Chapter 30

A/N: You guys are so nice. Thank you for the encouragement on this story.  It really means so much to me.  Here's the next chapter.  Just an FYI, I would say it is about 2/3 of the way until being finished. :)  Thank you, thank you, thank you for reading.

       Emie watched her sister walk down the aisle, looking gorgeous in her simple silk gown. It was form fitting, showing off Lucia’s slim figure.  It wasn’t overly poofy and didn’t make her look like a giant wedding cake.  It was sleek, beautiful and perfect for the beach wedding.  The front dipped low in a flattering v, and dipped even farther in the back showing off Lucia’s well toned, slender back.  She had her hair softly curled, with a big, beautiful white flower just behind one ear.  She was barefoot, and glowing with happiness.  Emie felt the happy tears start to blur her vision.        Emie sunk her toes into the powder soft sand, and the soft chiffon of her dress brushed against her bare legs.  Lucia had been rather forgiving with the maid of honor dress and had let Emie pick whatever she wanted, as long as it was a soft muted seafoam color.  Emie had settled on a dress that was nearly all delicate lace at the top that slowly transitioned into soft chiffon at the bottom.          The ceremony itself was short and sweet, just as Lucia and Chris had wanted it.  Emie had been sure she’d make it through without crying, but that thought had been short lived once Lucia and Chris exchanged their vows.  They had mixed the traditional vows with their own personal ones and it had been absolutely perfect.   When Lucia and Chris were announced as husband and wife and told they could kiss, Emie felt so happy and full of love for the both of them.  She watched Chris dip Lucia back and kiss her softly.          Just on the other side of Chris, Emie saw Tom.  He looked devastating in his tux, as she had known he would.  He was smiling broadly at Lucia and Chris as well, clapping softly with the rest of the guests.  Emie brushed her curly hair from her face, and her eyes met Tom’s .  He gave her a small smile, which she returned.  Emie hadn’t slept much the night before.  She’d taken her sister back to her room and then made sure she got into bed okay.  Lucia had then demanded that Emie talk to her and reminisce about their childhood for at least another hour.  Finally, she had passed out mid sentence while trying to convince Emie that Christmas was a better holiday than Thanksgiving.  Emie had stayed in bed next to her lightly snoring sister, staring at the ceiling for most of the night.       Now, standing in the sand at sunset, watching her sister marry the love of her life, Emie felt quite happy and at peace.  She was tired and emotionally exhausted but she was so happy to be there.         The next few minutes were a blur.  Lucia and Chris made their way down the sandy, candle lit aisle.  The small party of guests that had come for the wedding all cheered and clapped as they made their way back toward the resort.  Emie waited for Leam to step forward to walk with her down the aisle, but was surprised when Leam stepped to the side and bumped Tom forward.  Tom patted Leam on the back and walked forward, offering his arm to Emie.  She recovered quickly, wrapping her slender arm around Tom’s larger one.         “You’re giving your sister a run for her money.” Tom leaned down, whispering this into Emie’s ear.  Emie looked up at him, confused.       “What?”       “You’re gorgeous, Em.” Tom kept walking, smiling at people as they walked.  Emie tried her best not to stumble.  She held onto his arm, feeling the soft wool of his suit.         “Thank you.” She whispered.   She always felt a bit flustered by him.  He was always saying or doing things that caught her off guard.   After they left the ceremony, and the guests went to the reception, they came back out to the beach for photos.  Emie and Tom only needed to be in a handful of the photos, but they stuck close by as Chris and Lucia had their pictures taken.         “They are so happy.” Emie said softly, watching as Lucia laughed, jumping up into Chris’ arms.  The photographer snapped photographs rapidly.  Chris was laughing, and then kissing his new bride.  Emie and Tom stood to the side.  Leam, Maggie and Chris’ parents stood off to the side as well, watching and talking.         “What a lovely ceremony.” Aunt Erica walked up to Tom and Emie, wrapping her arm around Emie’s slim shoulders.  Emie hugged her aunt and nodded.       “Lucia is beautiful.” Emie smiled.  Erica reached over and patted Tom’s arm quickly.       “Darling boy, are you close with your family?” She asked.  Tom grinned, nodding and tucking his hands into his pants pockets.         “I am.  My sisters and my mum.  I’m really close with them.”        “Are you the oldest?” Erica asked.  Tom shook his head.       “Middle child.”       “Ah, the peacekeeper.” Erica pursed her lips, thinking.  Tom tilted his head, waiting for farther explanation.  “Your placement in your birth order with your siblings can really affect your personality.” Erica grinned.  “Middle children are peacekeepers.  You’re understanding, flexible, and probably keep a very intimate group of friends around you at all times.” She held her hands out, motioning to the people in front of them.  Tom smiled, shaking his head.       “Not far from the truth, Aunt Erica.” He shrugged.  “What about the youngest? What are their characteristics?” He asked, glancing at Emie.  She smiled, looking away.  She’d heard this many times before—her aunt’s whimsical talk about birth order and astrology, and how those things can change your personality.  Emie thought it was interesting, but not necessarily completely reliable.  Her aunt’s house was full of books about it.       Erica laughed.  “Emie is the youngest. They are often seen as charming, temperamental, flighty and perhaps a bit self centered.”        “Not far from the truth, at all.” Tom nodded seriously before Emie smacked him on the arm.  He laughed, holding up his hands.       “No, Emie has more of the first born tendencies.  She strives for perfection and unrealistic goals.  She can be pessimistic and take on way too many responsibilities.” Erica said with a heavy sigh.         “Thank you, Dr. Freud. I didn’t know we would be psychoanalyzing my upbringing tonight.” Emie groaned.  Tom grinned and Erica just shrugged.       “I think you were flipped because you were faced with so much sadness at a young age.  I think it has to do with Abigail and Leo’s death.” Erica said matter of factly.  Emie crossed her arms over her chest and frowned.  Not the first time she had heard this.       “Your parents?” Tom said softly.  Emie nodded.  Tom licked his lips, thinking.  “Eme Leo?” He asked tentatively, remembering Emie’s penname.  “You used Leo after your father?” He asked, looking at Emie with suddenly clear eyes.  Emie gave him a tiny smile and nodded.       “Yes.” She nodded.       “That’s lovely, Em.” Tom said, looking touched.  She smiled and then suddenly felt the need to get away.        “I think they are ready to go to the reception.” Emie said softly, nodding toward Lucia and Chris, who were wrapping up their pictures.  Tom just nodded, not saying anything and not taking his eyes off her.             

       The reception was breathtaking, and very untraditional.  Instead of regular tables, there were low set round table set directly on large blankets on the beach.  A large, flat cushion acted as a seat marker for each spot.  There were candles all over the place, and lanterns set in the sand between the tables.  Ivory linens accented with seafoam green and a watery ocean blue covered the tables.  There were fresh flowers set in wide, low bunches on the tables.  Emie stopped when she saw the set up, her breath caught in her throat.  If this wasn’t romantic, she wasn’t sure what was.       “Extraordinary.” Tom said softly beside her as they rounded the corner to the set up.  Emie smiled, feeling lightheaded at the sight.         “It’s beautiful.” She nodded.  Tom nodded, and then took her hand, leading her toward a table. They had been sat next to each other.  Emie knew it wasn’t just because they were in the wedding party.  It was all Lucia, her ever meddling older sister.       Dinner went by quickly, and Emie found that she didn’t have much of an appetite, despite how delicious the food was.  She hadn’t been able to talk to Tom and she could feel those unspoken words hanging between them, making the air heavy and hard to breathe.  She also wanted to apologize for how ridiculous her sister had been the night before, grilling him on personal details.  She knew that now was not the time though.  Tom seemed to not notice, or if he did, he wasn’t acting any different. He was making jokes and being ridiculously charming with the other guests at the table.  Her Aunt Erica was there, along with Leam and Maggie.       Emie made it through her maid of honor speech without much issue.  She didn’t forget her name, she didn’t trip over her words.  She also made sure not to look anywhere in Tom’s direction.  And it may have been because a part of her felt completely disconnected.  She felt like she was standing outside her body, watching.  Perhaps it was the lack of sleep, or the way her heart just felt like it was tearing slowly in two.  It was hard for her to find the right emotions.  Her sister didn’t seem to notice though, since she was bawling almost as soon as Emie stood up to talk.       Since Tom had made a speech at the engagement dinner, this time Leam made a speech.  It was touching and Emie was pretty sure she saw both Lucia and Chris get teary eyed.  After the speeches, Lucia and Chris stood for their first dance, which was to Norah Jones’ “Come Away with Me.”  It was pretty much a perfect song, considering the setting.         Emie sighed, letting the warm breeze from the ocean drift over her.  It was a beautiful night.  The candles and the twinkle lights that were hanging around the reception gave the night a hazy, almost magical feeling.         “This is romantic.  