Alice's short black hair was not in its usual spiky do—it was smoothed into sleek pin curls around her
pixie face, which wore a contrastingly businesslike expression. She dragged me from the house with
barely a "Hey, Charlie"
called over her shoulder.
Alice appraised me as I got into her Porsche.
"Oh, hell, look at your eyes!" She tsked in reproach. "What did you do? Stay up all night?"
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"Almost."
She glowered. "I've only allotted so much time to make you stunning, Bella—you might have taken
better care of my raw material."
"No one expects me to be stunning. I think the bigger problem is that I might fall asleep during the
ceremony and not be able to say 1 do' at the right part, and then Edward will make his escape."
She laughed. "I'll throw my bouquet at you when it gets close."
"Thanks."
"At least you'll have plenty of time to sleep on the plane tomorrow."
I raised one eyebrow. Tomorrow, I mused. If we were heading out tonight after the reception, and we
would still be on a plane tomorrow… well, we weren't going to Boise, Idaho. Edward hadn't dropped a
single hint. I wasn't too stressed about the mystery, but it was strange not knowing where I would be
sleeping tomorrow night. Or hopefully not sleeping …
Alice realized that she'd given something away, and she frowned.
"You're all packed and ready," she said to distract me.
It worked. "Alice, I wish you would let me pack my own things!"
"It would have given too much away."
"And denied you an opportunity to shop."
"You'll be my sister officially in ten short hours… it's about time to get over this aversion to new clothes."
I glowered groggily out the windshield until we were almost to the house.
"Is he back yet?" I asked.
"Don't worry, he'll be there before the music starts. But you don't get to see him, no matter when he gets
back. We're doing this the traditional way."
I snorted. "Traditional!"
"Okay, aside from the bride and groom."
"You know he's already peeked."
"Oh no—that's why I'm the only one who's seen you in the dress. I've been very careful to not think
about it when he's around."
"Well," I said as we turned into the drive, "I see you got to reuse your graduation decorations." Three
miles of drive were once again wrapped in hundreds of thousands of twinkle lights. This time, she'd
added white satin bows.
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"Waste not, want not. Enjoy this, because you don't get to see the inside decorations until it's time." She
pulled into the cavernous garage north of the main house; Emmett's big Jeep was still gone.
"Since when is the bride not allowed to see the decorations?" I protested.
"Since she put me in charge. I want you to get the full impact coming down the stairs."
She clapped her hand over my eyes before she let me inside the kitchen. I was immediately assailed by
the scent.
"What is that?" I wondered as she guided me into the house.
"Is it too much?" Alice's voice was abruptly worried. "You're the first human in here; I hope I got it
right."
"it smells wonderful!" I assured her—almost intoxicating, but not at all overwhelming, the balance of the
different fragrances was subtle and flawless. "Orange blossoms… lilac… and something else—am I right?"
"Very good, Bella. You only missed the freesia and the roses."
She didn't uncover my eyes until we were in her oversized bathroom. I stared at the long counter,
covered in all the paraphernalia of a beauty salon, and began to feel my sleepless night.
"Is this really necessary? I'm going to look plain next to him no matter what."
She pushed me down into a low pink chair. "No one will dare to call you plain when I'm through with
you."
"Only because they're afraid you'll suck their blood," I muttered. I leaned back in the chair and closed
my eyes, hoping I'd be able to nap through it. I did drift in and out a little bit while she masked, buffed,
and polished every surface of my body.
It was after lunchtime when Rosalie glided past the bathroom door in a shimmery silver gown with her
golden hair piled up in a soft crown on top of her head. She was so beautiful it made me want to cry.
What was even the point of dressing up with Rosalie around?
"They're back," Rosalie said, and immediately my childish fit of despair passed. Edward was home.
"Keep him out of here!"
"He won't cross you today," Rosalie reassured her. "He values his life too much. Esme's got them
finishing things up out back. Do you want some help? I could do her hair."
My jaw fell open. I floundered around in my head, trying to remember how to close it.
I had never been Rosalie's favorite person in the world. Then, making things even more strained between
us, she was personally offended by the choice I was making now. Though she had her impossible beauty,
her loving family, and her soul mate in Emmett, she would have traded it all to be human. And here I was,
callously throwing away everything she wanted in life like it was garbage. It didn't exactly warm her to
me.
