Wren
Kara had chosen flat shoes for the bridesmaids, and I could have kissed her. Heels were the worst, and I was used to wearing boots more than anything else. The ceremony was also taking place in a small field near their house, so the last thing anyone needed was a heel getting stuck in the grass and going ass-over-tea-kettle.
It had been a few days since the scavenger hunt and Jasper and I hadn’t crossed paths.
Kara hadn’t teased me about him again, but it was coming.
The morning of the wedding, Kara was completely calm. I wasn’t surprised. She and Grant were so perfect for each other.
Not that they were especially similar in superficial ways. He was a loner, a mountain man. She was a little more social, having lived for years in the city and worked as a graphic designer.
Lumberjack meets urban designer equals love.
Not what most people would expect, but it worked for them.They clicked in a way that made sense. They bonded over mutual grief after the death of her uncle.
Finding myself unexpectedly weepy, I watched her carefully apply her makeup. The emotion was unexpected
Maybe it was the conversation with Jasper in the mountains, where we dug into a topic most first responders avoided—the usually unspoken belief that people like us didn’t always get the same endings.
It wasn’t a dramatic thought. It never was. It just lived somewhere in the back of my head.
And yet it had been louder the last few days.
Especially now, watching Kara get ready to choose happiness after loss.
Settling down in one place had already been on my mind. Maybe that contributed to the strange swirl of emotions sitting in my chest. Or maybe it was just weddings doing what weddings did—making people question their life choices whether they wanted to or not.
I pulled myself out of my head, trying to be present for my friend.
Doing makeup was not a skill I had. Mainly because I was used to being covered in dirt, not foundation, so Kara took over.
Luckily we were pretty similar in complexion.
Once she was done, I put on the forest-green dress she’d picked for us, sliding it up over my hips before pulling the straps over my shoulders.
For a moment I just stood there.
I couldn’t remember the last time I had dressed up for an occasion.
The reflection looking back at me felt like someone Irecognized, but only faintly. The conversation with Jasper about two different lives flickered through my mind.
Not helpful. Not today.
There was movement outside the cabin where we were getting ready. Low conversation and background music.
“It’s time!” Kara called, stepping into the room already holding her bouquet of wildflowers. She paused when she saw me. “Okay, wow. You clean up really well.”
“Don’t get used to it.” I fiddled with the straps. “This is a temporary condition.”
She laughed. “The correct answer is ‘Thank you’.”
She stepped closer, lowering her voice. “You good?” she asked, softer now. “You’ve been kind of in your head the last few days.”
A long beat stretched between us before I answered. “Just focused on your vision for your big day.”
Kara studied me for a second, then tilted her head. “That’s not what it looks like.”
I gave her a look. “You’re getting married in five minutes. Focus.”
