The Remaining (4 page)

The ceremony moves in sweet slow motion, and Allison takes every moment in with a joyful and jealous spirit. The wind seems to hold its breath as the wedding party walks out onto the rooftop deck and begins marching down the aisle. Skylar’s niece, a three-year-old named Charlotte, sprinkles flower petals from a basket as she confidently strides past beaming faces. Tommy and Lauren walk next, arm in arm. Then Jack guides Allison to the altar.

Feeling his arm locked with hers as they approach the wedding arch made of white flowers, Allison tries not to turn the focus inward. It’s too easy, and it’s too selfish as well. She’s here for Skylar and Dan. She’s celebrating their big moment with them. One day they’ll do the same for her.

Why don’t you say for Jack and you?

She glances at her handsome man, and he gives her a bright smile. Jack has always made her feel comfortable and confident, even when those nagging doubts begin to come.

Allison stands next to Lauren; then they all await Skylar. Allison knows what the reaction will be. It will be the same as her own reaction. She was taken aback a bit seeing her friend so glamorous and so beautiful and most of all so happy. You can’t paint joy as bright and brilliant as the look on Skylar’s face right this instant.

The bride strolls with her father down the aisle, and for a second, Allison peeks over at Dan. He has tears in his eyes as he smiles.

The future so bright, so endless. Like the sky above them.

Music plays and Allison is genuinely happy. The voices that ask when it’ll be
her
time and why can’t this be
her
moment have all been shoved far back inside and silenced. For now.

Skylar reaches them and for a second she gives Allison a knowing here-we-go grin. It’s as if she’s floating, and every single face in the crowd is watching her fly away.

Pastor Roberts greets the couple and then everybody else in an amiable tone. He looks younger than his fortysomething age, and he smiles as he recounts his first encounter with Skylar.

“You were about this tall and going into fifth grade when I met you,” Pastor Roberts tells Skylar. “I remember saying to my wife back then
 
—this girl is going to break a lot of hearts. Thankfully for Dan, you only made his grow.”

The pastor speaks in a natural manner, relaxed and fun. Just like the ceremony. Skylar had said she didn’t want some of the traditional elements that her parents wanted. Like the lighting of the unity candle. Like having some kind of singer doing a number during the service. Skylar wanted it quick and easy, and that’s how it goes. Soon the pastor is asking them to make their vows.

“Do you, Dan, take Skylar to be your lawfully wedded wife, and do you promise before God and these witnesses to love her, to comfort her, honor and keep her in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto her so long as you both shall live? Do you so promise?”

“I do,” Dan says with a big smile on his face.

Allison glances over at Jack, but she can’t tell if he’s looking at the bride or her.

“And do you, Skylar, take Dan to be your lawfully wedded husband, and do you promise before God and these witnesses to love him, to comfort him, honor and keep him in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto him so long as you both shall live? Do you so promise?”

Skylar gives out a choked and emotional “I do.”

Once again Allison can’t help looking at Jack.

Don’t you ever want this?

The bride and the groom move to face each other, but Allison just keeps watching Jack.

Don’t you want to be with me for as long as we both will live?

“I give you this ring as a sign of my promise to you,” Dan says. “And with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you.”

He slips the ring on Skylar’s finger.

“I give you this ring as a sign of my promise to you, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you.”

Skylar does the same.

All I am and all I have and all I’ve ever wanted . . .

There are tears in Skylar’s eyes, just like the ones in Allison’s.

Pastor Roberts raises his hands.

“Now, by the power vested in me as a minister of the gospel, I now pronounce you husband and wife. And whatever God hath joined together, let not the hand of man put asunder. We now ask the blessing of the Lord on Dan and Skylar and their life together as husband and wife.”

At the pastor’s prompting, Dan leans over and gently kisses Skylar. It’s a tender kiss, sweet to watch. The crowd applauds and cheers as the couple faces them.

Allison wonders how long the two of them will stay together, and if they’ll make it, and if this really will be as happily-ever-after as it appears. She wants to hope and believe they’ll make it, that they’ll defy the odds and stay together.

Love can prevail. Love can endure.

She wipes more tears away and catches Jack looking at her, smiling, shaking his head at her tears.

You could make a few of these tears go away, buddy.

The newly married couple walk down the aisle. The heavens seem to watch with a grin of their own.

This day really is perfect. Nothing can change that. Absolutely nothing.

