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Elise and Wayne walked toward the stables together. Elise felt a heaviness behind Wayne’s mind but decided not to pry. The sooner she had a glass of champagne in her hand, the sooner she could fall into silly banter with those ladies (who she had friend-crushes on, each and every one of them), the better. They made her think of Haley, of Mia, of her mother and her daughter. She wanted that kind of energy around her, especially as the world collapsed.
The stable hand shook Wayne’s hand amicably and hardly glanced at Elise. “What’s been going on, Wayne?” he asked as he assisted the horses to separate slots, calling them each by their names—Ghost and Darla.
“Not so much, I guess,” Wayne said, which was a lie if Elise had ever heard one.
“The coffee shop?” the stable hand called from the back shadows of the stables.
“As busy as ever, thankfully,” Wayne said. “Although I think me and the baristas really would like a break.”
“You got that right. I’m about ready for tourist season to come to a quick and easy close,” the stable hand said as he latched the gates on each of the stalls. When he reappeared in front of them, he whacked his hands together to clean them and smiled to show all of his teeth, which were still covered in braces.
“You sticking on the island this fall?” Wayne asked.
“I’m headed to Michigan State for school,” the guy said.
“Wow! Congratulations,” Wayne said.
Elise felt the genuine excitement behind Wayne’s words.
She was beginning to think, no matter where Wayne went on this island, he had love and respect for each and every person.
It was remarkable to see this world through his eyes—almost as good as seeing the world through the lens of her mother’s diary.
“Oh, I’m sorry. How rude. My name is Calvin,” the stable hand said to Elise.
“Nice to meet you,” Elise said.
“What brings you to the island?” Calvin asked.
“Just um. Vacation?” Elise tried.
“I’ve never heard anyone less sure of their own vacation,” Calvin said. “But, I hope this fella has shown you an okay time so far.” He pressed a light punch into the top of Wayne’s enormous bicep.
“He’s done okay,” Elise said.
“Apparently, she’s dragging me into a spontaneous wedding,” Wayne said, arching his brow.
“Uh oh,” Calvin said.
It seemed like the two of them had some kind of conversation in the air between them. Elise tried to shrug it off.
When they returned to the lake shoreline, they found the group of around twenty celebrators with their champagne glasses lifted toward the sun. Tracey flapped her hand and said, “Roger! She’s back! Pour the girl a glass!” Her lips formed a round O as she added, “I didn’t realize the friend you were bringing was... Wayne.”
Roger, who was the poor groom, hurriedly poured them both glasses of champagne, as Wayne shifted uncomfortably beside Elise.
“Hey there, Tracey. And, um, congratulations, Anna,” Wayne said.
Anna gave him a peculiar look, then walked toward him. If Elise wasn’t mistaken, she felt there was a bit of rage spinning there behind the bride’s eyes.
What had she done?
But Anna just swept forward and dropped a polite kiss on Wayne’s cheek. “I’m glad you made it, Wayne. I never got your RSVP back.”
Wayne cleared his throat. “Sorry about that. It’s been kind of chaotic lately.”
“Every time I pass The Grind, it’s busier than ever,” Anna affirmed.
There was strange air between them; that was clear. Elise tried to make her face bright and open, especially as she thanked Roger for her glass of champagne.
“I don’t know how I’d get through this beautiful day without a bit of this,” she told the groom.
Roger’s smile was plastic for a strange moment as his eyes scanned over Wayne. Wayne took the glass of champagne and said, “Thanks a lot, bud.”
Anna stepped back and splayed a hand across her groom’s chest. To calm him down, she tilted her chin up and dotted a kiss on his lips, which left a smudge of lipstick across them.
“Shoot,” Anna said, laughing. “I knew that would happen before the pictures were taken.”
“You got me looking, silly.”
“You look great, Roger. Don’t let her make you think any different,” Tracey said, tapping the side of her nose playfully.
Elise stepped back to stand alongside Wayne. She felt an allegiance with him, as though it was the two of them against the world. That said, it was obvious that this world was his and it seemed, the past brimmed with gritty details.
In actuality, she didn’t know anything about him at all.