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"Sure," Alice said easily. "You can start braiding. I want it intricate. The veil goes here, underneath." Her
hands started combing through my hair, hefting it, twisting it, illustrating in detail what she wanted. When
she was done, Rosalie's hands replaced hers, shaping my hair with a feather-light touch. Alice moved
back to my face.
Once Rosalie received Alice's commendation on my hair, she was sent off to retrieve my dress and then
to locate Jasper, who had been dispatched to pick up my mother and her husband, Phil, from their hotel.
Downstairs, I could faintly hear the door opening and closing over and over. Voices began to float up to
us.
Alice made me stand so that she could ease the dress over my hair and makeup. My knees shook so
badly as she fastened the long line of pearl buttons up my back that the satin quivered in little wavelets
down to the floor.
"Deep breaths, Bella/7Alice said. "And try to lower your heart rate. You're going to sweat off your new
face."
I gave her the best sarcastic expression I could manage. "I'll get right on that."
"I have to get dressed now. Can you hold yourself together for two minutes?"
"Urn… maybe?"
She rolled her eyes and darted out the door.
I concentrated on my breathing, counting each movement of my lungs, and stared at the patterns that the
bathroom light made on the shiny fabric of my skirt. I was afraid to look in the mirror—afraid the image
of myself in the wedding dress would send me over the edge into a full-scale panic attack.
Alice was back before I had taken two hundred breaths, in a dress that flowed down her slender body
like a silvery waterfall.
"Alice—wow."
"It's nothing. No one will be looking at me today. Not while you're in the room."
"Har har."
"Now, are you in control of yourself, or do I have to bring Jasper up here?"
"They're back? Is my mom here?"
"She just walked in the door. She's on her way up."
Renee had flown in two days ago, and I'd spent every minute I could with her—every minute that I
could pry her away from Esme and the decorations, in other words. As far as I could tell, she was having
more fun with this than a kid locked inside Disneyland overnight. In a way, I felt almost as cheated as
Charlie. All that wasted terror over her reaction…
"Oh, Bella!" she squealed now, gushing before she was all the way through the door. "Oh, honey, you're
so beautiful! Oh, I'm going to cry! Alice, you're amazing! You and Esme should go into business as
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wedding planners. Where did you find this dress? It's gorgeous! So graceful, so elegant. Bella, you look
like you just stepped out of an Austen movie." My mother's voice sounded a little distance away, and
everything in the room was slightly blurry. "Such a creative idea, designing the theme around Bella's ring.
So romantic! To think it's been in Edward's family since the eighteen hundreds!"
Alice and I exchanged a brief conspiratorial look. My mom was off on the dress style by more than a
hundred years. The wedding wasn't actually centered around the ring, but around Edward himself.
There was a loud, gruff throat-clearing in the doorway.
"Renee, Esme said it's time you got settled down there," Charlie said.
"Well, Charlie, don't you look dashing!" Renee said in a tone that was almost shocked. That might have
explained the crustiness of Charlie's answer.
"Alice got to me."
"Is it really time already?" Renee said to herself, sounding almost as nervous as I felt. "This has all gone
so fast. I feel dizzy."
That made two of us.
"Give me a hug before I go down/7Renee insisted. "Carefully now, don't tear anything."
My mother squeezed me gently around the waist, then wheeled for the door, only to complete the spin
and face me again.
"Oh goodness, I almost forgot! Charlie, Where's the box?"
My dad rummaged in his pockets for a minute and then produced a small white box, which he handed to
Renee. Renee lifted the lid and held it out to me.
"Something blue," she said.
"Something old, too. They were your Grandma Swan's," Charlie added. "We had a jeweler replace the
paste stones with sapphires."
Inside the box were two heavy silver hair combs. Dark blue sapphires were clustered into intricate floral
shapes atop the teeth.
My throat got all thick. "Mom, Dad… you shouldn't have."
"Alice wouldn't let us do anything else," Renee said. "Every time we tried, she all but ripped our throats
out."
A hysterical giggle burst through my lips.
Alice stepped up and quickly slid both combs into my hair under the edge of the thick braids. "That's
something old and something blue," Alice mused, taking a few steps back to admire me. "And your dress
is new… so here—"
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She flicked something at me. I held my hands out automatically, and the filmy white garter landed in my
palms.
