“You look really, I mean, you’re beautiful, Holly,” he said.

I smiled at him and said, “I’ll still be the girl next door if you ever need me, Archie.”

He was quiet then as it all sank in. Perhaps he realized in that moment that he was marrying the wrong woman, but it was too late to do anything about it. And don’t you know, here came the bride, a vision of cleavage and bad taste in ecru lace with too many sparkling baubles all over her dress refracting the light like a light saber from Star Wars.

“Holly, is that really you? You’re so . . . um, pink!”

It’s unbecoming for the bride to be a bitch on her wedding day, I wanted to say, but I held my tongue.

Instead I said, “You look lovely, Sharon. What a beautiful bouquet. Congratulations.”

I was going to be a lady about it all. People were taking their seats. The chamber music began playing slightly louder.

“Good luck!” I said to them and walked away.

What else was I supposed to do except hide my feelings? I took a seat in the very back, next to an older couple, and waited for the ceremony to begin. The ceremony was being performed by a friend of Sharon’s who happened to be a judge. He was standing at the end of the little makeshift aisle with Archie and his two sons. Hunter, of course, was fidgeting, unable to stay still.

First, some older ladies were brought up the aisle. Then two women who were bridesmaids, even though they seemed a little too old to be in a wedding party. And a little tiny golden-haired girl followed them, dropping flower petals. She was walking so slowly and dropping her petals with such deliberation that the guests smiled and chuckled. She couldn’t have been over three years old and she easily stole every single heart.

The music became louder again, the guests stood, and along came Sharon, on the arm of a man I assumed was her father. I was puzzled and a little slighted to know that Archie and Sharon’s relationship had come this far and I’d never been introduced to anyone in her family. But in my heart, I knew it was because Archie considered any introductions to be unnecessary to a neighbor.

Just get this over with, I thought. Please. Let this be over in a hurry. I watched Archie’s face, looking for a crack in his wall. But Archie was too much of a gentleman to be anything else. He smiled warmly at Sharon as she approached him. I could see that he felt genuine affection for her.

The judge invited anyone who had objections or knew of a reason why Archie and Sharon should not marry to speak.