by Aimee Brown
She knows my family history but it does make me feel good that she’s making a big deal about meeting the family members that could actually make it.
“Our Aunt Maggie is here, and her brother Melvin is with her.” Evan points in their direction. Both of them are standing in front of the buffet, probably looking for something not too fancy to eat.
“Let’s go have a meet.” Amelia pulls me along with her like a schoolgirl in trouble. “This is just so exciting, soon we’ll all be family and you won’t ever have to worry about ending up alone.” She speaks excitedly, which surprises me. Amelia has always treated me like a daughter, but I’ve often felt a tad like she thought Jack could do so much better than normal, hardly any family, me, a commoner.
“Aunt Maggie, I’m so glad you came.”
Maggie sets her plate on the table and wraps her arms around me for a hug. Maggie has always been that eccentric aunt who means the best but sometimes can throw a can of crazy into a completely normal situation. Sometimes I wonder if she had a hand in naming us. She used to tell us stories about a young Romanian woman coming to live in America after escaping a family who didn’t believe in her connection with the afterlife. Maggie would point to a crystal ball that permanently sat on a high shelf in her home and tell us stories of their friendship as young girls, and how easily they still chat even though her friend passed on years ago.
“My sweet little Esmeralda. Your mother is so pleased with all this. I’m so sad she’s not here to tell you herself.”
I glance at Amelia, who, from what I have told her, knows this part of Maggie, but her wide eyes insist that she’s since forgotten my warning.
“Me too. I’m so glad you’re here, though. I do wish I could tell Mom about the proposal. He did it in true Jack style.” I laugh, knowing my mom would know exactly what I was talking about. It was something we used to joke about with Jack’s elaborate ideas and surprises and it was the way he’d first won my parents over. Me too, for that matter.
“I’d like to introduce you to Amelia, Jack’s mother. She’s really taken me in like I’m her own.”
“Nonsense, I’ve just done what any mother would do. I’m so sorry about Molly’s passing.” Amelia takes Maggie’s hands in hers, truly looking sorry about my mom’s death.
“Thank you, so are we. I just can’t believe she’s missing all this in person. You’re getting a great girl in Esmeralda, she’s a real sweetheart, a beauty too. She’s got great things ahead in her life, let me tell you.”
“That she is.” Amelia pats my hand.
“Oh, my! Look at this stone!” Uncle Melvin inspects the sparkling rock on my finger, his eyes growing wider by the second. “I wonder what something like that costs?” he asks Maggie.
“Priceless, it’s a family heirloom.” Amelia corrects him, her face shocked at his question.
“Jack is just a lovely boy, you’ve done a fine job on that one. I’ve no doubt these kids will get past the rough patch.” Maggie compliments Amelia and quickly notices the look of dismay on my face. “I mean… they will get through whatever life throws their way. They’re both such strong headed kids, they’ll make the right choices in life.”
Amelia nods. “I’m sure they’ll go far in life. Tell me, though, about the rough patch you mentioned?”
“Oh…” Maggie forces a smile in my direction. “It’s just an old saying, every marriage has rough patches, they’re inevitable. I just know these kids will make it through with the right choices.”
Amelia nods in agreement before they start discussing the food. A welcome topic in my book.
Leave it to Maggie to throw in an accidental psychic reading into the conversation, even though before the party I begged her not to. The last thing I need is her proving to Amelia that I’m far from the normal girl she thinks she knows.
“Have you seen the pile of gifts?” Lily saves me from having to chat about babies with Amelia and Maggie. “It’s insane. I didn’t even know people got these kinds of things at engagement parties.”
“I’ve already had at least five people, whose names I couldn’t even tell you, hand me envelopes with checks in them. It’s crazy!”
The ping of metal against glass grabs both our attention and when we turn I see Jack standing at the front of the room waving me up to him.
“Gotta go,” I whisper to Lily as I make my way through the crowd to him.
