Won't Last Long

by Heidi Joy Tretheway

  Melina choked. “What? Why? Are you saying you’re not coming to our wedding?”

  “It’s just not the best time for us right now,” her mother explained. “We’ve got to go to David’s concert in New York next month, and after that we’re pretty traveled out. I’m sure you understand.”

  “We’ll get you a real nice gift,” her dad offered.

  Melina closed her eyes and exhaled. After everything she’d done to rush to her father’s side and help out after his stroke, her parents hadn’t come to Seattle after Melina’s accident, and now they didn’t want to travel for her wedding.

  Melina flashed back to when her mother chose to attend her little brother’s violin concert instead of her high school graduation. Her life, her milestones, were not a priority. They would never be.

  She hung up the phone and turned to Joshua. He’d heard her side of the conversation. He knew.

  “We don’t have to get married right away,” he offered. “We could just ask them when they could make it out here.”

  Melina shook her head. “You know the funny thing about it? They said they couldn’t come, but they never even asked if we’d set a date.”

  ***

  The mood shifted from sweet to bitter as Joshua and Melina realized that their childhood families wouldn’t be there for them. Melina’s sister April refused a “nightmare” flight from Florida to Seattle with two small kids. David was in his final year at Juilliard; there was no way he’d take time off for a wedding.

  On Joshua’s side, Charlie was off the boat now that fishing season was over, but as usual, he was drunk and broke since the big payday. Frederick was probably still somewhere in sub-Saharan Africa at a clinic; Joshua sent him an email but didn’t expect to hear back from him for weeks.

  The reception from their friends was also disappointing. Holly was enthusiastically supportive, and Lauren was eager to try on glamorous wedding dresses, but when Melina mentioned the possibility of a destination wedding, both couldn’t afford to go. Only Andrea greeted Melina’s news with the promise to be there, come hell or high water.

  THIRTY-SIX

  “Congratulations, buddy,” Mark said, after a click on the line and silence a beat longer than Joshua expected.

  “Congrats? For what? Joshua, did you get another promotion?” Stephanie’s voice echoed slightly from the upstairs extension. “What’s the good news?”

  Joshua hesitated.

  “They’re getting married,” Mark supplied. “Joshua just asked Melina to marry him.”

  “What? No. Joshua, no. Are you joking?” Stephanie’s voice rose. “You can’t marry that woman. She’s a gold-digger. She’s haughty and snotty and self-centered. She’s not good enough for you!”

  “Stephanie, she’s not like that,” Joshua said quietly. “She’s the one.”

  “No way. No way, Joshua, I’m not going to let you do this,” Stephanie nearly shouted. She slammed down the phone.

  “So how do you know she’s the one?” Mark asked gently.

  “I don’t know, not really,” Joshua said, the wind taken out of his sails by Stephanie’s outburst. “No one really knows, do they? I mean, what did you know about Stephanie when you asked her?” He paused to let that sink in.

  “Maybe you just want something to last,” Mark offered, “and marriage would make things permanent.”

  “Is that such a bad thing?” Joshua asked. “After the accident, things got really clear, you know? I finally got through to her. I finally feel like I know who she is, really, and not just the image she wants everyone to see.”

  Stephanie picked up the line again, calmer. “Are you sure getting married so soon is a good idea?” she asked.

  “I’m sure,” Joshua said. “She’s the one. You haven’t seen her—you two haven’t seen who she is really. She’s a good person. You just have to get past all that—”

  Melina reentered the room and heard the tail end of Joshua’s comment. Joshua wrapped her in her arms to reassure her.

  “Look, man, she’s right for me, and I’m crazy about her, and we’re gonna tie the knot. I just wanted you to stand up for me, to be my best man.”

  Joshua watched Melina closely, hoping what he’d just said to Mark would hit home with her, too.

  But Stephanie answered for him: “No, Joshua, we can’t do this. We can’t let you make this kind of mistake and not say something. She’s not right for you, and we can’t go stand up for you at a wedding and not say something.”

