Chapter 1
1457 Words
one
CALISTA
Spring
A knock on the café window startles me as I’m about to sip my coffee and a drop spills on my pants. I look out the window and Aubrey’s waving with a huge smile.
My best friend called first thing this morning, insisting I meet her here, that she had huge news. And since most of my clients in our small Alaskan town are family members, it was easy for me to reschedule my appointments.
She rushes through the front door, waving and saying hello to everyone who also decided to come to Brewed Awakenings this morning. You’d think she’s running for mayor.
But she’s not. I already know why I’m sitting here, and I’ve been dreading this day for almost a decade, although with each passing year, I knew it was guaranteed to come.
She shrugs out of her coat, slides into the seat across from me, and picks up the latte I ordered her with her right hand. Aubrey is left-handed. “Thank you so much. I needed this.”
“So… what’s going on?” I play the part of dumbass so I don’t spoil her surprise.
Aubrey beams and bites her lower lip, her blue eyes flooded with happiness. She sets down her coffee, pauses dramatically, and raises her left hand where an engagement ring now rests. “I’m getting married!” she squeals.
And I match her squeal because that’s what a best friend does when her number one announces her engagement.
I spring out of my seat, and she stands from hers. We wrap our arms around one another, not caring who we might be bothering.
“Let me see.” I hold her hand to get a better look at the ring. Her fiancé does well for himself, so the lucky girl scored herself a three-carat diamond. “It’s gorgeous.”
She’s giddy, barely able to leave her hand in mine before lifting it to appraise the ring in the light of the dim coffee shop. I hug her again. I’m happy for my best friend, I am. I’m just upset about what it means for me.
We slide back in our wooden seats, and she sips her latte. “OMG, Calista, can you believe he finally proposed?”
It only took Declan five years too long, but he was busy working his way through law school so he could take over his dad’s practice in nearby Anchorage. He had goals he wanted to reach for himself before giving Aubrey everything she wants.
“And you wanted to give him an ultimatum.” That was two years ago. Most of our other friends were getting married and Aubrey couldn’t stand that he hadn’t proposed.
“I know. I just needed to trust him.”
Sure, everything’s great now. Where was this casual attitude after the trips she came home from, depressed because she was sure he was going to ask her, or the anniversaries where she demolished desserts and inspected the bottoms of champagne flutes?
“So, give me all the details.” I smile at her.
She tells me how they were at his parents’ cabin, arriving late on Friday. He made an excuse about having to check something inside and left her standing on the porch. So far I’m not impressed and would like to go wring Declan’s neck for leaving her outside to be a bear’s dinner.
“He texted me to come in. So I walked through the front door and there was a line of lights with rose petals that led me to where he was on the back porch. I opened the French doors and white string lights were strung all across. ‘Adore You’ by Harry Styles was playing and he was in the middle of a heart made out of petals and lights, bending down on his knee and holding the ring. Oh, Calista, I thought I was gonna pass out. After all these years…”
I smile, knowing how happy she is.
You are too, I remind myself. Stop being a selfish b***h.
“I strolled over to him.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t tackle him and yank the ring from his fingers, screaming yes over and over again.”
She laughs. “It’s what I wanted to do, but…” She wiggles in the chair and sits up straighter. “I had years to practice what I would say and how I would act.”
Once our laughter slows, I say, “Go on.”
“He had this whole speech that…” She cringes. “I don’t really remember, but it was about how he loves me and living together until we’re old.” She waves. “You know the typical stuff about being side by side with him forever. And then he said, ‘Marry me?’ And I said, ‘Yes!’ He slipped the ring on and I jumped him, and we toppled to the ground.”
I laugh because that’s totally Aubrey and why I love her so much. She doesn’t hold back when she’s excited about something.
She continues, telling me about how they had s*x so many times she was sore. And that they don’t want to wait long, so the wedding will be in October.
October… my stomach plummets.
“That’s so fast. What about next spring? Spring is so nice. And it gives you a full year to plan the wedding of your dreams.”
She looks at me over the rim of her coffee cup.
I hate that look.
The pity look.
The “it’s okay to be upset, but you’re going to survive” look.
She sets down her cup and squeezes my hand. “You’ll be my maid of honor, right?” I nod, pushing back the tears threatening to spill.
“Even though…”
I nod.
“I knew you would and that’s why I love you so much. It’ll be painless. Well… not painless, but I already told Declan that there will be no dance with the bridal party. And you’ll walk down the aisle yourself—he’ll be standing next to Declan at the end of the aisle already.”
“Perfect, so I can actually enact what it would be like to walk down the aisle to him as if it were our own ceremony.”
She tilts her head and frowns.
“Forget I said that. Sorry.” I wave away my petty words.
“The only thing you have to do together is walk back down the aisle after the ceremony. Stand next to him during the receiving line, and that’s it.”
I squeeze Aubrey’s hand. “Don’t worry about me. I’m a big girl. He’s a big boy. Everything will go great. I’m your maid of honor, so I’ll make sure of it.”
She smiles, but still looks a little hesitant. “Thanks.”
“Has Declan already asked him?”
If I’m lucky, maybe he won’t be able to make it. Maybe he’ll have some big professional soccer player thing he’s committed to. But I know nothing would keep him away from his best friend’s wedding, just like nothing would keep me from Aubrey’s side.
Damn us and our loyalty.
“He called him this morning before I came here.”
“And?”
“He’s going to be Declan’s best man.”
I sigh.
Rylan Greene.
I can barely think his name without it feeling like a knife turning in my gut, but in six months, my arm will be hooked around his.
God, my entire life has orbited around that man since the age of six. For a brief moment in time, I thought we’d be where Aubrey and Declan are now, but I couldn’t have been more naive. For Rylan and me, love wasn’t enough. Pure and simple. We wanted it, we really did want us to work out, but love only takes you so far. Sometimes life gets in the way.
“Calista?” Aubrey waves her hand in front of my face. “See, I told Declan we should just elope.”
I squeeze her hands. “No, Aubrey. This will be a great day and we need to celebrate. You need to be happy. And it’s been so long coming, I want it to be everything you ever dreamed.”
“You sure?”
I nod. “Let’s talk colors. What are you thinking? And where are you having it?”
I bombard her with questions to stop my heart from beating out of my chest over the fact that a small part of me is excited he’s coming home.
I’m such a glutton for punishment where he’s concerned.
- Writer
