Away From the Spotlight (63 page)

Noticing this, I said,
“I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings by giving them back.  They were just too painful a reminder.”

“I
guess I
understand.  I’m happy to give them back to you now.”
  He looked at me after I had all of the jewels on and smiled.  “That’s better.”

“I won’t take them off again
. 
I promise.”

Will then grabbed another box out of the d
rawer and put it in his pocket.

“
What’s that?” I asked, curious.

“Your wedding ring.  I bought it when
I bought your engagement ring.”

The light
bulb went on in my head
and I frowned
.  “I didn’t think about that.
  I don’t have a ring for you.”

He smiled.  “The nice thing about Vegas is that you can get anything you want anytime.  We can take c
are of that when we get there.”

Will drove to the airport and parked in
the
short-term parking
structure
close to the terminal.  We flew first class and sat in the back row of first class on the right-hand side.  I sat in the window seat and Will was on the aisle.  Despite the fact that we had an audience across the aisle from us, we spent mo
st of the short flight kissing.

When we landed at about four o’clock, we met the limousine
.  It was a
white
Cadillac Escalade
stretch limousine
and had champagne inside waiting for us. 
In most places, this vehicle would stand out, but not in Las Vegas.  Everything in Vegas was bigger, brighter, louder and more over
-
the
-
top than anywhere else.

As we sipped champagne, I
thought about and
was amazed at how so much had changed in the course of one day.  This morning, I had awakened depressed and without hope when it came to Will.  I was now
,
only several hours later
,
getting ready to marr
y
him
.

We had two stops to make before
we would
check into
the hotel.  We first stopped at Tiffany’s to get a wedding band for
W
ill
.  He picked out a wide platinum band with etching just sh
y
of each of the
outer
edges.  It would match my engagement ring in that it was platinum
.  It
was so large
that
no one would miss
the fact
that he was married.  I found that
ironic
, considering how hard we had t
ried to hide our relationship.

I insisted on paying for Will’s ring
,
although I realized how ridiculous that was since, once we were married, there would be no difference between his money and mine.  It was
still
t
he principle of the thing
for me.

The second stop was to
obtain
a marriage license.  We
drove
downtown to the Clark County Marriage Bureau
, where we had to wait for about an hour. 
As we stood there,
I imagined that the line would get longer later in the evening.
  Although we were paparazzi-free, we were accosted by various wedding vendors hawking their services on the way back to the limo.

En route
to the hotel, Will called ahead to ensure that dinner would be served when we arrived and, then, to confirm our wedding ceremony arrangements.  Will hadn’t let on what those arrangements were.  “Let me surprise you,” he had said.

“So long as it’s not at the Elvis place, it’ll be fine by me.”  I laughed.

Will
feigned grabbing his phone and dialing as if he were changing the arrangements.

“Very funny.  You know you’re going to have to work on your acting skills.”  I winked.

“Now who’s being funny?”

We sipped champagne huddled closely together in the massive interior of the limousine.
  We started to kiss and Will whispered into my ear, “Shannon MacKenzie,” clearly remembering my reaction to it before.  My reaction this time was similar, but then I stopped, wondering whether the driver could see us and also whether we would have enough time before we reached the hotel.

Will must have read my mind because he said, “Don’t worry,” he whispered
as he kissed my neck
.  “We have our privacy and the driver is taking the long way to our hotel.”

I started again where I had left off.  I am sure that we both looked a little disheveled when we
finally
arri
ved at the Four Seasons Hotel.

The Four Seasons in Las Vegas
was a little more private than most of the other hotels
since
it
didn’t have a casino to draw the masses.  Will had outdone himself as we had a very large
and elegant
suite
with gold, beige and cream furnishings and
a panoramic view of the lights o
f
the Las Vegas Strip.  We had dinner waiting for us
along with
carousel rose
s and more champagne.

Will and I both changed
for dinner
into the clothes we
had
wor
n
when we got engaged
so many months before
.  I guessed that we would be getting married not long after dinner.
  Although the dining table would have held six people, we sat next to each other with
Will
at the end of the table and me on the side facing into the living room where the lights of the s
trip shone through the window.

Despite my nerves at my upcoming nuptials, I was hungry as I had worked up an appetite in the limo and, in our hurry to get to Las Vegas, we had not eaten more than a light snack at the airport since breakfast.

Both of us were so excited and nervous that we didn’t make a whole lot of conversation.  I couldn’t do much more than stare into
Will’s
eyes in amazement that he would be my husband soon.
 
