“By the power vested in me by the State of California and as a minister of the gospel of Christ the Risen Savior, I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
There was a pause.
The minister smiled and said, “You may kiss your bride.”
Sierra held her breath. It seemed as if the hundreds of well-wishers around her were doing the same thing. Out of the corner of her eye, Sierra saw Jeremy reach over and take Tawni’s hand in his. They all sat perfectly still, waiting.
Doug carefully took the ends of Tracy’s veil and lifted the sheer fabric over her head so that it tumbled down her back like fine mist from a waterfall. Tracy, with unveiled face, tilted her lips toward Doug and looked into his eyes.
He looked back at her. They acted as if they were oblivious to the hundreds of guests clinging to the edge of the pews and inwardly cheering, “Come on, kiss her!”
Doug took Tracy’s sweet face in his large hands and whispered something to her. He tilted his head just right and slowly drew closer to her upturned face.
Then their lips met.
Sierra bit her lower lip and blinked fast to stop the tears from coming.
It was a long kiss. A slow kiss. A tender, unhurried, and wonderfully romantic kiss. Doug slowly drew away from Tracy and opened his eyes as if everything were in slow motion. A huge smile broke across his face, and Tracy let out a little giggle.
Someone broke loose with a “Bravo!” and spontaneously, all around the sanctuary, friends and family were rising to their feet, clapping and cheering.
Doug turned to greet the outburst with a look of surprise. Tracy looked startled, too. And a little embarrassed. Then she started to laugh and motioned for Doug to look up in the balcony. Everyone turned to look. There stood the ushers in a straight row, holding up large numbered cards that read: 10.0, 9.8, 9.9, 10.0, 10.0.
The church filled with bursts of laughter. The organ cranked up extra loud, and in the church steeple, bells began to ring. Tracy took Doug’s arm, and with joyful tears rolling down their cheeks, they began their march down the center aisle. Everyone was standing, still clapping, still cheering, as the newlyweds hurried out the door at the back of the sanctuary.
Todd and Christy followed them, smiling broadly and whispering to each other as they walked arm in arm across the crushed rose petals. It seemed to Sierra that they, too, were oblivious to the rest of the world and that they gave the appearance of floating rather than walking.
The rest of the party exited. The ushers came down from their judges’ booth and began to dismiss the guests by undoing the ribbons and directing everyone down the center aisle, one row at a time.
The mood was the most festive Sierra had ever experienced at a church service or wedding. People were talking, laughing, and greeting each other with big hugs. Sierra followed Tawni and Jeremy out of the church. They were still holding hands and talking in a close way that indicated they wanted to be alone. As soon as Sierra was out of the church narthex, she took off ahead of Tawni and Jeremy as the guests all headed for the building where the reception was to be held.
As she entered the large gymnasium, Sierra thought the decorating committee had done a pretty good job of dressing up the place. Dozens of small round tables were decorated with tablecloths of soft pink, lavender, and blue, just like the bridesmaids’ dresses. Huge ferns hung from the basketball hoops. The three-tiered cake graced the center of the long serving table. Sierra noticed that it was holding its shape quite nicely. Marti would be relieved that it hadn’t crumbled in the August heat.
In the far corner was a white-carpeted area with a decorated archway woven with ivy and bright summer flowers. Sierra guessed that that was to be the receiving line. She couldn’t wait to give Doug and Tracy her best wishes. But it would probably be a while before they formed the line, since more pictures were being taken.
Finding an empty table, Sierra sat down and tried one of the pastel mints in a dish next to a vase of fresh flowers. Katie made her way over to the table and leaned on her crutches.
“Was that a wedding to remember or what?” Katie slid the crutches under the table, and Sierra pulled out a chair for her. “Did you see their kiss? Of course you did. Everyone did. I didn’t know the guys were going to do the numbers up in the balcony. What a scream!”
Katie’s flushed face matched her red hair. She sat down and said, “Man, I’m pooped from trying to get around on this stupid foot. I can’t believe I have to wear this cast for a month. This is so pathetic.”
