“Not to me,” I said, protesting her faulty accusation. “I thought that was self-explanatory.”
Mother and daughter watched our squabble with grins on theirfaces.
“You two are exactly as I remember you,”Angelasaid.
“For better or worse,” Casey replied, hugging Lauren to her. “I’m so glad you’re here. It’s great to finally see you again inperson.”
Casey had periodically kept in touch with the girl over the years as a way to help bolster her self-esteem, but seeing Lauren now, so confident and outspoken, I wondered if she might have had more influence on Lauren than even she could haveanticipated.
“Well, when you get back home, you’ll need a picture to show around,” I said, standing on one side of Lauren as Casey got on theother.
And as we hammed it up for the camera, I smiled in Casey’s direction. She had such a good heart. Inviting Lauren and Angela hadn’t been for our sake at all; it was to give Lauren another moment to shine. I grabbed Casey’s hand andsqueezed.
* * *
Boris usheredCasey and me to the side of the reception hall where the towering cake glimmered in white frosting. Although I’d seen the masterpiece from a distance, it wasn’t until I gotten closer that I saw the personalized touch that seemed to adorn every single thing at ourwedding.
Our initials, C + J, were carefully placed inside hearts that were formed by candy crystals. The hearts were scattered over the different layers. It was a simple image but the meaning for us was huge, symbolizing our unity. A ‘Cake’ cake. I hugged Casey to me. She beamed, and we kissed for thecrowd.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Boris walk up with a smaller cake, and when I took a closer look at the clearly homemade confection, I laughed. It was one of my mom’s Betty Crocker cakes. I raised my brow to Casey. Coulditbe?
She nodded. “Funfetti.”
7
Casey: Super-Sized
Guests spilledout of the reception hall as we ducked into the limo and pulled away. I’d planned for nearly a year for the perfect wedding, and although there had been a few blips along the way, I couldn’t have been happier with the outcome. With Jake’s arm resting securely over my shoulder, we waved goodbye to all our family and friends, and I tilted my head toward my new husband and ran my finger over hishandsomeface.
“Thank you for marrying me, JakeMcKallister.”
“It was my pleasure.” He tipped his head in return and gently brushed his lips past mine. That sparkle in his eyes was something I hoped to see every day for the rest ofmylife.
“What was going through your mind while I was walking down the aisle? You looked soemotional.”
Jake glanced at me and then quickly looked away, his face rife with the same sentiment as earlier. “This might sound weird, but once I got over the shock of seeing you walking toward me in that dress and looking so incredibly beautiful, I thought about the kid I used to be, sitting in the dark, alone and scared for my life. I couldn’t even have imagined having someone like you back then, but if I’d known you were in my future, maybe it would have been easier to get throughallthat.”
The honesty of his words sent a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes. I wasn’t sure what sort of answer I’d been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t that. Although a generic answer wouldn’t have been Jake,either.
“I wish I could have been there for youbackthen.”
He squeezed my hand tighter. “You’re here now, and that’s all thatmatters.”
The way he shifted uncomfortably and the grimace, which appeared out of nowhere, was indication enough that we were done discussing his time with Ray for now. He’d poured his soul out to me once, but that was a long time ago, and now I rarely, if ever, got anything more that these tiny snippets of truth. I’d given up pushing for details, as it usually just ended up in an argument about him dropping out of therapy. My greatest wish would be for him to be able to work through his issues completely, but I understood that it might be too much to ask of him. It was very possible that I would never know the full story, nor did I particularly want that information. Some things, I reasoned, were better left unsaid. It was hard enough hearing about this stuff happening to a stranger on the news, but when that person was someone you loved, it took on a whole new meaning. That being said, I was always willing to snatch up any piece of information he was willing to offer, no matter how tiny orinsignificant.
“What were you thinking walking down the aisle?” he asked, moving the focus awayfromhim.
My face immediately reddened, thinking about those moments. “Well, now I don’t want to say, because it’s a little shallow compared to youranswer.”
“I’m sure it wasn’tshallow.”
“Okay, well, when you were standing up there at the altar, looking smokin’ hot, I was thinking all my friends and family would be totally jealous, and that made mehappy.”
“Ooh, yeah,” he winced. “That was supershallow.”
“I told you,” I said, pushing against him in retaliation for making me reveal my superficiality. “Wait, no, I change my mind. I was actually thinking about how lucky I was to havefoundyou.”
“Uh-huh,right.”
