Our Love Story: Part 4

Preface: If you missed Part 1 & 2 & 3 of our love story, go back & get caught up here & here & here before continuing below!

We had been introduced into the reception and were seated on either side of the bride & groom at the head table. I organized my pretty yellow notecards & prepared to give my toast to my best friend & her new husband.

Camera slung over my shoulder, I was handed the microphone and proceeded to make my toast:

“I’d like to make a toast to Paul & Naomi:
Dear Paul & Naomi, Romans 8:28 says “And we know that all things work together for good for them that love God and are called according to His purpose.”
Over the past few days it seems that anything that could go wrong has gone wrong. Whether it’s been the alteration of the dresses, the icing on the cake, Naomi being sick with fear that Paul’s wedding ring wouldn’t arrive on time, or the nasty weather we had this morning, it still all comes together to one point: it all came together to work for good. Someday, you’ll look back on today and realize why everything happened the way it did. God has been in control of everything from the beginning.
As the Lord has brought you both together, and designed the blossom of affection to grow into a beautiful creation of love, my prayer is that you both would keep Him first as you take this next step into being husband & wife.
May the Lord be with you & bless you. May you see your children’s children. May you be poor in misfortune and rich in many blessings. May you know nothing but happiness from this day forward.”

Applause, beaming smiles, a sniffle or two – perfect – exactly the outcome I was hoping.

I hugged my best friend & then reached around her to hand the microphone to the best man. At least whenever anyone thinks back to Paul & Naomi’s wedding reception, they’ll remember that I was the one prepared.

Derrick stood and straightened his tux. He cleared his throat and began:

“I’d like to make a toast to the bride & groom:
First I want to say that, I always thought that I would get married before my brother, because I’m the taller, more handsome, and more talented one. No, not really, Paul’s actually a wonderful guy. And I’m just really happy for him.
I wanted to say: everyone always thought that I was the older brother, because I’m taller. But ya know, I love him – he’s a good brother.
But um, I’m just really happy for the both of you. I’m really glad I could be here to see this. And, I’m looking forward to being an uncle. So, congratulations.”

Laughter, applause – no sniffles – but at least he’d said something nice.

Suddenly the room erupted in the guests pounding on their tables. In the absence of glasses to clink, Paul & Naomi’s guests took it upon themselves to pound the tables, hoot, holler, and then cheer the bride & groom on as they finally got the message & kissed.

Paul’s Uncle Jim prayed and we launched into lunch. And way too fast, it was time for Paul & Naomi’s first dance as husband & wife. As they swayed together in the middle of the church sanctuary-turned-reception venue, I suddenly remembered what was going to happen next. My stomach twisted into knots. If I had been nervous for my toast, it was nothing compared to what was to come next.

In an effort to open up the dance floor, Paul & Naomi had decided to go from their first dance into a bridal party dance. The hope was that, once the bridal party dance was over, since there was already a group of people on the dance floor, that it would entice & make other guests more comfortable to join them.

There was just one problem: the bridal party dance meant that I, the Maid of Honor, had to dance with Derrick, the Best Man.

We could back up the story a bit here: I had never formally danced with anyone in my entire life. I was hoping (so hoping) that Derrick would take the lead & would know what he was doing.

The DJ called the bridal party to the dance floor and we each found our partners. I smiled up at the giant and he smiled down to me. Awkwardly, we held hands and started to kinda-sorta dance. Neither of us had any idea what we were doing and deep down we were hoping that no one would notice us. Everyone’s eyes should be on the bride & groom, right?

“So, how was my toast?”

“It was okay, it could have been better.”

“Yeah? Well, next time, I’ll try to be a little more prepared.”

“Next time? You plan on your brother & my best friend getting married again?”

He shrugged, “You never know!”

We were laughing and teasing and trying not to step on each other. And that’s when we felt another person’s presence behind us.

We turned around and there was Derrick’s Aunt Susie (his Mom’s sister). In the background, I could see Derrick’s family, all standing together, giggling and pointing – at us. I wanted to melt into a puddle. So much for us blending in.

His Aunt so sweetly took Derrick’s right hand from my shoulder and moved it to my waist. Apparently we had both missed “dancing 101” class and were at a loss for exactly what the etiquette was as far as hand placement went.

We all laughed, Derrick shrugged, and we continued dancing. Thankfully the song ended shortly after that and we both left the dance floor – giving way to more “experienced” dancers.

We went our separate ways. I grabbed my camera to take a few photos and Derrick went back over to his family & his friend, Jake. As embarrassed as I felt for not knowing how to slow dance, I had to admit, it was actually kind of fun. And it was a shame that the song was over – especially now, since we had had some “formal” instruction and were a bit better at the whole thing.

A few songs were played and the cake was cut. And unknown to me, Derrick was over talking to his family.