“If you haven’t met her yet, this is Emi, my beautiful bride-to-be.” He smiles sweetly at me before turning back to the crowd. “I want to thank you all for celebrating our engagement with us. It means so much that you’re all here. I hope you’ll join me in toasting Emi and me in our journey towards the altar.” Jack turns to me taking my hand in his. “I want to thank you, for two things. The first is for saying yes,” the crowd around us laughs, like saying no was even a possibility in my own head or heart. “And the second, the most important, is for allowing me to experience what the saying All You Need Is Love really means. You’ve truly changed my world for the better and I can’t wait to become your husband and truly love you as you so deserve.”
A unanimous “Ah” fills the room, myself included as I wipe away the tears desperately trying to escape. Thankfully Jack knows just how bad at on the spot speeches I am, and he gives me no opportunity to say anything more than I love you, through the kiss he’s planted on me in a room full of strangers clapping.
Nine
The Rehearsal
Present Day
Downtown Portland, Oregon
“Well…” Lily corners me in the kitchen the next morning, her hands on her hips as she taps the floor with the toe of her shoe. “Is he coming tonight?”
I nod, an over excited, but totally nervous, smile on my face. “Yes, Liam is coming to everything wedding related, as if he came here with me for that exact purpose. Is it weird?”
It’s weird. I already know it is. Not only because I barely know him but because I really don’t know why I’m doing this. I mean, I know I don’t want to seem like the only lonely girl in the room but besides that, why?
“I don’t think so,” Lily shakes her head. “As far as I know everyone else is a couple, so it would probably be weird for you if you didn’t have a date.”
“True. Here’s the thing, though…” I glance around the doorway to make sure no one is within hearing distance. We’ve all just barely rolled out of bed so the chances that someone is up and already eavesdropping are slim. “He didn’t really even hesitate to say yes, is that weird?”
“Maybe a little,” Lily shrugs her shoulders. “But that is exactly what you wanted, so I don’t know why you’re over thinking it now?”
“Right. I know. I’m just nervous, I think.”
“Maybe you’re nervous because since Jack you’ve only dated a handful of men and it’s never gone further than the first date.” Lily rolls her eyes.
In my defense, Jack and I only broke up about a year ago. In my experience that’s not exactly enough time to stumble upon Prince Charming for the second time. I’ve been asked out on dates, don’t get me wrong. I’ve just never really felt like going. Why waste my time on the guy on Tinder whose profile claims he’s twenty-nine but the crow’s feet scream forty-five?
“What?!” Hannah appears from virtually nowhere and is staring at me with a shocked face. “You’ve not dated since Jack?” Her voice is high pitched and nearly shrill. Why does the only person that ever catches me in untruthful moments seem always to be Hannah?
“No, that’s not what I—” Lily tries to save me from her accidental announcement but it’s too late.
“I heard what you said. It’s been almost a year since you moved away, how can you only have had a few first dates?” Her jaw drops open momentarily before she puts her hand to her face with a gasp. “You still love him!”
I shake my head frantically so that Lily does the same. “No, Hannah, I don’t.”
“Yes, you do. That’s the only thing that would explain al
l this. You ran away from the barbecue the other night, you drank yourself sick at my bridal shower and you and Greta have been literally acting like jealous high school girls ever since you found out she’s interested in Jack. You’re still in love with him.” She sighs, holding her hand over her heart romantically, pacing between Lily and me. “Ems, this could change everything. Like, everything. You have to tell him.” She stops in front of me, grabbing hold of both my hands. “Seriously, you need to tell him how you feel. I get the feeling he’s not really into Greta.”
“Ugh…” Lily groans. “Who would be?”
I glare over at Lily. “I am not in love with your brother, Hannah.” I drop her hands from mine. “Did he leave me an everlasting scar? Yes. Did he break my heart into pieces more than once? Unfortunately, another yes. Do I still love him?” I hesitate with my answer, not intentionally. I just don’t have one yet. I’ve tried to work out my feelings and it’s not as easy as one might assume. I want to be over Jack, trust me, I do. I just… there is something in him that I can’t shake. The way he looks at me and the way he doesn’t look at Greta, his supposed girlfriend. “No. No, I don’t. I just didn’t expect to get here and find him involved with my arch-enemy.”
