第19部分(第2/7 頁)

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