Chapter 16

At noon, every single member of the wedding party who wasn"t actually getting married arrived at the newly-rebuilt, freshly-painted gazebo to decorate it, and Ollie thought he would cry from laughter at the haste and joy surrounding the job. Especially—especially—when Tiffany"s construction crew stepped in to help, using the crane to drape garlands around the roof and to put a ridiculously huge bouquet of flowers at the crown of the gazebo.

Ollie was almost certain the crew had bought those themselves: they certainly hadn"t been in the original design for the decorations. It was an incredibly thoughtful and generous touch, particularly after all the work they"d already done.

The first time they"d decorated the gazebo, it had been a leisurely process involving a lot of discussion about where things should go. This time, with both practice behind them and a deadline ahead of them, it was a precision strike, with Sarah, the retro librarian, giving good-natured orders that everybody ran to fulfill. Within half an hour, Sarah proclaimed their efforts a success, and everybody, including the construction team, rushed off to shower and get ready for the main event.

Half an hour after that, jogging down the steps from his bedroom to the hotel lobby, Ollie found the construction crew and a surprising number of the earlier-invited guests having an uproariously good time in the hotel lobby. Everybody was clean, many of them still with damp hair or blow-dried curls that the humidity hadn"t yet wiped out, and the general air was of an unexpected party in which new friends were being made all over the place.

He searched for Tiffany but couldn"t find her, and was about to head out the door in disappointment when the elevator dinged and he turned toward it as if preternaturally aware.

She was impossibly beautiful in a dress that wasn"t any more complicated than the one she"d worn the night before. This one was soft pink, eyelet cotton with thin straps that showed off her magnificent shoulders and biceps, fitted through the waist and the hem brushing just above her knees. She was wearing the same clogs as the night before, giving her a little extra height, and she"d done something wonderful and delicate with her hair, swirling it upward with just a few pale curls falling around her throat. Ollie thought his heart would stop, or explode, or both.

She met his eyes like he was the only person in the room, and her smile lit up his soul. Even his koala just sighed happily, and Ollie realized that it had been less and less obnoxious over the past couple of days. Still rude and tending toward looking for fights, but it was as if even the koala was happier now.

We found our mate, mate,the koala replied. What"s not to be happy about?

For a moment, Ollie was almost tempted to argue, but then realized that was absurd. Nothing. There"s nothing in the world to not be happy about.

Tiffany came through the crowd to him. Ollie put out his hand, and she slipped hers into his, smiling. "You"re gorgeous, Minister Campbell."

"I do all right." He was in slacks and a button-down, sleeves rolled up again, and she brushed her fingertips across his forearm in approval. "But look at you," Ollie murmured. "You"re a vision, Tiffany."

"God, I hope not. That would probably mean you have heat stroke and I don"t think we can scare up another minister in the next thirty-seven minutes." She smiled up at him, eyes bright with teasing. "Thank you."

He offered his elbow. "Shall we go? I"m supposed to be there in seven minutes but they"ll probably allow me a minute or two if I show up with a beautiful woman on my arm."

"Oh, no way, you don"t get to blame me for being late! I"ve instigated enough drama for this wedding already!"

"Fair enough." They didn"t exactly rush through town, but they didn"t linger, either. There were a number of other people dressed up enough to clearly be going to the wedding, and they murmured approving words to each other when they saw outfits they liked. A number of the men weren"t any dressier than jeans and button-down shirts, which Tiffany said would make her crew feel better, since most of them were slightly less formal than even that.

"Charlee and Steve won"t mind," Ollie promised. "They"ll be glad they"ve come at all. And you know there"s a reception at their pub afterward, right?"

Tiffany paused in horror. "Please tell me the bride hasn"t catered her own wedding reception?"

"All right. I won"t tell you that."

"But now you"re lying to me, aren"t you?"

Ollie laughed. "I"m trying to give you what you want! If it helps, the food"s going to be amazing. Charlee"s an incredible chef. And she said she"d find it much, much more stressful to have someone else catering than to do it herself, so…"

"Okay," Tiffany said reluctantly. "That, I get. It"s so frustrating to know how to do something, to want it a certain way, and to watch somebody else get it not quite right. Yeah, all right, okay, I"ll give her this one."

