A Thin Line (25 page)

"See, while Nate and Morgan were hanging out and being perfect for each other, getting a head start on that lifelong love affair, their two best friends discovered each other. And became best friends. And started hanging out. The only couple that rivaled Nate and Morgan in the "Oh My God They're So Cute Together” category was Preston and Angie. Look it up. I swear. It's in our yearbook."

Preston paused to let a chuckle ripple across the room. "Those times were good times. The best of my life.  You know what it's like when you're a teenager and everything's perfect. Until it's not."

Preston paused, staring into the air. I watched him swallow once, then twice, before he spoke again. "Until that one time when I made a huge mistake. And I lost the love of my life. And regretted it ever since. Then, because I couldn't let her go, I spent the next decade or two making her life hell. Making her regret ever loving me."

"What is he doing?' I whispered to Jackie. "He's supposed to be talking about Nate, the Groom. Not himself! This is not a Best Man's Speech!"

"
Shhhh
, honey," she said, tapping me on the arm. "See where he's going with this."

"But see, the perfect couple that Nate and Morgan are... they want everyone to be happy, like them. Blissful and in love and a perfect couple like them. They knew what could be possible, what could maybe happen, if only we could pull our heads out of our own asses. I know they feel like all those years of encouragement haven't even been heard. Good advice and prayers and even a little ass kicking now and then, a total waste of time.

"So they gave up." Preston paused, nodding into the now silent room. "Yup, they finally said okay, if you two don't want to be a part of each other's lives, you don't have to be. Do this one last thing for us and then you never have to see each other again.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, today you witnessed that
one last thing
. Two people who couldn't stand the sight, touch, smell or sound of each other put together parties and banquets and dinners and brunches and one of the best weddings I've ever been to."

The room erupted in laughter. Even I laughed for a second.

"So today marks the beginning of something new for all of us. We just watched one half of this foursome dedicate their lives to one another in front of their friends and family. Nate, Morgan..."

Preston raised a glass of champagne aloft in toast. "I salute you, I congratulate you, I celebrate your union today. May you have twice as many happy years as a married couple as you've had so far."

He sipped, leading everyone else to do the same, but quietly, as if waiting for the other shoe to drop. I was hoping he was done, but he opened his mouth again and kept talking.

"But... what I really want Nate and Morgan to know is that the last decade or so of begging and threatening hasn't gone to waste. It didn't fall on deaf ears. We're not completely hopeless. Your terrible plan to force us to work together so that we'd get the hell over ourselves and realize that we still care about each other and that we still have a chance at a happily ever after.... well, it worked."

A sharp gasp came from every corner of the room as all heads snapped around to look at me. A dull roar crossed the room from right to left, front to back. I heard Morgan squeal. I sat like a deer in headlights, gripping my glass so tightly I felt like it might shatter in my hands.

"Angie and I… we have a lot of stuff to work out. Eighteen years of stuff. It hasn't been easy. I'm kind of an asshole. She's kind of stubborn. But we...we ahhh..."

Preston glanced at me from up stage and, through a mildly drunken stupor, I'm sure he felt my rage from ten feet away. Appropriately, beads of sweat pop up across his forehead, which he swipes away with a thumb.

"I’m going to rip off this Band-Aid and say that Angie and I are back together. We wanted to keep it under wraps until Nate and Morgan got married but I couldn't wait one more second to tell everyone that it worked. This ridiculous idea you guys cooked up to push us back together... it worked. And the point of my whole spiel here is that..."

Preston shoved a hand in a pocket and for the first time seemed sheepish and hesitant. "Well, hopefully, if I make it off of this island alive, I will marry Evangeline Nicole. And Nate will be my Best Man and he can give a long self-centered speech at my wedding. Until then, I love you man. Congratulations to you and the Mrs."

Preston stepped offstage amid applause and squeals of joy and hands grabbing at him-women to kiss his cheek and men to pat him on the shoulder and shake his hand. In my fog, I barely noticed Jackie grabbing me and shoving me into an awkward hug, pressing her belly right up against me.

"I knew it!" She squeaked, practically jumping with her arms around me. "I don't know how, but I knew it. So, the Wedding Party brunch? Were you together then? You looked so happy!"

"Jackie..."

"And then the Bachelorette Party! Remember I said you looked like you had–"

"Jacks!" I tried to pry her arms from around me but pregnant women must be stronger than steel.

"I'm so excited for you guys! I never knew you together, but I always thought you would make such a cute couple! And I want to hear all about how you got back together and I'm so pissed you didn't tell us! You could have told us, we're your best friends!"

I finally gave a strong tug and pulled away, releasing myself from her iron grip. I stepped back, tossed my champagne glass on the nearest table and stalked to the door.

"Air," I managed to choke out. "I need some air."

I sat outside on a painted wooden bench, by myself, for a long while. Legs crossed, arms folded across my chest, one foot furiously twitching. 
Relax
, I said to myself.
Calm down.  So what if Preston revealed to fifty of our closest family and friends that we'd been hiding a reconciliation? So what if I asked him to keep it quiet for three. measly. goddamn. days?

By my count, I managed to be alone for about a half hour. I heard the door to the reception hall swing open and the rustle of heavy silk and tulle swish in my direction.

God. Morgan. She should not be out here consoling her best friend on her wedding night. 

She sat down next to me, fluffing the full skirt of her dress around her, saying nothing for a few moments. When I didn't offer up any words either, she reached for my hand. The sight of our clasped jumble of fingers brought tears to my yes.