"That's mine and I want it back," Alice told me.
I blushed.
"There," Alice said with satisfaction. "A little color—that's all you needed. You are officially perfect."
With a little self-congratulatory smile, she turned to my parents. "Renee, you need to get downstairs."
"Yes, ma'am." Renee blew me a kiss and hurried out the door.
"Charlie, would you grab the flowers, please?"
While Charlie was out of the room, Alice hooked the garter out of my hands and then ducked under my
skirt. I gasped and tottered as her cold hand caught my ankle; she yanked the garter into place.
She was back on her feet before Charlie returned with the two frothy white bouquets. The scent of roses
and orange blossom and freesia enveloped me in a soft mist.
Rosalie—the best musician in the family next to Edward—began playing the piano downstairs.
Pachelbel's Canon. I began hyperventilating.
"Easy, Bells," Charlie said. He turned to Alice nervously. "She looks a little sick. Do you think she's
going to make it?"
His voice sounded far away. I couldn't feel my legs.
"She'd better."
Alice stood right in front of me, on her tiptoes to better stare me in the eye, and gripped my wrists in her
hard
hands.
"Focus, Bella. Edward is waiting for you down there."
1 took a deep breath, willing myself into composure.
The music slowly morphed into a new song. Charlie nudged me. "Bells, we're up to bat."
"Bella?" Alice asked, still holding my gaze.
"Yes," I squeaked. "Edward. Okay." I let her pull me from the room, with Charlie tagging along at my
elbow.
The music was louder in the hall. It floated up the stairs along with the fragrance of a million flowers. I
concentrated on the idea of Edward waiting below to get my feet to shuffle forward.
The music was familiar, Wagner's traditional march surrounded by a flood of embellishments.
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"It's my turn," Alice chimed. "Count to five and follow me." She began a slow, graceful dance down the
staircase. I should have realized that having Alice as my only bridesmaid was a mistake. I would look that
much more uncoordinated coming behind her.
A sudden fanfare trilled through the soaring music. I recognized my cue.
"Don't let me fall, Dad," I whispered. Charlie pulled my hand through his arm and then grasped it tightly.
One step ata time, I told myself as we began to descend to the slow tempo of the march. I didn't lift my
eyes until my feet were safely on the flat ground, though I could hear the murmurs and rustling of the
audience as I came into view. Blood flooded my cheeks at the sound; of course I could be counted on to
be the blushing bride.
As soon as my feet were past the treacherous stairs, I was looking for him. For a brief second, I was
distracted by the profusion of white blossoms that hung in garlands from everything in the room that
wasn't alive, dripping with long lines of white gossamer ribbons. But I tore my eyes from the bowery
canopy and searched across the rows of satin-draped chairs—blushing more deeply as I took in the
crowd of faces all focused on me—until I found him at last, standing before an arch overflowing with
more flowers, more gossamer.
I was barely conscious that Carlisle stood by his side, and Angela's father behind them both. I didn't see
my mother where she must have been sitting in the front row, or my new family, or any of the guests
—they would have to wait till later.
All I really saw was Edward's face; it filled my vision and overwhelmed my mind. His eyes were a
buttery, burning gold; his perfect face was almost severe with the depth of his emotion. And then, as he
met my awed gaze, he broke into a breathtaking smile of exultation.
Suddenly, it was only the pressure of Charlie's hand on mine that kept me from sprinting headlong down
the aisle.
The march was too slow as I struggled to pace my steps to its rhythm. Mercifully, the aisle was very
short. And then, at last, at last, I was there. Edward held out his hand. Charlie took my hand and, in a
symbol as old as the world, placed it in Edward's. I touched the cool miracle of his skin, and I was home.
Our vows were the simple, traditional words that had been spoken a million times, though never by a
couple quite like us. We'd asked Mr. Weber to make only one small change. He obligingly traded the
line "till death do us
part" for the more appropriate "as long as we both shall live."
In that moment, as the minister said his part, my world, which had been upside down for so long now,
seemed to settle into its proper position. I saw just how silly I'd been for fearing this—as if it were an
unwanted birthday gift or an embarrassing exhibition, like the prom. I looked into Edward's shining,
triumphant eyes and knew that I was winning, too. Because nothing else mattered but that I could stay
withhim.
