It was a perfect summer morning for wedding photos: clear, sunny skies and not too hot. Dorothy and Matthew were in the Tevellyns’ backyard, where Dorothy’s friend Sage Oxendine was getting ready with her camera. Bridget had set up an arch made of branches next to the pond, and added flowers around it for extra decoration. Dorothy had to admit that it was a beautiful backdrop for their photos, but she was grateful she didn’t see Bridget much that morning. She wasn’t good with thank-yous and giving compliments.
Dorothy looked over at her very-soon-to-be husband; Matthew wore a white dress shirt and blazer with black trousers, black dress shoes, and a dark purple bow tie. He looked handsome in a suit. She would have preferred more of the dark purple in their outfits instead of so much white, but she didn’t care enough about the aesthetic of their wedding to argue too much. Her mother, especially, had rather traditional tastes. Dorothy ended up with a simple but elegant look: a white sheath dress with a banded waist, off-the-shoulder sleeves and scoop back neckline; strappy heels; and pearl earrings. The only purple she got were some flower pins in her hair.
‘It doesn’t really matter,’ she reminded herself. ‘It’s not like I can ever be fully myself, anyway.’
She wondered if she would ever truly be happy in Appaloosa Plains; the town was too small and peaceful for anything exciting and nefarious to happen.
Sage interrupted Dorothy’s train of thought. “Try to relax,” Sage smiled. “You must both be a bit jittery, but we’re right on schedule, so there’s no reason to be worrying right now.”
Dorothy wondered if she looked jittery. She felt tired, not anxious. She looked over at Matthew – he didn’t look anxious, either. Sage, on the other hand, looked uncomfortable. Dorothy knew her friend wasn’t a fan of the outdoors, but surely such a beautiful sunny morning couldn’t be bothering her that much? Then again, Dorothy preferred a dark room over the bright outdoors, sometimes, too.
Matthew looked over at Sage, “Is there, like, a certain pose we should do or something?” he asked.
“Actually,” Sage said, “I’d prefer to start with us just talking, and we’ll take some ‘warm up’ shots, then I’ll start directing you a bit more as we go.”
“Oh, alright,” Matthew smiled.
“So why don’t we start with sharing some of your favourite memories together?” she prompted.
Matthew immediately began recounting stories of them as teenagers. ‘How is he always so sweet?’ Dorothy wondered. It would be sickening if she weren’t in love with him. Sage snapped a few photos, then instructed them to get ‘cozy’.
“Feel free to kiss and all that mushy stuff, don’t mind me,” Sage smiled. She moved around them to snap photos from different angles.
Matthew put his arms around Dorothy and quietly told her how beautiful she looked. Then he leaned in to whisper, “Sorry we couldn’t get you a dark purple dress, though,” which made her laugh a little.
After a few shots under the arch, Sage asked them to move around the pond and took some photos of them walking together, then some of them talking and cuddling on the opposite side. They ended the photoshoot soon after.
“I think we can end it there for this morning,” Sage smiled at the couple. “We got some great shots.”
“Sounds great, thanks Sage,” Matthew beamed.
“Well, we’ve all got a lot to do before the ceremony and reception tonight,” Sage said as she packed away her camera. “So I’ll be going, but I’ll see you soon.”
“See you then,” Dorothy nodded.
Matthew kissed his fiancé on the cheek and said a quick “I love you,” before heading inside to let his family know they could start bringing things over to the Falls.
Dorothy headed straight there to oversee the placement of everything and wait for her parents to arrive. She’d decided against inviting friends from school – not only because she thought it might be awkward since Matthew had barely met anyone outside of his family, but also because she had little interest in staying in touch with them in the future. She couldn’t be bothered to keep up with hollow relationships for the sake of appearances or “old times” or whatever. High school was over and Dorothy was ready to move on.
Dorothy’s parents soon arrived with the food for the buffet in the back seat of their car. Like with her dress, Dorothy and her mother had shopped around the city for a caterer. Since none of the restaurants would deliver to Appaloosa Plains, bringing the food became Dorothy’s parents’ contribution to the event.
“Darling,” Dorothy’s mother stepped out of the car with open arms. “You look gorgeous.”
After a hug, she added, “Aren’t you glad this is the dress we chose? It’s perfect.”
Dorothy smiled and nodded, but rolled her eyes once her mom couldn’t see.
“Hi hon,” her father said quietly as he embraced her. “Finally all grown up, I suppose,” he added gruffly.
“I suppose so,” Dorothy sarcastically agreed. She was used to her parents’ back-handed compliments and thinly veiled criticisms, but part of her had hoped they’d wait at least 5 minutes after their arrival for her wedding. She was their only child, after all.
“Now where shall we unload the food, hm?” her mother asked, looking around.
