Page 105 of A Nantucket Wedding

“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the minister proclaimed. The congregation cheered and applauded. David and Alison proceeded down the aisle, and Alison smiled and wept tears of happiness.

They stepped out of the tent and onto the green velvet lawn. In front of them, the harbor waters glittered in the sunlight.

“Look, Grandma,” Alice cried excitedly. “The water is covered with diamonds!”

The attendees filed out of the tent onto the grass. Near the outdoor patio stood a long table centered with an enormous arrangement of flowers and piled high with delicious finger foods. As people gathered on the lawn, waiters appeared with trays of champagne and sparkling water. People congratulated the newlyweds, and everyone told everyone else how gorgeous they were, and as friends met friends, cries of delight flew up in the air like small birds. Patrick helped Poppy to a chair on the patio where she sat in her expansive black pantsuit, hundreds of sequins and her mother’s diamonds flashing in the sunlight, her belly proudly bulging. Ethan introduced Esmeralda to the guests. Esmeralda, wearing an impressively tight and low-cut emerald gown, languidly extended her hand, allowing people to shake it.

And then the family went to the boardwalk in front of the harbor and gathered together for the photographer to snap some formal shots. The little boys mugged and twitched and couldn’t hold still. The little girls giggled and preened. Scott stood with his good arm around Jane. Felicity and Noah stood side by side, not touching. Esmeralda insinuated herself into the family, standing with one possessive hand on Ethan and one on Canny. Poppy pulled Patrick’s arm and led him to the opposite side of the group. Everyone in the party gathered on the lawn to watch the photographer.

“Throw the bouquet!” Felicity ordered her mother. She called out, “Heads-up, everyone. The bride is tossing the bouquet!”

The party gathered expectantly on the lawn, laughing, the few unmarried women coaxing each other forward.

“Right!” Alison yelled back. “Here goes!”

She turned her back to the crowd and tossed the bouquet.

Charlie, the Lab, seeing something fly his way, performed a spectacular leap and caught the flowers in midair. The crowd cheered.

Alison slipped off her heels. The grass beneath her feet was warm and soft. In front of her the crowd returned to their conversations and champagne. Behind her, the harbor waters beckoned like magic.

Holding on to David’s arm, she stepped onto the beach.

“I want to wade in the water,” she said.

“On your wedding day?” David asked.

“Absolutely on my wedding day.”

“But what about our guests? Dinner should be served soon.”

“David, look at our guests. They’re happily guzzling fabulous champagne and being served delicious canapés.”

“Well,” David said. “You continue to be an unconventional woman.”

Alison lifted up her wedding skirt to a few inches above her knees. She smiled at David.

“I suppose I need to be an unconventional man,” David said, and leaning over, he untied his black dress shoes and slipped them off, then removed his black socks and rolled up his trousers.

Hand in hand, Alison and David waded into the water until it was up to their knees.

“It’s cold,” Alison said.

“It will feel warmer in a minute,” David assured her. He put his arms around her. “Maybe if I hold you, you’ll warm up.”

“Maybe if you kiss me, I’ll warm up faster,” Alison said.

David kissed her, a slow, deep, satisfying promise of a kiss.

“Hey, Grandma! Granddad!”

Alison and David turned to see who had called them. Five grandchildren held their phones high, snapping shots of Alison and David, radiant and joyful, in the gleaming blue water. These would be the photographs they would frame in silver and set on their mantel and in David’s office and in their kitchen.

They waded out of the water onto the shore, and walked barefooted among their guests, and toasted each other with champagne, and went into the enormous white tent with its King Arthur banners flying, and sat at the head table for dinner. Later, there were speeches and toasts and wedding cake.

Even later, the band filled the tent and the lawn and the air with music. They played a mix of their own gypsy jazz and the traditional favorites, starting with “God Only Knows” by the Beach Boys. Alison slipped her shoes on for the first dance with David. Soon other couples joined. The party spilled out on to the grass, almost everyone dancing. The moon was a crescent and the night was brilliant. At midnight, they were still dancing. David danced with his daughter and new stepdaughters and his granddaughters. Alison danced with Ethan and then with Patrick, who surprised her by morphing into a fabulous John Travolta when the band played “Night Fever.” Jane danced with Noah andaccidentallytrod hard on his foot. Felicity told Scott he was so sweet for letting the children draw flowers and balloons on his cast; weren’t children wonderful! Heather and Cecil sat while surreptitiously slipping Henry and Charlie nibbles of wedding cake. Ethan danced with Canny, Alice, and Daphne all at the same time. Esmeralda danced with Hunter, who came away with stars in his eyes. Luke performed his own hyperactive version of break dancing. Ethan and Esmeralda quietly vanished. Scott and Noah and Patrick sat at a table, talking about real estate prices on the island. Jane and Felicity danced together like wild women under the starry sky, and on an impulse, they each took one of Poppy’s hands and pulled her up to dance with them.

It was after one in the morning when everyone yawned and kissed goodbye and slowly, some carrying their shoes, left the party. Some drove home, some went up to their rooms in the hotel. The band packed up, the crowd left. Alison and David hugged their daughters and sons and grandchildren and friends. The newlyweds were staying in a special cottage on the hotel grounds, so they stood on the grass waving their loved ones off.

When everyone else had gone, Alison and David lingered for a while, catching their breath, whispering and yawning and blissfully tired but, like children on Christmas night, unable to surrender to their sleepiness and go to bed.

Behind them, the harbor glistened, the waves whispering of seasons of sunshine and sensuality, cool water, warm sun, the busy rush of days, the deep, sweet sleep of night.

In front of them, the future unfolded like a sparkling trail of moonlight on water.