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Two months later
I slid across the wooden bench to make room for Ollie, Bailey, and their parents. My mom and dad sat on the other side of me, leaving me sandwiched between the Severins and the Jacksons, with Ollie right next to me. There was nowhere else I'd rather be.
Ollie slipped his hand into mine, threading our fingers.
The ceremony would start in a few minutes. Eve Holt and Val Silva would tie the knot today, in this beautiful little church eighteen miles from Au Naturel Naturist Resort, with friends and family filling the pews. Lots of people loved Eve and Val. I'd come to love them too, the way I loved my family and Ollie's and all the guests, even Damian too.
Eve and Val seemed like opposites, but they shared important things in common and brought out the best in each other. She was a no-nonsense businesswoman, but Val encouraged her to take time to enjoy life and let go of her inhibitions. He had been a playboy athlete and still had an exhibitionist streak, but Eve brought out the softer side of him, the Val who loved his family and wanted one of his own someday.
Ollie and I had similar effects on each other. I'd been a tangled mess of fears and pent-up desires, but Ollie showed me how to embrace my passions and stop worrying about what other people thought. He had been a loser in love who thought he couldn't keep a girlfriend, until I proved him wrong.
Everyone finished filing into the church, and the first strains of the wedding march filled the air, played by a string quartet. A saxophone added a sexier vibe. The sax had been Val's idea, naturally.
We all twisted around to see the doors, waiting for Eve to emerge.
She moved into the doorway on her father's arm, revealing her dress that was a gorgeous combination of sleekly modern and lacy traditional, with a neckline that managed to be both sexy and modest. Her strawberry-blonde hair fell in loose curls around her face, and her makeup enhanced her natural beauty without overpowering it.
Eve looked so beautiful, so happy, so ready to join her life with Val's.
Her groom stood at the altar, waiting for his bride. He and Eve had decided not to have groomsmen or bridesmaids, since they had so many friends and relatives that it would've been impossible to choose who should stand up there with them. Besides, all they needed was each other.
Larry Holt led his daughter to the altar, kissed her cheek, and winked at Val. Then he took his seat in the front row beside his wife.
I clutched Ollie's hand tightly while we listened to the minister recite the opening lines. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today..."
But I stopped listening then. I watched the expressions on Eve and Val's faces, fascinated by the joy and love they evinced and the commitment they were making to each other. It was beautiful, magical, emotional. Some people might've said marriage was irrelevant these days, but the looks on this couple's faces told a different story. They loved each other with everything they had and pronounced their intentions to love and honor each other with so much conviction that it made my heart swell.
Love was real. Marriage meant more than words spoken before an officiant. It touched something deep inside everyone in this church.
Eve and Val exchanged rings, and then they kissed.
Cheers erupted inside the church. A few people whooped or whistled.
I started to cry.
And I wasn't alone. While Eve and Val walked back up the aisle, heading for the doors, I noticed other people crying too---including Ollie. He hid it well, but I saw the way his eyes glistened and he swallowed visibly. I loved that he could get choked up by seeing two of his closest friends tie the knot. I loved him, period.
Everyone walked across the street to the restaurant that would host the reception. I met Val's parents and his sisters, and I danced with so many men that I lost count. Ollie got the first dance with me, but Damian waited until much later, after I'd taken a whirl with everyone else, before he asked me for a dance.
While we glided across the floor, Damian said, "I've been to weddings before, but this one has made me rethink whether I want to get married."
"Have you been against it until today?"
"Yeah. It seems like a silly tradition, but now..." He shrugged. "Maybe it's not so silly after all."
Wow. Eve and Val had made a convert without even trying. Well, a potential convert.
"I've known Ollie for a long time," Damian said, "and I've never seen him so happy. You did that. So thank you, Mara."
"You don't need to thank me. Ollie did the same thing for me, and no words can describe how grateful I am to him."
"Ollie has an idea for how to express his gratitude." Damian nodded toward something behind me and stepped back. "She's all yours, man."
I turned to see Ollie standing there, holding out his hand to me.
"Come on," he said, "let's go for a walk. There's a nice little park a couple blocks away."
"Not sure my shoes are good for walking. They're strictly designed to look pretty."