Sierra noticed Rick pulling out a chair for a slender brunette a few tables over.
“Katie, who is that guy?”
Katie looked over her shoulder and, with wide eyes, leaned toward Sierra and said, “Don’t go there, Sierra. Trust me on this one. Stay far away from him.”
“I don’t think you have to worry about that. He’s the one who wants to stay far away from me.” Sierra told Katie about her exchange with Rick and how he had gotten up and moved right before the ceremony started.
Katie started to laugh and said, “I wish I’d been more like you a few years ago.” She shook her head.
“You didn’t date that guy, did you?” Sierra said.
“If you could call it that. He was my first kiss. Can you believe that? What was I thinking?”
Sierra was amazed.
“Actually, that’s a dumb question. I know what I was thinking. I was thinking, if he’s good enough for Christy to kiss, then why can’t I kiss him, too?”
“You aren’t serious,” Sierra said, her eyebrows coming closer together as she scrutinized Katie’s expression. “Not our Christy! Christy Miller? She didn’t go out with that guy…did she?”
Katie nodded.
“And she kissed him?”
Katie leaned forward across the table, nearly toppling the bowl of mints. “Let me just say, Sierra, that you need to understand that with Rick, he is the kisser and you are the kissee. I don’t know that I could say that Christy ever initiated a kiss with him, but yes, he did kiss her quite a few times. He was crazy about her. She was like this unattainable prize to him. I’ll admit it: I was jealous of her. So when Christy broke up with Rick and he showed a little interest in me, of course I gobbled it up.”
Sierra still had a hard time imagining that both of these friends, whom she deeply admired, had ever given any part of themselves to a guy like Rick. He seemed like an incurable flirt to Sierra.
“Oh, the things we do when we’re young and stupid,” Katie said, leaning back and shaking her silky red hair. “If it weren’t for the grace of God, we would all be a sad bunch of losers, wouldn’t we?”
Sierra slowly nodded. She was thinking of Amy. “So how did you figure out that you shouldn’t be investing your kisses in Rick?”
“Investing my kisses,” Katie repeated. “I like that. I don’t know. It just all fell apart. There wasn’t anything to hold it together. Then I fell in love with Michael. You remember my telling you about him in England.”
“He was the exchange student you stopped going out with because he wasn’t a Christian, right?”
Katie nodded. “That one was really hard. We were together for a long time. It still hurts when I think about him. Christy was such a great friend to me during that time, though. Right away she told me exactly what she thought of us getting together, and then she let me live my own life, even though she thought I was making a huge mistake.”
“Do you think it was a mistake to go out with Michael?”
Katie paused. Then, curling up her lower lip, she said, “Yeah, I guess, looking back, it wasn’t the wisest choice. I emotionally poured myself out. You know, I kept praying for him and talking to him about the Lord. I was so sure he would ‘see the light,’ as they say. It cost me a lot inside—in my heart, where it really counts.”
“But you said Christy didn’t try to persuade you not to get involved with him. Weren’t you close friends?”
“Oh, the best! I think Christy did the right thin
g. She told me what she thought, and I know she prayed long and hard for me, but then she let me go my own way and just continued to be a consistent friend through it all. Then, when I crashed and burned, she was right there to salvage the wreckage.”
Katie’s glance moved past Sierra to someone standing behind her. Katie’s green eyes flashed a look of delight as she practically shouted, “You came!”
Sierra turned to see Antonio, a guy from Italy whom she had met on the beach last Easter. Sparks had flown between Katie and Antonio then, and obviously that interest was still alive inside of Katie.
“I heard you are a movie star.” Antonio’s rich accent washed over both of them. “Something about a cast of thousands.” He stepped over to where Katie had planted herself and leaned down to kiss her lightly on each side of her face.
“Only one cast, Tonio,” Katie said, her eyes still gleaming. “And it’s on my foot.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” Antonio said, shaking his head and clucking his tongue in a way that was decidedly European. “This is such a pity. I was hoping you would go waterskiing with me tomorrow.”