Tracey lifted her glass as her eyes glittered. “I’d like to make a toast to one of my very best friends in the world and her new beloved.”
Elise’s heart lurched.
“I know you think it’s been a long road—with a lot of bumps along that road—to get you to here,” Tracey said.
Was Elise mistaken, or had Tracey glanced toward Wayne the moment she’d said the whole bumps along that road thing?
“But I couldn’t imagine you with anyone else but Roger. The two of you were made to be with each other. You complete each other more than any two lovers I’ve ever met. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your special day,” Tracey continued. “And Anna, I love you more than you’ll ever know.”
Anna’s eyes glittered with tears.
Another guy stepped forward to give his own toast for Roger, who he said was “one of the best guys I ever met, bar-none.” Others continued to speak until the bride and groom swam in compliments and love.
After most people had spoken, there was a strange silence. It occurred to Elise that nearly everyone had turned their attention toward Wayne.
Was he expected to speak?
Finally, he cleared his throat and lifted his champagne glass.
“Anna. It amazes me to see the woman you’ve become since I first met you all those years ago on the playground,” Wayne said.
Ugh. So much history here.
“I know we’ve had our differences, but I’d just like to say, I’m so grateful to be here today. And nobody deserves happiness more than you. Clearly, Roger has given you all that and more,” Wayne said.
“All right. Let’s drink up!” Tracey hollered after that. “To Roger and Anna!”
Everyone knocked their drinks back and sipped. Elise’s heartbeat hammered in her ears. When she finished her drink, she turned her face up toward Wayne and gave him a bug-eyed look. As people fell into separate conversations, she said, “So. What was that all about?”
At this, Wayne shrugged sheepishly and said, “You dragged me into this.”
“It’s a little bit of a mess, isn’t it?”
“You don’t even know the half of it,” Wayne said. “I’m about to fall over.”
Elise laughed. “So, just an ex-girlfriend situation?”
Since Elise had married so young, she wasn’t used to that kind of dynamic. She knew the strain between herself and Sean, knew how she felt about his new trendy girlfriend Regina, sure; she couldn’t fathom what it might have been like to attend their wedding.
Elise stretched a hand across Wayne’s lower arm. The contact surprised both of them. Sparks seemed to fly. Elise dropped her hand almost instantly, swallowed, and tried to pretend nothing bizarre existed between them.
“I’ll grab us another drink, and then you can explain yourself a bit more,” she said.
“Wedding in fifteen minutes!” Tracey hollered.
At that moment, the pastor rushed out from between the trees with a Bible in-hand. His hair swept back, grey and black and wild, and when he reached them, he fell forward and gripped his knees as he gasped.
“I thought I was going to be late,” he said, mostly to Tracey.
Tracey laughed. “I don’t think we’re on any real timeline. These kids have the rest of their lives to be together.”
“Not kids anymore,” Anna interjected.
“All the better. I just married a young couple age twenty or twenty-one,” the pastor said. “They fought mid-way through the ceremony! I had to tell them to hold it till after.”
“What if you’d told them to rethink it?” Tracey asked.
“I don’t get paid enough for that,” the pastor said with a funny smile.
“Elise. Do you think I could speak to you? Just for a moment?” Wayne asked, his voice only a whisper in her ear.
Elise heaved a sigh. She didn’t want to dwell in reality anymore; she wanted whatever magic was in front of her. “Just for a sec.”
Wayne turned her around and walked her toward the edge of the water. When their toes very nearly skated across the trickling waves, he said, “I think you should know something.”
“It’s pretty obvious that you and Anna used to have a thing, Wayne. It’s not a big deal,” Elise said. “Although if it makes you that uncomfortable, we can head out.”
She gave him a challenging smile, but it didn’t seem to sway him.
“That’s obviously true, but it isn’t what I wanted to tell you.”
Elise’s stomach twisted itself into knots.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that... Tracey? The woman you met yesterday?”
“Yes. She’s terribly kind. She helped me pick out that pretty dress I wore last night. Do you remember it?”
Wayne sniffed and gave her a funny look. “Of course, I remember it. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of it.”
Woah. What?