"I"m sure she"ll be relieved to hear that."

Tiffany hmphed at him as they reached the town square. Someone—Ollie had no idea who—had set up folding chairs for the guests, and there were all sorts of people milling around, looking for seats. An aisle of green grass stretched toward the gazebo, which was brilliantly rose pink and white with flowers, ribbons, and tulle. It gleamed fresh-painted white beneath that, almost blinding in the sunlight, and Ollie nudged Tiffany. "You did a great job. The gazebo is beautiful."

"We just put it back together. The decorations make it beautiful," Tiffany said with clear admiration. "I can"t believe you did all that in half an hour."

"We were very focused. Thanks for getting the safety fencing out of the way, too. I know it"ll slow you down later."

Tiffany shrugged. "We"ll get it up tomorrow, and make up for lost time on the city"s bill. Look, the wedding party is starting to get together. You"d better go up."

"Don"t leave without me."

"How could I? I don"t know where this pub that"s hosting the reception is." Tiffany, smiling, stood on her toes to kiss him, and Ollie went to perform a wedding with happiness in his heart.

It was hard,Ollie thought, to do a bridal reveal when the wedding was outdoors and the aisle was completely open to the world. The bridesmaids and groomsmen solved the problem, though.

When the car Charlee was in pulled up, the wedding party poured out of it, got a huge metal ring, at least a meter and a half across, from the boot—the trunk, Ollie reminded himself; he was in America now—and shook a long, filmy curtain down from the ring. Then (Ollie assumed) Charlee stepped from the car inside the curtained circle, and the wedding party slowly walked to the aisle with her hidden from view.

Steve, already standing at Ollie"s side, held his breath with anticipation. All at once, the wedding party let the ring drop, revealing Charlee in an absolutely beautiful gown of floating lace and frothy skirts. The attendees actually cheered and applauded, appreciating the drama of the reveal, and Charlee, beaming, walked down the aisle to take Steve"s hand and climb the gazebo steps. The bridesmaids and groomsmen followed, everybody smiling with excitement.

Once they were all settled, Ollie cleared his throat. "So some of you may have noticed this week hasn"t gone exactly as planned."

Steve and Charlee both laughed, and Ollie grinned so hard at them that tears swam in his eyes. "I wasn"t—I"m not—going to do a grand speech about marriage and life together, but I do want to say this: life is what happens when we"re making plans. I have no doubt at all that this wedding would have been beautiful as it was planned…it"s going to be something we all talk about for the rest of our lives, because it didn"t go as planned."

Charlee giggled, a tiny little emotional burble of sound that had Steve curling her against his chest protectively. She whispered, "I"m okay," and he ducked his head to murmur, "As long as I"m here, I know you are," against her hair.

Ollie thought his heart might burst of happiness as he beamed at the two of them. "The plan was for two people who love each other very much to come together and commit themselves to each other for the rest of their lives, while supported by their friends and family. That part—the most important part—is still happening.

"But because things don"t go as planned, and because people who weren"t even part of this community a few days ago pulled together to fix an accident and make Charlee and Steve"s dream and vision come true, that group of friends who are here to support them is even bigger than we imagined. I don"t think you could ask for anything more wonderful at a wedding than that. An expansion of love and friendship, of hope and promises, and the determination to see those things shine. So if there"s anything I can wish for you, Charlee, Steve, it"s that your lives will always be filled with this same kind of love, care, and community. Now," he said happily. "I believe the bride and groom have written their own vows. Steve?"

He watched them exchange their vows, smiling through every word, but his gaze found Tiffany in the audience. She, like the rest of the construction crew, sat near the back of the gathering. But her eyes met his across the distance anyway, and the smile she gave him wasn"t just happiness for the couple being married. There was a promise in that look, one that was as full of unplanned and unexpected journeys as the past few days had been, and it filled him with joy.

Pronouncing them a married couple was one of the most wonderful moments of Ollie"s life. They kissed to the sounds of cheers and applause, and a few minutes later, when Charlee threw her bouquet, it sailed through the air and landed squarely in Tiffany"s hands. Tiffany shrieked and held it close, starry-eyed with surprise, and when Ollie came down from the gazebo, grinned up at him. "Are you brave enough to walk the bouquet-catching woman to the reception?"