I didn't realize I was crying until it was time to say the binding words.
"I do," I managed to choke out in a nearly unintelligible whisper, blinking my eyes clear so I could see his
face.
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When it was his turn to speak, the words rang clear and victorious.
"I do," he vowed.
Mr. Weber declared us husband and wife, and then Edward's hands reached up to cradle my face,
carefully, as if it were as delicate as the white petals swaying above our heads. I tried to comprehend,
through the film of tears blinding me, the surreal fact that this amazing person was mine. His golden eyes
looked as if they would have tears, too, if such a thing were not impossible. He bent his head toward
mine, and I stretched up on the tips of my toes, throwing my arms—bouquet and all—around his neck.
He kissed me tenderly, adoringly; I forgot the crowd, the place, the time, the reason… only remembering
that he loved me, that he wanted me, that I was his.
He began the kiss, and he had to end it; I clung to him, ignoring the titters and the throat-clearing in the
audience. Finally, his hands restrained my face and he pulled back—too soon—to look at me. On the
surface his sudden smile was amused, almost a smirk. But underneath his momentary entertainment at my
public exhibition was a deep joy that echoed my own.
The crowd erupted into applause, and he turned our bodies to face our friends and family. I couldn't
look away from his face to see them.
My mother's arms were the first to find me, her tear-streaked face the first thing I saw when I finally tore
my eyes unwillingly from Edward. And then I was handed through the crowd, passed from embrace to
embrace, only vaguely aware of who held me, my attention centered on Edward's hand clutched tightly in
my own. I did recognize the difference between the soft, warm hugs of my human friends and the gentle,
cool embraces of my new family.
One scorching hug stood out from all the others—Seth Clearwater had braved the throng of vampires to
stand in for my lost werewolf friend.
4. GESTURE
The wedding flowed into the reception party smoothly—proof of Alice's flawless planning. It was just
twilight over the river; the ceremony had lasted exactly the right amount of time, allowing the sun to set
behind the trees. The lights in the trees glimmered as Edward led me through the glass back doors,
making the white flowers glow. There were another ten thousand flowers out here, serving as a fragrant,
airy tent over the dance floor set up on the grass under two of the ancient cedars.
Things slowed down, relaxed as the mellow August evening surrounded us. The little crowd spread out
under the soft shine of the twinkle lights, and we were greeted again by the friends we'd just embraced.
There was time to talk now, to laugh.
"Congrats, guys," Seth Clearwater told us, ducking his head under the edge of a flower garland. His
mother, Sue, was tight by his side, eyeing the guests with wary intensity. Her face was thin and fierce, an
expression that was accented by her short, severe hairstyle; it was as short as her daughter Leah's—I
wondered if she'd cut it the same way in a show of solidarity. Billy Black, on Seth's other side, was not
as tense as Sue.
When I looked at Jacob's father, I always felt like I was seeing two people rather than just one. There
was the old man in the wheelchair with the lined face and the white smile that everyone else saw. And
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then there was the direct descendant of a long line of powerful, magical chieftains, cloaked in the
authority he'd been born with. Though the magic had—in the absence of a catalyst—skipped his
generation, Billy was still a part of the power and the legend. It flowed straight through him. It flowed to
his son, the heir to the magic, who had turned his back on it. That left Sam Uley to act as the chief of
legends and magic now___
Billy seemed oddly at ease considering the company and the event—his black eyes sparkled like he'd
just gotten some good news. I was impressed by his composure. This wedding must have seemed a very
bad thing, the worst thing that could happen to his best friend's daughter, in Billy's eyes.
I knew it wasn't easy for him to restrain his feelings, considering the challenge this event foreshadowed to
the ancient treaty between the Cullens and the Quileutes—the treaty that prohibited the Cullens from ever
creating another vampire. The wolves knew a breach was coming, but the Cullens had no idea how they
would react. Before the alliance, it would have meant an immediate attack. A war. But now that they
knew each other better, would there be forgiveness instead?
As if in response to that thought, Seth leaned toward Edward, arms extended. Edward returned the hug
with his free arm.
I saw Sue shudder delicately.
"It's good to see things work out for you, man," Seth said. "I'm happy for you."