Not long after we had finished dinner,
I heard
a knock at the door.  Will smiled and
rose
to answer the door.

When
Will
led
guests
into the living room of the suite
, I realized that w
e wouldn’t be getting married at one of the tacky Las Vegas wedding
chapels.  We would be married privately in our elegant hotel room. 
The
minister, wedding coordinator and photographer introduced themselves. 
The wedding coordinator would serve as our witness.

The wedding coordinator was carrying a massive bouquet of white roses interspersed with other white flowers I didn’t recognize, with the st
ems wrapped in white satin.

While Will took care of some of the paperwork, including what looked like a
C
onfidentiality
A
greement, and handed over the license, the wedding coordinator took me aside.  She
handed
me a garter with a little blue in it and I realized she was trying to arrange the something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue.  Of course, with my blue dress, I wasn’t really in need of something blue.  The garter therefore would serve as the something new.  The something old and something borrowed appeared to be a loan from a jeweler handling estate jewelry.  It was a 1920’s art deco-style diamond bracelet in a platinum setting.  It looked like something that would be loaned to an
actress to wear at the Oscars.

With all the details settled, we readied ourselves for the ceremony.  The
m
inister asked if we had any special requests
. 
I mentioned that I hoped that “obey” would not be part of the vows.
  Will laughed.  The
m
inister
didn’t, probably having heard that one before, and
agreed that it would not.

The ceremony was brief.  I could feel my eyes well up as we said our vows, looking into
each other
’s very loving eyes. 
At the appropriate point in the ceremony, Will reached into his pocket and opened the box that held m
y wedding ring.  It was encrusted with diamonds in a platinum setting that would fit nicely under my engagement ring. 
I stared in awe as he slipped it on my finger. 
Will smiled especially brightly when I
placed
his wedding band on his finger.

After we were pronounced husband and wife, Will kissed me and I didn’t want to stop.  We both pulled away at the same time when we heard the clicking of a camera and
I
realized that photographs were being taken.  I imagined that they had been taken all along, but I was so focused on the ceremony, I hadn’t noticed before then.

The photographer took some additional posed photographs of Will and I together and separately and of our rings.  We were told that the proofs would be available for review in a few weeks.
  I was sure that Will would photograph well.  I wasn’t so sure about me.  I only hoped that enough were taken so that a
t least a
few would turn out
okay
.
  My family was going to be unhappy as it
wa
s to miss this.  Photographs
, therefore,
were essential.

We thanked everyone for everything as Will handled all the final paperwork
and I returned the borrowed bracelet to the wedding coordinator.
 
After they left, Will took my hand and led me outside the door.  He picked me up and carried me back over the threshold, kissing me all the while.

Once
inside the door, Will put me down, still holding me and smiled as he looked into my eyes.  “So what does
my wife
want to do now?”
He smiled brightly as he said
,
“my wife.”

I kissed him in response.

“Okay, Shannon
MacKenzie, whatever you wish.”

I kissed him harder.

He leaned up and, as I kissed him on the neck, he asked, “How long is this reacti
on to your name going to last?”

“Forever.”

I was breathless as I excused myself to get ready to start our honeymoon.  I had brought with me the silly piece of lingerie I had bought in Paris, figuring that this was the type of thing you received at
a
bachelorette party
to wear on your honeymoon.
When I entered the bedroom, Will’s eyes went wide just as they did the first time I
had
wor
n
it in England.

“When I was packing this morning, I realized that I now ha
ve
an occasion to wear this.  My friends could not have done worse if they had given it to me at a
b
achelorette
p
arty.”

He frowned for a moment.  “I mad
e you miss all that, didn’t I?”

“What?”

“All the pre-wedding things like
b
ridal
s
howers and
h
en
p
arties.  I’m sorry.”

“Who says I have to miss
them
?”

“Don’t you?”

“No.  My friends won’t let me get away with it even if I’m already married.  I’m missing nothing.  I’m just getting
you
a little ea
rlier.  I couldn’t be happier.”

He breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. 
“I’m glad.”

“
Y
ou don’t have to worry.  I’m sure I
’
ll be getting more
ridiculous lingerie like this.”

“Good.  It’s not ridiculous though.  You’re beautiful and sexy.”  With that, he pulled me close, kissed me
,
and we started
off on
our
wedding night
festivities
.

We stayed up most of the night,
making love and
talking intermittently about what o
ur life would be like together.

“So what are we going to do about our living arrang
ements?” I asked at one point.

“I figured that
we would buy a house together.”