A hundred songs go through Tommy’s head as he focuses his camera on the lucky couple. The vows have been spoken and the kiss has been given and the celebration has started. Now it’s that in-between time where greetings and hugs and slaps on the back and pecks on the cheek can be shared before the reception and dancing commence. And Tommy is just lucky enough to notice the bride and the groom sharing a quiet moment on the edge of the rooftop.

He’s thinking of songs that sum up these two. There will be several that go on this video, and of course they’ll be songs that both Dan and Skylar love. Skylar’s a country girl, so there will have to be a Blake Shelton song, and maybe one from her favorite band, Thompson Square. Dan, of course,
loves his classic rock. So there will be something loud and epic in the video. Led Zeppelin or Aerosmith or Fleetwood Mac. But the songs Tommy’s thinking about are the cuts for moments like this, with the two of them talking and smiling and expressing something only they will know.

Skylar looks lost.
“Lost in Love,”
Tommy jokes with himself. The bride is smiling and staring up at Dan while the groom seems to be searching for words.

He looks like he’s trying to tell her something important.

Tommy imagines a slow, romantic ballad playing at this moment. Maybe a sultry Norah Jones song. That certainly would fit her lost look. The backdrop of the small city and the endless sky behind the gorgeous couple make this a great shot.

Dan’s face is earnest, and he seems to need to get something off his chest. But then a figure comes over to them and interrupts this moment. It’s Lauren, hugging Skylar and then Dan. Tommy doesn’t have to be a mind reader or lip reader to know Lauren’s telling them how much she loves them.

Music begins to blare out of the reception hall.

“They want the wedding party inside now,” Allison shouts out to them.

Tommy shuts off the camera and follows Allison inside. The story of his life.

The song introducing them is an inside joke between Dan and Skylar. The first time they met, Dan made a reference
to the two of them going out, to which Skylar replied, “Don’t stop believing.” Dan soon began requesting the Journey song anytime Skylar was around. The first time they danced was at a bar after Dan played the song on a jukebox. Now the same music plays over the speakers in the reception area while the bridal party is introduced.

They sit at a straight line of tables facing the rest of the wedding goers. The music soon fades out, and the DJ asks for the maid of honor. It’s time for the toast, and Tommy makes sure he’s recording.

Allison stands up and faces Skylar.

“Okay, well, I promise all of you I’m not going to repeat what happened last night,” Allison says with a reassuring smile. “Sky and I are more like sisters than friends. We
 
—we’ve been best friends
 
—BFFs
 
—”

“Garfield Elementary,” Skylar shouts.

“Woot woot,” Lauren calls out.

The crowd responds with smiles and some laughter. Allison appears a bit more at ease hearing it. “Can you believe it? Friends since sixth grade. Garfield Elementary. That’s right: 1999.”

Someone from the audience shouts that they’re old. Allison pauses for a moment and gives a mock-sinister stare. “That summer Skylar made me go to her church camp, and we made her try her first cigarette
 
—”

“And last,” Skylar makes sure to tell everybody.

“I can’t tell you what Skylar and Dan and these people mean to me,” Allison says, gesturing to Lauren and then
Jack and Tommy. “I could try, but I promised you I wouldn’t get too emotional. All I know is that I’ve never seen Skylar look more joyful and more beautiful than she does right now.”

Allison holds up her wineglass. “Please raise your glasses and wish my best friend Skylar and her amazing husband a fulfilling and prosperous future together. I’m so happy for you guys.”

The crowd gives them a loud round of cheers, then drinks to Skylar and Dan. Tommy moves the camera to Jack as he stands up and walks over to get the mike from Allison. He puts a familiar arm around her and kisses her in routine fashion. Then he faces the audience and gives them a smile. Tommy knows Jack’s dangerous behind a microphone.

“It only makes sense that I’m the best man, seeing as I’m responsible for setting up these two fine folks. Can I get a round of applause?”

Tommy chuckles, wondering if Jack wants the claps for the couple or for himself. It’s almost surely the latter.

“That’s right, I’ll take the credit,” Jack hams it up. “So Dan calls me and tells me he’s going to ask Skylar to marry him, and only one thing went through my mind: I’m a pretty good matchmaker.”

The crowd loves it. Tommy can’t help smiling at his buddy.

“But really, I’ll never forget what Dan said. ‘When you find the one person
 
—whether you believe in God or fate or
whatever
 
—when your path crosses that one person’s, you act on it.’ And you did, Dan. So I say congrats to you two today for doing just that and making it real.”

