CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVENatalie
Outside on the lawn, chaos was brewing. Some guests were already in their seats by the bluff, roasting in the late-afternoon heat. Most were still under the tent by the bar, making uneasy small talk as rumors thickened the heavy, moist air.
Yet Natalie felt lighter than she had all weekend. Lighter than she’d felt in years, if she were being completely honest. The mass of guilt, resentment, and shame—a weight she’d grown so accustomed to, she’d almost stopped noticing it—had vanished after her chat with Marigold, and she had no desire to face the sweaty, confused wedding guests, who’d surely demand updates. Nor did she relish the thought of rejoining the other bridesmaids, who were either relishing the drama (Liesl and Bri) or sending a flurry of answered texts to Marigold (Hannah and Richie.)
Marigold had gone off to find Jonathan so they could break the news to everyone. But until then, Natalie felt it was prudent to stay out of sight. There was a tiny coffee shop attached to theyacht club, whose infrequent, inconsistent operating hours had become a long-standing joke. It was only open from May to September, staffed by members’ young adult children, who would often disappear on rainy days because business was slow, and on sunny days, when they decided they’d rather go sailing with their friends.
Craving caffeine and solitude above all else at the moment, Natalie made her way toward the coffee shop, where, while she couldn’t count on the former, the always-empty annex would certainly provide the latter.
To her surprise, the tiny café was open, despite the fact that there were no other patrons in sight. Someone had probably volunteered for a shift in order to be around for the wedding festivities. “Hello,” Natalie said as she approached the counter, where a girl of about eighteen or nineteen was staring at a phone.
The girl jumped, startled by the novelty of a customer. “Hi.”
Natalie waited a polite moment, then said, “Can I order something?”
The girl stared at her as if still uncomprehending. “Sure,” she said finally.
“Um… okay.” Natalie scanned the coffee-making apparatus behind the counter, trying to gauge what kind of order would have the best chance at success. The filter coffeepot seemed to be empty, and the shiny espresso machine looked so new and unused, it could easily be for show. “Can I have a cappuccino, please?”
Yes, I’m ordering a cappuccino in the afternoon, deal with it, she thought, imagining Bill’s look of horror.
“A cappuccino?”
“Or regular coffee. Or iced coffee. Whatever you have is fine.”
“I can do a cappuccino,” the girl said nervously. It soundedlike she was speaking more to herself than to Natalie, like a kid psyching themselves up to jump off the diving board for the first time. She turned to face the machine, then paused.
“Seriously, anything is fine,” Natalie said.
“Okay… how about an iced tea?” the girl asked hopefully.
“Sounds great.”
After a long moment, the girl bent down to examine the contents of a small fridge below the counter, then stood up again. “I don’t think we have any iced tea.”
“Soda? Juice? I really don’t care,”
“Is it true that Richie Rhodes is a bridesmaid?”
Natalie hesitated, torn between lying and prompting a slew of teen wedding crashers. “I’m not sure. Maybe? You know, I’ll just take a bottle of water.”
The girl nodded, grabbed a bottle out of the cooler, and handed it to Natalie. “That’ll be twelve dollars.”
“What?Are you sure?”
“I’ll get it.” Jonathan appeared at her side and waved his phone over the Apple Pay scanner. He took the water and handed it to Natalie with a smile.
“Thanks. I’ll pay you back. Probably in installments. Do you charge interest?” She took the water from him, then paused. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be dealing with…” She gestured toward the front lawn. “All that?”
“I needed to talk to you first.”
Natalie felt her stomach sink. Had he tracked her down to confront her? To blame her for ruining things with Marigold? What if she’d justimaginedthat he’d initiated the kiss? Perhaps she’d actually, like, lunged at him or something. “How’d you know I was here?”
“It’s five fifteen. You always need caffeine at five fifteen.”
“How do you know that?”
“See, this is why I could never read you. Why I convinced myself that…” Jonathan glanced over at the counter; the girl had already disappeared, most likely to go look for Richie. After confirming they were alone, he continued. “Was Marigold telling the truth? When she told me that you have feelings for me?”
