Page 65 of Seein’ Red

“No, but you are the last one here.”

Seriously? I hold back a groan. Since when did we become a group of people who arrive early for stuff?

I thought I was doing good on time. After a long, lazy morning in bed with Willa, I headed into the office to check on a shipment of fertilizer. I was out the door before my drop dead leave time and everything.

“I had to shower!”

“No one is chastising you, calm down!” Willa takes my hand, leading me inside. “We just have a little logistics issue.”

A logistics issue? This is a wedding. There can’t be that many logistics to it in the first place. Walk down the aisle. Say some vows. Walk back down the aisle. Boom, done.

Sensing my brain working overtime, or seeing the confused look on my face, Willa explains. “You boys clearly didn’t think through the wedding party fully.”

We walk into the chapel, Kenzie and Dustin standing in front of the altar with Reverend Terry, Kenzie’s arms crossed, Dustin looking like he just stepped in a pile of pig shit.

“I’m not saying we can't do it,” the Reverend says. “Just that’s it’s very unconventional.”

“You had one job,” Kenzie laments.

I look around at the group, everyone awkwardly waiting for whatever is playing out to be done. Sylvie and Camden are scrolling on their phones, while Bronwyn and Noel whisper to each other in the front pew. Moira, Kenzie’s older sister and matron of honor, is sitting on the short step up to the altar, playing peek-a-boo with her eighteen-month-old daughter while her son runs circles around them.

“We could rearrange?” the Reverend offers.

“If Camden becomes a groomsman, then we don’t have any ushers,” Dustin says.

“All three boys can act as ushers; that’s not unheard of.”

“Then who do I make best man?”

“Isn’t Ken the best man?” I ask, leaning into Willa, trying to catch up. It was a no-brainer when Dustin told us all his plan. Kenzie’s father, who is also like a dad to him, as best man, Noel and me as groomsmen, and Camden as the usher. Perfect plan and done in less than thirty seconds.

My question is louder than I realize though, both the bride and groom turning to stare at me. Oooops.

“Then who walks me down the aisle?” Kenzie asks, a pointed sass to her voice.

“Ken….ohhhhhh…” The realization hits me mid-answer. I see now.

“You could always walk down yourself. Give yourself away,” Bronwyn suggests. “That’s probably what I’ll have to do.”

“No,” Noel and I answer simultaneously.

Bronwyn startles, not expecting the gruff tone from either of us.

“Pops or Dad will do it. You’re a Keller now; you won’t walk down the aisle by yourself,” Noel tells her.

I watch the serene smile spread across her face, my heart squeezing. Maybe it’s the whole wedding thing that’s getting to me, but I can feel my inner sap trying to claw his way to the surface.

Slipping my hand in Willa’s, I lean over, enough to be able to whisper, but not enough that anyone watching us could tell. “Don’t you dare think anyone but Auggie is giving you away.”

Willa squeezes my hand, her cheeks turning pink. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

The discussion continues, the whole group whipped up about how this is all going to work, but I let the sound fall to the background, turning my attention to the beauty whose hand is still in mine.

“I missed you.”

Willa laughs, quirking one eyebrow up. “It’s been, like, six hours since you saw me. What was there to miss?”

“Is there a time requirement for missing someone? Not allowed to miss you until we hit the eight-hour mark of separation?”