Lydia"s wedding was on a Sat.u.r.day so in order to be present for both the bachelorette party and the rehearsal she needed to leave on Thursday morning. Taking off two days of work and cla.s.s would be murder to make up with only one month left of school but what could she do? Lydia was one of her best friends.
She owed it to her after being such a terrible friend in her last life. She began growing apart from Lydia and Jeffrey the moment she began hanging out with Aaron at lunch.
They completely lost touch in college; she hadn"t even known Lydia was getting married until she saw the wedding pictures on Facebook months after the fact.
Keeley would partic.i.p.ate in this circus despite the problems it would cause her personally because she loved her friend.
She packed carefully after checking what the weather would be like. It was going to be about ten degrees warmer so she might even be able to get away with not wearing a jacket. That wouldn"t stop her from bringing one though just in case. She would rather carry one around unnecessarily than freeze.
Her phone went off as she was gathering toiletries to pack. It was probably Aaron. She had finally remembered to text him about not bothering to provide dinner anymore since he was engaged.
"I don"t know what rumors you"ve been listening to but I only have one wife. That won"t change"
Keeley had never been so confused. One of them had to be lying since their stories were so different. But which one?
Lacy was a scheming witch who had a personal vendetta against her. Aaron had a serious history of lying and was trying to win her back. Both of them had reasons to lie about this.
She didn"t care either way. She was going out of town; she wouldn"t need food regardless.
"Whatever. I"m going to be in California for the rest of the week anyway so if you send things no one will be there to receive them"
His reply was instantaneous. "What for?"
"My friend Lydia"s wedding. I"m a bridesmaid"
"You"ve become the popular bridesmaid choice all of a sudden. Do you really have time for this?"
She sighed. He really seemed like he cared in moments like this. "No but I won"t disappoint my friends"
He didn"t respond for a few minutes. When he finally did, it was only to ask "Is there anything I can do to lessen your load?"
The words brought tears to her eyes and she angrily brushed them away as she thought, "Stupid. This isn"t worth getting emotional over. He doesn"t actually care about you; he only feels guilty for ruining your life."
"No. Thanks though"
"Let me know if you change your mind"
She wouldn"t. Keeley wanted him and his complicated relations.h.i.+p status out of her head. That would only happen if he was out of her life. Taking advantage of his guilty conscience wasn"t an option.
===
California was nothing like she expected. She always thought of sandy beaches and Hollywood but what she saw was a relatively relaxed coastal town. Lydia did say that northern California was different than southern.
Technically there were beaches but they were all rocky and the water was nearly as cold as it was in New York. Jeffrey told her as much; he and his girlfriend Keisha had come a few days early to be tourists in the general San Francisco area.
Keeley had never met her before this trip but discovered she was a beautiful and intelligent African-American woman with a wicked sense of humor. She could see why Jeffrey liked her.
Since she didn"t know any other friends or relatives of Lydia"s she stuck with Jeffrey and Keisha like glue. It was nice catching up with him and hearing about their exploits in Maryland.
Keisha was a veterinary technician and had many amusing tales to tell about dumb reasons people"s pets ended up in the animal version of the ER.
Her favorites included how three different kittens in the span of a month came in and needed surgery because they ate a ton of hair ties and how a hamster was stuck to the inside of its cage for a week because it swallowed a refrigerator magnet when it briefly escaped.
"I can"t even imagine," Keeley said with a laugh. "Thankfully my cat hasn"t done anything crazy like that. She only goes to the vet once a year for a checkup."
"You"re lucky then. All those x-rays and whatnot aren"t cheap."
"Yeah, Keisha"s puppy ate her nephew"s action figure last year and needed surgery for that. It cost $4000," Jeffrey lamented.
She suppressed a smile. The way he was talking sounded like they had combined their finances already. She already knew they were living together. It was only a matter of time before they got engaged too and Keeley had yet another wedding to attend.
It was a bit sad watching everyone around her get married when she knew she would be spending her life alone. Not that she wanted a relations.h.i.+p—she didn"t—but it made her think of her own marriage and how wrong it had all gone.
Getting married was a gamble. It was amazing how many people did it each year despite the ever-rising divorce rate. People still trusted each other enough to give their all to someone else against all odds.
All of Keeley"s romantic trust had been used up. She didn"t have any left to spare even if someone knew did come along someday.
Aaron"s text message from the other day came back to her: "I only have one wife. That won"t change."
It wouldn"t change for her either. One husband had been more than enough to turn her off of the idea of matrimony forever.
She knew he probably meant it differently. He wanted her to know he wasn"t giving up on her. If the situation were any different, it would have been a nice sentiment. But there was no going back.
The conversation ceased when the rehearsal was about to begin. People were directed to take their places where they would be standing throughout the ceremony; they would practice walking later.
Keisha headed off to sit in the audience area as Keeley and Jeffrey made their way to either side of the arch where the bride and groom would stand.
The bridesmaids consisted of Keeley, Lydia"s sister, her fiance"s sister, and three friends she made in college. The groomsmen were Jeffrey (who had incidentally become pretty good friends with Lydia"s fiancé Collin when they went on a couple"s vacation together), their total of three brothers, and two of his college buddies.
The wedding planner even had them practice how to stand still so they would look good in the photos. The bridesmaids were to hold their bouquets in front of them the entire time while the groomsmen"s hands would be clasped behind their backs.
The wedding planner was incredibly thorough.