“What?” I asked.
“The showcase gig? According to Hector, they killed last night.” He gave a wave to a guy in a North Lake tee leaving with carryout. “Although he was probably exaggerating. Better ask Ben if you want real details. Since he was actually there and all.”
So he’d really done the gig. Despite the shame reel, his reluctance, all of it. I’d been so self-centered, I realized, assuming I alone was capable of evolving. Especially since so much I liked about Ben, from the start, had been how he’d surprised me.
“Happy Wedding Morning!” Liz called out, happily, as she came in the door. “I can’t believe it’s finally here.”
“I thought you’d be at the Tides, getting things ready for the reception.” Kasey stuck two more tickets.
“I’m headed there once I grab our order,” Liz replied. “Oh, before I forget, I brought in the guest book. I keep leaving it in the car. Can someone take it back to the house?”
“Give it to Finley,” Lana said from where she was clearing plates. “It is her job.”
I rolled my eyes. “Will you stop? You can do the guest book.”
“I am on programs,” she said. “As you know.”
“Hey, anybody feel like running this food?” Clark asked. “No pressure or anything.”
“Here’s those sandwiches,” Kasey said to Liz, stuffing a few napkins in a bag and handing it over. “I put in an extra for Anne.”
“Bless you.” Liz kissed her cheek. “See you over there with the centerpieces?”
“As soon as I’m able,” Kasey said, as another large party pushed through the door. “Which might not be for a while.”
She was right, as another Tides bus pulled up just then. It was chaos even before I dropped a coffeepot, shattering it. Then we had to eighty-six bacon and orange juice. When we closed at noon, every seat was still taken.
After work, Lana and I had to book it back to the house to shower off the smell of breakfast meat and get ready. She’d gone to Kasey’s in search of some bobby pins when I heard the door bang.
“Hello?” Anne called a moment later from the foyer. “Where is everyone?”
“Here,” I replied, but the word was lost as she and her bridesmaids, chattering, climbed the stairs to the second floor and the room designated for their hair and makeup. I could heartheir footsteps, scurrying. It was hard not to think of squirrels.
I went back to putting on eyeliner, distracting myself. A few minutes later I again heard the door and then Lana was returning. She looked flustered. “Those hummingbirds areaggressive,” she reported, dropping the pins on the bed. “Hope nobody wears red.”
“Who wears red to a wedding?” I asked.
She didn’t answer, instead studying her phone.
“Hey,” I said. Talk about tables turned. “You okay?”
She looked at me, exhaling. “It’s Cardoon. He’s just… making things complicated.”
I thought of him that morning, opening up to me about her. “And by complicated, you mean not just seasonal.”
Upstairs, there was a burst of giggles. We both glanced up. Better than scurrying, at any rate.
“Okay, you can just stop with that,” Lana said now. “This is not the same thing as you and Ben. As I said before.”
“Would it be so bad, though?” I asked. “Seasons change, after all.”
“Meaning?” she asked.
I shrugged. “Maybe you can too.”
“Two hours to the ceremony!” Liz hustled past our open door, already in her own dress, which was sky blue and beaded. “All this waiting and now it’s going too fast!”
I could feel it too, a speeding up. Even before Anne stuck her head in a moment later, in shorts and a loose buttoned shirt, her hair bulging with pink rollers. “Hey, do you know where Ben is? He’s not picking up and we need to change the music.”
