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“WELL, SINCE I’M THE man of honor,” Brayden’s boisterous voice broke through the chatter at the large table set on the upper deck of the house overlooking the beach. “I suppose I should say a few words.” He stood up, his tall and lean stature poised. A dapper smile on his face, he looked at all the important people in both Tyler’s and my life. He finally met my eyes, and his expression warmed. It brought me back to the day he moved in with Jenna and me.
“I’m beat from all that unpacking.” He plopped down on the couch in our living room, surprising me with the ease in which he made himself at home, even though he barely knew us. “I think I deserve a drink. You girls game?” He raised his eyebrows, looking between Jenna and me.
“You know what?” Jenna exclaimed excitedly. “I think a drink is exactly what we all need.”
“You two go ahead without me,” I mumbled, not looking up from the book I was barely reading. I had spent the past few months of our summer break moping around the apartment, having just lost my mother and finding out that my boyfriend wasn’t the man I thought he was. “I’m not in the mood.”
Huffing dramatically, Jenna grabbed the book out of my hand and threw it on the coffee table. “You’re never in the mood. I’ve put up with your excuses all summer, but I’m not going to do it anymore, Mack. It’s our sophomore year and it’s time to bring back the old Mack. That includes going out and meeting some hotties with our fake IDs. I can’t make you have a good time, but I can try my damnedest to at least get you out of this apartment. Especially now that we have a tall, strong man as a roommate who can probably carry you out of here.” She looked over her shoulder and winked at Brayden.
“Damn straight I can,” he replied jovially. “Just look at these guns!” He pushed back the sleeves of his t-shirt and began to flex. “Feel ‘em,” he said, coming up to me. “I know you want to.”
“Nope. No desire.”
“Feel ‘em,” he repeated, shoving his arms directly in front of my line of sight.
I tried to pretend I was irritated, but it was useless. A small smile cracked my lips and I reached out to squeeze his toned bicep.
“See,” he said, heading down the narrow hallway toward his bedroom. “Told you I’d be able to get you to smile.”
“Thank god you came into our lives, Brayden. I’ve been trying to get a smile out of her for months.”
“You were just looking for your missing piece, that’s all. Now that I’m here, there’s nothing else to worry about.” He winked and disappeared into his room. “We’re leaving in forty-five minutes, so you both better get a move on!”
That was the first night I finally began to feel normal again after all the loss and heartache I had suffered months earlier. From that moment on, I knew Brayden was my soul mate, the only man I had ever met who knew exactly what I needed, even if I didn’t. We spent that night bar hopping around campus, all of us checking out the same guys, although what we were attracted to in the opposite sex, or the same sex for Brayden, vastly differed. Still, on that Friday night over eight years ago, we had our first girls’ night, and barely a Friday night had passed since then that we didn’t have our girls’ night.
“I’ve known Mackenzie for nearly a decade.” Hearing his familiar voice broke me away from my memories. “And, during that time, I’ve seen many men come and go in her hunt for Mr. Right, but she was convinced they were all Mr. Wrong, mainly because she said it wasn’t the right time for her to date. Mackenzie’s always had a plan for how her life should go. She’s always been driven, and it’s been this drive that has helped her achieve the professional success she has. But that drive inhibited any long-term relationships. Maybe that’s because she was waiting for the right person to come along…her turtledove, as she always called him…and that’s exactly what she’s found in Tyler Burnham.” He gestured to Tyler as he sat beside me, clutching my hand.
“You two are all wrong for each other. You barely know each other but, like I’ve always said, the heart wants what it wants. You have given each other a piece of your heart. That’s a magical, beautiful thing. Love is a magical, beautiful thing. Listen to each other. Love each other with everything you’ve got to give because, without love, we are nothing. Without each other’s love, you are nothing. Mackenzie, Tyler, I wish you years of happiness. To Mackenzie and Tyler!” He raised his champagne glass, everyone at the table joining in and toasting.
“I’m nothing without you,” I murmured into Tyler’s ear, kissing his neck.
“Now that’s over, let’s kick this party up a notch,” Brayden exclaimed as he grabbed his smart phone, pressed a few buttons, and music began to blare from the speakers he had set up. Leading the way, as always, Brayden grabbed his beau, James, and dragged him toward the makeshift dance floor. His enthusiasm was contagious and, in seconds, everyone else had followed his lead and migrated away from the table.
The hours passed while everyone danced, my friends mingling with Tyler’s family as if they had known each other most of their lives. It particularly made me laugh to watch Brayden swing dance with Colleen. I think even he was surprised at how easily she kept up with him. It left no doubt in my mind where Tyler had learned to dance. He had his mother’s ease and grace.
Needing a break while Tyler danced with little Melanie, I looked around the crowd and noticed Richard off in the corner. I hated that he seemed to appear left out at a celebration of what should have been two families becoming one…and Richard was family to me. Excusing myself from my conversation with Eli, I made my way across the large deck toward where Richard stood next to the bar, a glass of scotch in his hand.
“Hey, Richard,” I said, sidling up next to him, savoring the cool ocean breeze. After dancing for hours, it felt refreshing.
“Hey, Kenzie,” he replied, his speech slurred. “Got married just in the nick of time.” He raised his eyebrows as he glanced to my stomach, a smile bordering between playful and snide crossing his lips. I didn’t read too much into it, though. Jenna had mentioned how stressed he had been with work. One of his newer hotels wasn’t doing nearly as well as he had expected and was in the red by close to a billion dollars. That would cause me to be somewhat irritable, as well.
“I guess so.” I placed my hand over my stomach, feeling the baby move around as he tried to get comfortable. “How’s everything going?” I asked, breaking the awkward silence that settled between us.
“As good as can be expected, I suppose,” he responded, his gaze and attention elsewhere…on my father. I was certain he had a thousand questions about how, almost overnight, I had a father when, from the beginning, I had told Richard he was dead. I was waiting for him to ask me what the story was, but I didn’t know if I was ready to tell him everything just yet. I had spent the last several weeks living in a state of blissful ignorance, able to momentarily forget about my past and the questionable future that lay ahead of me. I didn’t want my wedding night to be tainted by anything but happy memories.
The music changed to a slower number, Ella Fitzgerald’s sultry voice crooning the opening lines of “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered” filling the air. “Come on, Richard. Let’s dance, like old times.” I winked and held my hand out to him.
For the first time all night, a genuine smile crossed his face and I saw the Richard I knew all those months ago before his job began to take control of his life. Jenna didn’t talk much about how their relationship was doing, but I couldn’t help but feel for her a little. No wonder she had been practically ignoring him most of the night, preferring to spend time with Brayden and James instead.