Up to this point, he hadn’t really paid very much attention to me. I was the slightly annoying Maid of Honor who wanted him to be more prepared for his toast. But something happened when we danced together. Maybe it was the awkwardness or the embarrassment, but he caught a twinkle in my eye that stuck out to him. From across the room, he watched me.

And when the DJ turned on another slow song, who did I see lumbering over to me, but the tall Best Man.

“Would you like to dance again? This time, I have a better idea of what to do.” He smiled and I said yes.

Neither of us have any recollection of what we talked about during that song, but it was enough. Enough that Derrick realized he wanted to get to know this bubbly little Maid of Honor better. He had just one more question he needed to ask.

As the wedding reception wound down, the bride & groom left, and clean-up began. The bridal party returned to their respective getting-ready rooms to change out of their wedding attire. Since the wedding had taken place in the morning, it was still early afternoon. Derrick needed to get back to college and was planning on driving back that afternoon.

After changing, Derrick brought his tux, in it’s bag, into the room where I was cleaning up things from getting ready that morning. He hung it with the other tuxes to be returned that evening and approached me with a question.

“So, do you like roller coasters?”

Taken a bit aback, I said, “Of course! Who doesn’t?”

He smiled, “No, I mean, really like roller coasters.”

“Yes? What do you mean?”

“Well, I’m kind of a roller coaster nerd, I love roller coasters.”

“Oh, fun!” I responded and I instantly knew how to impress him. “I’ve ridden on the longest coaster in the world!”

His expression suddenly changed to amazement, “You’ve ridden on Steel Dragon 2000?!”

“Steel Dragon? You mean Dragon Mountain? At Marineland in Canada.”

He smiled, “That’s not the longest coaster in the world. Not even close.”

“What? There were signs there that said it was!”

“Well, it’s not true. It was the tallest coaster for a few years, but it’s long been surpassed.”

Upset that I’d gotten my facts wrong, I assured him that I still loved roller coasters, just apparently not as much as he did.

“Listen, I have to go & get on the road so I can get back to school, I’d really like to get to know you a little bit better though. Could I get your phone number?”

Completely taken aback, I stared at him in shock for a moment. “Uhh, you’d have to ask my Dad.”

“Your Dad?”

“Yeah – he’s the one who has been taking video all day.”

“I know who your Dad is. I just want to get to know you a bit better, not marry you. Why do I have to ask your Dad?”

“It’s just, this thing, I don’t know. If he says yes, then you can have my number.”

Shocked, deflated, confused, Derrick left the room. I really hoped that I hadn’t just made a huge mistake. I hadn’t planned on putting Derrick to the test. The thought of him asking for my number had never even crossed my mind as a potential situation. And when it arose, the “challenge” response just came out.

I continued straightening up the room, really hoping that Derrick would approach my Dad and that my Dad would say yes.

Derrick left the room and went straight out to his Jeep. He wasn’t going to go talk to this girl’s Dad – no way. That just seemed way too serious. Why had she even suggested it? Was she crazy?

He dumped his stuff in his Jeep and came in to say goodbye to his family. As he made his rounds of hugs & goodbyes, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he needed to do it. He needed to go find the Maid of Honor’s Dad and talk to him.

Finally, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to leave and have any peace doing so, he went in search of Mr. Eichelberger. What did he have to lose? After all, he’d likely never see this girl or her Dad ever again, so why not?

Mr. Eichelberger wasn’t hard to find and Derrick went straight up to him. Before he could lose his nerve, he simply asked: “Do you mind if I have your daughter’s phone number?”

A little taken aback, Kara’s Dad asked for a little clarification.

“I’d like the chance to get to know your daughter a bit better, but I’m on my way out the door to go back to school. She said I needed to ask you before she would give me her number.”

Kara’s Dad, never in a hurry, then proceeded to ask Derrick a few questions. What was he going to school for? How much more school did he have? What were his plans after college?

Derrick answered each question, feeling more and more awkward. What was he doing? This was just too weird – all he wanted was her phone number!

Finally, Mr. Eichelberger said that Derrick could have Kara’s email address. He explained that they didn’t have unlimited minutes and he didn’t want his phone bill run through the roof. He thought that emailing would be just fine for a little while.

With a sigh of relief that that was over, Derrick went back in search of Kara. He found her & explained that he could get her email address. Scrounging around, they found an offering envelope & Kara scribbled her email onto the back of it.

And with that, Derrick jumped in his Jeep & headed back to school in Philadelphia.

I was on cloud 9. Not only had the Best Man taken up my challenge to talk to my Dad, my Dad had given his permission for us to get to know each other a bit better. Friends – that was all.

Not wanting my head to run off into dreamland and wanting to keep my heart as much in check as possible, I prayed the entire way home.

“Lord, if this is meant to be anything more than friendship, please guide both of us and our hearts, and let everything happen in Your time.”

..Part 5 coming soon!