By the time the weekend rolled around and Eliza worked the Sunday-afternoon wedding, she felt like a walking zombie. The sleepless, bloodshot, dark-shadowed kind with drool leaking from their mouths.
"Hey, boss, interference to your left."
Kellie's voice filled her ears via the headset, and Eliza quickly set out to flag down and stop the golf cart about to ruin the couple's photo session.
She managed to get the driver of the cart to wait until the photographer finished before sending them on their way.
An older woman stood nearby, glass in hand, watching the beach wedding and antics. Eliza smiled at the woman when she passed by her.
"You look tired, my dear."
As a greeting, it kinda sucked. Eliza pinned a smile to her lips and shrugged. "I'm fine." The I'm fine response had been her mantra every waking moment since Carter had left her house.
I'm fine, she'd said to Marsali when they'd gone to dinner to celebrate the official release of Marsali's book—which had hit the bestseller list as of yesterday. Whenever Marsali had tried to discuss Carter, Eliza had shut her friend down and declared the night to be Carter-free.
"You're not fine," the older woman said, her gaze narrowing on Eliza's face with the intensity of a soul-seer.
Maybe it was the level of her fatigue or the sympathy in the woman's eyes, but Eliza's eyes flooded with tears, and no amount of blinking could stop the sudden barrage. She gasped at her unexpected response and froze, unable to move or react.
"Oh, my dear. Here," the woman said, finding and pressing a tissue into Eliza's hand. "Walk with me. Just down here a bit."
The woman took Eliza's hand and led her away from the wedding attendees waiting for the bride and groom to join them at the beachside buffet, back toward the water's edge, where Eliza had stopped the golf cart. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm like this."
"Oh, I think you do. Who is he?"
A laugh burst out of her at the insightful question. Crying to laughter? Eliza wondered if she was having a breakdown. "It doesn't matter. He's… gone."
"Because?"
They walked slowly, barely moving, and the words just exploded out of Eliza in a blubbering gush as she explained the situation with Carter to a total stranger with a gently wrinkled face and kind eyes.
"Tell me, has this gentleman given you reason not to trust him?"
"Not… not that I know of."
"So your fears—while genuine—are based on what's happened with your family?"
Eliza nodded. "After he told me, I thought I could handle it but he's right. He said he saw the judgment on my face, but I couldn't help it. He's been married. Twice."
"Honey, I doubt many people go into marriage thinking, oh, I can't wait to get divorced. It sounds as though he was genuinely embarrassed by his past and that's why he didn't want to tell you."
"I know. I think he is but—"
"But?"
"But he's ended two marriages already. How do I know he won't end another and I'll be strike number three?"
"Does he seem to be that type of man? One who doesn't take his responsibilities seriously?"
Eliza thought of Carter and his loving relationship with Piper, the way he was with his employees and his business, Lincoln and his family… "N-no, but—"
"Do you not believe he's changed?"
Changed? "I don't know. I hope so. I think so. But how would I ever know for sure?"
"That's where faith comes in," the woman said. "Can I share a secret with you?"
Eliza sniffled and blinked at the woman, nodding and laughing at the same time. "Of course. I've just embarrassed myself in front of a guest. Please tell me something that will help me feel better."
"I will then. Do you see that hunk of a man standing over there? Balding, a bit of a belly? Blue suit?"
Eliza smiled at the description and sniffled. "I do."
"Well, that beautiful man is my husband, and between the two of us, we share five marriages."
Eliza sucked in a gasp so sharp it nearly choked her and she coughed. "Oh. I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply—"
"Stop apologizing, dear, and listen. I told you that to say this—life happens. Usually when we least expect it. In Bart's case, alcohol ended his first two marriages. Then he got sober. As to my first husband… well, I was young and stupid myself, and when I couldn't hide the bruises anymore, I decided enough was enough."
Eliza stared at her new friend, hanging on to every word. "And the… fourth?"
A sad smile flickered over the woman's lined face.
"My Arthur passed away a week after we'd wed. Car accident."
"I'm so sorry."
"Me, too. But then," she said, inhaling, "I met Bart. And even though our pasts were full of mistakes, we fell in love. Next month will be our thirty-fifth anniversary."
Eliza inhaled sharply. Thirty-five years? After all of that? “That's wonderful."
"It is. And had we not moved beyond our mistakes and fears, we wouldn't be here today celebrating this wonderful day. Everyone makes mistakes of some sort, but it's how we pull ourselves out of them and move forward that matters most. Bart hasn't taken a drink in all of these years and is a changed man. I changed, too, because I found my self-worth, and the brief love I knew with Arthur made me realize I didn't want to spend my life alone. It hasn't been easy, but we are both committed to living our best life with each other."
"That's… I think that's what everyone wants." She certainly did. And when she thought of the next thirty-five years or more, the image of the man beside her took the form of tattooed arms and a blinding smile and sexy whispers in her ear.
"Yes, well, now you must decide. Do you think your young man has changed from who he once was?"
"He has. I-I think he has.”
"Well, then, can you really blame him for wanting you to see the man is, rather than the one he's embarrassed about? Especially if he knew of your fears? It sounds to me like he wants very much to be the man you need him to be."
"I made him feel less than," she whispered. "How do I fix that? Carter will always think I doubt him now."
"Grandma, we need you in the photos!" someone called.
"Trust runs both ways, my dear. You fix it by proving to him you were taken aback by the news, but you see the man. Now, I have to go. Will you be okay?"
Eliza nodded and hugged the woman, whispering her thanks. The woman walked toward her family and the waiting photographer, and Eliza watched as her balding, older husband met her with a sweet kiss, tucking her beneath a protective arm as they joined the group under the driftwood arbor.
Trembling to the very depths of her soul, Eliza lifted her fingers to her headset and pressed the button to speak. "Kel, I have to leave. Can you handle things here?"