Page 109 of Fathers of the Bride
“I did. So did you.”
I smiled. “I’m glad we were both wrong.”
* * *
The wedding was supposedto start in fifteen minutes. I was keeping a close eye on the cater waiters passing the sparkling wine. In my catering days the staff could easily drink up four to five bottles. At twenty-some dollars a bottle I didn’t want that happening.And, more importantly, I was terrified of running out.
I tried to get Dermont Dilroy to pay more attention to his staff, but he was on the phone arranging his novice novelist husband’s book tour. Not to mention, people I hadn’t seen in years were coming over and saying the most charming things about my daughter, my backyard, my life.
I’d woken up that morning knowing all the things I should have said to Andy and hadn’t. I wanted to try again. That I was sure of. I was also sure that I should apologize for not trusting him more. He’d promised to protect me. Twice. And that’s what he’d tried to do. He shouldn’t have, but he did.
And I should probably apologize for not talking to him for all that time. If we’d talked more when we broke up, if we’d talked at all, we might have been able to avoid this whole mess.
But mostly, I wanted to tell him I loved him and wanted to try again. All I had to do was get a moment alone with him. Yes, he might say no. I promised myself I’d stay calm, I wouldn’t scream if he rejected me, wouldn’t close my eyes and count to a hundred. If he said no, I’d listen to his reasons and accept them.
A lot of the guests recognized me from theHappy Home. Not to mention, I had recently gone viral. So every time I looked around for Andy someone came over, people I’d never laid eyes on before. They said things like, “I’m so glad you didn’t drown.” And occasionally, “I miss your show. I wish it was still on.”
What could I say but, “me too” to both.
At some point, I noticed Pudge’s aunt coming toward me at a speedy six feet a minute. She wore the same mint outfit she’d had on the night of the engagement party. I turned to get away from her and ran smack into Suzie Langdon, our old intern who now had something to do with a cable network—honestly, I don’t remember which one. It might be the one with an exclamation point.
Anyway, I nearly screamed when I saw her.
“Suzie! I’m so glad you came.”
“Miles. I can’t believe Kelly is getting married. She was just a baby last time I saw her.”
“That was twenty years ago.”
“It was.”
“Have you seen Andy? I’m having trouble finding him and I need to—”
She laid a hand on my arm and said, “Congratulations, by the way.”
“Thank you. It’s a big day.” I scanned the crowd, not seeming him.
“Oh, yes, that too.”
That too? What did she mean? What was she congratulating me for? I said a noncommittal, “Thank you. I’m very excited about… that too.”
“Good. Glad to hear it. Look you have guests and we’re going to have lots of time to talk, so I’ll leave you be.” She jumped forward and kissed me on the cheek, and then she was off. What the—?
Lucas tapped me on the shoulder. “Where should I wait?”
“We went over that last night.”
“Yes, but there was alcohol involved last night and I’ve completely forgotten.”
“About ten minutes before we start, you need to be on the lowest terrace, remember? Kelly is going to come down the steps one terrace at a time. Where are your boyfriends? I said you could bring them.”
“We had the worst argument—they ganged up on me.”
“Oh, imagine that.”
“Don’t be snide. I had a real connection with them.”
“I guess they’ll always be the couple that got away.”
