“What makes you say that? You don’t know who you are?”
“I used to think I did. I was positive I was exactly who I was supposed to be.”
“And then what?” I ask.
“And then, you.” Ryan gives me a twirl and I try to channel my inner Ginger Rogers as he pulls me back in. I probably look closer to Big Foot. “When I went out with the guys the day we got our tuxes, Jason and Beau told me I was different. They said they had forgotten I was funny.”
“Ouch.”
“Honestly, I wasn’t even offended because they were right. After we broke up, I think I went into a kind of survival mode. I’d go through the motions with everything, but nothing felt as good as it should. And now I don’t know if I’m going back to who I used to be or if I’m changing into someone different.”
“Maybe you’re just acting like who you really are.”
“And maybe that only happens when I’m with you.”
The music fades out, the song ending. I can tell Ryan wants to kiss me as bad as I want to kiss him, but we both hold back. There are too many eyes around us, and too many questions would follow. Instead we stand there, in the middle of the crowded dance floor, grinning and looking at each other with an intimacy that only we can see.
The band whips into a lively salsa song next, and Ryan takes my hand, leading me back towards the tables.
“I’m going to head for the bar. You want a champagne or are you trying to get wild with a bay breeze?”
“Let’s just go full throttle and start with a bay breeze. You only live once.”
“I like where your head’s at, Sullivan. I’ll be right back.”
I sit down at our assigned table and take a much-needed sip of water. Looking at the delicate calligraphy on the place card in front of me, I chuckle when I see that Cristina once again seated me next to Ryan. Good thing we’re at the point we are in our relationship. If we weren’t, we’d probably be royally peeved with the arranged marriage my best friend is trying to force us into.
I’m just beginning to scan the menu tucked into my napkin when a woman I don’t recognize approaches our table, scrunching down a bit to check the place cards. She looks like a beautiful Southern belle with a bright floral dress and voluminous red-blond hair styled flawlessly over her left shoulder. Her makeup is YouTube tutorial caliber, and I mean that as in she makes the tutorials, not watches them. Something about her looks familiar but I can’t place it. She still hasn’t found her name when she almost reaches my side.
I get up with a smile as we make eye contact. “Hey. I’m Kara.”
“Hi,” she answers, seeming relieved. “It’s so nice to meet you. I’m sorry to walk around looking lost, but I’m trying to find someone. I originally couldn’t make it tonight, but I was able to move things around last-minute.”
“Well, you’re in luck because I can probably help you. I’m the maid of honor, so these seat assignments have haunted my dreams for weeks.”
“Aw, you’re such a good friend. I’m Madison.” She holds out her hand and I stand up to shake it. As I do, the world seems to slow down around me. My stomach twists and tightens to an excruciating point.
Her name rings out in my head, soft at first, then louder and louder until it’s deafening. Madison. Madison. Ryan’s Madison.
Madison is still shaking my now-trembling hand as she looks past me and flashes a radiant smile.
“There he is! Just excuse me for one second.”
Don’t turn around. If you don’t see it, it won’t be real.
I wish I could listen to my own warning, but I can’t. I turn around to watch Madison happily fling her arms around Ryan’s shoulders as he stares back at me with a look I’ve only ever seen the day I left him.
My insides lurch.
Ryan untangles Madison’s arms from around him and turns his eyes from me to her. “What are you doing here?” he asks.
“I cut my business trip short so I could surprise you. Did I?”
“Yeah, you did.” Ryan walks over towards me and Madison follows. My chest feels like it’s being stretched paper-thin. A million questions rush through me at once. “Kara, this is Madison.”
Madison. Madison. Madison. I’m getting a splitting headache. Madison reaches out to me again, this time with her left hand, and I almost collapse backwards.
“Wow,” I manage to force out, my voice shaking. “That is a beautiful diamond ring.”