  “Then you’d better not come,” Joshua said coldly, slamming down the phone. His head swam; his heart was adrift.

  Marriage is about coming together, creating new ties. So why are my old ties falling apart?

  ***

  Melina carefully wrapped glassware in Joshua’s kitchen as they discussed the reactions from friends and family.

  The comments from Stephanie still stung.

  “Why is this such a hard thing?” Joshua challenged. “Isn’t it normal to get married? Shouldn’t everyone be happy for us and start buying plane tickets?”

  “They should,” Melina said thoughtfully, “but maybe they’re just not ready for it. We haven’t even been dating a year.”

  “But when it’s right, you know it,” Joshua insisted.

  “That’s what Andrea said. But how do you know it’s right?” she asked rhetorically. “It seems like there are a lot of hurdles you’ve got to cross; some that make sense, and some that don’t. I’m just as hurt as you that my parents don’t want to come, but let’s not make that our deal-breaker.”

  She stacked another box on the tower forming by Joshua’s front door. He had completely neglected hunting for a new place and packing while Melina was in the hospital, and now he had less than two weeks to move out.

  “Let’s just do it.” Melina wrapped her arms around him and kissed him deeply. Her teeth were fixed but a bright scar traced her forehead, a constant reminder of the accident.

  “You mean, right now?”

  “Yes, well, why not? We can put all of this stuff in the garage under my apartment, go to Hawaii, get married on the beach, and then come back and start house-hunting.”

  The immediacy of that plan brought the future into stark focus for Joshua. Wordlessly, he took two sodas out of his refrigerator, handed one to Melina, and took a drink of his own. He was buying time, trying the idea on for size.

  “We wouldn’t have to deal with all the frou-frou wedding planning,” he said slowly. “But wouldn’t you be disappointed? It wouldn’t be a big wedding or anything glamorous.”

  “It doesn’t have to be big—I can still make it glamorous,” Melina said, smiling. “Do you know how many celebrities get married on the beach? It’s very chic. Besides, the smaller it is, the more I can control, and the more we can afford. We can have exactly the kind of wedding dinner we want—grilled lobster and filet mignon—and we won’t have to settle for some caterer’s overcooked chicken and gluey pasta.”

  Joshua grimaced at the description of typical bad wedding food. She has a point.

  “And let me draw your attention to what you’ll be missing,” she added, turning Joshua’s shoulders toward the bleak early December evening, cold and rainy, dark even before the workday was over.

  He turned and embraced her. “As far as I can see, the only things we need are bathing suits, flip-flops and a couple of witnesses,” he said.

  “Let’s go.”

  Part Three

  “They can have all the meaning you choose to give them.”

  THIRTY-SEVEN

  Melina reclined in her seat, savoring first class legroom and decent champagne as she and Joshua flew back from Hawaii.

  I am so not a coach-class girl.

  Joshua slept lightly, the red-eye getting the best of him. She studied him as he slept. My husband. I am Mrs. Melina Danford. I have a new name. I’m about to have a new life.

  Joshua wasn’t the man she imagined would be wearing a ring and snoozing beside her. He lack
ed spit-and-polish and the attitude of someone accustomed to being served. But as Melina looked at him—his usually messy brown hair tidy for once—she was content. He gets me.

  He’d proven, time and again, even at her worst moments, that he loved her. But she was haunted by many things Joshua still didn’t know.

  Just how unconditional is unconditional love?

  Joshua stirred and an eye peeked open. He caught her staring and a smile spread across his face.

  “Mrs. Danford?” he asked, for the hundredth or thousandth time since they’d exchanged rings.

  “Yes, husband?” she answered playfully, taking up their game.

  “What are our plans when we get back to earth?”

  She laughed. It was true—their wedding trip and honeymoon made them feel as if they’d left the orbit of reality for a while. They spent Christmas surrounded by sand instead of snow.

  Both used up every minute of vacation leave from work, but now it was time to get back to life in Seattle.

