Hold Your Peace (Short Story)

Standing at the altar, time seemed to freeze. I wanted to remember this moment forever.  So many times I had played this scene over in my mind. I was about to become Dana Murphy. Mrs. Ryan Murphy. Mrs. Murphy.
Would I ever get tired of saying my new name?
I looked into Ryan’s
piercing
green eyes that stared back into mine. They were full of love and held a twinkle of excitement. Our future was starting today.

All of the planning, the meetings with photographers and caterers and decorators had been worth it.
I had dreamed of the perfect wedding since I was a little girl. And now, t
he church was a vision of wedding perfection that any bride would drool over. Every detai
l was exquisite from t
he strapless chiffon bridesmaid dresses and
the fragrant bouque
ts
on the pews to the twenty page wedding programs and
the Swarovski crystal butterflies
in my flower girl’s hair.
I
was wearing
the perfect designer wedding gown that looked like it had been made
just
for me.
The planning had been stressful at times, but nothing worthwhile comes easy and every moment of stress was erased by the immense joy in my heart.

Everyone that we loved was there, supporting us, watching us
about to
becom
e husband and wife.  Even m
y father, who never cries, had eyes
wet
with tears as he escorted me down the aisle to my waiting groom.
I was taking mental snapshots of every moment and saving them to an album in my mind.

I looked back at Ryan. Not only was he drop-dead gorgeous
with his movie star
smile
and chiseled features
, he treated me like I was a princess
. He was
a gentleman who was
compassionate, caring and loved kids. He had a successful veterinary practice and a heart for animals. I had definitely found Mr. Right.
I met him two years ago and it was love at first sight. We dated for about a year before he proposed on a beach in Mexico and had the spent the last year planning our dream wedding.

As the wedding ceremony was coming to a close, I was giddy with excitement.
The vows had been said, unity candle lit and rings exchanged.
My stomach felt like I was on a roller coaster. Staring at Ryan, I could hear Father Patrick asking, “
Should anyone here present know of any
just reason
that this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace.
”

Why is that
line
even included in wedding ceremonies anymore? I
t’s true that I
had
wanted a traditional service, so we kept it in, but really. Anyone who has met us knows that we are perfect for each other.
There is absolutely no reason for us not to be joined in
holy matrimony.
But suddenly, there was a voice.
A woman’s voice
,
coming from the back of the church.

“I know of a reason,” the voice said.

Wait. What?

Was this a joke?

Everyone in the church turned to see who was attempting to stop our nuptials.  Even the string quartet behind the altar had strained their necks to get a view of this disruption.
I pulled my veil up over my face so that I could get a good look, too.
What we saw was a stunning blond woman standing in the aisle in the back of the church. She was about 5’10 with long, shiny gold
en hair and the body of a model, her short black dress hugging every curve.
I had no idea who she was, but even in all the glory of my wedding beauty, I felt inadequate next to this woman. I was about 5’3 with brown eyes and mousy brown hair that was pulled into a chignon today.
She looked like a blond, bronzed goddess.

As she started walking slowly up the aisle, I wondered what in the world was going on. Was I on some sort of hidden camera show? Were my bridesmaids in on this crazy idea? But a quick look at their faces told me that they had no clue what was happening, either. Then I spied Ryan’s face. His expression wasn’t one of confusion, like the one I wore, but rather one of horror. His mouth was
wide open. “Mandy?” he choked
.

“Oh my God!
Amanda!” I heard his mother gasp.

“I’
m Ryan’s fiancé and I can’t let this wedding happen.
How’s that for a good reason?
”

There was a collective gasp from the captive audience.
Then complete silence.

Amanda
…bells were going off in my head. No wonder Ryan looked as if he had just seen a ghost. He had. Though I ha
d never met her before, Ryan was engaged to Amanda but the engagement had
ended with her death. She died in a car accident three years ago. Though I didn’t know many of the details, I knew it had been incredibly hard on him. He grieved her loss for a long time and didn’t start dating again until a year later. That’s when he met me.

“I, I…I don’t understand. You died. I was at your funeral.
How can you be here?
” Ryan stammered.

The silence in the room had been shattered and now the room was full of half-whispered chatter. People in my family wondering who she was and Ryan’s friends and family
, like him, were
wondering how she could be here if she was supposed to be dead. 

Of all the things I dreaded might go wrong on this day, this was absolutely not one of them. This was like a bride’s worst nightmare.
Never in my wildest imagination could I have envisioned this.
Please let this just be a dream
, I said in my mind.