"Thank you, Seth. That means a lot to me." Edward pulled away from Seth and looked at Sue and Billy.
"Thank you, as well. For letting Seth come. For supporting Bella today."
"You're welcome," Billy said in his deep, gravelly voice, and I was surprised at the optimism in his tone.
Perhaps a stronger truce was on the horizon.
A bit of a line was forming, so Seth waved goodbye and wheeled Billy toward the food. Sue kept one
hand on each of them.
Angela and Ben were the next to claim us, followed by Angela's parents and then Mike and Jessica
—who were, to my surprise, holding hands. I hadn't heard that they were together again. That was nice.
Behind my human friends were my new cousins-in-law, the Denali vampire clan. I realized I was holding
my breath as the vampire in front—Tanya, I assumed from the strawberry tint in her blond
curls—reached out to embrace Edward. Next to her, three other vampires with golden eyes stared at me
with open curiosity. One woman had long, pale blond hair, straight as corn silk. The other woman and
the man beside her were both black-haired, with a hint of an olive tone to their chalky complexions.
And they were all four so beautiful that it made my stomach hurt.
Tanya was still holding Edward.
"Ah, Edward," she said. "I've missed you."
Edward chuckled and deftly maneuvered out of the hug, placing his hand lightly on her shoulder and
stepping back, as if to get a better look at her. "It's been too long, Tanya. You look well."
"So do you."
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"Let me introduce you to my wife." It was the first time Edward had said that word since it was officially
true; he seemed like he would explode with satisfaction saying it now. The Denalis all laughed lightly in
response. "Tanya, this is my Bella."
Tanya was every bit as lovely as my worst nightmares had predicted. She eyed me with a look that was
much more speculative than it was resigned, and then reached out to take my hand.
"Welcome to the family, Bella." She smiled, a little rueful. "We consider ourselves Carlisle's extended
family, and I am sorry about the, er, recent incident when we did not behave as such. We should have
met you sooner. Can
you forgive us?"
"Of course," I said breathlessly. "It's so nice to meet you."
"The Cullens are all evened up in numbers now. Perhaps it will be our turn next, eh, Kate?" She grinned
at the blonde.
"Keep the dream alive," Kate said with a roll of her golden eyes. She took my hand from Tanya's and
squeezed it gently. "Welcome, Bella."
The dark-haired woman put her hand on top of Kate's. "I'm Carmen, this is Eleazar. We're all so very
pleased to finally meet you."
"M-me, too," I stuttered.
Tanya glanced at the people waiting behind her—Charlie's deputy, Mark, and his wife. Their eyes were
huge as they took in the Denali clan.
"We'll get to know each other later. We'll have eons of time for that!" Tanya laughed as she and her
family moved on.
All the standard traditions were kept. I was blinded by flashbulbs as we held the knife over a spectacular
cake—too grand, I thought, for our relatively intimate group of friends and family. We took turns shoving
cake in each other's faces; Edward manfully swallowed his portion as I watched in disbelief. I threw my
bouquet with atypical skill, right into Angela's surprised hands. Emmett and Jasper howled with laughter
at my blush while Edward removed my borrowed garter—which I'd shimmied down nearly to my
ankle— verycarefully with his teeth. With a quick wink at me, he shot it straight into Mike Newton's
face.
And when the music started, Edward pulled me into his arms for the customary first dance; I went
willingly, despite my fear of dancing—especially dancing in front of an audience—just happy to have him
holding me. He did all the work, and I twirled effortlessly under the glow of a canopy of lights and the
bright flashes from the cameras.
"Enjoying the party, Mrs. Cullen?" he whispered in my ear.
I laughed. "That will take a while to get used to."
"We have a while," he reminded me, his voice exultant, and he leaned down to kiss me while we danced.
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Cameras clicked feverishly.
The music changed, and Charlie tapped on Edward's shoulder.
It wasn't nearly as easy to dance with Charlie. He was no better at it than I was, so we moved safely
from side to side in a tiny square formation. Edward and Esme spun around us like Fred Astaire and
Ginger Rogers.
"I'm going to miss you at home, Bella. I'm already lonely."
I spoke through a tight throat, trying to make a joke of it. "I feel just horrible, leaving you to cook for
yourself—it's practically criminal negligence. You could arrest me."
