Captain of My Heart by Giselle Lumas

Author:Giselle Lumas [Lumas, Giselle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-06-25T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

On Saturday, as promised, Ray picked me up at four thirty, and we drove the thirty minutes to Beach City. The wedding was to take place on the beach, while the reception was at Beach City Embassy Suites. The hotel was within walking distance from the beach. Ray looked amazing, of course. He was in a loose-fitting tan shirt and slacks with a lavender lei around his neck. He also wore dark sunglasses. He appeared to be relaxed and genuinely happy. I had chosen a spaghetti-strap lavender sundress. My hair was up in a loose twist with ringlets around the edges.

He parked close to the hotel, and we strolled hand in hand to an area that had rows of chairs lined up. There were lavender, gold, and white helium balloons decorating the scene and chiffon ribbons tied to the aisle chairs. Rose petals were scattered about the aisle.

“So beautiful,” I said.

“My son is very artsy fartsy. He pretty much put the whole thing together,” Ray said with pride.

I grinned. “He did a great job. The bride must be happy not to have had too much to worry about.”

“Oh—” Ray was cut off by the officiant.

“Ladies and gentleman, please take your seats. Everyone appears to be here, and our hosts are anxious to get started with their new lives.”

A woman began playing the ukulele and singing “Rhythm of Love” as two toddler girls walked slowly down the aisle with baskets of rose petals. “Those are one of my sisters’ grandbabies,” Ray whispered.

“Cute,” I said.

“Yeah, they are little terrors.” He chuckled.

When the girls made it to the front row, a woman reached for them. I wondered why Ray’s son wasn’t standing at the front with the officiant. A bridesmaid and groomsman began making their way up the aisle, followed by two more, followed by two men dressed much like Ray except in white. They were holding hands. I blinked.

One of the men looked like a shorter, darker, thinner version of Ray. A lot thinner. I gasped. I tried to be as discreet as I possibly could, but I was shocked. Ray hadn’t told me his wife was black or that his son was gay.

“Yes, my wife was black, and my youngest son is gay,” Ray whispered, as if reading my mind. “Is that going to be a problem?”

I flushed. “No, of course not.” I thought about it for a second and wanted to make sure he knew about me. “You know I’m black, right?” I wasn’t trying to hide it; it had just never come up.

He nodded.

“You do?” I asked, surprised.

Not everyone realized that black comes in many different shades.

He nodded again. “Why? Does it matter?” Ray asked.

I shook my head.

“Good. Are you okay with one of my sons being gay?” he whispered, a hint of concern in his voice.

“No. I just had no idea. We obviously still have a lot to learn about each other.”

“Yep, we do, but we have all the time in the world.” He reached for my hand.

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