Beyond Wild Imaginings (21 page)

Rachel walked into the bathroom wearing a teal dress, and she put her hand to her chest and gasped as she caught sight of Kelly. Kelly smirked. She had expected that.

“Oh my gosh! Kelly! You cannot wear—”

“A black dress to my wedding?” Kelly walked past her sister and grabbed her arm, tugging her along after her. “It’s my wedding. Yes, I can.”

“But it’s—”

“Bad luck? I don’t believe in luck. Besides”—she shrugged and made a desperate stab at humor—“who knows how long he’ll be here. I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone and make this a funeral too.” Her stomach lurched even as she said it.

Rachel stared at her. “That’s not even funny, Kelly.”

Kelly looked down and swallowed hard. “Yeah, I know.” Her voice sounded choked, and she felt tears sting her eyes.

“Okay, Kel.” Rachel took her by the shoulders. “Don’t think about that now. Tonight you are marrying the man of your dreams.” She frowned. “Literally.” She shook her head, sending her gold earrings dangling. “Anyway, don’t think about sad things. Just concentrate on the time you have with Garren now.”

Kelly huffed in frustration. “Which lord only knows is how long considering Garren is either lost and flapping his wings off trying to get here on time, or is wandering around an enormous pyramid because you’re yakking and wasting time!”

Rachel grinned. “All right, enough dillydallying! Chad is waiting in the hall. Let’s go find your husband!”

A girlish giddiness swept over Kelly as Rachel pulled her out of the room. She decided to take Rachel’s advice and not think about anything sad right now. This was her wedding day. It may be unconventional, and a little insane, but she was going to enjoy every precious second of it.

* * * *

To say he was exhausted would be the worst kind of understatement. Garren had never been so tired in all his life. As a creature of the Creative Realm, he was used to not getting tired, but number one: he had never tried flying across a country before, and number two: it took a lot of his energy just to remain in existence in Kelly’s world. Strenuous physical exertion did not help matters.

He didn’t want to alarm Kelly, but he already felt the pull back to his world. It was difficult for him to remain, and it made him think that he had even less time than he’d originally thought. They didn’t have a second to waste.

“Garren, there you are!”

He turned at the sound of Rachel’s voice, and the air slammed out of his lungs as his eyes fell on Kelly. He’d always thought she was beautiful, even in her pajamas and pigtails, but seeing her now, in her slinky, black dress, she looked like a goddess. His heartbeat faltered and he felt tears sting his eyes. Such beauty. She was so beautiful in every way. Knowing he would have to give that up…He shook his head. It didn’t matter. Not now. This resplendence was his for now, and that was all that mattered.

She walked up to him with a smile that he could tell was forced. Doom and sorrow was an undercurrent, despite their efforts to forget about it. He put his hands on her shoulders and slid his fingers in a feathery caress down her arms. “You are so gorgeous,” he whispered. She grinned.

She shook her head. “I don’t want to go back to the hotel. That’s just wasting time. I don’t care that he’s wearing all black. So am I. Besides”—she ran a finger over his studded belt—“this was what he looked like when he first came to me. I want him this way.” She met his eyes as the words left her lips, and a shiver went up his spine. He gave her a soft smile, then pulled her into his arms and kissed her on top of the head. He delighted in the feel of her arms circling his waist.

“Uh, okay, guys, not to break up the moment,” Chad interrupted, “but all these tourists can’t see Garren, and Kelly hugging the air is starting to make people stare.”

Kelly’s giggle made heat course through Garren, and he grinned down at her. “Well, we don’t want to cause a scene,” he teased.

Rachel rolled her eyes. “Are you kidding me? That’s exactly what we’re about to do. Come on, let’s go find a chapel with someone who has a little creative magic.”

Chapter Eighteen

Seven wedding chapels and not a soul who could see Garren. It was discouraging and annoying, and Kelly was beginning to think that, by the time they found a chapel, if they found a chapel, she would end up getting married at three in the morning. It was already close to eleven-thirty. Thank goodness Vegas never slept or they would be seriously out of luck. As it was, several of the more promising chapels had been closed. She didn’t want to have to think about getting married the next day. That would just be a waste of more precious time.

They wearily entered a very neon chapel called A Hunka Hunka Burning Love and were met with lots of plush red velvet and glittery decorations.

Kelly frowned and followed the direction of the voice until her eyes landed on the front desk and a very large man dressed to the T like Elvis. She let out an uncontrolled, startled shout.

Rachel arched an eyebrow and put one hand on her hip. “Excuse me?”

Elvis indicated her and Chad. “You two planning on getting hitched?”

Kelly had never seen her sister look more horrified. She gaped at Chad and scrunched up her face. “To him? Are you out of your mind?”

“Must be you two then.” Elvis grinned and nodded at Kelly.

At first, Kelly thought he meant her and Chad, but the realization slowly dawned on her that he had shot a distinct glance at Garren. Her heart faltered and felt like it was tripping over itself as it tried to beat. “Wait, you can see him?” She pointed to Garren.

