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It was an October wedding The bride was a witch who solved preternatural cri It sounded like a Halloween joke, but it wasn't

The grooe bow ties and white shirts The bride's side wore orange fore pro to have to shell out three hundred dollars for one of the ot to wear a tux Larry Kirkland, groouns He refused to make me wear a dress, unless I wanted to wear one Hmm, let e forain, or less than a hundred dollars to rent a tux that I could return Wait, let me think

I got the tux I did have to buy a pair of black tie-up shoes The tux shop didn't have any size seven in women's Oh, well Even with the seventy-dollar shoes that I would probably never wear again, I still counted myself very lucky

As I watched the four bridese dresses walk down the isle of the packed church, their hair done up on their heads in ringlets, andvery, very lucky They had little round bouquets of orange and white floith black lace and orange and black ribbons trailing down from the flowers I just had to stand up at the front of the church withcoordinator had seeroo equally e, if they didn't keep their hands busy So she'd informed them that they were to stand with their hands clasped on opposite wrists No hands in pockets, no crossed arroins I'd arrived late to the rehearsal--big surprise--and the wedding coordinator had see influence on the irl It didn't take her long to figure out that I was as uncouth as the ht we all behaved ourselves really well She just didn't seem very coun I earing

But none of the groo for her to complain about This was Larry's day, and none of us wanted to screw it up Oh, and Tammy's day

The bride entered the church on her father's arm Her mother was already in the front pew dressed in a paleand crying, and seemed to be both miserable and deliriously happy all at the sa church wedding Both Larry and Ta smaller, but Tammy didn't seem to be able to say no to herwith his future in-law

Detective Tammy Reynolds was a vision in white, complete with a veil that covered her face like amore makeup than I'd ever seen her in, but the drama of it suited the beaded neckline, and full, bell-like skirt The dress looked like it could have walked down the isle on its own, or at least stood on its own They'd done so with her hair so that it was smooth and completely back fro she was I'd never really noticed that Detective Tammy was beautiful

I was standing at the end of the groomsmen, me and Larry's three brothers, so I had to crane a little to see his face It orth the look He was pale enough that his freckles stood out on his skin like ink spots His blue eyes ide They'd done so to his short red curls so they lay alazed at Taht between the eyes Of course, if they'd done two hours' worth of ht have been a vision, too But men don't have to worry about it The double standard is alive and well The woroom is just supposed to stand there and not embarrass himself, or her

I leaned back in line and tried not to embarrass anyone I'd tied my hair back while it was still wet so that it lay flat and s my hair so it was the best I could do to look like a boy There were other parts of my anatomy that didn't help the boy look either I am curvy, and even in a tux built for acoordinator had rolled her eyes when she saw me What she said out loud was, "You need more makeup"

"None of the other groo makeup," I said

"Don't you want to look pretty?"

Since I'd thought I already looked pretty good, there was only one reply, "Not particularly"

That had been the last conversation the wedding lady and I had had She positively avoided me after that I think she'd been roomsmen in line She seemed to believe that just because we both had ovaries instead of balls that we should have joined forces Besides, why should I worry about being pretty? It was Ta if, I ever got married, then I'd worry about it Until then, screw it Besides, I was already wearing more makeup than I normally did Which forme that when I hit thirty I'll feel differently about all this girl stuff I've only got three years to go until the big 3-0; so far panic has not set in

Tammy's father placed her hand in Larry's Tammy was three inches taller than Larry, in heels, she was rooave Larry It was not a friendly look Tanant, and it was Larry's fault Or rather it was Tammy and Larry's fault, but I don't think that's how her father viewed it No, Mr Nathan Reynolds definitely seein fronant

Mr Reynolds raised Tammy's blusher on her veil to reveal all that carefully made-up beauty He kissed her solemnly on the cheek, threw one last dark look at Larry, and turned s and pleasant to join his wife in the front pew The fact that he'd gone fro when he knew the church would see his face, bothered me I didn't like that Larry's new father-in-laas capable of lying that well MadeBut I was naturally suspicious, co Cynicisious

We all turned toward the altar, and the fas over the years, almost all Christian, alely fa until you hear it, and realize you have "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join this man and this woman in Holy Matrimony"

It wasn't a Catholic or Episcopalian wedding, so we didn't have to kneel, or dothe cerean to wander a bit I've never been a big fan of weddings I understand they're necessary, but I was never one of those girls who fantasized about whatwould be like soaged in college, and when that fell through, I went back to not thinking about it I'd been engaged very briefly to Richard Zee, but he'd dumped me because I was more at home with the monsters than he was Now, I'd pretty much settled into the idea that I would never marry Never have those words spoken over me and my honeybun A tiny part of me that I'd never ad part, I think I would hateone single person to call my own I'd been raised middle-class, middle America, s aon how you looked at it, stillpainfully close to e uncomfortable about it, but there were issues that needed to be worked out For instance, who do you bring as your date to a wedding? The wedding was in a church complete with holy items, so two of the men were out Va Jean-Claude and Asher burst into flah the door would probably have put a damper on the festivities That left me with one official boyfriend, Micah Callahan, and one friend, who happened to be a boy, Nathaniel Graison