  “Well, we can’t stay in the carriage house forever,” Melina said, “so we’d better start looking for a place to live.”

  Joshua smiled at the idea of choosing a new home with her. “What do you have in mind?”

  “We could look downtown, get one of the new condos on the market,” Melina started.

  “No good,” Joshua cut her off. “I want somewhere permanent. A condo will just feel like another apartment to me.”

  “OK, well, I’d like to get somewhere we can entertain, lots of open space and high ceilings. Something with great style, maybe modern architecture?”

  Joshua shook his head. “I’m not sure we can afford all that just yet, but I like being able to spread out. A house with a big yard. For Aussie and the kids.”

  Melina almost choked on her champagne. “Kids? You want to have kids? How many?”

  “Ten.”

  Her eyes widened in alarm.

  “We can name the first three Larry, Moe and Curly, and then Gilligan, Ginger and Skipper, and then maybe Luke, Leia, Han and Chewy.” Joshua’s earnest expression cracked and his laugh echoed through the first-class cabin.

  “You. Are. So. Busted.” Melina’s laugh was tinged with relief. “Since I officially reject at least nine of those names, we can’t possibly have ten kids.”

  “Seven.” Joshua was bargaining.

  “One.”

  “Four.”

  “Two.”

  “Sold to the pretty lady in first class.” Joshua claimed victory and announced to the passenger across the aisle: “We’re going to have two kids!”

  “Uh … good for you?” the man shifted uncomfortably and went back to his laptop.

  Joshua turned to Melina and she warmed to his engaging silliness.

  “We are not having kids yet, right? You’re not expecting me to just go home and pop out babies.”

  He paused.

  “Right?” her voice squeaked.

  “Of course not,” he said, reassuring her. “But I had you going, didn’t I?”

  Melina shook her head, amazed by how she could still be taken in by Joshua’s little games. In her mind, the first priority was the house, then the décor, then the parties, and then, when she was good and ready, perhaps a bigger family. Perhaps.

  ***

  “Melina! Show me! I can’t believe you just … did it!” Holly grabbed eagerly for Melina’s hand and ogled her rings. It was Melina’s first day back at work, and even though she was busy, she submitted for inspection as a new bride.

  The engagement ring was a showstopper: a large, teardrop-shaped diamond was surrounded by a slim row of pavé diamonds on a platinum band. Nestled next to that band was her wedding ring, another delicate circle of pavé diamonds.

  “I need to know all the details!” Holly insisted.

  Melina glanced at her clock—twelve minutes to her next meeting. She wasn’t going to get anything more done before then, so she edged her office door closed and sat opposite Holly.

  “Well, it’s nearly three carats,” Melina began.

  “No, silly! Not the ring. The wedding!” Holly rolled her eyes. “Was it amazing? What did you wear?”

  “It was … perfect,” Melina said, offering the first word that came to mind. That surprised her—initially, she was disappointed that most of her friends and family could not or would not come, but now she was content with the simplicity of everything.

  “I found the dress off-the-rack, an ivory silk with a really deep plunge in the back, and I bought pretty much every orchid in the hotel gift shop for my bouquet,” she said.

  Holly sighed. “I hope you brought pictures.”

  “I did. Andrea took a bunch during the ceremony and then we did some with a professional photographer overlooking the ocean.” Melina pulled open her Giustiniano bag and spread out a couple for Holly to see. Joshua, in island attire, grinned happily. Melina had flowers in her hair, which was combed in a dramatic swoop to hide the scar on her forehead.

  Holly looked at the next picture, Joshua and Melina flanked by Andrea and Derek, their witnesses.

  “And that’s the wedding party,” Melina said. “The whole, entire wedding.”

  Holly stopped short. “Only Andrea and Derek?”

  “Yep, and Derek’s totally on Stephanie’s shit list because she told him not to go. But he’d rather spend a week in December on the beach with his girlfriend than back in rainy, cold Seattle, no matter what his sister says.”

