Unlikely Union

Sigh.

Just look at them! So, so beautiful... everything is just so beautiful.

She wasn’t being whimsical or idealistic. It was the honest truth. Greg and Donna’s entire wedding was beautiful. Every aspect of the décor lent itself to the winter wedding in the South theme which the three of them had thought up in Donna’s office in autumn.

There was no snow, but the wedding planner had found the only orchard with lovely architecture and enough space for all the guests, which also had fragrant white blossoms littering the ground, creating its own snowy carpet with none of the numbing cold they were all used to up north. The billowing drapes across rafters and gauzy fabric created quite a light, elegant scene.

The expansive property with gently rolling hills and stately trees was the perfect setting for the white building with a red and grey roof. Huge evergreens and other trees lined the drive, where pictures of the couple were placed propped on sculptures for guests to view as they were driven up the road to the venue.

Not only was the venue a magnificent visual delight, but the couple themselves were almost too much. They looked like they’d stepped out of a high-end fashion shoot, even now that Donna had modified her dress for the wedding reception.

Sigh.

On top of looking gorgeous, they look happy. She chuckled.

Donna can deny it all she likes... she can’t see what I see. I know they’ve got more than desire going for them.

Sigh.

Even a blind person can see that Greg adores her. Sure, he loves her looks, but there’s more here, she thought. There’s more and they are going to fall in love. I just know it.

Shirley smiled to herself and took a sip of champagne as though toasting her own little prediction.

Justin caught the smile on her lips and tugged on her hand a little. “What’s got you dreamy-eyed this time, baby?”

Shaking herself slightly, she turned to look at her sweet boyfriend of almost a year and half, her smile widening to include him. “The wedding couple, of course.” Pause. “I’ve got a good feeling about the two of them.”

Her man stifled a laugh. “You do, now, huh?”

“Yes, I most certainly do,” she replied candidly, raising her hand to stop his next statement. “Don’t even say it! I don’t care who they were before they got engaged. You mark my words. This time next year, you’ll all be asking me how in the world I knew it so early.”

Raising an eyebrow, Justin merely caressed his blond girlfriend’s hand with his thumb. “Alright, Madame,” he said, using the nickname he’d coined for what he called her clairvoyant declarations. “We’ll wait for this time next year.”

With a smug half smile, she leaned over and kissed him softly, as if rewarding him for humoring her. As she pulled back slightly she caught a familiar gleam in his murky green eyes.

“Can you tell me something else, Madame?”

Her lip twitched, already knowing what he was going to ask her. She didn’t have to be a psychic to detect the change in his tone.

“What?”

“How long will I wait until I can get you out of that exquisite dress and into my arms for our own happy ending?”

She had known where he was going with it, but she still flushed slightly. “We will head out as soon as the bride and groom get in their car.”

“I pray to goodness that’s pretty soon,” Justin chuckled, his thumb moving over the back of her hand again, this time sending tingles right up to her neck.

“Gosh, Justin, you really know how to throw me off my cool,” she said too happily for it to actually be taken as a complaint.

“I hope you never get bored of me,” he said teasingly, before standing up and pulling her with him. “Come on, let’s dance.”

Willingly, Shirley headed onto the dance floor to let Justin show off some of his Latin dance skills. She danced well enough but he was almost obsessed with not being the white guy who couldn’t keep rhythm or move without an ounce of grace. She suspected it was the result of some high school or college trauma that he hadn’t yet had the courage to tell her about. She wasn’t complaining. The man had moves.

One minute they were moving in sync, the next, Shirley felt herself being pulled back, causing her to stumble a bit into someone’s chest.

“Hey!” She whipped around to see why Justin was smiling instead of getting ready to spar for her honor. “Oh,” she said mildly, looking the red-haired man up and down quickly. “It’s you.”

Craig smiled back at Justin and asked if he could take her for a spin, since they were the best man and maid of honor.

Justin gave a thumbs up and practically moon-walked out of their space to join a group of other wedding guests dancing in a circle.

“Take me for a spin?” Shirley mimicked with humor. “What am I, a sports car in the lot?”

Craig’s devilish smile widened as he took her in his arms and started to move her in the opposite direction that her boyfriend had gone in. “Now there’s a metaphor to ponder...”

Shirley’s eyes barely managed not to roll. Yeah, right. Like you even look at the safe, reliable kind!

But then again, Craig might just ‘drive’ anything with the necessary parts.

He interrupted her thoughts by saying something about their best friends being a good-looking couple.

“Yes, they are,” she mused, her eyes travelling across the dance floor to where Greg and Donna were dancing together again.

Craig laughed and shook her slightly, keeping her upright with ease when she almost tripped once more. “You have stars in your eyes again. Stop that, Shirley.”

She blinked and let her focus drift back to the man holding her hand and doing neat things with his hips and feet. “Stop what?”

“Wishing them in love!” With a lopsided smile, he said, “Everyone knows you’re a romantic. And every time you look at them, you get stars in your eyes and you look like you’re practically dreaming up their children’s names and the presents you’re going to buy them for their tenth birthdays.”

That sounded absurd even to her. “What?” Her eyes twinkled as she let him spin her out and pull her back toward him. “I’m not that bad.”

“You really are. Greg said he’s afraid you’re going to scare his wife away from him.”

“What?” This time she laughed out loud.

In her mind, she thought Greg wouldn’t even be worried if he didn’t care. To Craig, she simply said, “You will all see.”

Craig sighed good-naturedly and admitted he didn’t get it.

“Get what?”

“Why you want them to fall in love so badly.”

Shirley pulled back slightly and looked him in the eyes. His pale grey-blue eyes were trained on her and in an almost sage voice, she told him, “Everyone deserves to fall in love.” Pause. “Even the two of them and it would be far much better if they fell in love with each other, now that they’re married. They went about it backwards, but there is hope.”

Eye brow raised with near disdain, the red-haired sidekick to the notorious playboy, who was no church boy himself simply said, “I see. Is that what’s planned out for you and your boyfriend, then?”

“I’d love to get married to the man I love,” Shirley said cheerily.

“You do realise that you didn’t actually answer my question?” he smirked.

Before Shirley could say anything else, someone announced that the bride and groom were getting ready to leave. Promptly the two of them made a beeline for their best friends, for some final words before the newlyweds set off on their honeymoon.