Zara walks in nervously. “She sent me here to give you this.” She brings her arm up, and that’s when I notice that she’s holding a small gift bag. “She said it was very important that you looked inside before you two meet…” She hesitates, her eyes flying to Kyle before coming back to me. “At the altar.”
I walk over to take the bag from her, confused when she doesn’t let go.
“There’s one more thing,” she mumbles.
Kyle, as if he can sense her distress, takes action. He wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulls her into a one arm hug.
“What is it, baby?”
She stares at me with such intensity, I am now worried as well.
“Please don’t tell me that it’s Mona who has the cold feet,” I beg her. “She’s not leaving me, is she?”
Her eyes widen in surprise, like she hadn’t even thought that would be an option.
“Oh my gosh, no! Nothing like that!”
“What is it then, Zara?” My voice comes out a little harsher than intended, but this tension is killing me.
She takes a deep breath in before letting it all out.
“Your father is here.”
It takes me a second to realize what she just said. Things with my father haven’t been good. He was angry with me when I told him I was in a serious relationship with Mona. He got angrier when I told him she was moving in with me, then it escalated to insanity when we decided to move out of the city and possibly buy a house together.
“You are ruining your fucking life,” he insisted. “And for what? A woman? There are a dime a dozen out there. You can have your pick, have a different one for every single day of the week.”
“I love her, dad,” I insisted. “I don’t want to live my life without her. I don’t want a different woman for every day of the week. I want Mona for every day of the rest of my life.”
“You’re ruining your life,” he repeated. “Don’t come to me when she leaves you and takes away everything you own. You are no longer my son.”
That is the last time we had any communication. Despite it, Mona insisted on sending him an invitation to our wedding. He never responded whether he’d attend or not, the clear implication being that he wanted nothing to do with it.
And yet, here he is.
I clear my throat a few times, trying to buy myself some time before I have to respond to what Zara just dumped on me.
“Did he say anything? Asked to speak with me before the ceremony?”
That’s the only reason I can think of he would agree to come here. Stop me from even making it to the altar.
“He didn’t!” Zara’s eyes widen more with each word. “He came in and sat in the last row. Evie asked him who he was, and that’s the only reason we know he is your father.”
My teeth clench in distress, and my jaw tightens painfully.
“I’ll talk to him after,” I tell my friends. “If he even hangs around for that long.”
Zara presses the gift bag from Mona into my hands. “Don’t forget about this,” she says.”
I grab it and nod in thanks. “I need a minute alone.”
Kyle pats me on the back again. “We’ll see you out there, brother.” He then leaves the room with Zara.
With a definite lump in my throat and halfway distracted by the news of my father being in the building, I open the paper bag. I find an envelope with what seems to be a letter, and also a long and thin box. It looks like it could be some sort of jewelry. I can’t imagine what Mona could be sending me, but I suddenly realizeI never got her anything. I didn’t expect to be exchanging gifts before saying our vows.
I decide to start with the letter, hoping that it will explain whatever I will find in the jewelry box.
Dear Alex, the letter starts, and I smile. She’s been teasing me mercilessly about the note I sent her through theHolidateswhere I started in much of the same way.