Elvis looked confused for a second, then raised an eyebrow. “Sure, sugar. Can’t you?” He chuckled. “He ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog from what I’m seeing.”

Kelly heard Chad and Rachel gasp unanimously, and she chose to ignore the bad song reference Elvis had slipped in. She shook her head. “Are you the minister?”

Elvis shook his head and pointed over his shoulder to a bar carpeted in more red velvet and glitter. “That would be Howie’s job.”

Kelly glanced at the fat, balding man behind the bar. He looked like he could be in the Italian mafia. He threw back a double shot of what appeared to be vodka, then slammed down the glass, choked, wheezed, and raised his hand in greeting.

Chad shook his head. “No, it’s Dis-Grace
land
!” He laughed at his own joke.

Rachel gave him an icy scowl, and he instantly shut up.

Kelly giggled and shook her head, meeting Rachel’s eyes. “Look, this may be the only chance we’ve got. We can’t afford to be choosey here. For some reason that is completely unknown to me, Elvis and the drunkard seem to have an abundance of creative magic.”

Howie let out a phlegm-laden cough and waddled out from behind the bar. “The King here is gonna get all your paperwork set up. I gotta make a trip to the bathroom.” He put his hand on his stomach and winced. “I ate some bad beans for dinner, you know what I’m sayin’?” He made an exploding gesture with his hands.

“Nah, he’s just a chain smoker,” Elvis replied. “Come on, now, let’s get you all set up legal-like. We’ll have you married and singing the ‘Jailhouse Rock’
in no time.”

Chad frowned. “Uh, forgive me for being dense here, but why?”

Elvis looked up at him and chuckled. “Marriage, you know? The ol’ ball and chain?”

Kelly started giggling, and it got worse as she caught sight of Chad’s and Rachel’s mortified expressions. Garren seemed relatively unabashed, but that just made the situation that much more humorous.

Rachel heaved a sigh and rolled her eyes. “What can you possibly find funny about this?”

Kelly grinned and shook her head. “All of it, Rachel.” She looked up at Garren, who beamed down at her with pure adoration reflected in his eyes. It was a spot of happiness that momentarily chased away the impending dark clouds. When she looked back at her wedding, she would remember that it had been crazy and she would laugh.

She ran her hands up Garren’s chest and sighed. “This is perfect,” she whispered. Garren wrapped his arms around her, and she closed her eyes as she basked in his warmth.

Rachel rolled her eyes and flung her hands up in the air. “I give up,” she muttered. “You are officially more insane than I ever gave you credit for.”

Kelly giggled and snuggled closer to her husband-to-be. Yeah, maybe she was.

* * * *

Kelly winced as she tried to guide her inebriated sister down the hall of the hotel, only to have her trip over nothing and slam into a random door. Rachel burst into laughter and slid part way down it.

“Come on now.” She hiccupped. “It’sss not ever’day your sissster gets married,” she insisted, still managing to scowl at Chad. “’Specially to an invisible dude, and by a wheezing man fulla diarrhea.” She cackled and stumbled backward.

Kelly bade good night to Chad once they got back to their room, and Garren cast her an amused glance as he carried Rachel through the door. “I’ll be right back,” he said.

Kelly giggled and nodded.

“G’night, sissss!” Rachel bellowed. “Have good sex!”

Kelly felt her cheeks burn, and she closed her eyes as she hung onto the door. “Thanks for announcing that to the entire hotel, Rach. I appreciate it.”

Kelly giggled and closed the door, but kept the latch out so that Garren could come back in without needing a key. She sat down on the edge of the bed and smirked as she recalled the evening.

The ceremony had been a whirlwind, to say the least, but that was probably a good thing considering Howie had sounded like he might drop dead of consumption at any moment.

To Kelly’s surprise, Chad and Rachel had gone in cahoots and bought them a simple set of wedding bands. Kelly really didn’t know when they’d found the time to conspire between the DMV and the airport, but it didn’t matter. The rings were plain bands of white gold. Nothing fancy in the least, which was fine with Kelly. It was the thought behind the gesture that mattered the most.

The one good thing about the ceremony being so amazingly short was the fact that it hadn’t given either her or Garren time to feel apprehension or nervousness. Only mild bewilderment at the rushed pace of things. Even their kiss had been a quick peck, nothing like what they really wanted to do, but Kelly had feared that an elongated, passionate kiss might just put Howie over the edge.

Elvis had sung a very good rendition of “Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” on their way out, and Kelly had to say it had been the most memorable and…unique wedding she had ever seen.

After the ceremony, they had all gone to a restaurant and laughed and talked. No one concerned themselves with whether or not Garren could be seen. It was a joyous occasion and a private moment for all of them…and Rachel’s rum bottle.

Now, Kelly was exhausted. It had been a long day, and she was pretty sure that she’d experienced the entire range of human emotions. She bent down to take off her shoes, but found her hands stilled by Garren’s fingers over hers. She jumped because she hadn’t even heard him come in the door, and her heart leapt. “Garren,” she breathed. “You gave me a heart attack.”