No man had ever spoken to Elise like that.
He’s into me. He liked my dress.
He’s helped me every step of the way today.
Is this one of the most romantic days of my life?
“If you’re right about all of your theories about your mother and Dean Swartz, then Tracey is your half-sister,” Wayne muttered.
Elise nearly dropped her glass of champagne.
“Tracey?”
Wayne nodded. “Yes. That’s Alex’s older sister.”
“No.” Elise yanked her head around to get a better look at her. The woman was a few years older than she was, not by much, with an infectious smile and a laugh to match. Elise saw nothing of the horrible man who’d sat in her BnB room that day and threatened her.
“She and Alex aren’t alike if that’s what you were thinking about,” Wayne continued.
Can he read my mind?
“Do you think I should leave?” Elise asked. “I feel so strange. Like, I should tell her, shouldn’t I? I don’t want to seem even more dishonest. What if Alex storms up and finds me here?”
“Naw. Anna doesn’t like Alex that much,” Wayne said. “Alex isn’t the kind of guy who makes friends easily. Maybe you could have guessed that?”
Elise tried to laugh, but the sound her throat made was strained. She glanced back toward the stables and thought about making a run for it.
“And I thought you were the one who should have felt weird at this wedding,” Elise whispered.
“At least we have each other,” Wayne said.
Tracey turned again toward them and delivered a sterling smile. “Guys! It’s time. You don’t want to miss the ceremony, do you?”
Elise glanced back toward Wayne.
“We’ve dug our graves,” Elise said.
“I feel like you dug mine for me,” Wayne said.
As Elise marched back into the fold, Tracey instructed them to stand on either side of an “aisle,” which would allow Anna to walk toward the pastor and her groom. As Tracey directed them, Elise analyzed her differently than she had before.
Tracey. Tracey, as her older sister.
She imagined Tracey doing all the big-sister-duties: pushing her on the swing set, helping her pick out a dress for prom, teaching her how to put on makeup...
She imagined Tracey teasing her but protecting her with incredible force against any and all bullies.
She imagined this other life they might have had.
Now, Tracey looked at her with a friendly smile, an eager wave—
But she didn’t know.
“Places everyone!” Tracey called.
Anna stood toward the far end of the aisle. In her hands, she held a small bouquet of gorgeous flowers: lily of the valley, and some baby’s breath. She’d placed a little veil over her face, which did very little to hide the tears that had begun to fall.
Had Anna wanted to marry Wayne?
What was Wayne’s deal?
Did Wayne not believe in marriage? Anna seemed beautiful, kind, intelligent, fun. What had gone wrong?
Anna walked the aisle slowly. The only sounds were the birds in the trees, the subtle sweep of the leaves as the wind went through, and the water as it rushed up onto the sand. Anna’s eyes were totally focused on Roger’s.
And for a moment, Elise found herself actually forgetting what a mess she was in.
Elise had gone to a number of weddings over the years: friends she’d grown up with, friends from college—even Mia’s, when she’d decided to leave half-way through the ceremony and take off to Thailand with some guy she’d just met, leaving her fiancé at the altar. Now that had been something to see.
But this wedding? It was something else. Elise blinked back tears as Anna and Roger pledged the rest of their lives together. Occasionally, she glanced toward Tracey, who was full-on crying. Would Tracey have cried at Elise’s wedding to Sean? Would she have said, Elise, come on, you’re practically still a kid? Don’t marry Sean. There will be other men like Sean. There are millions and millions of other men in the world...
There was no way to know.
Elise had already married Sean. Tracey had already lived over forty-five years of her life, it looked like. They hadn’t had one another; maybe they hadn’t needed each other.
Yet here they were, watching this stranger marry.
When Anna and Roger kissed, everyone in the tiny crowd burst into applause and wolf-whistled. Elise turned her face up toward Wayne and caught him, too, wiping away a tear.
“What?” he said. “I’m not sad about Anna. I’m just a little bit of a sucker for weddings, is all.”
Elise belly-laughed at that. This guy? With the tattoos and the clever smile? This guy was a sucker for weddings?
“Me too,” she said instead. “I can’t help but cry.”