In an Instant(81)

94

Aubrey is a radiant bride, and Ben beams beside her. They kneel for the benediction, and tears stream from my eyes—hysterical laughter buckling my stomach and causing me to cry. The audience snickers with me. Aubrey, Ben, and the ancient priest have no idea what’s so amusing and look around, baffled.

In the front pew, Mrs. Kinsell elbows her husband to do something, though there’s really nothing for him to do. Written on the soles of Ben’s shoes, which face the two hundred witnesses of this blessed event, in bright-pink nail polish are the words Help Me.

Chloe, who stands beside Aubrey wearing her ridiculous green taffeta dress, looks over her shoulder and gives my dad a wink. Payback. They did it, pulled off the ultimate wedding prank.

Aside from the moment of humor, the ceremony goes off without a hitch, and Aubrey ends up hitched to the person she’s meant to be hitched to. I cheer and applaud and dance and sing.

The reception is at the Ritz a few miles from our house. My mom and dad beam as the couple is introduced. Twenty-four years ago, their own wedding was a simple justice of the peace affair that my dad likes to say “cost me a hundred bucks and a lifetime of freedom.” Then he always adds with a smirk and a wink, “And I might even have paid two hundred had I known the lot of you were going to be thrown into the deal.”

My mom looks exquisite. The emerald-green silk dress she wears is embroidered with silver and pink roses and is cut three inches above her knees, showing off her runner’s legs. Her hair is piled loosely on her head and held in place with a small jeweled clip. Gold tendrils frame her face, and a choker of pearls circles her neck. She bends down to adjust a ribbon on the edge of a table, causing her skirt to pull tight across her rump, and from across the room, the heat of my dad’s stare causes her to lift her head. He gives a full-wattage grin that causes her to blush.

Mo and Kyle are here and are inseparable—hands, fingers, lips, shoulders, hips, something literally always touching. She looks so good and he looks so good and they look so good together I want to applaud. And since no one can hear me, that is what I do. I whoop and holler and dance and clap my hands. You, Maureen Kaminski, are beautiful, and you, Kyle Hannigan, are gorgeous, and I now pronounce you king and queen of stunningness.

Chloe brought Eric, and my dad took to him like a bear to honey. Perhaps it’s because Eric is so different from Vance, but I think mostly it’s because Chloe is so different with Eric. She’s still abjectly devoted like she was with Vance, but Eric is not the least bit needy or possessive, and Chloe seems to be the best version of herself when she is with him, confident and carefree and goofy and fun. Her copper hair glints wildly as she dances, her smile lighting up the room as the music she chose adds the perfect accompaniment to the night.

At one point, breathless and sweating, Eric leads her outside to the patio for some air. She looks out at the ocean and then turns to him and says, “You never asked me.”

“Asked what?”

“About the accident.” She holds up her half-pinky hand as if to make the point.

He takes hold of it and kisses the stub. “Do you want to tell me?”

Chloe tilts her head, thinking about it. “Not really, but I’m curious why you never asked.”

“It wouldn’t change anything. I would still love you.”

Her smile spreads. “But aren’t you curious?”

“In the beginning, maybe a little, but then, not really.”

“What if I wanted to tell you?”

“Then I would listen.”

“But you don’t want me to tell you?”

His eyes hold hers, his face etched with the promise of the strong man he will grow to be. “Truthfully, no.”

“Why?”

“Because I love you.” He sighs through his nose. “You see, that’s the problem. I love you, so if you want to tell me, I will listen, but at the same time, I know the story is going to be awful, really awful, and so I know I would be supposed to feel bad, but the truth is inside I wouldn’t be feeling nearly bad enough because a selfish part of me would be grateful it happened.”

Chloe stiffens.

“See how terrible that is?” he says. “So I’d rather look forward, not back, and just be grateful that God or Buddha or whoever the hell runs the universe spared you and brought you into my life.”

He opens his mouth to say more, but he can’t because Chloe’s lips are on his, and I wonder if he’s right, if some strange karmic destiny is at work. Oz and I were lost, but Chloe and my mom and my dad were spared and their fates altered. I don’t know if I believe it was providence, but looking at Chloe and Eric standing on the balcony beneath the stars, wholly in love, I know for all that was lost that day, something also was gained.

Chloe pulls away, a perplexed look on her face.

“Something else on your mind?” Eric says.

“Why do you love me?”

He laughs. Eric has a great laugh, a deep, rolling rumble. “You’re kidding, right?”

She shakes her head and glares at him, not thinking her question funny in the least.

“I think it’s the way you glare at me when you’re mad.”

She punches him in the chest. “I mean it. Be serious.”

He pulls her close, his eyes still smirking with humor. “It was your mouth that caught my attention first.”