“I can still sit in the boat and hold up the flag,” Katie said.
Antonio laughed. Then he turned to see who was sitting with Katie. “Sierra! I did not know it was you.”
He bent over, and before she knew what he was doing, he brushed his lips faintly against the side of each of her cheeks. She immediately felt herself blushing.
Behind them a surge of voices rose, along with cheers and applause.
“It looks as if the bride and groom have finally arrived,” Antonio said. “Come with me, Katie, Sierra. Let’s get in their giving line.” He held out an arm for each of them.
“Tonio,” Katie corrected him, rising with the help of his strong arm, “it’s a receiving line, not a giving line.”
“For you, perhaps. For me, it is a giving line. I’m giving the bride a kiss.”
STANDING IN THE LONG LINE behind Katie and Antonio gave Sierra a chance to think. So many things had impressed her during the past few hours. The emotionally powerful ceremony had awakened a new sense of longing within her. It wasn’t just a desire to be loved deeply someday by a man like Doug; it was a sense of responsibility to prepare now for that man.
She remembered what the pastor had said about God’s mysterious design in directing two people to be knit together in love. It was all a mystery to her. She was sure the only way to navigate a marriage relationship was the same way she should be handling her dating years now—by praying hard and trusting God each step of the way.
What Katie had said a few minutes ago at the table had helped her decide what to do about Amy. Sierra now knew that it wasn’t her responsibility to change her friend’s heart and mind. Only God could do that. She could certainly state her opinions loudly and clearly, and she had never had a problem doing that. But Sierra needed to learn from Christy’s example by standing back and simply praying for her best friend.
Antonio stepped out of the line.
Katie smiled at Sierra, “He’s going to get me some punch. Is that guy the ultimate gentleman, or what?”
“I like him, too,” Sierra said.
“You do?” Katie’s countenance fell.
“Not like that,” Sierra said, laughing at Katie’s expression. “I mean, I think he’s a great guy. I know he has a deep love for the Lord and that makes him…”
“Irresistible.” Katie finished the sentence for her.
They both laughed. The line inched forward. Sierra brushed the curls off the side of her neck.
“Is that a purity ring?” Katie asked, eyeing the gold band.
“Yes. My dad gave it to me last week. After watching Doug and Tracy place their roses on the altar, I have to admit, I was ready to start a nationwide purity campaign.”
“It’s already been done,” Katie said.
“I know. But you know what I mean. If more of my friends had examples like Doug and Tracy, I think they would be more deliberate about who they date and about saving themselves for marriage.”
“You’re right,” Katie agreed. “I bought myself a ring.” She held up her right hand and showed Sierra the simple, silver-twisted band. “My parents aren’t Christians, so I wasn’t expecting my dad to surprise me with a father-daughter bonding moment or hand me a little velvet box and everything.”
A lump caught in Sierra’s throat. She did have a Christian dad who had gone to the effort of making their dinner a special occasion. He had handed her the little velvet box. And all she could think of that night was how embarrassed she was.
I wish I had worn the corsage. I wish I had been more appreciative, she thought.
“Some of my friends went to those nationwide campaigns while they were in high school,” Katie said. “They signed cards or something, and their whole youth group got rings to wear. Our youth group somehow missed out on all that. Or maybe they went and I didn’t go for some reason. Anyway, I decided to make my own purity vow. So I bought this ring and took myself to the beach one morning really early. I sat on this big rock and read my Bible and sang and then put on the ring.”
Just then Antonio returned with the punch.
“Here you are,” Antonio said, handing a glass to Katie and one to Sierra. “I see we’re almost to the front of the line. Good work, ladies.”
Within three short minutes, they had reached the reception line and were shaking hands with a string of Doug’s and Tracy’s relatives and the wedding party and congratulating them all. Sierra received a hug from Todd and then a crushing hug from Doug. He was still looking happier than any man alive should be allowed to look.
