Beach Wedding Read Online Free PDF Page A

all on me to do it for them.
    “Stop!”
    I’m pulled from my reverie by Marcie’s ear-splitting
shriek. “What’s wrong?” I panic, wrenching the
wheel.
    “Here! Right here!” Marcie points. It’s the
‘Welcome to Pelican Key Cove’ sign, stuck in sand by the
side of the road. “Pull over!”
    I do as she says, my heart still racing. “What’s the big
emergency?”
    “This will be perfect for B-roll.” Marcie grabs her
phone. “Hey, Nick? Keep an eye for the sign and stop the car.
It’ll be perfect for the sizzle reel.” She leaps out of
the car and begins pacing, making more calls.
    OK then.
    Soon, the limo pulls over, too. Pixie and Clyde emerge. Clyde’s
got a chilled bottle of sparkling water in one hand and a plate of
fresh fruit in the other.
    “That ride is bloody great!” he exclaims, munching a
slice of mango. “Did you know they have a PlayStation hooked
up? I’ve been beating Nick at Grand Theft Auto.”
    “Not for long, mate!” Nick calls. “Beginner’s
luck.”
    Marcie takes over corralling Pixie and Clyde in front of the sign.
The camera guys set up, shooting footage of them kissing and playing
around.
    I smile. Everyone in town’s taken that photo in front of the
sign. The summer before senior year, it was my turn. The whole group
was hanging out: me and Luke, his buddy, Wes, and my best friend,
Jules. The graduating class was holding their annual scavenger hunt,
and we were determined to take the crown. We stole garden gnomes from
the mayor’s house, planted weeds on the fifty-yard line, and
followed the clues all the way out here.
    “What does it say?” I’d called, laughing, as Jules
opened the envelope.
    “Take a photo with the pelicans,” she read aloud.
    “Is that it?” Luke had laughed, his arm slung around my
shoulders.
    Jules winked. “Topless.”
    Wes hooted. “Aw yeah! Get it off, girls!”
    I’d flushed and giggled, but I wasn’t about to back down
from a bet. And neither was Jules. We stripped down to our cut-offs
behind the sign then posed, hands cupping our bare chests, at the
guys hollered for more. Jules always said she destroyed the Polaroid
from that day, but Jules always said a lot of things.
    I wonder what she’s doing now. After I left town, I tried my
best to stay in touch: phone calls, and emails, and even letters, but
she drifted out of touch during college. I haven’t heard from
her since. She’s probably miles away by now, off living in a
big city somewhere, big enough to contain her wild personality.
    I snap back to reality. The crew looks like they’ll be here a
while, so I pull Marcie aside. “OK if I go on ahead?”
    “Sure,” she drags her gaze away from the shoot. “Just
be at the meeting by six. It’s on 3 rd street—”
    “I know where it is.”
    “Great. Wait, Pixie, do that again with your arms around him!”
Marcie turns back, striding over.
    I get in the car and drive on alone. Without Marcie to overrule me,
I roll the windows down and turn the radio up loud, letting the warm
ocean winds tangle my hair as the road leads me closer to home. I
cross the last bridge and suddenly, I’m here. It’s
strange to see how much things have both changed and stayed the same
in town. The wide Main Street is clustered with faded old stores and
newer tourists joints. There’s the hardware-slash-grocery
sitting next to a new ice-cream parlor, a fancy new coffee shop on
the corner by the library. There’s the church, the trampled
green of the town square. I see the old gazebo and make a mental note
for wedding locations. I’ll have to do a thorough search before
I can really plan this thing. We’ll need a venue for the
service, another for the reception, plus photos and parties. I can’t
imagine the crowd Pixie and Clyde will have coming. As far as I
remember, there’s just the B&B for out-of-towners, or the
motel up the highway. Somehow, I don’t picture the rest of the
Park Avenue Princesses sleeping four to a room on those