Hannah was on the phone with her mother, growing increasingly agitated as she explained that Westleigh wasn’t allowed to eat anything that’d been prepared with black plastic cookware. “Then you’ll have to throw it out and start over!” Hannah hissed. Liesl and Bri had cornered the recently arrived Richie, who was even more striking in person, with startingly wide-set eyes that gave her an otherworldly, almost alien look. As Bri peppered her with questions about her skin-care routine, Richie shot Natalie a desperateplease rescue melook, but Natalie knew that small talk with a famous actress was beyond her capabilities, so instead she wandered toward one of the tall windows that faced the ocean.
The yacht club was on the east side of the island, where, in contrast to the relative serenity of the bay that cradled the west side, enormous waves crashed against the jagged, rocky coastline. It was still technically dusk, but the thick storm clouds blocked the remaining light, and during the uncomfortable golf cart ride, it’d been difficult to see anything apart from the shadowy silhouettes of the few trees hardy enough to withstand the windsthat ravaged the side of Sandpiper Island exposed to the North Atlantic.
“Natalie!” She turned to see Tess striding toward her, her blond bob as sleek as always, despite the weather. “Where’s Marigold? We need to get started or we’ll be late for dinner.”
Before Natalie could respond, Lulu hurried up to them looking drawn but animated in a dark blue, glittery tunic with a matching, flapper-style turban. “I assume you heard that Marigold is stuck in New York! I can’t believe she flew down there for her birth certificate when we could’ve had someone pick it up for her.”
“I’m sorry,what?” Tess asked, looking from Lulu to Natalie. From the couch, the bridesmaids looked up with interest.
Ignoring Tess, Natalie turned to Lulu. “Yeah, I think because of the safe?” she said, guilt twisting her stomach. It was one thing to lie on Marigold’s behalf to Jonathan; it was another to lie to Lulu. She’d become something of a surrogate mother to Natalie over the years, making sure that Natalie always had somewhere to spend the holidays when she couldn’t fly home to Arizona, helping her line up tutoring clients, and taking her on shopping trips for her birthday.
“Marigold isn’t here,” Tess said to herself. “Right, okay.” She began typing furiously on her phone, muttering to herself. Bri ran over from the couch to whisper something to Hannah, who promptly ended her call.
Lulu sighed, looking suddenly more tired. “I know she’ll make it back in plenty of time. I just hate that she’s missing all the fun! Olivia too. It’s so strange that she’s not here yet. Have you heard from her? She hasn’t answered any of my texts, and we know she’sneveraway from her phone.”
“I’m sure she’s on her way. The golf carts were a bit late getting to the inn.”
“Thanks, hon.” Lulu squeezed her arm. “You’ve been a wonderful friend to Marigold. To all of us. You’re part of the family.”
“Okay,” Tess said, then took a deep breath and smiled. “Okay, it’s fine. We just need a Marigold stand-in for the rehearsal. Natalie, as the maid of honor, that’s your job.”
Natalie stared at her, startled. “Is that really necessary?”
Tess nodded emphatically. “Absolutely. The procession mightlooksimple, but that’s because it’s all very carefully choreographed. We can’t skip any part of it.”
“Okay… but the maid of honor ispartof the procession. Can’t we find someone else to stand in for Marigold so I don’t miss my own rehearsal?”
Natalie looked at Lulu, who shrugged. “Tess is the boss.”
A few minutes later, Natalie found herself standing in between Lulu and Bill. She’d never felt more mortified in her entire life. Standing in for Marigold felt like a mockery of Natalie’s singleness, as if she’d begged to try it on to know what it felt like to be a bride. She cringed as she glimpsed Bri take a photo of her, then show it to Liesl, who shook her head with a smirk.
Natalie couldn’t bear to look up at Jonathan, who was standing at the other end of the room next to the officiant, a junior senator from Maine who also happened to be a good friend of Lulu and Bill’s. Tess had bustled them all into their places so quickly, she hadn’t had time to tell Jonathan that she’d been roped into this against her will.
To her horror, the familiar opening notes of Pachelbel’s Canon began to play from hidden speakers. Natalie whipped around tosee Tess fiddling with a panel of AV controls on the wall. “Please, no,” she whispered, breaking away from Bill and Lulu. “This is too much. We don’t need the music.”
“I agree,” Richie said in her trademark husky voice. “This is just for blocking, right?” She either hadn’t yet changed for the rehearsal dinner—or else had put her own spin on the dress code with her slouchy black pants and cropped, ribbed white tank top—but there was a gravitas to her that Natalie found both surprising and impressive.
“Yes, we do need the music,” Tess said with a too-bright smile, like a kindergarten teacher who’d reached her breaking point with a troublesome child. She’d clearly become immune to the power of celebrities over the course of her career. “There are specific musical cues. Now if you could just return to your place…”
Natalie slunk back in between Lulu and Bill. “Don’t worry.” Bill elbowed her playfully. “Everyone knows we’re only doing this because Tess is a control freak.”
Natalie gave him a weak smile.
At Tess’s beckoning, the bridesmaids and groomsmen proceeded down the makeshift aisle two by two, with Jonathan’s mother standing in for Olivia, who still hadn’t returned.
“And now the bride,” Tess called out, motioning for them to start moving.
With a sigh, Natalie let Lulu and Bill guide her forward. She kept her eyes on the ground for the first few steps before she found the courage to raise her head. She braced for a look of confusion on Jonathan’s face, or worse, the awkward smile of someone trying to mask their deep discomfort. But instead, she found him grinning at her, just like he used to when he caughther eye in class to acknowledge some shared joke. She felt herself relax and didn’t resist when Jonathan reached for her hand as she reached the end of the “aisle.”
“And now let’s have the bride and groom face each other,” Tess called.
Jonathan took Natalie’s other hand, and his smile widened as their eyes met. Her chest filled with the familiar warmth she always associated with his touch, and for a brief moment, the room seemed to fade away. For the first time in years, Natalie allowed herself to admit how much she wanted this. How there was a parallel universe in which this scene wasn’t a farce—it was real. A universe in which she’d had the courage to confess her true feelings for Jonathan long before he met Marigold.
And then it was over. Following Tess’s orders, Jonathan dropped Natalie’s hands and turned back to the senator to continue some discussion about new pharmaceutical regulations.
Without a word to the rest of the wedding party, she hurried out into the hall, where the first wave of guests were making their way toward the dining room. She just needed a minute to compose herself before returning to the fray.
“Natalie!” Hannah ran after her with a frown. “Is it true Marigold’s not coming atalltonight?”