Very romantic.” Emie’s aunt leaned over, whispering in her ear.  Emie forced a small, sad smile, not looking at her aunt.         “It is.” She nodded.       “Lucia and Chris would like to invite everyone else to join them.” The DJ said as their first danced ended.  Iron & Wine’s cover of “Such Great Heights” began to softly play.  It was one of Emie’s favorite songs.  People began to stand and make their way over to the sandy clearing, framed by twinkling white lights, that was acting as a dance floor.       “Emie, would you dance with me?” Tom stood up, stretching his long legs.  Emie nodded and rose without thinking.  She took his hand as he helped her up.  They made their way over to the dance area, and Tom immediately took her in his arms.  He led her, as they moved slowly to the music.       “I love this song.” Emie said softly, every fiber of her being aware of how close Tom was.  He looked down at her.       “I haven’t heard it.” He seemed genuinely pleased to be listening to something she enjoyed.  Emie leaned closer, softly singing along to the song.  Tom watched her, smiling as she whispered the lyrics to him.  They barely moved, but it didn’t matter to Emie.  She was so grateful for these moments with him, uninterrupted.  When she was with Tom, nothing else seemed to matter.  It was just when she took a step away from him that she felt the heavy weight of worry and doubt settle in.  She was so tired of that feeling.  She relished the calm, safe feeling she felt while in his arms.  She wanted to stay there for as long as possible.        “I’m so sorry about last night—about Luce.  She was totally out of line—“       “Don’t apologize, Em.  She doesn’t mean any harm.” Tom gave her a small smile.         “Still…it was embarrassing.” Emie sighed.  Tom leaned forward, his lips right by her ear.       “The answer was ‘Yes’, in case you were wondering.” He didn’t move, his lips hovering by the side of her face.  Emie blinked, not daring to let herself dwell on what he had just said.  She stumbled slightly, and felt Tom’s arms tighten around her.  Emie felt like her whole world was concentrated right in on that moment.  The people around them, the wedding, even the beach seemed to disappear.       “Tom…”       “Emeline.  I love—“        “Tom!” She pulled back, looking at him, her eyes wild.  What was he saying?  Tom shook his head, looking away and breathing out.         “Emie, let me speak, I beg you.” His said, exasperated.  Emie bit her lip and nodded.  Tom breathed in and waited for a second before beginning again.  “I’ve loved getting to know you.” He said finally, and Emie felt her pulse pounding in her ears.  “I’ve loved everything about the past few weeks.”  Emie swallowed.       “I’ve loved getting to know you too.” She said softly.  Tom brought their hands up to his mouth, and kissed the back of hers.       “I know that it won’t be easy.  I know that my life isn’t all wrapped up in a shiny red bow. I know I’m not what you go to bed every night dreaming about—“ He said with a frown.  Emie blushed.       “You’d be surprised.” She laughed softly.  Tom grinned, looking somewhat delighted at her reaction.       “Em, I’ll do whatever I can to make it easy for you.  I’ll do whatever I can to protect you.  And this.” He held her tightly.  Emie couldn’t take her eyes off of him.  Off of his lips.  Off his eyes.  She wanted to drink him in.  “I promise you that I’ll do whatever I can to make you happy. Just…give me a chance.” He said softly, putting emphasis on the last few words.         The music had stopped and changed to something light and upbeat, but neither of them moved to leave the dance floor.  They stayed there, locked in each other’s embrace.  Emie could barely breathe.       “I can’t let you go.” Tom managed, his voice like steel.  He wasn’t going to give up so easily.  “Em, I’ll ask you again… have dinner with me tomorrow?”        Emie licked her lips.  She felt frozen to the spot with one of Tom’s hands at the small of her back, the other entwined in hers.  Her chest pressed against his.  Their faces inches apart.  She knew she shouldn’t.  She knew she couldn’t.  But her heart ached, and it ached only for Tom.  She was strong, but she wasn’t that strong.  She felt her stomach flip.  She stood on her tip toes, leaning up toward Tom as he bent down slowly, hesitantly, and then rested his forehead against hers.  She could feel how anxious he was.  She could tell how much rested on her reply.  She could not and would not hurt him anymore.       “Yes, Tom.  I’ll have dinner with you. There’s nothing I’d rather do.” She whispered softly, her heart racing to her throat.       She felt Tom melt against her, and he gathered her in his arms.  He was smiling broadly, and it was infectious.  Totally oblivious to the crowd of people dancing wildly around them to some pop song about being “locked out of heaven”, Tom dipped Emie backward and kissed her passionately.  Emie felt her heart burst from her chest, and the only thing she could think to do was wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him back.