The Perfect Couple(99)

Celeste tears up. A shower! Her co-workers have thrown her a bridal shower, complete with balloons, cake, a few bags of chips, and a wrapped present. Celeste can’t believe it. This isn’t that kind of office and these aren’t those kind of co-workers. They obviously know Celeste is getting married, and she knows that Blair feels her long-ago migraine was responsible for Celeste and Benji meeting in the first place. Three of Celeste’s co-workers are actually making the trip to Nantucket—Bethany, Mawabe, and Vern—but because it’s the Fourth of July week, all of the reasonably priced hotels were sold out, so the three of them are arriving Saturday at noon and leaving on the nine-thirty fast boat. Celeste is touched that the three of them are making the trip—to drive from the city and take the boat requires more effort than she thought they’d make—but Celeste is also a bit nervous about their arrival. Benji exacerbated Celeste’s concern when he said, “I can’t imagine Mawabe and Vern in the same room as my mother.”

Although Benji’s sentiment echoed Celeste’s own feelings, she took umbrage. “Why not?” she said. “It would be g-g-good for your mother to realize people like Mawabe exist. I’m just sorry B-B-Blair isn’t coming.” She paused. “B-B-Bethany is normal. Sort of.”

“Sort of,” Benji conceded.

Now, Bethany comes forward holding out the gift. Celeste assumes Bethany selected the gift and everyone else chipped in, but some people—like Darius—probably have yet to pay their share.

“What c-c-could it be?” Celeste asks. She unwraps the box and lifts off the top to find a simple white apron with Mrs. Winbury embroidered in black on the front.

Mrs. Winbury. Celeste’s heart sinks.

“I love it,” she says.


Her stutter is so debilitating and so unpredictable that she and Benji have had to tailor their wedding vows with Reverend Derby so that all Celeste has to say is “I do.”

But even those two words present a challenge.

It’s Wednesday, the Fourth of July. Benji and Shooter, Thomas and Abby, and Tag and Greer are already up on Nantucket. But Celeste had to work through Tuesday, and Merritt has a can’t-miss fireworks party tonight. Celeste’s parents aren’t due to arrive until Friday. Celeste decides she will fly to Boston with Merritt on Thursday morning and then Uber to the Cape and take the fast ferry across to Nantucket.

Celeste calls Merritt at three o’clock on Wednesday afternoon. “I c-c-can’t do it,” she says.

“What?” Merritt says. “What do you mean?”

What does she mean? She means she can’t marry Benji. She knows she’s making a mistake. She’s in love with Shooter. It’s a physical condition, an affliction. It is, as Merritt said, in her blood. Celeste feels like she’s standing on a cliff. If Shooter were here right now by her side, willing to hold her hand and never let go, she would jump.

But he’s not. He’s on Nantucket, executing the best-man duties with his usual flair.

“I c-c-can’t say my vows,” Celeste says. “I st-st-st…” She can’t force it out. Stutter is, ironically, the hardest word.

“I’ll be right there,” Merritt says.


Merritt stands before Celeste and says, “Do you, Celeste Marie Otis, take Benjamin Garrison Winbury to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, to bug and to pester, to scream at and screw, until death do you part?”

Celeste smiles.

“Say it,” Merritt says.

“I d-d-do,” Celeste says. She winces.

“Pretend it’s a different word,” Merritt says. “Pretend it’s dew like on a leaf in the morning or due like your rent. I think you’re just psyching yourself out.”

Dew, like on a leaf in the morning, Celeste thinks.

“I dew,” she says.

The corners of Merritt’s mouth lift.

“Again,” she says.

“I d-d-do,” Celeste says. “I mean, I dew.”

“Just like that,” Merritt says. She glances at her phone. “I have to go. We’ll practice more tomorrow. And Friday.”

“Okay,” Celeste says. “Merritt—”

Merritt holds up a hand. “You don’t have to thank me,” she says. “You’re my best friend. I’m your maid of honor.”

“No,” Celeste says. “I mean, yes, thank you. B-B-But what I want to know is, d-d-did you end things with Tag?”

“No,” Merritt says. “He ended things with me.”


Once Celeste is on Nantucket, she becomes a marionette operated by Greer and Roger Pelton, the wedding planner. Roger is like a kind and supremely capable uncle. He goes over the three-day schedule with Celeste—where she needs to be, what she needs to do, what she will be wearing; the outfits are lined up in the closet. Thursday afternoon, Greer has scheduled Celeste for a massage, a mani-pedi, and an eyelash extension.

“Eyelash extension?” Celeste says. “Is that n-n-necessary?”

“No,” Roger says. “I’ll call R. J. Miller and cancel that part of the appointment.”

“Thank you,” Celeste says.

“The most important part of my job,” Roger says, “is protecting my brides from their mothers and mothers-in-law.”