  Holly still looked shocked. “Weren’t you a bit … lonely?”

  Melina shook her head and smiled. “At first it was a little weird, it kind of felt like a Vegas wedding since our family wasn’t there. But we got used to it. And after Andrea and Derek left, we just stayed through Christmas because I think it felt less like Christmas, less like we were supposed to be with family, and more like it was OK to just be together.”

  Melina shared a few more highlights—snorkeling, a glass-bottomed boat tour—and details on Joshua’s move out of his apartment and into hers. He’d insisted on carrying her over the threshold, even though she’d lived there for a year.

  “That is so romantic,” Holly gushed, still looking at the photos. “So you did it. You really got married.”

  “Yeah. We did it. Now all I need is a new car and a house and life will be set.”

  Holly grimaced. “You make it sound easy, like ticking stuff off a shopping list.”

  “It’s never easy,” Melina countered. “That’s why I want it. Now, let’s go to our meeting.”

  THIRTY-EIGHT

  “Can you get off work a little early to meet me on Larkspur Avenue in West Seattle?” Melina asked as soon as Joshua picked up the phone. No hello. No preamble.

  “Uh, not sure where that is, and not sure if I can meet you before five,” Joshua said, distracted by his computer monitor that displayed results from testing his new device.

  “Joshua! Listen to me. I have the agent lined up to meet us at four-thirty because there’s someone else doing a tour at five and I. Want. This. House.” Her voice rose with urgency.

  “Is this a house you haven’t seen? How many times have I heard that before?” Joshua asked. He spun around in his chair to look out his window, trying to focus on the conversation with his wife—the same conversation he’d had for the past four weeks.

  This is how it would go: Melina would cruise the internet for hours, refusing to trust that their agent would send them every listing that fit her criteria. She’d find a house she suspected might fit—though it usually pushed past their price ceiling—and she’d immediately demand a showing.

  They’d go to the showing, and Melina would pick it apart. It wasn’t in a nice enough neighborhood. It lacked sufficient space to entertain. No closet space. Bad curb appeal. Tiny bathrooms. Dated fixtures.

  Melina would attack the house with the same ferocity that she used to secure the showing. Then the agent would leave, tired and annoyed, and Melina and Joshua would be no closer to findin
g a home. Joshua felt increasingly cramped sharing space with Melina’s voluminous wardrobe above the carriage house.

  The animosity between Melina and Stephanie also weighed on him.

  “I’d help you house-hunting, Joshua, but I just can’t work with her,” Stephanie told him. Joshua was slightly relieved, considering their strained relationship since Stephanie’s flat refusal to attend their wedding.

  While Mark and Joshua fell easily back into their usual routine of basketball and nights at Derek’s pub, Stephanie and Melina avoided social situations where the other would be present.

  I’ve got to fix this, somehow, Joshua knew. I can’t have one of the most important people from my past permanently at odds with the person I’ve chosen for my future.

  While Melina pored over listings, Joshua secured their financing and tried to steer Melina toward neighborhoods and homes within their financial reach.

  “I know you think you want something big,” Joshua’s frustration crept through the phone line, “but I’m not sure we can afford that right now. Maybe we should focus on a starter home, something with three bedrooms and one or two bathrooms, rather than trying to get everything we want right away.”

  Melina’s tone mellowed. “I hear you, and I would appreciate it if you could get over there to at least see it as soon as you possibly can,” she said. “I’m going to take some work home for tonight and cut out early so I can be there at four-thirty, and if I love it, I’ll write the offer to beat the five o’clock showing. OK?”

  “Without me?” Joshua was increasingly annoyed.

  “No, not exactly, I mean, if you can’t come and I like the house, I can write the offer and get rid of the competition, and then we can always pull out in the next few days with no penalty,” she said.

  “That seems kind of wrong, I mean, making an offer that we’re not necessarily serious about.”

  “Well, I want to get it tied up so no one else can get it,” Melina rationalized. “And this isn’t about being polite. This is about getting in there and getting what we want.”