Kylie Cantrall's Arc

Chapter 61 of 78

The ring plan was set. The last gap closed. But Saturday morning, Kylie found a new one. She sat by the pool with her coffee and pictured the ceremony from the start. Before her verse, before the guitar, someone had to open the wedding. Kara would officiate. Kara would speak first. And Kylie had never told her what to say. She set the cup down. She and Arianna had planned every word of the vows, every note of the song. But the opening belonged to Kara, and Kara might just talk. If Kara improvised a warm, loud speech, it would break the quiet tone they built. The whole ceremony would start wrong. Kylie found Kara near the beach altar. Supergirl stood in her cape by the two potted palms, testing a linen knot with one careful hand. She had flown the dresses and the puppy here herself, days ago, without a soul noticing. Now she was checking Kylie's work like she checked everything, slow and sure. "Kara," Kylie said. "We need to talk about the opening." Kara turned. Her blue eyes went straight to Kylie's face, reading the worry there. "You look scared. Say it." "When you start the ceremony. What are you going to say?" Kara shrugged. "I hadn't planned it. I figured I'd welcome everyone. Say something kind about the two of you." That was the fear, right there. Kylie shook her head. "There is no everyone. It's you, me, Arianna, and the doctor. If you make a big speech, it breaks it. The whole thing is supposed to be small and quiet. Then I sing." Kara set the linen down. She didn't argue. "Then tell me the words. I'll say exactly those and nothing more." Kylie hadn't expected that. She'd braced for a fight. "You'd let me write your part?" "It's your wedding," Kara said. "I'm here to marry you two and keep your secret. Not to make a moment out of it. Give me the lines." Kylie pulled a card from her pocket. She'd already written them, hoping. She read them once. Kara listened, still and exact. Two short sentences. A name for each bride. Then silence, and Kylie's cue to sing. "Say it back," Kylie said. Kara said it word for word. No warmth added. No extra line. She landed on the last word and stopped, leaving the quiet open for the music. "That's it," Kylie said. "That's exactly it." Kara handed the card back. "I'll hold to it. Not one word more." Kylie tucked the card away. The opening was fixed now. Kara would speak two clean sentences, then step back. The tone would hold from the first breath to the last vow. Nothing left in the ceremony belonged to chance. By afternoon, the guests would gather. Four people on the sand. And the words that opened it all were finally hers.