Marigold leaned back against a tall pine tree, relishing the feeling of the bark against her skin. A reminder that the world was still standing. Because nothing else made any sense. How could Natalie, her best friend, hermaid of honor, do this to her? Had Natalie been lusting after Jonathan this whole time and Marigold had just been too dense to notice? Or had they justgotten caught up in the heat of a stressful moment during the strangest wedding weekend of all time?
But then again, hadn’t Marigold just stood in an airport, half willing her ex-husband to ask her to stay? How had everything unraveled so quickly?
She needed time to collect her thoughts, but said thoughts had scattered like dandelion seeds in a strong breeze. She had no idea what she felt, what she wanted. And that was a problem, given that her wedding ceremony was due to start in less than an hour.
“Marigold!” The door swung open, and Natalie raced down the wooden steps, her hair disheveled and her face flushed. “Please, you have to let me explain.”
“Explain?” Marigold laughed despite herself. “What could you possibly explain?”
“I’m sorry,” Natalie said, wiping away her tears. “It didn’t mean anything. Not to him, I promise.”
“But to you?”
“I… I don’t know.” Natalie leaned back against the railing. “I’ve tried so, so hard to deny my feelings. I knew I didn’t have a chance with Jonathan, and I didn’t want to ruin our friendship.”
“Oh my god,” Marigold muttered to herself as she began to pace. It just kept getting worse and worse. Her phone buzzed, and she looked down to see a text from Olivia.
Are you on the island yet? We’re heading to yacht club. Do you need me to stall?
No, Marigold thought.I need you to find me a time machine.But what would that even fix? Had this wedding been doomed from the start?
“Hey, Natalie?” a male voice called. Marigold gasped andducked behind a wheelbarrow, then peered out just enough to see her friend Dylan standing in the doorway. “The bridal party is leaving now, right?”
“In a minute!” Natalie called, her voice oddly high. “Tell them I’ll be right there!”
“Is there room in the golf cart? Can I come with you guys?”
“The rest of the guests don’t need to leave for another half hour. Go relax! Have a drink at the honor bar! Did you know you can sign for it using any name you want? No one cares!”
“No, I mean, I wanted a few minutes with Richie. I really think we’d vibe.”
“Based onwhat, exactly?” Natalie asked skeptically. It sounded like she’d been shocked back into her senses.
“I just think we’d have a connection.”
“She’s a movie star. She gets paid millions of dollars to make people feel a connection with her. Now please go tell the bridesmaids I’ll be there in a second.”
“Come on, don’t be such a—”
“DO IT NOW, DYLAN!”
He spun around, shutting the door behind him, and Marigold stood up, wincing.
For a moment, she and Natalie just stared at each other. “So what do we do now?” Natalie asked finally.
“I have no idea.” Marigold shook her head, trying to figure out which revelation hurt the most. Like testing one limb at a time after a bad fall. “I can’t believe you kissed my fiancé. I thought you were in my corner.” Saying the words, she realized it was true: Natalie’s actions stung worse than Jonathan’s. Maybe it was sexist and unfair, but it was true.
“I am in your corner! I’malwaysin your corner. How manytimes have I dropped whatever I’m doing to help you out of some mess—when you’re locked out of your apartment, or at the airport without your passport, or being questioned by the police for trespassing?”
“Wow, okay. I’m sorry I was a burden to you!”
“You weren’t a burden. You’re a thoughtful, caring, amazing friend. But yeah, sometimes it felt like I was on the support staff for the Marigold show. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to watch you and Jonathan fall in love? How it felt to help you pick the perfect birthday present and ghostwrite all those cards?”
“You’re acting like I forced you to do all that!” Marigold heard her voice growing shrill but didn’t care. “You loved being super-helpful Natalie. It was, like, your whole personality.”
“The guilt and regret were eating me alive. I had to support your relationship.”
“And that’s why you kissed Jonathan? Because it’s what you deserved in exchange for all yoursupport?”