He grinned. "I suppose I'll survive the food. Just call me whenever you can."
"I promise."
It seemed like I danced with everyone. It was good to see all my old friends, but I really wanted to be
with Edward
more than anything else. I was happy when he finally cut in, just half a minute after a new dance started.
"Still not that fond of Mike, eh?" I commented as Edward whirled me away from him.
"Not when I have to listen to his thoughts. He's lucky I didn't kick him out. Or worse."
"Yeah, right."
"Have you had a chance to look at yourself?"
"Urn. No, I guess not. Why?"
"Then I suppose you don't realize how utterly, heart-breakingly beautiful you are tonight. I'm not
surprised Mike's having difficulty with improper thoughts about a married woman. I am disappointed that
Alice didn't make sure you were forced to look in a mirror."
"You are very biased, you know."
He sighed and then paused and turned me around to face the house. The wall of glass reflected the party
back like a long mirror. Edward pointed to the couple in the mirror directly across from us.
"Biased, am I?"
I caught just a glimpse of Edward's reflection—a perfect duplicate of his perfect face—with a
dark-haired beauty at his side. Her skin was cream and roses, her eyes were huge with excitement and
framed with thick lashes. The narrow sheath of the shimmering white dress flared out subtly at the train
almost like an inverted calla lily, cut so skillfully that her body looked elegant and graceful—while it was
motionless, at least.
Before I could blink and make the beauty turn back into me, Edward suddenly stiffened and turned
automatically in the other direction, as if someone had called his name.
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"Oh!" he said. His brow furrowed for an instant and then smoothed out just as quickly.
Suddenly, he was smiling a brilliant smile.
"What is it?" I asked.
"A surprise wedding gift."
"Huh?"
He didn't answer; he just started dancing again, spinning me the opposite way we'd been headed before,
away from the lights and then into the deep swath of night that ringed the luminous dance floor.
He didn't pause until we reached the dark side of one of the huge cedars. Then Edward looked straight
into the blackest shadow.
"Thank you," Edward said to the darkness. "This is very… kind of you."
"Kind is my middle name," a husky familiar voice answered from the black night. "Can i cut in?"
My hand flew up to my throat, and if Edward hadn't been holding me I would have collapsed.
"Jacob!" I choked as soon as I could breathe. "Jacob!"
"Hey there, Bells."
I stumbled toward the sound of his voice. Edward kept his grip under my elbow until another set of
strong hands caught me in the darkness. The heat from Jacob's skin burned right through the thin satin
dress as he pulled me
close. He made no effort to dance; he just hugged me while I buried my face in his chest. He leaned
down to press his cheek to the top of my head.
"Rosalie won't forgive me if she doesn't get her official turn on the dance floor," Edward murmured, and
I knew he was leaving us, giving me a gift of his own—this moment with Jacob.
"Oh, Jacob." I was crying now; I couldn't get the words out clearly. "Thank you."
"Stop blubbering,Bella. You'll ruin your dress. It's just me."
"Just? Oh, Jake! Everything is perfect now."
Hesnorted. "Yeah—the party can start. The best man finally made it."
"Now everyone I love is here."
I felthis lips brush my hair. "SorryI'm late, honey."
"I'm just so happy you came!"
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"That was the idea."
I glanced toward the guests, but I couldn't see through the dancers to the spot where I'd last seen
Jacob's father. I didn't know if he'd stayed. "DoesBilly know you're here?" As soon as I asked, I knew
that he must have—it was the only way to explain his uplifted expression before.
"I'm sure Sam's told him. I'll go see him when… when the party's over."
"He'll beso glad you're home."
Jacob pulled back a little bit and straightened up.He left one hand on the small of my back and grabbed
my right hand with the other. He cradled our hands to his chest; I could feel his heart beat under my
palm, and I guessed that he hadn't placed my hand there accidentally.
"I don't know if I get more than just this one dance," he said, and he began pulling me around in a slow
circle that didn't match the tempo of the music coming from behind us. "I'd better make the best of it."
We moved to the rhythm of his heart under my hand.
"I'm glad Icame," Jacob said quietly after a moment. "I didn't think I would be. But it's good to see you…
one more time. Not as sad as I'd thought it would be."
"I don't want you to feel sad."
"I know that. And I didn't come tonight to make you feel guilty."
