Afterward, there were hugs, cheap cake, paper cups of punch, children running under folding tables, and Lorie pretending not to dab her eyes every time she looked at me.
For once, I was not the scarred woman people were politely trying not to notice. I was the bride.
All those sweet memories had me in tears.
***
Lorie drove us back to Callahan’s apartment after sunset. Buddy padded in first, exhausted from too much attention, and curled up near the bedroom doorway with the deep sigh of a dog who had fulfilled all duties expected of him.
My sister hugged me hard at the door. « You deserve this, Merry, » she whispered. « I’m so happy for you, love. »
Then she left, and it was just my husband and me, and the first quiet of our marriage settling around us.
I guided Callahan to the bedroom by the hand. When we reached the edge of the bed, he turned toward me, and I was more nervous than I had been walking down the aisle.
Not because he could see me. Because he couldn’t.
I was more nervous than I had been walking down the aisle.
