceeding to Summerhaven for the reception. He felt bad for Hallie. He didn’t know her very well, but from what he gathered, her ex-husband had been a regular fucker, running up enormous debts before leaving Hallie and their daughter for a woman barely out of high school. Aside from the humiliation of his betrayal, Hallie had been left flat broke, with nowhere to go except a dilapidated summer cottage, adjacent to Summerhaven, that her parents had left her.

It was clear that something simmered between her and Ian, though Tierney and Rory swore they had no idea what had happened between them, and Brittany refused to spill the beans. Burr sighed, turning back to watch Tierney say hello and thank you to the last of the guests still filing out of the church. He hoped the best for Hallie and Jenny, but today he had other things on his mind…important things that wouldn’t wait anymore.

He’d only known Tierney Haven for three months, but he’d known himself for over twenty-eight years, and she was it for him. He’d felt it in his bones the moment he’d woken up on her bed, those emerald eyes staring back at him and the honeyed words I’m not scared of you falling from her sweet lips.

A montage of Tierney played in his head like a movie: the first time he kissed her in her living room, the second time he kissed her in front of the fire pit in her backyard, the way she leaned over a pool table pocketing balls like a boss, the abysmal way she’d first lied for him to Dr. Weasel, and the way she looked all decked out for her date. The way she’d stood up at his sister’s house and told off his father, and the way his heart exploded every time he slid inside of her.

He loved her.

He loved her so hard and so well, it didn’t matter that there were still plenty of mysteries about her for him to unravel. It didn’t matter that he’d never spent a winter or spring with her. It didn’t matter that he didn’t know the answer to every question he had about her. None of it mattered, because he would do whatever it took—bend, mold, learn, change, flex, and adapt—to make her happy.

Because there was only one absolute in the heart and soul of Burr Brian O’Leary, and it was this:

Life could only be spectacular if he was living it with Tierney.

“All done,” said Tierney, suddenly appearing in front of him. “Ready t—wow. You’re deep in thought. Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” he said, putting his arms around her and pulling her against him. “Everything’s perfect, aisling.”

She leaned back to look up at his face, tilting her chin to offer her lips to him. He took them with his, kissing her soundly in front of the church where her brother had just gotten married.

When he drew away, her eyes were still closed, but they opened slowly to look up at him. “Whoa.”

“I love you,” he said, the words guttural and gritty with emotion.

“I love you too.” She smiled at him. “Weddings, right? Everyone gets a little—”

He shook his head. “Not weddings. You.”

“Me?” she asked, tilting her head to the side. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yep. I’m good. Thanks to you.” He took a deep breath. “Life is good because of you, Tierney. You’re my fresh start, my new life.”

“And you’re mine,” she said, cupping his cheek tenderly.

“See you guys there?” called Brittany, holding hands with Rory, who pulled her toward a waiting limousine.

Tierney waved at them, then turned back to Burr with a wide grin. “Ready?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I am.”

Reaching into his back pocket, he withdrew a small black velvet pouch and loosened the draw string before kneeling down on a carpet of autumn leaves in the old churchyard before her.

She gasped, covering her mouth and nose with both hands.

“What are you doing?” she squeaked through her fingers.

Tipping the bag over, a ring dropped into his palm: a gold band with a small, perfect diamond flanked by platinum Celtic trinity knots. He held it up to her.

“I don’t know what the protocol is about proposing to your woman at her brother’s wedding, but I don’t—I don’t want to wait anymore, Tierney. You’re it for me. Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow. Forever.” He reached up for her right wrist and pulled her hand away from her face, holding it tightly. “And I’ll do whatever it takes—I mean that, aisling, so I’m going to say it again—I will do whatever it takes to make us last forever. I promise you that, and I will never, ever break that promise. You are my priority. You and no other until the end of my days.” He paused, taking a deep breath as he looked deeply into her eyes. “Bean mo chroi. Ah ghra mo chroi. An bposfaidh tu me, aisling?”

Woman of my heart. Love of my heart. Will you marry me?

With tears rolling down her cheeks, she started nodding, slowly at first, then faster and faster, happy laughter escaping from her lips as she dropped her left hand from her face and held it out to him.

As he slipped the ring on her fourth finger, she cupped his cheek and whispered, between tears, “A chéadsearc. M’Burr. M’fhíorghrá.”

First in my heart. My Burr. My true love.

Looking up at his fiancée, Burr thanked the Lord above for His many blessings but couldn’t resist asking her one last question:

“Smile for me, aisling?”

And his Irish girl—perfect for him in every way—traded in her old response for a new one before letting him swoop her up in his arms:

“Go deo.”

Forever.

 

THE END