Sierra kissed Tracy on the cheek. She had to. Tracy looked so beautiful that a hug wasn’t enough. And it wasn’t enough for Antonio either. He soundly kissed Tracy on both cheeks and pronounced an Italian blessing on the couple.
Sierra then gave Christy a hug and told her how beautiful she looked.
“Not only beautiful,” Antonio said, overhearing Sierra’s comment. “Christina, you are radiant. I predict you will catch the croquet.”
“Not the croquet,” Katie said, playfully swatting at Antonio’s arm. “The bouquet.”
“Oh. It is not long-handled wooden mallets you Americans throw at your guests?”
Katie seemed to come alive around Antonio and gobbled up his teasing. “No, it is not long-handled wooden mallets,” Katie repeated in her best imitative Italian accent. “It’s long-stemmed, fragrant flowers.”
“No!” Antonio said in mock surprise. “Once again you have shown me that I would be lost without your instruction in this strange land in which I sojourn.” He slipped his arm around Katie’s shoulder.
“The only strange land in which you sojourn, Tonio, is your own mind,” Katie teased.
He shot right back. “And you would know this, because you have been there?”
“Been where?”
“In my mind.”
“Actually, instead of ‘in,’ we say ‘on my mind,’” Katie began.
Then it seemed to dawn on her that he had given her a sweet compliment. Sierra suspected she was watching another budding romance among her friends. Now she truly was the odd one. The young one. The unattached one. The one in the “adorable” dress.
Sierra sat quietly with all her friends—the couples—and did some thinking.
Nearly an hour later, Tracy threw the bouquet. All the eligible young women gathered outside the church for the big moment.
“It’s a fake, you know,” Katie said. “Tracy carried a single white rose, remember? This bouquet is for tradition’s sake.”
“I still think it’s a wonderful tradition,” Tawni said, taking her place next to Sierra. It almost appeared she was placing herself at the best probable angle to catch the bouquet.
The photographer snapped a couple of shots while all the guys stood to the side, cheering for their favorite. Christy was, of course, the most adored candidate. On the count of three, Tracy tossed the
bouquet over her shoulder and high into the air.
Sierra looked up into the summer evening sky and realized it was coming right toward her. With a leap, she could snatch it. But something deep inside her spoke. Not a voice, really, but more than a thought. Clearer than a feeling.
Wait
Sierra didn’t leap. Tawni stretched her long, limber arms and snatched the bouquet. The joy of her victory was immediately evident. She waved the bouquet in the direction of all the guys, and they began to rough up Jeremy, telling him that now the pressure was on to catch the garter.
Tracy lifted her gown only slightly, revealing the fancy lace garter around her middle calf. Teasing comments about her modesty pelted Doug as he removed the garter. The eligible and not-so-eligible guys lined up, pushing and joking.
Without much warning, Doug turned his back to the rowdy bunch and said, “Here it comes!”
The elastic garter shot straight into the air, and like a bunch of pro basketball players, the guys all leaped to catch it. Not until the huddle of men peeled themselves off each other were they able to see who had caught the garter.
“Rick Doyle?” Christy spouted. Her face seemed to turn a little gray. “I didn’t know he was here,” she whispered to Katie.
Sierra wanted to say, “Well, Rick sure knew you were,” but she decided to leave that one alone. Apparently, Christy’s memories of this guy were not exactly heartwarming.
Tawni and Rick posed for the photographer. Sierra noticed how perfectly Tawni stood and smiled, her head at just the right angle. She was a natural in front of the camera.
“Here, take a handful,” a woman said, thrusting a bag of birdseed in front of Sierra. “Instead of rice,” she explained. “It’s organic.”
As Sierra grabbed from the bag, a white Rolls-Royce pulled up in front of the church, complete with a chauffeur wearing a black cap. He got out and opened the car’s back door. Tracy kissed her mom and dad good-bye and then linked her arm in Doug’s as they merrily dashed for the getaway car.