“Nothing’s happened like that.”
“Yet. Because I’m keeping an eye on things. I really want this to go well for Sadie.” And it wasn’t just because I was hoping she’d refer other people to me, but because I genuinely liked her as a person and wanted her to have the wedding of her dreams.
Yep, I was definitely talking a lot and had almost said things I shouldn’t have. It was like sitting close to him was just destroying all of my defenses.
He shifted slightly, somehow getting closer so that our knees pressed together. This caused a trembling sensation that started at my knee and climbed up into my stomach. I didn’t move away, and neither did he.
He said, “You could get on a plane tomorrow, and everybody at the wedding could start throwing punches and hitting each other in the face with folded chairs and Sadie and Dan would still be blissfully happy.”
“They really do love each other,” I agreed. “But I heard you weren’t much of a fan in the beginning.”
“I was a little worried that . . .”
“What?” I asked innocently when his voice trailed off.
“That maybe she wasn’t with him for the right reasons. But I was wrong. And I say when I’m wrong.”
I appreciated that, too. I’d dated more than one man who, if they’d been under the penalty of death, still wouldn’t have admitted that they somehow might have possibly been wrong at some point in time. “Me too. You can add that to your list.”
His expression turned serious. “Rachel, listen, there’s something I want to—”
Sadie and Dan had approached us. “We should do cake!” she exclaimed.
I was torn—I wanted to hear what Camden had been about to say, but I also really, really, really loved cake.
Dan brought it over and put it onto the table in front of me. It had white frosting with red icing roses—my favorite. It said Happy Birthday, Rachel in red writing. Dan grabbed birthday candles from his front pocket and started just putting the whole lot of them on top of the cake. There were so many I felt a bit insulted.
Especially when Camden added, “And exactly how old are you again?”
I was about to object to the whole blowing-out-the-candle thing. I hadn’t done that in years. I almost never celebrated my real birthday if I could help it. It usually made me stressed.
But I saw how excited Sadie was and I didn’t have it in me to resist.
Krista joined the rest of the wedding party. Mary-Ellen was laughing and hanging all over Vance and I tried to ignore the sense of relief that I felt.
Our waitress came in and offered to grab us another round of drinks and everyone said yes.
Once she left, Dan lit the candles and they all started singing “Happy Birthday” to me. Camden’s voice was rich and surprisingly on key, and I found myself focusing on that sound and keeping my gaze pointed at the candles.
Probably because part of me felt like a fraud. I spent so much time lying to people, but I was starting to really hate it this time. And I was pretty sure that was mostly due to Camden.
I didn’t want to lie to him, but I had to.
When they finished singing Sadie told me, “Make a wish!”
I wish things were different and that Camden would really like me and that I could be honest with him.
I blew out the candles in one shot and everyone cheered. I decided to shove those guilty feelings out of my mind and do my best to be present and enjoy myself.
Krista grabbed her gift. “Open mine first!”
It still seemed a little silly to be getting presents for this non-event, but I was surprised at how relaxed I currently felt. It probably helped that this wasn’t my actual birthday. There was no pressure on me, no phone call from my mother to remind me that with every year that passed my eggs were edging ever closer to their Best if Used By date. There was no feeling like I hadn’t met all the goals I’d set for myself that year. It probably helped that I didn’t know half the people in this room. Being surrounded by mostly strangers made this strangely freeing.
I tore open the wrapping paper and saw that Krista had bought me a nice set of highlighters that would be perfect for my organizer. “Thank you,” I told her. “This was really thoughtful. I will definitely get a lot of use out of these!”
She grinned back at me, pleased with my reaction.
“Us next!” Sadie said, handing me a small gift bag. There was a ton of red tissue paper on top and I found a small black box at the bottom. If I didn’t know any better, I would have guessed that it was jewelry.