They both stare at me with amusement.
“What? I can have an arch-enemy, can’t I? She’s an absolute bitch. And you can’t tell me that you’ve never thought it as well.” I point straight at Hannah, who frowns but doesn’t disagree. “I am not in love with Jack. In fact, I have a date tonight and to the wedding.”
This is the perfect distraction from the conversation that seems to be going in circles.
“He said yes?” Hannah asks like it surprises her. Really though, it only surprises me. I forgot she knew about all this. Otherwise, I might not have called it a date. It’s more of an arrangement. Which is totally pathetic.
“Of course, he said yes.” Lily defends me as she wraps her arm around my shoulder. “Look at her, she’s gorgeous.”
“Enough kissing ass for the spot of best friend. I have to get ready to wow him.” I give Lily a playful, almost not serious, glare.
“Which him, Em? The stand-in, or Jack?” Hannah purses her lips together, her face scrunched into a silent you can’t deny it look.
She thinks she knows me so well. Damn it! I wish I was a faster thinker when I need to be. But, of course, I’m tongue-tied. Hannah’s question is the exact question even I’ve refused to answer to myself for the last twenty-four hours. “I don’t know yet.”
“Told you,” she snaps at me.
“UGH!” I moan to Hannah with an eye roll as I pass her on my way to the stairs. “I’ll be down when I’m ready,” I say, in my most irritated voice.
*
“Wow! You are going to turn some heads.” Lily greets me in the hallway as I walk out of the wedding room carrying my dress that was sharing a bag with a few other options. Without options, I’d be even more frazzled because nothing would seem right for the occasion. “Wait, isn’t that the dress?”
I drop my head, the tiniest bit ashamed that I’m going to this extent to woo a guy I don’t even know if I still want. It is the dress, and she knows it well enough not to have to ask. The blue dress that Jack picked out. The dress we got engaged in at his request. The dress he’s unzipped and watched drop to the floor many times.
“Maybe…” I respond, really not wanting to get into the whole reason of why I’m wearing it. “I just… Well, if he’s moved on and is some kind of happy relationship, then I really don’t have any way of making him miserable. Unless I wear a dress that I know makes him swoon.”
“Your grand plan now is to make him suffer by realizing he’s still attracted to you?”
“Maybe.”
I’m just glad I packed the darn thing. So far, the only glances I’m getting from him feel like pity. And until I can see a look I recognise, I won’t know how I really feel.
“OK, and not to be the bearer of bad news but how on earth is that thing ever gonna fit?”
“Is that a subtle way to call me fat?” I glare at her.
“That’s not what I’m saying and you know it,” she snaps back.
“I may or may not have had it altered before we left. I mean really it was a complete remake but never mind that, it now fits and if I don’t at least try to see what happens when I wear it tonight, I might never forgive myself.”
“OK…” Lily says slowly, “Now even I’m curious to know the answer to Hannah’s question.”
“That makes three of us…” I say to Lily, wondering if my head and heart can ever just get along and agree?
I really wasn’t planning on trying to get Jack’s attention by wearing my lucky dress tonight. I wasn’t planning on wearing it at all. It was one of those last minute ideas I had and the exact reason I missed the original bridesmaid’s dress alteration in the first place. I went to have this dress altered instead of the other. Thank God, I did it early because it truly did take a few days for the woman to practically remake the entire dress to fit my new, somewhat larger than I’d like, figure without adding any super cinching underwear underneath. Sometimes a girl just needs a secret weapon, you know, just in case. This dress is mine. I hope.
I glance in the mirror after I’ve got it on and yes, it was well worth it. Even though I’m a bit larger than I was the last time I wore it, it still looks incredible. Jack won’t know what hit him. At this point, it’s not just a dress, it’s an insight into our prior life. Our happy life.
“Hey, Em?” Lily calls to me from the bottom of the stairs.
“I’m almost ready!” I call back, trying to do a few quick hair adjustments.