"For the record," she started, gripping my hand tightly. "It's obvious that he broke the news before you were ready, and that's shitty. He really is an asshole."

I shook my head and despite my mood, laughed a little. "Now you believe me. When he’s embarrassed me in front of everyone."

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about, Angie. It's totally okay for you guys to want to keep your relationship quiet for awhile. You know I never told anyone about when Nate and I broke up. Some things are meant for the two of you."

I nodded and sniffled, swiping at errant tears that wouldn't stop falling. "I didn't want to take away your moment. I wanted you to have this whole day to yourself. Now anything anyone is talking about is how Angie and Preston are back together."

"Oh, girl. You two were a hot topic long before now."

"I know," I said, my voice gritty and shaky with the threat of more tears. "But we worked hard on this. I didn't want to take your spotlight and he knew that."

"I'm not worried about my spotlight. I've been with Nate for like... forever. Literally. There's no spotlight, just a big ass dress and a party on an island. And even if you did steal our spotlight? I couldn't be happier about it. Aren't you happy to be back with him?"

I shrugged. "Up until about an hour ago. And now... I don't know. I didn't... I wasn't ready for everyone to know yet."

"Cat's out of the bag, now. You don't feel a little relief? It had to be hard to hide."

"Actually, it wasn't all that hard to hide."

"Oh really? Because actually, you guys didn't do that great of a job hiding." Morgan smirked. "I knew."

"Shut up, you did not."

"Did so!" she said, laughing loudly. "I know you better than you know yourself. I could tell."

"How? How could you tell?"

"It's written all over your face."

I groaned.  "Okay, whatever. That's stupid."

"I'm serious. When we were kids, there was this look that you'd get, when you saw Preston. You loved him so much, I could see it in your face. It took me awhile to recognize it again. But around..."

She paused, furrowed her brow in thought for a second, then continued. "My Bachelorette Party. That's when I saw it again. And I didn't call you out on it because Jackie was doing an outstanding job of doing that herself. I could tell you didn’t want anyone to know."

"Nosy bitch. Pregnant people must be fucking clairvoyant or something."

"Or you can't help that look on your face. The one that's still there, even though you're pissed at him."

"So, Lover's Lagoon and the champagne?"

Morgan nodded, a small, proud smile on her lips. "We wanted you and Preston to have some time together in a really special place, away from prying eyes and nosy pregnant people. This trip is as much about you and him as it is about me and Nate."

She squeezed my hand in hers and drew our hands to her chest. "We wouldn't have wanted to share this week with any other couple. Foursome for life, right?"

I squeezed back, then quipped, "If Preston makes it off this island. It might really be Wedding WrestleMania."

Morgan laughed. "Well, give him shit from me. That was lowdown and I don't like it. I mean, I love that you're together, but you should be happy right now and you're not. I want him to fix that."

"Give me a chance and I'll see what I can do."

I twisted around to see him leaning against the red brick wall, jacket off, collar unbuttoned, tie loosened. He looked tired, but his eyes were clear and bright. At least he wasn't drunk.

Morgan patted my hand before letting go, then without a word, got up and picked her way back down the path to the hall.

"How deep in shit am I right now?" He asked, resuming Morgan’s spot.

"Pretty deep."

"Wow, that was a quick answer."

"You asked."

"Do I even get a chance to explain?"

"Explain what? How we had a conversation this morning about this, and I asked you to wait until after this was over, and you said–"

"You said until after the wedding. Wedding’s over."

I propped my elbows on my knees and dropped my head into my hands, trying to regulate the anger that roiled up again. "Are you always so goddamn literal, or only when it suits you? I obviously meant after this trip. That's what we talked about before, Preston!"

"Well, sorry. I took what you said and ran with it–"

"You took what you wanted to hear and ran with it."

"Okay. Maybe I did. But now it's out there and we don't have to worry about it."

I sat up, inhaled deeply, closed my eyes. This conversation was not working to soothe anything in my mind. I was angrier by the second.

"
You
don't have to worry about it, Preston. See, guys don't care about this shit. They'll pat you on the back and smoke a cigar with you and that'll be it. Women are different. Women are nosy and catty and judgmental. You have no idea what you've done to me."

I stood up, kicking up the hem of my dress behind me. "I need to get out of here. I need to get away from you."

I heard Preston huff a grunt of frustration as I marched up the path toward the hotels. "Angie, don't go. Let's talk this out. Don't run away from this."

I stopped long enough to hurl a barb over my shoulder. "The only thing I am running away from is a self-serving asshole."

"I'm an asshole because I want our friends to know we're together and we're happy?"

"Do I look happy to you, Preston?"

"Well, not right now, no. But if you calm down and stop being fake mad–"

I stopped and turned on my heel, forcing Preston, who had been following me down the path, to collide right into me. "Don't. touch. me. Don't follow me. Don't talk to me. Fake mad? I'm fucking pissed at you right now!"

"More or less pissed than when you found out about Stacey? Is this
stay mad at Preston for twenty years
pissed, or will it blow over?

I physically felt myself turn green at the mention of Stacey Fullmer. "I hate you so much right now."

"I'm not all that fond of you, right this second. But I want to talk about it, work it out. We were going to tell them anyway-"

"When I was ready! Not in the middle of their wedding reception, with some me, me, me,
all about me
Best Man speech. Is that the speech you wrote? Is that what you planned to say all along?"

"No... I was kind of drunk and really happy. Look, Angie..." I heard Preston's steps quicken as he tried to keep up with me. "I know you wanted to wait. And I know your girls are going to give you hell and I'm sorry about that. I felt like we needed to say it."