Page 45 of All the Beautiful Things
The ceremony wasas beautiful as Jenna and Brandon were together. I managed to hold my emotions in check, almost not needing the handkerchief at all, until the moment Brandon became teary-eyed while he spoke his vows to Jenna. That, coupled with the way Hudson had turned, and caught my gaze while Brandon said they had thrown a zap of electricity through me.
Hudson held my gaze, knowing what he was doing to me. He gave me those moments to see all the emotion he felt for me, so plainly clear on his face it was a wonder I didn’t storm the altar and throw myself at him right there.
Fortunately, I managed to hold myself in check through the rest of the ceremony, through the happy tears that fell when Brandon and Jenna kissed and practically danced down the aisle.
Afterward, I waited at the back of the church while the family and bridal party took more pictures and when they were done, David drove me to the reception hall at a hotel in downtown Des Moines while Hudson took the limo with the rest of the bridal party.
Soon, the reception was underway Hudson sitting at the front table, right next to Brandon and the hundreds of guests were sitting at round tables, draped with white tablecloths, crystal plates and glasses and centerpieces of tea lights and simple rose centerpieces floating in vases in the center.
The lights were dim, the dance floor set in front of the bridal table for later, and next to me, David kept the conversation flowing with the rest of the family we were seated with. He introduced me to his brother-in-law and sister, in town from Kansas. Their son, Shawn Blakely, was seated next to me. With sandy brown hair and the body of a linebacker, his frame alone told me he worked hard for a living.
While I had stayed mostly quiet after introductions, more content to listen to David talk with his family than I was to inject myself in conversation, we were halfway through dinner when Shawn turned to me.
“So, you’re a friend of Hudson’s?”
Friend.I fought against curling my lip and spitting at the description. We were equally more than that and currently less than. And I wasn’t going to explain it to a stranger, even if he was their family. “I am.”
“Did you meet him at Valor?”
David had already told them I worked with them and for Brandon. “No. We met before I began working there.”
I thought back to that first night when Hudson had sauntered into the diner, told me his dad liked the pie and then basically called me an idiot. It felt like a lifetime ago. It had only been a couple of months, and yet so much had changed. For me. For all of us. And the man responsible for so much of it, sat next to me. David turned his head toward me, catching my gaze. He hadn’t said anything to his family since we’d been seated about his cancer, and the quick shake of his head told me he had no plans to.
“What do you do?” I asked. I’d ask anything to get attention off me.
“I’m a police officer.”
As soon as the word police rolled off his tongue, my spine went straight. He noticed, because of course he did, and he leaned back to his other side, putting space between us, eyes narrowing and chin dipping down.
“Not a fan of law enforcement?”
He said it as a joke. The narrowing of his eyes suggested he didn’t think it was funny.
My grip on my fork tightened and my gaze flicked to Hudson at the head table, but he was talking to the groomsman next to him.
“I don’t have anything against cops,” I said, and that was true. In the general sense, anyway. My personal experience made me wary. “And you’re in Kansas?”
This conversation was hitting a dead end, and quickly. Soon we’d be reduced to the weather.
“I am.” He took a drink from his glass, beer it looked like, all while keeping that same intense, inspecting expression on me. “For now. I’ve been offered a new opportunity out east, I’m considering.”
“East? Like New York?”
“No. North Carolina. You ever been?”
He must have seen my eyes light up with excitement. Back when we were kids, my dad insisted on showing us all the states. That was before Josh started drinking. Before Dad’s temper was always one misstep away from raging like a wildfire.
“Yeah, once. My family went to the Outer Banks for a summer vacation. It’s gorgeous there.”
Shawn gave me that look again, like he was trying to figure me out. I fought against withering under his inspection and glanced at Hudson.
He stood up as I caught his gaze, champagne glass in one hand, knife in another. His eyes scanned the room before returning to me and his smile was large enough to brighten the entire room.
The high-pitched clink of silver to crystal rang through the room, quieting conversations. Hudson stood at the head table, smiling at me, as everyone slowly hushed and lifted his glass into the air.
“It is a great honor, to be here tonight, standing with Brandon and Jenna as they begin their lives together as husband and wife. As most of you know, Brandon joined our family when we were rotten, snotty teenagers and we didn’t quite get along at first.” Next to him, Brandon reached up and punched his arm playfully. He grinned down at Brandon and then that playful emotion wiped away, turned so serious I sat up straight in my chair. He grabbed the attention of everyone in the ballroom with that look. It was so quiet a pin drop would have sounded like a bass drum.
“Brandon is my brother. Not by blood, but out of love and respect and he is absolutely one of the best men I’ve ever met in my life.” Next to Brandon, Jenna squished up her nose, probably doing what I was doing and trying to stop the tears as these two strong men, looked at each other in a way where you could feel those words were true. Jenna kissed Brandon’s cheek. “We were also blessed with a sister, Melissa, and I know how much she would have absolutely loved seeing you two today, starting your lives together. I’m pretty sure she told you years and years ago to go ahead and get married, so mostly, I’m pretty sure she’s looking down on all of us, saying it’s about time you finally listened to her.”