"Always," he promised gallantly, while his koala perked hopefully.

Leaves?

Not the kind you eat, mate, sorry. They walked to the gastropub in the sunshine with everyone else, laughing and telling stories about the past few days, as if they hadn"t all just lived them. There were entire tables of astonishing-looking tidbits to eat, and everybody grazed their way through it all as they waited for the bride and groom to join them after pictures were taken.

The newlyweds arrived to a series of cheers, and after hours of socializing, Charlee worked her way over to Tiffany and Ollie, her eyes shining. "Thank you so much for everything."

"I"m going to assume that doesn"t include breaking the gazebo in the first place," Tiffany said. "But you"re welcome. Thank you for inviting us all to your wedding. That was really sweet of you."

"It was my pleasure. I mean, I would have invited you, at least, anyway, once Steve told me that you were, you know. Together. Although if you"d told me before I met Steve that getting together with somebody you"d met ten minutes earlier was a good idea, I never would have believed it."

"You have no idea," Tiffany said, amused. "He actually proposed the other day."

Charlee"s eyes widened. "How many minutes after you met was that?"

"Oh, hours," Tiffany said. "On our second date. At dinner on Thursday night. I"d said it wasn"t very efficient of all these cousins to not get married at the same time so they could all go to each other"s weddings, and he said I was right, would I like to get married?"

"Let me guess." Now Charlee"s eyes were sparkling. "You almost said yes, even though it seemed crazy."

"It"s true," Tiffany admitted.

Ollie coughed on the trifle he was eating. "Really? Why didn"t you say so?"

"Because I"d only met you eight hours earlier!"

"Oh. Well, okay."

"I think you should do it," Charlee said impishly.

"Get married?" Tiffany and Ollie spoke at the same time, but Ollie"s heart leaped at the idea. It was completely impractical. It might not even be legal, since he was Australian. But it seemed like a dream was being dangled right out of his reach, and it might kill him to let it go.

"Sure." Charlee was glowing with happiness anyway, but now she seemed to nearly float with laughter. "You caught the bouquet, right? And," her voice dropped dramatically, "you"re fated mates, so you know it"s going to work out. And," she said in a more normal tone, "everybody is here. Why not just go for it?"

"Well, for one thing, I"ve already disrupted your wedding considerably," Tiffany said faintly. "I"m pretty sure it"s really bad manners to get married at somebody else"s wedding! Or even engaged!"

"Not if the somebody else is backing you! Steve! Steve, c"mere, Ollie and Tiffany are going to get married, okay?" Charlee bustled away for a moment, leaving Ollie to look down at Tiffany in a mix of hope and disbelief.

She had a similar expression on her face. "Are we going to do this?"

"I don"t know," he said desperately. "You didn"t say yes!"

"Oh my God. Of course I didn"t say yes. I"d only known you for eight hours!"

"Well, now you"ve known me for forty-eight hours!" Ollie dropped to one knee, his heart feeling like it would beat right out of his chest. A gasp went up around the reception and the space around them cleared out. Ollie had the distinct impression it was to give Steve room to kill him for doing this at his wedding reception. Fortunately, Charlee pulled Steve right to the edge of the circle that had opened up and bounced gleefully, clutching Steve"s arm and whispering, "See, I told you, I told them to and they are!"

A confused but relieved laugh rippled quietly around the reception as Ollie, gazing up into Tiffany"s laughing eyes, said, "Tiffany Wright, I don"t have a ring, a marriage license, or a celebrant handy, but will you marry me? Right now?"

"Um. I don"t need a ring and I think we can do the paperwork later, but, what"s a celebrant? You mean a minister? Somebody who can marry us? Yeah, that might be a problem. Otherwise yes?"

An amused woman"s voice came out of the crowd, asking, "Would a judge do?"

Charlee gave a delighted shriek and clapped her hands. "Judge Owens! Yes! Thank you! Can they get married without the paperwork?"

A sturdy grey-hairedwoman with a kind, round face emerged from the crowd, smiling. "Small town. I think we can backdate the paperwork without anybody caring too much."