The tap on my door moments later reminds me that I can’t spend forever putting myself together. “Come on in, Lil, I’m just about ready.”
The door swings open and my brother walks in. “You’ve been up here an hour…”
“I know, sorry.”
“Wow…” he takes a step back with a smile. “I know my job is to make sure you are properly tormented as my sister, but you look great.”
I smile back. We maybe have had the torment thing down pat when we were kids but we’ve grown up at least a little bit since then.
“Thank you, Ev. You look very handsome. Are you nervous?” He’s wearing a suit, his hair is slicked back and he looks the complete opposite of my normal, casual, chuck wearing brother. I can almost see what Hannah sees in him.
“Nah,” he shakes his head. “Listen, I understand your friend agreed to…” His eyebrows narrow in confusion. “I guess I don’t quite get why you need him, but he’s here.”
“I need him because I’m the only one without a date, and the only one who’s been dumped in the worst of ways recently, so that also makes me the only one who needs to at least look like I have my life together. I can’t keep showing up alone, it makes me seem like I’m not over Jack.” I grab my bag off the bed and pull on my shoes.
Evan reaches out and gently touches my upper arm, “Are you over Jack, Em?”
“I – uh”
“Cause I for one would understand if you weren’t.” He smiles the exact smile that tells me he already knows how I’m feeling without me having to say it out loud.
I drop onto the side of the bed with a sigh, Evan sits next to me.
“You guys were together for a long time, that’s not nothing. You can’t just move on from a nearly five year relationship in a few months.”
“He did…” I look over at Evan who nods with a frown.
“I know it does seem that way but, I know Jack, and I don’t think Greta is the woman Jack wants. I think Greta is the woman Jack thinks he deserves.”
As my emotions bubble inside I quickly stand. “That doesn’t even make any sense.”
“And you wearing your lucky dress does?” Evan touches the sleeve of my dress.
I pinch my lips together. “How do you even know about that?”
“Hannah talks, a lot.” He laughs. Evan walks t
owards the bedroom door. “Can I just say one more thing?”
“Like you won’t if I say no…”
“True. I really do want you to be happy, Em. We all do. Jack included. I think it would be to your benefit for you two to finally talk about all this. Don’t you?”
I shake my head as I shove my phone into my bag. “I don’t know yet.” I look into the mirror, happy with the me that’s looking back.
“You do look beautiful. No matter who it’s for, Jack, or the new guy, they’re both incredibly lucky to have any chance with my twin sister.”
“Thanks,” I say with a sincere smile. I know that was him apologizing for pushing the conversation a little further than I was comfortable with.
“Let’s head down and hope for a rehearsal dinner that’s as smooth as silk.”
I cross my fingers behind my back. Seriously, please, please let there be no more incidents. I don’t know who’s in charge of that department. God? Or maybe Karma? But whoever it is, please give me some kind of break.
As I get to the top of the stairs I hear Liam talking to Lily and Josh. I try to peek at him before he sees me, but I’m too short to see over the balcony. One more deep breath to try and calm my nerves and I’ll be ready to go.
“Come on, EM!” Hannah squeals as she exits her room at the end of the hall, her arm now linked through Evan’s. The two of them looking completely ready to walk down the aisle right now even though the actual wedding is still a day away.
“You look gorgeous!” she says excitedly, a quick smile at Evan.
“So do you, so beautiful…” I return her compliment.
“I know,” she giggles, doing a small twirl before once again taking my brother's arm. “Now, let’s go check out Emi’s date!”
I follow her to the top of the stairs, much more nervous than I had expected to be. Why am I so nervous? This is basically a business deal. Favor for possible favor. Liam smiles up at me from the bottom of the stairs.
“Whoa,” he says, wide eyed.
He’s wearing a pair of black slacks, a nice green shirt, and a black and white striped tie. His normally ruffled hair is now slicked over to the side and I’m only just now noticing the tattoos showing below his rolled up sleeves. Which, I’ll admit, is a little bit of an unexpected turn on.