“We just put this table here for the buffet,” Dorothy pointed out. “Matthew or his family should be back soon with the linens for it.”
“Ah, yes, well,” her mother said. “I suppose I can help you make this place presentable after we unload the car.”
“No rental companies would come out to set up flooring or anything, eh?” her father shook his head. “Glad I have some leather cleaner at home to get the muck off my shoes.”
“Mr. and Mrs. Button!” Matthew called out, his warm tone cutting some of the tension that had been steadily building between Dorothy and her parents.
“Matthew,” Dorothy’s mother smiled politely and gave him a curt hug. “You look very sharp in your suit.”
“It’s a shame you didn’t get a good haircut to go along with it,” Mr. Button scoffed.
“I prefer to enjoy my hair while I’ve still got it, sir,” Matt laughed, offering his hand.
Dorothy’s father begrudgingly accepted the handshake, and Dorothy was sure he was preparing another judgemental comment. Luckily, they were interrupted when several Tevellyns arrived with wedding decor.
The families greeted each other politely. Mrs. Button offered to take the buffet table linens from Mason and instructed Dorothy to take the accompanying floral arrangements from “Mr. Tevellyn.” Altman smiled at the title. Matthew suggested their fathers take the food to the Tevellyns’ house, to store it in the fridge while everything got set-up.
Before Mr. Button could object, Mrs. Button commended the idea, adding, “you can bring the rest of the flower arrangements, candles and chairs back with you, as well.”
Everyone pitched in so everything was set up by mid-afternoon. The group had ample time to return to the Tevellyns’ to freshen up, bring the food back, and gather for the evening ceremony.
As the daylight faded, the candles were lit and everyone gathered near the wedding arch at the edge of the pond. Dorothy stood near the road with her father and they watched the crowd. Matthew was near the middle, smiling at his parents who were already trying not to cry. Sometimes Dorothy envied Matthew’s relationship with his parents. Her own parents were far more overbearing, and she was glad to escape them when she moved to Appaloosa Plains. With any luck, she may never have to see them again after today. But she knew that if they had children, Matthew would want them to meet their grandparents. Dread and doubt swelled in Dorothy’s gut. Did she really want to do this? Fully commit to this man, and the life he dreamt for them?
‘Well, it doesn’t have to be exactly like what he imagines,’ she reminded herself. ‘Reality isn’t as full of sunshine and unicorns as Matthew likes to believe… and Appaloosa Plains is a blank slate that I can… influence...’
Her father walked her through the small crowd of family members. He didn’t say a word, and neither did she… No ‘I love yous’ during their ceremonious hug before he stepped away. He didn’t even acknowledge Matthew before turning to join Dorothy’s mother at the back of the crowd. She glanced at her parents before walking up to the arch. They were both standing stoically, as uncaring as always… there mostly out of obligation. Dorothy was confident they were only interested in getting photos of them at the wedding so they could show their friends what a lovely, charming little life they’d ushered their daughter into. She sneered at the thought of all her mother’s friends congratulating her.
“You okay, love?” Matthew’s soft whisper interrupted her train of thought.
Dorothy could only muster a strained smile and, “Mhm,” as she took her last few steps up to the arch.
She tried to push aside her anger at her parents. Tried not to think about what a stark contrast her relationship with them was, against Matthew’s with his. She tried not to look around at the crowd and see how happy Bridget and Altman were for their child’s wedding day. Tried not to think about how happy his siblings were for him, too (well, except Aria, but Dorothy enjoyed torturing her too much to ever change her opinion). The thought of Aria probably seething amidst a crowd of happy, emotional family members brought Dorothy some small joy. Maybe she would enjoy this evening after all, she thought, if she focused on the parts of it that brought her joy.
“Dorothy,” Matthew began. “I almost can’t believe this day is finally here… I’ve loved you for a decade and know I’ll love you for all the decades we have left to live. You’ve been my best friend since we were kids, and I can’t imagine my life without you... You bring so much excitement to my life. I love how you do even the little things to the extreme. I love your artistic eye. I love how you’ve always been so supportive of me… I am so grateful you’ve taken the leap to live here and build a ranch with me. I hope I can support your dreams as much as you’ve supported mine.”
He paused and blinked back tears. Dorothy was fighting tears as well, but wasn’t sure if it was for the same reason. Was she who he thought she was? Was she locking herself in for a lifetime of pretending to be the wonderful woman Matthew saw in her? Then again, maybe she was the woman he saw — they’d known each other for most of their lives, so maybe he knew her better than she gave him credit for.
Matthew took Dorothy’s hand and continued, “I love you, I love you, I love you,” he said, slowly and softly, as he slipped a gold band onto her left ring finger.
“Matthew,” Dorothy smiled. “I’m not as poetic or hopelessly romantic as you, but I’ll try my best.” She paused for the amused reactions of the crowd.