"Amazing! Then Ollie, Tiffany, this is Judge Owens, she"ll marry you!"

Judge Owens grinned. "I"ll perform the ceremony, anyway. I think my husband would object if I married you."

Another laugh, this time one of greater excitement, ran around the room, and Tiffany turned a smile full of foolish delight on Ollie. "In that case, yes. I"ll marry you right now, Oliver Campbell."

This time an incredulous cheer rose, and the next thing Ollie knew, his cousins had lined up to one side of him as groomsmen. There was quite a discussion among Tiffany"s construction crew, partly questioning whether she"d lost her mind while Ollie murmured, "Are you sure this is all right? Do you have any family you"d want at your wedding?"

Tiffany beamed toward the crew, who among themselves had decided all eleven of them would stand as bridal attendants, because none of them was willing not be part of it. Ollie was pretty sure this was a none-too-subtle indication that if he broke her heart, there would be at least twelve people ready to break him. "They"re my family," she said happily. "They"re who I want to have here."

"If you"re happy with that, then it"s all I need," Ollie agreed.

A minute later, gazing into Tiffany"s eyes, he promised, "I might drive you crazy from time to time, but I"ll never break your heart. I"ll be willing to go on mad adventures, and risk everything but my love for you. I can"t wait to see what we"ll do together."

"I have no idea how we"re going to make this work," she told him in cheerful response. "Except I know we will. I"m willing to try all kinds of nutty things, as long as I"m at your side. Because at the end of the day, I am absolutely certain that you and I are one hundred percent koalafied for love."

Ollie stared at her. Tiffany threw her head back and howled with laughter. A ripple of amusement went through the crowd at large, and he was sure, absolutely sure, that they mostly had heard qualified for love and thought it was a play on him being a fully qualified accountant.

His cousins, however, were laughing as loudly as Tiffany was, and the rest of his immediate family were wiping their eyes and trying, not very hard, to hide their giggles.

Ollie, weakly, said, "Oh my God," to the judge. Tiffany shouted with laughter again, leaning on Ollie and wheezing. The judge, who couldn"t possibly know he was a koala shifter, was grinning like she somehow knew anyway. "Is it too late to back out now?"

"Hey!" Tiffany burst out laughing again, not that she"d actually stopped. "It"s definitely too late! We"re getting married, buster!"

"Technically, no," Judge Owens said cheerfully. "I haven"t done the "pronounce you married" bit yet. But let"s be real, Mr. Campbell, you don"t really want to do that, do you?"

"No," he said ruefully. "No, I don"t. That was awful," he told Tiffany.

"I know," she said happily. "And I love you. Say the good bits, Judge. I want to kiss my husband."

The judge grinned. "Do you, Tiffany…what"s your middle name?"

"Eve. Tiffany Eve."

"James," Ollie added hastily.

"Do you, Tiffany Eve Wright, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Tiffany, beaming, said, "I do."

"And do you, Oliver James Campbell, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do."

"Then by the power invested in me by the State of New York, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the groom."

Tiffany flung her arms around his neck and kissed Oliver thoroughly, to the cheers, laughter, and—to some degree—the obvious confusion of the gathering. "This is incredible," Tiffany whispered against his mouth. "The craziest thing I"ve ever done."

"Me too." Ollie thought he might explode with happiness, though. Even his koala was nothing but joyful. "I"d like to propose we go on a honeymoon and figure out how to make it all work."

Tiffany beamed at him. "Absolutely." She paused. "Right after I"ve built a playground."

"For pity"s sake, Boss. We can handle it." About half of Tiffany"s construction crew spoke at the same time, with Parker, arms folded and an exasperated look on his face, taking the lead. "Go. Go on, go have a honeymoon and live happily ever after. We"ll get the playground done."

Tiffany grabbed Ollie"s hand, beaming. "Okay. Let"s do it. Come on, husband. Let"s go have an adventure."

They bolted out the door together, just them against the world, and Ollie"s koala knew how to deal with that:

Lemme at "em!

please turn the page for a teaser from OctoBEARfest, the first of a new series set in the shifter town Renaissance, Colorado!