Chapter Twenty-Six

The wedding was perfect, just as I always knew it would be.

Thankfully, once the flower headache had been wrapped up, the other parts of the ceremony fit together seamlessly; in fact, if it hadn’t been for the fact that all four of the bridesmaids spent the day stifling the occasional yawn, you wouldn’t have known that any aspect of it had moved with less than machine-cut precision. The guests were all well-behaved and took their places with minimal fuss. When the music started playing and the time came for me to link arms with one of Drew’s groomsmen – the same brother that Danielle had informed me was built like a fire truck (and boy, was she right about that; it was like being escorted down the aisle by a side of beef) – I knew that despite everything that had happened, we’d finally done it.

She’d finally done it.

My Lauren was getting married.

I didn’t know how to process it, not entirely. I’d expected to feel like I was losing her, that as soon as she got that ring on her finger the girl I had grown up and shared secrets and talked about boys with would just vanish into thin air – poof! – and in her place there’d be this complete stranger, a woman who had a whole new life that didn’t include me at all… but I didn’t. I wasn’t losing her at all.

She was gaining everything she had ever wanted. Her happiness was my happiness. I couldn’t ask for anything more.

And the thing is, for all the shit I’d talked about Drew over the years, there was no way of getting around the fact that he looked for all the world like a man in love. When Lauren made her way to end of the aisle, it was like the rest of the world ceased to exist for him: all his friends, his family, his loved ones, gone in an instant. The only person that mattered was wearing white and standing just in front of him, ready to start their new lives together.

And yes, I cried. I cried when the music started playing and Lauren began her walk down the aisle. I cried when they made their vows – when Drew really managed to lay out how he felt about her. Who would have thought he was such a wordsmith on the quiet? Then again, by that point at least I wasn’t alone. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Between the bridesmaids, the bride and the collective older female relatives, it’s a wonder Lauren and Drew didn’t get charged extra for flood damage.

But it was done. When the officiant announced that Drew could kiss the bride, the whole crowd assembled broke into cheers and applause. Whatever it had taken, it had been worth it. They had earned it.

And now it was time to relax – for them and me both.

Whoever had been in charge of arranging the reception had obviously got the advance notice that Carter wasn’t coming, so it wasn’t as though I had to spend the whole evening staring at an empty seat and an empty plate. No one mentioned the fact that our table seemed to be one guest short, and I was grateful for that; today of all days, I didn’t feel like explaining why I was going stag.

For all intents and purposes, and at least as far as tonight is concerned, Carter no longer exists. I’m surprisingly OK with the fact.

It’s not that I don’t miss him, or that I wish things hadn’t ended between us the way they did: of course I do. I’m sure I’ll miss him for a long time, and the way that he broke things off was shitty in the extreme, but that doesn’t change the facts. We’re broken up. He’s gone – or maybe I’m gone. He’s made no effort to contact me. He doesn’t want to be with me anymore.

I deserve better than that.

I deserve one good night, at least. Even though it’s Lauren’s day, I feel a little bit like I’m in the middle of a fairy tale – not my fairy tale, exactly, not where I’m the lead character… but like a supporting cast member. I might not get my own fairy godmother, but I still get to marvel at the magic of it all. And who knows? Maybe things will all work out for the best either way, even without Carter. Cinderella never went looking for her Prince Charming, after all. She just wanted a pretty dress and a night on the town. I could make do with that, for now at least. And if you’re going to let your hair down a little, where better to do it than New Orleans?

But for whatever reason, dancing is the last thing on my mind. Ordinarily, I would have been right up there on the floor with everyone else, spinning and whirling and laughing and having a whale of a time… but tonight, I’m happy to just watch the others have fun. It’s so rare to see such a large group of people filled with such unrestrained joy. The energy of it all was infectious. Between watching Jessica make friends with a couple of Drew’s nieces, who have spent the night following her around like her own personal fan club, and watching Danielle attempt to climb one of Drew’s brothers like a tree, there are plenty of opportunities to enjoy myself without leaving my chair.

It’s an hour or so later before I feel a heavy tap on my shoulder. ‘Hey, Ella?’ Paige asks. She’s slurring a little bit, but smiling the smile of someone on her third Mai Tai of the evening with no signs of slowing down.

‘Yeah?’

‘Isn’t that your friend?’

You never really look at the band at a wedding. Unless something goes wrong, they’re just sort of there, playing away while everyone else has a good time around them. Between making sure all the guests were having fun, deflecting stress away from the bride and groom and trying to stop myself from thinking about Carter, I hadn’t looked over at them once. Maybe that’s why I hadn’t spotted him, despite the fact that his face had been swirling through my mind all night; it was the only explanation I could think of, anyway.

I follow the point of Paige’s finger over to the bandstand, and sure enough, there he is – seated behind the piano, looking right at me as though he’d been waiting all night to catch my eye.

Jackson Robichaux, in the flesh.