Readers who are already familiar with my beach read, Dune Girl, may have wondered why I left out the main characters’ wedding. Particularly since the book opens with another wedding that never quite happens and ends at a point beyond a wedding which is mentioned only in allusions.
Truth is, I wrote Maggie’s and Michael’s wedding scene. It was just one of several that wound up on the proverbial cutting-room floor. Writers…
But, all is not lost, if you were wondering what happened. In celebration of Dune Girl’s first anniversary on the market, here’s a passage that gives a sneak peek:
Unseasonably balmy beach air flowed into the cottage with Moira. Maggie looked across the entryway the bay window. The lake sparkled bright blue and the marram grass and cotton woods swayed golden in the gentle breeze. It was a beautiful day, more like summer than fall.
“Everything’s almost set up,” Moira bubbled, pacing at the edge of the kitchen, where a hairstylist had Maggie in her grips. “It really does look like a chapel, right there on the beach.”
Surprisingly, the Kellys had originally balked at Maggie and Michael’s decision to have their wedding on the beach instead of at a church. It wasn’t until Michael had suggested the right artists could build a temporary chapel of sorts for the ceremony and that their church would be available as a foul-weather back up that everything had smoothed out.
Maggie stood to look out the window better and smiled. Michael had been right. Two of his sculptor friends were now in full Hollywood-director mode as the last few of the upright timbers were anchored in the sand. Already, swags of gauzy white and sage-green fabric were joining most of the poles to each other. They were accented here and there with trailing bouquets of sunflowers, white daisies and English ivy.
The overall effect was one of “walls.” There was even a distinct aisle between the rows of fabric-shrouded folding chairs that neatly faced the lake atop sections of portable dance flooring. A simple driftwood trellis Michael himself had assembled formed the altar.
“It’s beautiful,” Maggie whispered. Moira, Miss Naomi and Jo-Jo murmured in agreement.
Even the hairstylist was standing at the window now. “Your hair will be perfect for this setting,” she said, fingering a loose curl. “It will move with the breeze.”
There’s still more to this part of the story, of course. Maybe another post, another day. 🙂
Nora Edinger -- JOY Journal 