Side Trip(11)

Joy smiled shyly. “You aren’t going to give me a choice, are you?” Unless she packed up and left, they were sharing the table. She had to hand it to him for being bold. Another time, another place, another her, she might have acted in a similar manner had she seen an attractive guy sitting alone at a table with a spare chair.

“No, I’m not.” He laughed lightly. “I’m Mark.”

She grasped the hand he offered. “Joy.”

To her relief, Mark didn’t try to engage her in conversation. He did ask to walk with her to class, and as they crossed campus they exchanged their basic stats—clubs, majors, year in college, where they were from, and what they planned to do with their degrees after graduation. Joy had thought the last time she’d see him would be when he’d wished her good luck on her final before she went into her classroom, but he was waiting for her after her exam. He’d finished his early and thought he’d swing by her building to see if she was still there. He then walked her back to the sorority house where she lived and asked her out to dinner.

“There’s something about you, Joy.” A curious smile drew up his lips. “Something I like very much.”

He flattered her. Of course she said yes, because when they’d started talking, Joy immediately liked him. He was from New York, a state she’d never visited. A state Judy had thought she’d one day move to with Todd. Mark had played rugby when he was an undergraduate, he’d told her. As if his sweatshirt and the muscular shoulders underneath weren’t a big enough clue. But there was something about him. His demeanor and personality reminded her of happier times. Times when her dreams mattered.

They dated through college, even after Mark had graduated with his master’s and returned to New York to work in the family business, commercial real estate. The day after Joy’s graduation, Mark proposed. They’d planned early on that Joy would move to New York after school and live with him. She wanted to work in the cosmetics industry, and Vintage Chic had been one of her top choices postgraduation. She just hadn’t expected Mark to propose so soon. But she loved him, so she’d said yes.

Mark spins her again, then holds her close. He kisses her ear, her jaw, the side of her neck. Joy hums with pleasure. He brings his mouth back to her ear.

“What do you think would have happened if I hadn’t sat at your table?”

I wouldn’t have met Dylan.

Because she wouldn’t have driven cross-country to move in with Mark.

Joy’s face flushes with the heat of embarrassment at the sharp left turn her mind took. It must be the champagne. Alcohol loosens her tongue and lets her mind travel to places she doesn’t want to go. The memories are uncomfortable. They make her question her choices.

“Well?” Mark prods for an answer.

She clears her throat. “I wouldn’t have had as much fun in college. And we wouldn’t be married.”

“I think we would have found each other no matter what. What’s between us, it’s too powerful to ignore.”

She wants to believe so, but there are times she doesn’t feel drawn to him as intensely as she had been once to someone else. Still, she plays along. “Where do you think we would have eventually met?”

“A bar.”

She grimaces. “Boring.”

“Tell me about it. I like how we met.”

“So do I.” And she does. It’s a sweet meet-cute.

He cradles her face. “I love you, Joy.”

“I—”

Thea, Mark’s three-year-old niece—their three-year-old niece—squeals. Toddler legs propel her across the dance floor. Her short fingers grip a dessert plate of precariously stacked cake slices. Her brothers, Tim and Ted, chase her.

Mark swerves aside with enough force to lift Joy off her feet. They narrowly avoid a collision of bride, tulle, cake, and kids. He gives Joy a look and they both burst into laughter.

“That was close,” Mark says.

“It wouldn’t have been pretty.”

Joy’s gaze trails after the kids. Her new sister-in-law, Dara, in a show of supermom reflexes, swipes the plate from Thea before it lands in her mother-in-law Yvonne’s lap. Dara’s husband, Hayden, clamps his hands on the boys’ shoulders and maneuvers them into an about-face. He marches them outside.

The rhythm of the music is fast, but Mark eases them into a gentle sway. He tucks a finger under her chin so that she’s looking into his eyes. He takes a breath as if weighing things in his mind, and his mouth parts. He then shakes his head.

“What is it?” Joy asks, wondering at his swift mood change.

“Nothing. It can wait.” He brushes a kiss on her cheek.

Her brows fold. “Something’s bothering you.”

He stares at her for a long moment, then sighs. “All right. I don’t want to wait to have kids. Let’s start tonight.”

“Tonight?” she asks with a laugh. “You’re drunk, Mark.”

“Drunk on loving you. Do you still want three?” His tone is serious. He angles his head in Dara’s direction. Three kids, just like his sister. Exactly the number Judy wanted.

Joy’s smile falters. She looks at Mark’s chest, and the sterling bracelet with the heart-shaped sapphire on her right wrist catches her eye. Her something blue. Judy’s bracelet. Judy had been wearing it when she died and her mom wanted Joy to have it.