A Soldier’s Family (20 page)

I
n the wedding reception hall, elaborately decorated with white roses, lush green foliage, candles and tea lights, Celia spun in her satin gown. Grinning, she turned her back to the throng of single women.

Celia closed her eyes and lifted the bouquet that consisted of tiny white silk flowers sewn into the parachute of the little toy paratrooper Amber had found in the school yard two years ago, and which had been her bouquet and cake topper, as well.

Amber stood beside her. “Everyone ready? You ladies know Celia’s the one who caught this guy at my wedding reception. Some of you may not know Manny caught the garter then, and you see what happened. So, here we go. Everyone ready?”

A chorus of cheers met her words. Amber stepped away.

Celia flung the toy up and back over the top of her head. Chaos erupted.

Arms shot up and women scrambled for it as it floated down to a colorful sea of waggling fingertips. A scuffle ensued before the pile of dresses and shoes dispersed.

Trina Pallazio, Enrique’s mom, emerged with the plastic paratrooper and a victorious smile.

With everyone’s attention on Trina, Celia tugged her new husband aside. “This is one wedding where you are free to proposition me.”

Manny turned red all the way to his ears. He drew her close. “Yeah? Well, what would you say?”

“I certainly wouldn’t smack you.”

He laughed, then turned serious. “Well, to that, I’d say there’s a path through the crowd right now and a side door perfect for our escape.” His hand rested on the small of her back. He inched her toward the nearest exit.

“Your team can hold down the fort for the rest of the reception.” Celia pressed keys into his palm then tugged him. “C’mon, Soldier Cutest. We have a life waiting for us out there.”

He tilted his head back. Laugh lines crinkled the corners of swoon-worthy eyes. “Did you just call me a ‘cootie’?”

She grinned. “I know it made you secretly jealous every time I called Joel Soldier Cutie when he and Amber were dating.”

He snorted. “It did?”

“Of course, it did. He might be Soldier Cutie, but you’ll always be Soldier Cutest. Let’s go. With Chapman doing karaoke they won’t even know we’ve gone MIA.”

In the parking lot, Celia’s grasped Manny’s tux lapels in her hand and brought herself nose to nose with him. Eyes twinkled in the moonlight. “Promise you’ll never leave mad?”

Manny brought his hands up to cover hers. “Let’s never go to bed mad, either.”

“Oh, good. That makes—”

His snicker brought her up short. “For one thing, I don’t want to get punched in my sleep. For another, why go to bed mad when I could stay up and plot my revenge?”

Celia gave a mock sigh. “This is going to be the longest sixty years of my life.” She shot him a cheeky grin. “And I couldn’t be happier.”