“No, Ryan, I didn’t die, I’m alive. I am so sorry for the pain you and your family went through for thinking that I was dead.
But
I need
to explain to you what happened before you go through with this.
”

He didn’t even look at me, but I felt my hand slip from his grasp. He fumbled down the altar steps and ran down the aisle to her. I watched helpless
ly
as he grabbed her in his arms and I heard him start to sob as he buried his face in her hair.

This was really awkward.

“I can’t believe it’s really you,” I could hear him say.

The room was spinning and I felt like I was going to be sick. Luckily my bridesmaids quickly rallied around me.  Chelsea, my maid of honor, grabbed my ar
m and then put her arm around my back
to help hold me up. She probably thought I was about to faint
, I’m sure I must have looked like I was about to
. The others flocked around me, too. Only Erin, Ryan’s sister, still stood frozen
in her spot, in apparent shock, like she was seeing a ghost in the flesh.

Another bridesmaid, Nikki, who had been my college roommate, glared down the aisle at Amanda. “Hey!” she yelled, “I don’t care who you are, what is wrong with you to crash a wedding like this?” She stood with her hand on her hip
and looked like she was ready to throw down her bouquet and start a fight.

For a moment, time froze again. Only this time, I didn’t want to take any snapshots with my mind. I didn’t want to remember any of the
nightmare
that was unfolding before me. I saw Ryan and Amanda embracing, our guests looking back and forth from them up to me.  My heart was a heavy weight in my chest, crushing my lungs. I needed to sit down.

Ryan looked back up at me, as if he remembered. “Dana,” he said, “
are
you ok?”

He ran back to me and helped me up.

“What is going on, Ryan? Is this some kind of joke?” Please let it just
be
a joke
. I might be able to get over that.

“No, it’s not. I thought Mandy was dead; I had no idea she’d come here today.”

Father Patrick wasn’t sure what was going on. Really, none of us were. He looked at Ryan and me and said, “Umm, so…should we continue? I have to say that in the 30 years of presiding at weddings, this is the first time anyone has done this.
I’m not sure exactly what to do.
”

“Well, she should have held her peace, Father,” Nikki said, still defending me. “This is a private event and you are NOT on the guest list, sweetie.”

“I can’t
…
not yet,”
Ryan said. I heard the words as if in a filter, like I was in a dream. My eyes were filling with tears.

“All I know is that 3 years ago, Mandy was killed in a car acciden
t, I had her buried. And now she’s here. I just need to talk to her, to find out the whole story of what’s going on. I need to put closure on this before I can go on.”

Closure?
Wait, did he mean clo
sure with me or closure with her?
Of all the times for her to resurface, she chooses the middle of our wedding.
What a total drama queen.
I felt like I was in a scene from a bad soap opera.

“Ok, let’s figure this out,” I said meekly. I looked at Father Patrick with pleading eyes and he said, “Why don’t the two of you, or, umm, three of you, I guess, go into the prayer room where you can talk privately.” He motioned to a door behind the altar.

Then, thankfully, he spoke to our guests so we didn’t have to. As we walked to the prayer room, I heard him apologize to everyone for the delay but asked the quartet for some music while they waited.

I caught a fleeting glimpse of the my flower girl, Cassi
dy, flopping down on the ground
looking bored
a
nd then saw my parents, whose faces were both
full of pity for me. That was too much to see, and I felt a lump growing in my throat, matching the one that was already in the pit of my stomach.

We were about to go into the room when I looked at Ryan, who still appeared to be in shock.
I grabbed his hand and stopped him.

“Ryan, do you want to talk to her alone,
because
I understand if you do.” I really hoped he would want me there, too, but thought I would at least offer. As miserable as I was feeling right now, I couldn’t imagine the emotions he must have been experiencing.

“Of course not, you need to be here, too.”  I smiled at his words, grateful
that he didn’t forget about me and wanted me with him.

Once behind closed doors with Amanda, I got a closer look at her.
She didn’t look happy to see me included in their reunion.  And I wasn’t happy to see that s
he was even more stunning up close. Her tan skin was perfectly clear and glowing. She smelled like strawberries
and vanilla
. I wondered that
in all the time I’d known Ryan why
I had never even seen a picture of her. Once we started dating, he had taken down any pictures he had of her and I never asked to see them because I hadn’t wanted to cause him any pain. I knew that it had been hard on him, but it wasn’t an issue in our relationship. He had told me that finding me was the best thing that had ever happened to him and that he loved me and that the thought of spending the rest of his life with me made him the happiest man in the world. I hope that he still felt that way now.

There was a small round table in the room and we all sat down at it, Ryan helping me with my gown as I carefully took my chair. Then he looked at her, his eyes filled with disbelief.

“Mandy, I never thought I’d see you again, how can you be alive?”