I smile into the mirror, and then she shows me the picture. "Damn, if you ever give up being a vet." She laughs when she walks into one of the stalls while I hold her phone in my hand. "You could be a model."
I can’t help but laugh at that. "Thanks"—I shake my head—"but no, thanks. I’m happy doing what I’m doing."
I look up at the stall when I hear the toilet flush, and then she walks out going to the sink. "You know," she says. "I’m not going to lie. I was shocked when I got your response." I get up from the bench and go to her as she turns the water off and then takes one of the white hand towels and dries her hands.
"I made him a promise I would be there on the happiest day of his life," I share with her, looking down and then blinking away the tears from that memory. "And I am a woman of my word." I look back at her, smiling. "For the most part."
"There is a reason that you came today." She grabs the phone from me. "I have no idea what it is, but it’s the universe telling you something."
I shake my head. "It’s probably the universe telling me I should have let sleeping dogs lie," I say, walking into the stall and going to the bathroom.
When I walk out, she is sitting on the bench, and she watches me while I wash my hands. "I don’t think that Jennifer was the one for him," she confides, and I stop my hands from rinsing under the water. "I know it’s a shitty thing to say, and I am not going to talk bad about her, but I just didn’t think that they loved each other." I turn off the water, trying to get my heart to calm down at this news. "I mean, I think he loved her but I don’t think he was in love with her."
I grab a towel and dry my hands. "Your brother wouldn’t marry anyone that he didn’t love. I might not know the man he is today." The burning now comes to fill my stomach. "But the man he was wouldn’t ask someone to marry him if he didn’t love her."
"I think, that before you leave"—she puts the phone back into her pocket—"I would have a talk with my brother. At least to clear some things up."
I shake my head. "Nothing to clear up. We were two young kids who dated ages ago." I don’t believe the words coming out of my mouth and I have a strong feeling that neither does Shelby. "We’ve moved on. The end." I put the towel into the basket at the side.
She shakes her head. "You really should at least clear the air."
"There is no air to clear." I put my hand to my stomach. "I came here to wish a friend well, and tomorrow I’ll be going back to my life, and he will continue with his."
"Okay," she says, not sounding convinced at all. "Shall we get back to the party?"
I pull open the door, and I hear the song "Hey Girl" come on, and I laugh when I hear the song start. I clap my hands when I get close to the table, and the girls look up at me. I take a glance at Travis, smile, and he brings his cup to his lips.
"Oh, now we start," Rachel says, taking the shot in front of her. "I lose this round." She takes another shot. "Time to line dance." She points at me, going to the dance floor. "Let’s see if I remember this."
She starts to move her feet, and she stumbles a bit. Everyone from the table is now on the dance floor. "Harlow," Shelby says. "Go in front, and we will follow you."
I laugh as I walk to the front and then start to move my feet, but with the heels, it’s hurting my feet, so I bend and untie the straps around my ankles and then start over. I look over at the DJ. "Can we start over?" He nods his head and starts the song again. "Okay, so you are going to walk right foot, left foot, shake shake." I shimmy my hips. "Shimmy shimmy." I move my hips from side to side. "And then triple step back. Repeating the steps again."
"I’m sorry," Frankie says. "You lost me at shimmy."
"Yeah, can you shimmy shimmy again?” Jake jokes, clapping his hands.
"Or we can change the song," Travis suggests. "Put on another song."
"Yes," Rachel says. "Put the ‘Cha-Cha Slide.’"
The DJ puts the song on, and everyone is moving at their own speed. No one is following anyone, and then the song goes into Usher, and now we are all dancing to our own beat. I walk back to the table to grab a drink, and so does Bennett. "It’s good to see you," he says, smiling at me.
"Is that the booze talking?" I ask him, grabbing a glass of water and downing it.
"Could be a bit of both," he confesses and takes a shot of tequila. The song changes to a slow one, and he holds out his hand to me. "May I have this dance?"
I bat my eyes at him. "Why, I would be honored." He drags me to the dance floor and puts his hand around my waist and holds my hand up.
We move side to side and then bump into Presley and Travis. "Yeah, this is wrong," Bennett says, letting me go and then grabbing Presley’s hand. "Now this." He wraps his arms around her. "This is so much better." He moves away from us, leaving Travis and me just standing here.
I shake my head. "That would be weird," I say to him, and he nods his head.
"Let’s get a drink," he offers and holds out his hand for me to lead the way, and I can feel his hand at the bottom of my back as he follows me to the bar.
"Two glasses of scotch." He holds up two fingers and sits on the stool beside me. I lean on the bar instead of sitting.
The bartender comes back in record time, putting the two glasses down on two white napkins. "You know what I didn’t expect today?" he asks, bringing his glass to his mouth.
"Not to get married?" I say, picking up my own glass and bringing it to my lips while he chuckles. The liquid is cool against my tongue yet burns all the way down. My eyes never leave his, and I see the little lines at the side of his eyes that weren’t there before. He’s older now, and I wonder if his lips taste like scotch. I wonder if I kissed him, would it be just like it was back then? I move my eyes away from him, scared that he will be able to read my thoughts.
"That." He points at me, putting his glass down. "And." He looks at his glass and then at me. "Seeing you."
Chapter 9
Travis
"You know what I didn’t expect today?" I sit on the stool holding the glass of scotch in my hand, taking a sip and then placing it down. She leans against the bar in front of me.
"Not to get married?" She picks up her glass, bringing it to her plump lips, and I can’t help the chuckle that comes out of me. She was always sassy and funny. She looks at me, and I can’t help but think about how it would be four years ago. For one, she wouldn’t be this far away from me, and two, my mouth would be on hers. She looks away from me, and I wonder if it’s because she’s seen what I’ve been thinking. Seeing her today has thrown me off-kilter. My life in black and white is now littered with color, and I know it is because of her.
"That." I point at her, putting my glass down on the bar. "And." I look at the amber liquid in the glass and then look back at her. "Seeing you," I say honestly.
She throws her head back and laughs, and it makes my stomach tighten. It was a sound I buried away in my mind somewhere, and now it’s back out. When we were together, I would always do something that would make her laugh just so I could hear it. "Well, I got an invitation," she says, and now it’s my turn to laugh, and she just looks at me.
"You can thank my sisters for that," I admit it to her, and her eyes widen and her mouth hangs open.