e into his thoughts； and he realized his feet had brought him
directly in front of her。 Ruby stood behind her； madly kissing Piotr even though there had been
no ？You may kiss the bride？ yet。 The ceremony hadn？t even begun。
？Hey。？ Dan smiled shyly。 ？You look 。 。 。 uh； nice。？ Damn。 He was a poet； and he couldn？t e
up with anything better than ？nice？？
Roses are red； violets are blue； your lips are real nice； and so are you！
She smiled back shyly。 ？Um 。 。 。 just trying something new for the wedding。？ ？He means
gorgeous。？ Jenny threw her arms around Vanessa。 ？I love your dress！？ ？You guys can sit here if
you want。？ Vanessa pointed at an empty bench； and Dan and Jenny sat down。 ？I have to go cue up
the music and get my camera ready。 You？re up after Piotr？s friends； okay？？ she told Dan and then
quickly made her way to a picnic table farther down the aisle； where one of Piotr？s friends；
wearing a white T…shirt with a black skull and crossbones printed on it； was fiddling with an
iBook。
Dan inspected the other partygoers； who were mostly dressed in casual clothes？except for Piotr？s
friends； who were wearing black…； white…； and red…striped suits。 They resembled a pack of hipster
clowns just released from some bizarre Czech prison。
Just then a Czech ballad struck up； and Ruby and Piotr began skipping backwards hand in hand
around the giant oak tree。 Some guy in one of those weird striped suits whom Dan could only
assume was Piotr？s best man joined in the skipping and the crowd cheered。
Whatever happened to ？Here es the Bride？？
They stopped skipping and stood off to the side as the Czech ballad quieted and a group of four
striped…suited