Chapter 18 - One More Kompa Dance
Rain began five minutes before the ceremony.
Not a storm.
A soft summer rain.
Guests gathered beneath the garden tent while staff moved flowers and chairs.
Ethan stood near the entrance.
Daniel adjusted his tie.
“You look terrified.”
“I’m fine.”
“You look like you’re waiting for surgery.”
“I’m evaluating contingencies.”
Daniel laughed.
“Still?”
“Some personality traits are permanent.”
Music began.
Ethan looked toward the aisle.
Everything else disappeared.
Camille stepped beneath the tent beside her mother.
Her wedding dress was simple.
No massive train.
No elaborate veil.
Her hair was pinned loosely.
The same way it had been the night they met.
A few curls escaped.
Ethan smiled.
Camille saw him.
She smiled back.
Then quietly mouthed:
Stop calculating.
He laughed.
Daniel whispered, “What?”
“Nothing.”
Camille reached him.
Solange kissed Ethan’s cheek.
“Correct last name today.”
He nodded solemnly.
“I practiced.”
The ceremony was short.
Their vows were not.
Camille spoke first.
“When I was younger, I thought love was proven by waiting.”
Ethan’s eyes filled.
“I thought patience meant devotion, and that if I stayed in one place long enough, eventually life would become what I imagined.”
André sat beside Naomi several rows back.
Camille saw him.
Smiled.
Then continued.
“I was wrong.”
Her voice strengthened.
“Love is not waiting for another person to become ready.”
She looked at Ethan.
“Love is two people moving. Sometimes together. Sometimes toward each other. Sometimes changing directions because they finally admitted what they wanted.”
Ethan wiped his eyes.
“You taught me that I could choose without certainty.”
She smiled.
“And that emergency batteries can apparently expire.”
Guests laughed.
Ethan shook his head.
When it was his turn, he unfolded paper.
Camille raised an eyebrow.
“You wrote it down?”
“Obviously.”
More laughter.
Then Ethan folded the paper again.
And put it away.
Camille’s expression softened.
“I had a speech.”
“Of course.”
“I don’t need it.”
He took her hands.
“The first thing you ever taught me was to stop looking at my feet.”
Camille smiled.
“I thought you were talking about dancing.”
“You weren’t.”
Her eyes filled.
“My whole life, I had been watching for mistakes so carefully that I stopped looking at where I actually wanted to go.”
Ethan paused.
“Then you pulled me into a crowd before I knew your last name.”
Laughter.
He smiled.
“I eventually learned it.”
“You better have.”
“Desrosiers.”
“Good.”
He continued.
“I cannot promise I’ll stop planning.”
“Thank God.”
“I cannot promise I’ll always understand you.”
“That would be suspicious.”
“I cannot promise life will cooperate.”
His voice softened.
“But I promise that when plans fail, I will not confuse leaving with solving.”
Camille’s tears fell.
“And when I’m scared, I will tell you.”
He squeezed her hands.
“And I will choose our life with you, not for you.”
Camille whispered, “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
They married beneath the sound of rain.
By the reception, the sky had cleared.
The band began with soul classics.
Then Haitian songs.
Then the first Kompa rhythm rolled through the ballroom.
Everyone looked toward Ethan.
He groaned.
“This feels coordinated.”
“It is,” Daniel said.
Camille appeared.
Not in yellow.
White wedding dress altered for dancing.
She held out her hand.
“You’re voluntarily coming back?”
Ethan smiled.
“Always.”
They entered the floor.
No awkward elbows.
No staring downward.
No negotiations.
Camille placed one hand on his shoulder.
“You’ve gotten good.”
“That sounds dishonest.”
“Better.”
“Acceptable.”
She laughed.
They turned beneath warm lights.
Around them, two families became one noisy, complicated collection.
Solange danced with Ethan’s mother.
Daniel nearly fell while attempting a move Elise warned him not to try.
Naomi dragged André onto the floor despite his protests about his previously fractured leg.
Max’s daughter danced with no rhythm and complete confidence.
Ethan noticed everything.
He no longer needed to control a moment to be present inside it.
Halfway through the song Camille leaned closer.
“Remember what you told Daniel?”
“When?”
“The night you changed your flight.”
“I told Daniel many things.”
“You said, ‘Nothing stupid yet.’”
Ethan laughed.
“How do you know that?”
“Elise.”
“Of course.”
Camille smiled.
“So?”
“So what?”
“Was staying stupid?”
Ethan pretended to consider.
“Financially?”
She narrowed her eyes.
He smiled.
“No.”
“Changing the flight?”
“No.”
“Kissing a confused woman who had just ended a thirteen-year almost-relationship?”
“Risky.”
“Moving across the country?”
“Highly disruptive.”
“Marrying me?”
Ethan stopped dancing.
Camille’s smile faded slightly.
He looked into her eyes.
“The smartest thing I ever did that made absolutely no sense at the beginning.”
She smiled.
Then kissed him.
The crowd cheered.
André shouted something inappropriate.
Naomi slapped his arm.
The band kept playing.
Later, after midnight, Ethan and Camille escaped to the hotel balcony.
She removed her shoes.
He loosened his tie.
Atlanta glowed beneath them.
Camille rested her head on his shoulder.
“You know what’s strange?”
“What?”
“If André had arrived at Daniel’s wedding like he promised, you and I probably never would have danced.”
Ethan considered.
“Maybe.”
“If your original flight had been cheaper to change—”
“I’m not sure price influenced the decision.”
“You complained for months.”
“On principle.”
She smiled.
“So much depended on accidents.”
“Timing.”
“Other people’s choices.”
“Yes.”
Camille looked at her ring.
“That used to scare me.”
“What changed?”
She looked at him.
“You.”
Ethan smiled.
“No.”
“What?”
“You changed.”
Camille considered.
Then nodded.
“Both.”
“Both.”
The door opened.
Daniel stuck his head outside.
“There you are.”
“What?”
“Cake.”
“We already cut the cake.”
“Your mother is forcing everyone to eat more.”
Ethan sighed.
Camille stood.
“Come on.”
She held out her hand.
Ethan took it.
For one brief second, as they stepped back into the noise, he looked down.
Camille caught him.
“Hey.”
He looked up.
She smiled.
“Floor knows where it is.”
Ethan laughed.
May you like
Then followed her inside.
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