PRESENT TENSE
Chapter Fifty-Four
The reception began a short time later. After
the guests had slowly trickled back to the house, the members of the wedding party
got together to have their pictures taken. There wasn’t enough money to hire a
professional photographer, but a number of the guests had brought cameras.
Kathleen took several pictures of the group, including two where she had Mari
take the pictures so that she could be in them. After the group pictures were
done, Kathleen and David took pictures of just the newlyweds, one of them
standing together in front of the house, one of them embracing and appearing
not to notice the camera, and one of them posed in front of the heavily laden
olive tree in the backyard.
When the pictures were done, the guests were
allowed into the backyard for the reception. Trays of food were set out on a
table, and someone had borrowed the neighbor’s stereo again. Loud music sounded
across the yard.
A number of the guests were drinking beer,
but Rose soon noticed that Jack was avoiding it, limiting himself to soda.
Since he had always enjoyed beer, she wondered why.
“Got a sweet tooth?” she teased him, sitting
down on the bench beside him.
“What do you mean?”
“Coke instead of beer—unless you’re spiking
it.” Before Jack could move his drink out of her reach, she sniffed it. “Nope,
not spiked.”
“I can’t have alcohol,” he told her, offering
her a sip of his drink. “It doesn’t go well with Prozac, though Dr. Lobb won’t
explain why.”
“It’s because one drink will remove the
effects of ten days to two weeks of anti-depressants,” Rose explained,
remembering something she had overheard at lunch. “Which is definitely not what
you need. I’d forgotten you were taking that stuff.”
Jack shrugged. “I’d just as soon not invite
trouble. The problem is, we’re supposed to drink champagne later, and I can’t.
How am I going to explain that?”
“You don’t see me drinking alcohol.”
“You’re underage. You have an excuse. I, on
the other hand, am twenty-two, and have never refused a little alcohol before.”
Rose thought this dilemma over for a moment. “If
anyone asks, tell them that you’re doing it for me. I’m not old enough to
legally consume alcohol, so you’re not either, to keep me from feeling left
out.”
He looked at her skeptically for a moment,
then nodded. “All right. I’ll say that if anyone asks.” He grinned at her. “You’re
handy to have around.”
Rose gave him a look of mock-offense. “You
just keep thinking that, husband. You’re married to me now.”
Jack laughed and set his cup aside. “Want to
dance?”
“Sure.”
Jack took Rose’s hand and led her to an
uncrowded area of the yard. “Remember how we danced at Fabrizio and Helga’s
wedding?”
Rose laughed. “Of course. I attempted to do
three dance steps at once, and you tried to imitate me and knocked us both
over.”
“And we whirled around and around until we
were out of breath.” So saying, he grabbed Rose’s hands and whirled her around.
Rose squealed in surprise. “Jack, no!” She
gripped his hands tighter, keeping them both on balance as they whirled around.
At last they stopped, laughing, and leaned
against each other giddily for a moment. A new tune came on, an Irish tune that
Tommy often played on his guitar, and Jack straightened up, smiling at Rose.
“What?” she asked, wondering what he was up
to. Before she could say another word, he launched into some fancy footwork,
his feet moving in time to the music.
“I learned this when I was a kid,” he told
her, reaching for her hand. “My mom and dad used to do this.”
Rose took his hand and tried to follow his
steps. After a moment, she got the hang of it and danced with him, their feet
pounding on the grass.
When the tune ended, they realized that they
had an audience. Several of the guests applauded and Violante came up to Jack,
inquiring shyly if he could teach her the steps.
While Jack taught Violante the dance, Rose
slipped away to talk to her friends. Sophie teased her as they watched Jack and
Violante.
“Looks like you’ve got some competition
there, Rose.”
Rose laughed as Jack looked at her, his expression
signaling that he would rather be with her. Still, he was willing to teach
their young neighbor the dance, if only because she was enjoying it so much.
“Think I should give him some competition?”
Rose asked, giving Sophie a sly grin.
Sophie looked at her suspiciously. “What do
you have in mind?”
“Where’s Mark?”
Sophie understood immediately, and went to
find her younger brother. Neither Jack nor Rose were serious about making the
other jealous, and Sophie suspected that Rose was about to try to play
matchmaker between Mark and Violante. They were much closer in age to each
other than they were to Jack and Rose.
Rose led Mark out onto the lawn, laughing a
bit as he tried to follow her dancing. She towered over him, and even in her
long dress, she was a much more graceful dancer. He looked a bit embarrassed
until Rose danced her way over to Jack and tapped Violante on the shoulder.
“Mind if I cut in?” she asked, not waiting
for a response. Violante glared at her for a moment while Jack smiled and danced
her across the yard. After a moment, she stopped glaring at Rose, and turned
her attention to Mark.
“What are you looking at?” she demanded.
Jack and Rose looked back as the
twelve-year-olds argued for a moment, then began a fast, silly dance that
resembled nothing they’d ever seen. Rose grinned. Her plan had worked, and now
Violante was more intrigued, at least for the moment, by Mark than she was by
Jack.
They walked over to the table where snacks
had been set out and got a couple of paper plates, piling them with food and
finding chairs to sit in.
“It looks like Violante finally found someone
her own age,” Jack commented, watching the adolescents.
“Jealous?” Rose teased him.
“Not at all. I was beginning to wonder if I
would ever get away from Violante. She’s a nice girl, but she’s just a kid.
Besides, I’d rather be with you.”
“I’m a better dancer, too.”
“Yeah, that too.” He smiled at her, then
leaned over to kiss her. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Later, after dinner was over, Tommy brought
out his guitar and sat down near the stereo, playing songs that guests had
requested. He had a talent for following the recorded music, even when he
wasn’t familiar with the song.
“This song was requested by both the bride
and the groom, so they’d better get out here and dance.”
Jack and Rose looked at each other,
mystified, wondering what song they had both requested.
“It’s a slow song,” Tommy added as they
stepped out onto the lawn.
The music started, and they both immediately
recognized the song—Wind Beneath My Wings.
“You requested this?” Rose asked, surprised.
Jack nodded. “Yes. I...think it says a lot
about how I feel about you.”
“It says a lot about how I feel about you,
too. That’s why I requested it,” Rose replied, ducking her head to hide her
suddenly damp eyes.
Jack held her closer as they danced slowly.
Rose looked up at him, seeing that his eyes were also suspiciously moist.
“It’s perfect,” she whispered, leaning her
forehead against his. “This day, Jack—it’s the most perfect wedding I could
have asked for. I was nervous at first, but now I’m glad we held the ceremony
the way we did. It was better than I could ever have imagined.” She looked at
him, her eyes shining. “I love you, Jack.”
Jack kissed her, unmindful of the people
watching. When they broke apart, he whispered to her, “I love you, Rose. Thank
you for sticking with me all this time. I’m the luckiest man alive, being
married to you.”
Rose smiled at him, singing softly along with
the song, singing aloud for the first time since summer.
Did you ever know
That you’re my hero?
You’re everything I wish
I could be
I can fly higher
Than an eagle.
You are the wind
Beneath my wings.