I feel the edge of her chin in my back as she nods against it, but still, the hold of her grip doesn’t loosen.
Rather than rush her, I put the weight of my bike onto the kickstand and wait. Red neon lights outline the chapel’s big sign, and a pair of kissing doves are painted on the side of the white brick.
Given our proximity to the desert, the spring night is more balmy than cool, but I swear I feel a shiver run up my clinging companion’s spine.
It’s only afterward that her iron grip softens, and one of her toned legs makes a move to step down onto her sky-high heels.
I stay still, acting as a steady brace as she finds her feet off a leaning bike, and climb off only when she backs away several steps and wraps her arms around herself.
Her curls poke out from the bottom of my helmet, and I have to bite my lip to keep from grinning as I take a couple steps toward her and help her remove it.
“Oh,” she says through a laugh as the padding scrapes over her ears on the helmet’s way off her head. “Right. I’m supposed to take that off, I guess.”
She’s nervous, obviously, but after living with my sister Winnie for as many years as I did, I’m not sure there’d ever be a woman who wasn’t when in this scenario.
And most men would be, too.
I set my helmet on the bike and lock the ignition, and then I head for the door, placing a hand on the small of her back and gently guiding her along with me as I go.
She moves freely and with ease, but her eyes are the size of very pretty saucers.
A happy, laughing, clearly drunk couple stumbles out through the doors ahead of us, and I sidestep, taking Daisy with me to keep them from barreling into us.
Daisy watches them with avid interest, and I have to squeeze the side of her hip to get her to precede me when I hold the door open.
Steps careful, she eases her way into the entry of the chapel, where red carpet, disco lights, busts of naked women, and dozens of bouquets of flowers await. This place certainly lives up to the Vegas wedding scene that most people picture. The front desk isn’t occupied by any other couples, so we’re able to step right up to it, and to the waiting man behind it.
“Welcome to the Happy Chapel!” he greets cheerfully, leaning into the plexiglass top with his elbows. “What can we help you with tonight?”
Daisy’s body locks, her muscles turning to stone and her eyes rivaling those of a cartoon. She looks like the lead character in a Disney movie, her wild curls dancing in the breeze of the air conditioning and tickling at her face.
“Ha!” The man at the desk laughs then, completely ignoring my companion’s audition for the movie Frozen. “Just kidding, obviously! It’s safe to say you’re here to get hitched, which means you’re in the right place. Step right up and take a look at our different packages! We’ve got the quicky, the slicky, the all I want’s the dicky.” His cackles take over, and Daisy’s frantic eyes come to me briefly.
I know she’s looking for some kind words and comfort, but the only thing I can manage is a soft, reassuring smile. Interestingly enough, the entire expression of her face changes at the sight of it, and all of the tension leaves—at least as far as I can feel—her body.
Nodding swiftly, she steps up to the counter and looks down below the glass as the front desk comedian runs through the options in more detail. “The quicky’s just the ceremony without the thrills. No flowers, no décor, just the quick and dirty contract. It does include a witness if you don’t have one of your own, though. The slicky has a lot more pomp and circumstance, two gold wedding bands, and you get to choose a bouquet and a slice of cake. It’s twice the price, but honey, can you really put a dollar limit on love?”
Daisy glances over her shoulder at me, and I offer an amused raise of my eyebrows. This guy is really something. When she turns back toward the desk, I don’t miss the longing way she looks up at the display of cakes and bouquets above the man’s head. Eventually, though, she replies, “I guess just the quicky will be fine.”
That look of hers is the same one I saw cross her face after we left the Clark County Marriage License Bureau and she spotted a small shop with tuxedos and dresses.
It’s also the reason my attire tonight transformed from jeans and a T-shirt to full-on black tuxedo.
“You don’t want to hear about the dicky?” The man behind the desk questions with a quirk of his brow.
“Um, no,” Daisy says through a giggle, glancing back at me.
“Are you sure?” he asks again, looking me up and down. “It’s very sexual, and the tension between Mr. Tall, Dark, and Silent back there and you is pretty thick.”
I also want to laugh at his absurdity, but I step into the fray and place a soft hand on Daisy’s back that nearly makes her jerk several joints out of their sockets trying to contort to see it.
“Actually, we’ll take the one with the flowers and the cake.”
Daisy’s big green eyes meet mine. “What?”
“A wedding, any wedding,” I tell her, “has flowers and some cake.” When she doesn’t respond, I pointedly touch the lapels of my black tuxedo and then smile at the formfitting cream silk dress she’s been wearing since she tried it on at the rental shop.
We’ve dressed the part, Daisy. It wouldn’t feel right not to include the cake and flowers, too.
She nods then, studying me closely, and a tiny, breathtaking smile lights her up from her smiling mouth to her now sparkling eyes.
“Okay, then,” front desk man chirps, spinning in a circle and grabbing some forms from a tray. “Just fill these puppies in with the important information, and I’ll get it all typed up and ready to go.” He leans forward and points to the papers. “See here? This is the section where you pick the flowers and cake flavor, okay? They’re all labeled up there.”
“Great,” Daisy replies, taking the forms from his hands, placing them on one of the waiting clipboards from the counter, and grabbing a pen to fill everything out. I follow her to the other side of the room as she takes a seat in a chair and starts writing. I shamelessly watch over her shoulder.
Daisy Marie Diaz. Twenty-nine years old. Birthday December 25.
“Christmas baby, huh?”
She laughs a little. “So the city of Vancouver tells me.”
The city of Vancouver tells her? Not her parents? Interesting.
Done with her information, she offers the clipboard to me, where I quickly scribble down my information. It’s nothing too thorough—just very basic information and a home address.
When I’m done, I get up and walk the clipboard back over to the counter, carefully checking the sheet to see which bouquet she’s selected.
Number 2A.
Big, bright Gerbera daisies all packed together in an overcrowded cluster. Very interesting. I really thought she’d go for one of the more refined sets of delicate whites and pinks, but then again, I’m finding that this woman never hesitates to surprise me.