Ace nodded. “Family first.”
“Let’s help him get this shit over with.”
Sometime later, I stood at the front of the church, next to Ace, Joel, and a few other of Micah’s coworkers, and watched as he slipped the gold band around Jodi’s left ring finger.
I hadn’t been around the first months of Micah and Jodi’s courtship. According to Ace, they fell for one another fast. He’d called me in Thailand once, laughing about how our brother had fallen for a woman from New York.
I laughed right with Ace, thinking that relationship would never last. Yet, as I stood at the front of the church, I ate my words. And despite my misgivings on relationships and love and whatnot, I had to admit that I liked Jodi.
She often told it like it was and rarely backed down from Micah, who could be intimidating as hell when he wanted to be. That also was a family trait.
After the vows, I followed the wedding party procession down the aisle as onlookers tossed rice. I wondered what it would be like to be in Micah’s shoes.
Unfortunately, that damn question plagued me up and through to the wedding reception. When my brother and his new bride took to the floor for their first dance, I held my breath but didn’t know why.
As soon as the first chords of the song they chose to be their first dance started, I let out the breath I’d been holding. It was as if a vice grip tightened around the muscle inside of my chest, squeezing it more firmly with each beat.
It was the song “Timeless Love” by Lena Clarkson. One of the songs from herBroken Kissesalbum. And yeah, I knew the song well.
I watched Micah and Jodi sway to the music before my brother pulled back and murmured something to her. She laughed easily and then laid her head against his shoulder.
Unable to take much more of the scene, I tore my gaze away. At the same time, images of Lena flashed through my mind. I brushed it off as a normal reaction to unexpectedly hearing her music. That was all.
When I looked over at Ace to find him staring at Micah and Jodi, I reminded myself why becoming vulnerable with any woman was a bad idea. Ace sat slightly slumped in his seat, staring ahead at Micah and Jodi. He appeared transfixed, as if he was there but not really there.
I shook my head before turning back to the dance floor. Jodi threw her head back and laughed again. There was a glow about Jodi when she looked at Micah. It caused memories from my early childhood to float to mind.
My mother and Joel danced with one another in our backyard. I remembered watching them from my bedroom window when I was eight years old. All the while, not knowing, four short years later, she’d be dead.
That first song moved into the next song, and more couples joined in. A few of our cousins from Williamsport moved in on the dance floor with their wives or children. My father’s brother and his wife. Yeah, technically, that made him my uncle, but I was still getting used to the idea that Joel had a brother, and we had four cousins that we’d never known about.
But that’s a story for another day.
A sound from the side of the room caught my attention. The security guard stationed at the far door pulled it open, and inside walked two women.
I rose from my chair as soon as I caught sight of the second woman. Lena Clarkson.
I blinked a couple of times, making sure she wasn’t a figment of my imagination. Between her song that played only minutes ago, the memory of our first meeting running on a loop in my mind, and the whole sentimental bullshit of weddings, I guessed that I had to be making it all up.
Lena Clarkson couldn’t truly be walking into the middle of my brother’s wedding reception.
“They’re on the list,” Jodi said as she and Micah moved toward the women. “Lena,” she said, confirming that this was indeed reality.
Lena Clarkson was there.
“Who’s this?” Ace asked.
I all but shoved my brother aside and sidled up to Lena. “My future wife.” The words tumbled from my mouth without permission. Strangely, the urge to recant them never materialized.
I didn’t miss the way her eyes ballooned or her sharp inhale.
“Gabriel,” she said in that honey and milk soothing voice.
“Do you two know each other?” Jodi asked, glancing between Lena and me. Jodi dropped her gaze, and that was when I realized I still held onto Lena’s hand.
Lena must’ve realized the same thing because she pulled it free. Reluctantly, I let it go.
“We’ve met,” Lena answered. “You remember Rayven, right?” she asked Jodi, gesturing to the woman staring daggers at me.
