Page 7 of Without You

Katie

Holy crap. That just happened. I want to laugh but I know Hannah would murder me so instead, I fist my hands so my nails bite into my palms. I can’t decide which was the best part, Hannah’s obvious frustration not by the fact that Brody and his friends showed up here, but because of his announcement about signing some sort of huge contract or if it was just getting to see Brody again. It was clear that he didn’t show up here tonight because he missed Hannah or wanted her back. Even though I’m pretty sure that’s how Hannah will spin this story for the rest of her life.

I watch as Brody, Chad, and Johnny walk out the door and can’t help but wish I was going with them. I didn’t grow up with them like Hannah did since my family didn’t move here until I was a junior in high school but I always liked them. A lot more than I care to admit, actually.

When Hannah called me a year ago to tell me she was getting married and asked if I’d be a bridesmaid, I thought it was a joke. We hadn’t really spent much time together in years and had barely kept in touch. We both moved away from this small town and as things happen, we only checked in with each other for birthdays and such, commenting on each other’s posts on social media.

I still remember trying not to feel happy when Hannah made a big showing of changing her relationship status to Single after her breakup with Brody. Then it went back to In A Relationship soon after, only with Cameron this time. Again, I was a little ashamed of myself for the little flutter of giddiness I felt knowing that Brody and Hannah were no longer together.

It always surprised me that they dated because they never seemed to have much in common. She always said she wanted the “big city life”, she called it. Wanted a husband who worked in an office with regular hours and didn’t get dirty for a living. Knowing all that, I couldn’t understand what the two of them had in common so yeah, I wasn’t shocked to see they’d broken up and stayed broken up.

But looking at her now, as she, too, watches Brody march out of here in all his confidence and sexiness, I understand. There’s no denying how attractive Brody Redding is and she clearly agrees. Maybe she always liked the idea of being with a man like she described but in the end, she really wanted someone like Brody.

Whatever.

She married Cameron and now Brody’s…

Well.

Brody’s single.

And he winked at me and kept looking. I wanted to run after them and go wherever they were going.

Cami, another of Hannah’s bridesmaids, leans over and whispers, “She looks like she’s torn between rushing after that hottie and doing the proper thing and staying here.”

I giggle. “Yup.”

“You look the same, just saying.”

“Yup.” I don’t deny it.

Done with the pretend, she turns and faces me since everyone else is talking and no one is paying attention to us. “Seriously. Did you see the eyes he was giving you? Girl, if I wasn’t pregnant already, I’d have gotten pregnant just from sitting here.”

My eyes widen. “You’re pregnant?”

“Seventeen weeks,” she says, beaming.

“Oh my gosh! I had no idea!”

“I’ve been keeping it pretty quiet because we had two miscarriages before this one so we’re nervous to tell people. You’re actually the first person not in the family that I’ve told.”

I give her a sweet face and press a hand to my chest and fan my face with the other like I’m drying my tears. “Aww! I’m so honored!”

She rolls her eyes at me. She knows I’m being serious about being honored but over the top about it. “You’re such a dork.”

“Right. Anyway, tell me everything!”

She does. No hesitation, goes on to tell me everything about the miscarriages and the pregnancy so far. Cami grew up here also and we were friends for the short time I lived here during high school. We didn’t stay incredibly close after that, but social media at least kept me informed. From what I understand, she got shot of her jerk of an ex-husband and moved to Minnesota where she met her now husband, Owen. I heard he owns a resort on the Canadian border but that’s about all I know.

I always got along really well with Cami, and if it wasn’t for the fact that she was a bridesmaid also, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here right now. She’s hilarious and funny and writes these amazing romance novels that I can’t get enough of.

Once she’s finished, she calls her husband Owen over to introduce him to me. He’s a handsome guy who looks like he belongs here in the Tennessee mountains. He leans over the table and kisses her on the mouth and her soft look she gives him makes me all melty. They’re in love. Not the in love for other people type of love, they’re head over heels happily stuck together for life kind of in love.

“Thank God we eloped, Cami.”

“Right?”

“Y’all eloped?” I ask them.

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