Jack toasts them and the rest of the crowd yells out, “Cheers!” as Tommy pans over to Dan and Skylar and then past them to Allison. He notices her serious expression as she sips from her glass and then puts it on the table, looking down for a moment. Looking lost in some kind of thought.

Tommy doesn’t need to wonder what she’s thinking. He can read her mind.

He’s been able to for quite a long time.

“I want to say a few words,” Dan says as he takes Skylar’s hands and walks over to where Jack’s standing.

The groom gives his best man a hug before taking the mike. Jack moves next to Tommy, who’s still filming.

“This is the greatest day of my life,” Dan says as he puts his arm around Skylar and holds her close. “Of
our
lives. I only wish my parents were still here to see how happy you’ve made me, Skylar. But I’m thankful to be surrounded by the greatest friends . . . and I’m beyond undeserving to have the most beautiful bride in the history of the world. I am one lucky man.”

The crowd applauds as
awww
s can be heard from several people. Tommy turns the camera to Jack.

“Dude, our boy is cheesy,” Tommy says. “‘In the history of the world’? Come on.”

Jack just pushes the camera back on the couple in the
spotlight. Skylar takes the microphone and speaks softly into it. “Dad, can you say the prayer?”

Mr. Chapman stands and doesn’t bother with the mike since he has such a strong and deep voice. “Let’s bow our heads in prayer.”

Everybody does. Everybody, of course, except for Tommy. He moves the camera and suddenly finds it stuck on a familiar figure. For a moment, he just stays focused on her without anybody else noticing. She doesn’t know and neither does Jack. Nobody does. And this is the way it’s been for quite some time.

“Father, we thank You for Skylar and Dan and the gift they are to all of us.”

I’d never know You if it weren’t for Skylar and Dan.

“We ask You to bless them and keep them close to You.”

And keep us all close together too.

“We thank You for all the family and friends who have traveled to be here today.”

Especially close friends.

Allison opens her eyes before Mr. Chapman finishes. She looks directly into the camera, directly at Tommy. He jerks the camera back to Skylar’s father.

“We ask all of this in Your Son’s name. Amen.”

Tommy stops recording for a moment.

“I’m starving,” Jack says, heading back to sit down.

For a second, Tommy glances at Allison again, but she’s talking and laughing with Lauren. Busy and oblivious and as beautiful as the bride. Just like always.

When the dancing commences, Tommy is still filming, sometimes from the side of the dance floor and sometimes right in the middle of it. The DJ has obviously been briefed by Skylar; all the songs are perfect. It’s a great combo of fun songs every wedding reception should have combined with some of the favorites the gang loved when they were all hanging out in college.

The real fun starts in the middle of Dan and Skylar’s official first dance, set to a slow song. Without warning, the song seems to break, a hip-hop number starts, and Skylar begins to dance alone. Lauren rushes to join in. Dan shakes his head and laughs at his crazy wife.

Tommy puts the camera down for a moment when the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive” comes on. He goes into the center of the throng and does his best bit of moving and shaking. It’s not John Travolta quality but it’s still fun and that’s the point. Dan and Skylar are out there, swinging and bobbing and laughing all the while.

Barry Gibb’s shrill falsetto rolls across the dance floor singing about the city breakin’ and everybody shakin’, but he’s a-stayin’ alive, thank you very much. The floor is packed and they’re all laughing and sweating to the tune. The only one Tommy doesn’t see is Allison.

I think I need to go find where she’s at.

When the song ends and a tune that was popular around the time they graduated starts playing, Tommy finds the camera and heads out in search of the maid of honor. He gets a drink first and notices a tall brunette
in the short, shapely dress. Actually, it’s her legs that he notices first, but he tries not to be too obvious as he smiles and says hello to her.

“Are you the videographer or something?” she asks as she stirs the drink she just ordered from the bar in the corner of the room.

She’s got a sexy Southern drawl to her voice, a sweet sound that seems friendly to the whole world.

“Documentarian. I’m doing this as a favor to Dan. I was his wingman throughout college. Name’s Tommy.”

“Ashton,” she says, shaking his hand and giving him a very friendly smile. “Nice to meet you.”

“Cool. I’ll find you on Facebook.”

The smile stays with her as she walks off. Tommy can’t help but watch her as she disappears into the crowd of minglers and dancers. When he turns he notices Lauren standing at his side.

“She’s taken, Tommy.”

He lets out a sigh and a laugh. “Story of my life.”