“To put it simply, you helped me find my soul,” she paused again, trying in vain to stop the tears from finally rolling down her cheeks. She tried desperately to not care about what her parents might be thinking, hearing everything she and Matthew were saying to each other. Her anger for them helped stop her tears and allowed her to continue. “You bring out the best parts of me. I’ve been so lucky to have your friendship and love for most of my life, and I’m even luckier to have you for the rest. I love you.”
Dorothy took Matthew’s left hand and slid a gold band onto his ring finger as their families smiled and clapped politely (even Aria!). Matthew put his hands around Dorothy’s waist and brought her in for their first kiss as husband and wife. Ryker and Sage let out small cheers, but Aria and Dorothy’s parents had already stopped their applause.
Sage snapped a few more photos of the couple after the ceremony while their families started serving themselves dinner and sitting down to eat. After Dorothy filled her own plate, she noticed her parents were standing by the pond. She reassured Matthew that he could start eating, set down her food, and braced herself for whatever they had to say.
“I think we’re going to head home now, darling,” her mother said.
“Thanks for waiting for me to finish dinner,” Dorothy sneered. “Your photo op is all done, no further reason to be here.”
“Dorothy, don’t pretend you want us here in the first place,” her father sighed. “We have always tried—”
Dorothy scoffed loudly, interrupting him. “Bullshit, ‘you’ve tried!’ You’ve both always cared far more about appearances than you’ve ever cared about me, and then wonder why I don’t worship you?!”
“Quiet down,” Mrs. Button sighed, gently waving her hands.
“I WON’T!” Dorothy snapped. “Leave, then. Leave this wedding and leave my LIFE. Bitch about how evil I am on your way home; say whatever you want to your friends. I’m done with your bullshit. I don’t need you here, or in my life ever again!”
Mr. and Mrs. Button remained stoic and composed. Mr. Button curtly shook his head, put a hand on his wife’s arm, and began leading her to their car.
“Thanks for coming!” Dorothy shouted venomously as they got into the vehicle.
Matthew appeared next to her. “I’m sorry, love,” he said softly. “Let’s go over here for a moment,” he suggested, guiding her out of earshot from his family.
Dorothy sighed. She hated herself for still caring about her parents’ opinions. Hopefully that would fade with more time in Appaloosa Plains, in her new life. Matthew spoke softly, reassuring her, but she could barely hear him. She was considering which she’d prefer: for her parents to die in a violent car crash on their way home, or for them to live long enough to see her start a criminal organization, to their embarrassment and shame, suffering through both emotional turmoil and lengthy old age.
-----
Meanwhile, Sage was suggesting to Ryker and Altman that they should get some music started to distract everyone from the drama.
“I can also help clean up a bit, but I do have to leave soon,” Sage added.
“So early? You’re going to miss the party,” Ryker protested, trying not to sound too whiny.
“I know,” she frowned. “But I have to get back to Bridgeport tonight and I have another wedding shoot tomorrow.”
“Oh, that’s cool! So you’re a professional photographer? That’s awesome.”
His enthusiasm returned a smile to her face. “I like it,” Sage confirmed. “I’d love to do more travel and landscape photography, but I’m more comfortable in a studio or with clients.”
“Appaloosa Plains would be a great place to practice landscape photography,” Ryker beamed. “It’s not too far to come from Bridgeport.”
“I’m sure I’ll be back,” she agreed. “But I should get to that cleanup, and say goodbye to Dorothy. It was nice meeting you.”
“It was super nice to meet you!”
He watched Sage walk over to the buffet table as his father asked, “Didn’t she suggest we get the music started?”
“Hm? What? Oh, yeah… I’ll uh, I’ll help Aria get set up.”
-----
The rest of the evening was more light-hearted and joyful. Aria played music on her keyboard for everyone to dance to, and the family partied late into the evening….
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Author’s Notes: The screenshots with the “parents” I made for Dorothy were staged for story purposes. You may have noticed that Dorothy’s parents are absent from the crowd shots because I really wanted to use the ceremony photos from my original playthrough.
Similarly, Mason should still be a Child in this chapter based on my adjusted aging, but because I played this prior to making that adjustment, he appears as a Teen. (He will age up into a Teen in the next chapter.)
Townie Sage Oxendine appeared in my playthrough as a paparazzi at Cinnamon Crest Falls, so pretending she was a friend of Dorothy’s and introducing her as their wedding photographer seemed like a fitting way to introduce her to the story. The screenshots of her during the pre-ceremony photoshoot were staged for this chapter, but the ones of her at the ceremony are from the original playthrough. Unfortunately, I can’t remember if the shot of Ryker talking to her was when they first met, or if that was just the first time I considered her as a potential partner for him. Either way, you’ll be seeing more of them soon ;)
Here are a few more shots from my playthrough :)
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