Chapter 16 - The Wedding List
Arthur wanted a small wedding.
Rachel wanted smaller.
Emily wanted a horse.
“No horse,” Rachel said.
“What about two?”
“No.”
Arthur whispered to Emily:
“I'm researching options.”
Rachel pointed at him.
“Don't.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
Julia agreed to stand beside Arthur.
Emily would stand beside Rachel.
Samuel Ortiz was invited.
So were several former Bellweather workers.
Arthur's old business associates expected invitations.
Many did not receive them.
One called personally.
“We've known each other twenty-five years.”
Arthur answered:
“You've known my balance sheet twenty-five years.”
The man did not appreciate the distinction.
Arthur did.
The wedding would take place in the courtyard at Seventeen Commons.
The place built on land once taken unfairly would host a family formed because a child refused to take what was not hers.
Rachel liked the symmetry.
Arthur called it poetic.
Emily called it “cool.”
A week before the wedding, Arthur visited Thomas Hale's grave.
He brought no flowers.
He stood silently.
“I wish you'd told me.”
Wind moved through the trees.
Arthur continued.
“I wish I'd made it easier for you to tell me.”
That was as close to forgiveness as he had come.
Maybe it was enough.
He left.
On the wedding morning, snow unexpectedly fell over Austin.
Light flakes.
Rare.
Beautiful.
Emily ran outside in her green coat.
Not the original coat.
She had outgrown that years ago.
But Rachel had bought another in the same deep green because Emily insisted it was lucky.
Arthur saw her standing beneath the snow.
For one instant, memory folded over reality.
The little girl.
The wallet.
The cold.
His hand on his chest.
Her hands extended toward him.
Rachel appeared behind Emily in her wedding dress.
Arthur forgot how to breathe.
She looked at him.
“You okay?”
“No.”
Rachel laughed.
“Good answer.”
The ceremony began.
No reporters.
No corporate photographers.
No press release.
Julia cried.
Margaret cried.
Arthur cried first.
Emily announced this loudly.
When Arthur and Rachel exchanged vows, he did not promise to protect her from everything.
He had learned better.
He promised to stand beside her.
To listen.
To tell the truth.
To respect the life she had built before him.
Rachel promised the same.
When the officiant pronounced them married, Emily threw flower petals approximately three seconds too early.
Nobody cared.
At the reception, Samuel approached Arthur.
“You happy?”
Arthur looked toward Rachel.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Samuel lifted his glass.
“Don't ruin it.”
Arthur laughed.
“I'll try.”
Later, Julia danced with her father.
“You know what I remember most?” she asked.
“What?”
“The day I left your office.”
Arthur's smile faded.
“I remember too.”
“I thought that was the end of us.”
“So did I.”
Julia looked toward Emily.
“Turns out you just needed to lose your wallet.”
Arthur smiled.
“I lost much more than that.”
“I know.”
“And I got more back.”
Julia rested her head briefly against his shoulder.
Arthur closed his eyes.
The music continued.
Snow fell beyond the courtyard lights.
May you like
For the first time in his life, Arthur did not wish the moment would last forever.
He simply lived inside it while it was there.
