“Hey, you better take your place at the end of the aisle.” I pointed to the large purple vases at the front of the room. “It’s almost one.”
“I guess it’s time. Maria was out of the room before I woke up, so I haven’t seen her yet.”
“I bet she’s just as jittery. We’ll see you after.” Julie squeezed his hand.
“Congratulations, man,” I said, pulling him into a hug. “Thanks for asking me to be here.”
“Thanks aren’t needed,” he said as he let out a long exhale. “I’m honored you came. Although now I wish you’d brought a flask I could borrow.”
I chuckled, slapping his arm before Julie and I went to find our seats.
“I hope this is a quick ceremony,” Julie leaned in to whisper to me. “His palms are soaked.”
“I know,” I said, chuckling as Dean swiped his damp brow. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this nervous. I hope he doesn’t pass out before he says I do.”
“I don’t remember you being that nervous when you married Shayla.”
I shrugged. “That’s because our wedding was a runaway train driven by her mother. I wasn’t a groom as much as I was a participant.”
“Yes, I remember that.” She nodded. “It was my first Southern wedding. Her family pulled out all the stops. It was an awesome wedding, though.”
I nodded. I had to concede that it had been a great, well-coordinated wedding. But when it came to the marriage, things didn’t fit as easily. We were young, and Shayla had been more into the party than the actual marriage after. After months of fighting, and her boyfriend coming to my office to confess their affair after she broke it off with him, she didn’t fight me when I asked for a divorce.
Everyone craned their necks to the back of the room when the music started. I watched Dean’s expression fade from trepidation to tears when he spotted Maria coming down the aisle. She was stunning in a simple white dress as she walked to Dean on her father’s arm. As much shit as I gave them for waiting so long, I wished they’d have the happy, long life they deserved.
Julie squeezed my arm when they were announced as husband and wife, and the tiny room erupted with thunderous applause.
“It’s nice to celebrate something. For a change.” She shot me a smile as we stood from our seats and followed the other guests to the dining area.
“It is,” I agreed, looping my arm over her shoulders. “My mother used to say the bad times make the good times better, so there are plenty more celebrations to be had. Sometimes things get sucky before they get good.”
“Sucky?” She burst out laughing. “That’s an odd word, yet sadly appropriate.” She slid her arm around my waist as we walked.
“And I’ll be here through all of it,” I said. “That’s a promise. If that helps.” I flashed her a smile.
She laughed, dropping her head to my shoulder.
“It does. It helps a lot.”
6
JULIE
“So what are your plans after this?” Dean’s grandmother asked us from across the table. “I’m hitting the craps tables if you’d like to join me.”
Dean and Maria had placed Landon and me at a table with his family for dinner. We’d spent the summers at Dean’s parents’ house while we were in college since they had a huge in-ground pool. His grandmother lived in the downstairs apartment and always insisted that we call her Nana. We all got the biggest kick out of her no-nonsense attitude, and she never minded hanging out with the college kids who invaded her backyard.
“And they are never going to see you coming, Nana,” Landon teased.
A blush bled into her ninety-year-old cheeks, deepening the rouge already there. She looked no more than seventy and had a built-in strobe light on her cane. She was vibrant and full of life, something I wished for when I became her age, even if I questioned if I’d even get tobeher age.
Having a chronic disease with scary possibilities was an introduction to mortality. And if I did get the opportunity to grow old, what would my body do to me by then?
When patients younger than me would walk into my doctor’s office with the assistance of a cane, I always had to look away. Lupus took on many different forms and trajectories, but it was new enough to loom even on the days I almost forgot about it.
I’d told Landon that I took things day by day to keep up with all the changes, but I could only handle life a little at a time because I was still afraid to look too far into the future.
“You are such a cutie. Why are you still single? Same for you.” She pointed a bony finger at me. “Such a pretty girl. You two would make nice-looking babies. That is, if you move fast since you’re not getting any younger.”
