Shelby says, looking around, "Um, where is Jennifer?"
"At the hospital," I state, and I try to walk past her and toward the bar because something tells me I should have another drink. It might not be a great idea given that people will want to try to talk to me, but whatever.
"So, is this wedding postponed?" Clarabella is the one with the big enough balls to ask me.
"No," I confirm, shaking my head. "Definitely canceled." I look up at the ceiling and can feel the pounding headache coming on. Or maybe it’s the booze.
"Fuck," Presley curses. "Incoming." She tries to give me a warning, but it’s not enough time when my mother steps in front of them.
"Excuse me," she says, looking around to see if there is anyone within earshot so she knows whether or not she can curse me out or not. Luckily for everyone, they are too busy whispering to each other, no doubt making up different stories. "Where is Jennifer?" She doesn’t even give me time to answer. "Can we not get the minister and get married at the hospital?" She looks around, searching for the minister.
"Um, the minister never showed," Shelby says, and I can’t help but laugh. If there were ever signs to say not to get married, this was the signs of all signs.
"Of course." I shake my head. "I want to know what did go right?"
"It’s fine," Clarabella says. "I’m ordained, so I would have been able to jump in."
"Well, then good thing it’s not happening," I say, and I try to walk away from them, but I can’t move.
"Just a minute, young man," my mother says, and my sisters laugh and then stop when my mother gives them that look.
"Young man?" Shelby is the one who can’t keep her face straight. "He’s almost thirty. We have to drop the young."
"Why aren’t you going back to the hospital with her?" My mother asks the question indirectly. She cocks one hip and waits for my answer.
"Because, Mom, we broke up," I explain, and Bennett shows up out of nowhere.
"Sorry to interrupt," he says, handing me a glass with scotch in it. "Thought you might need this." He looks around at the group. "To help with this." His hand does a circle of the group. "I’ll have another brought to you right away."
"More than you can ever know," I mumble and finish off the drink. He turns and walks away, going back to the bar. "Bottom line is it’s over and…" I don’t know what else I was going to say. The burning of my stomach is now replaced with warm heat. "Turns out she didn’t want to get married." I leave out the part that she didn’t want to marry me and that she was in love with Jackie. That’s not for me to share.
"I’ll get the guests taken care of," Shelby announces.
"I’ll check with the kitchen and have the food come out in bite sizes instead of plated," Clarabella says.
"I’ll check with the music and see if we can get it going," Presley adds.
The three of them go in different directions, and it’s just my mother and me. "Are you okay?" she asks, her voice soft.
"Actually." I look down at the empty glass in my hand. "I am." I look over, seeing that most people have stayed. "Better now than later, right?"
"She wasn’t the one," my mother says now, and I look at her and see her dabbing the corners of her eyes. "When it’s the right one, you’ll know." My mother looks over at the bar. "Maybe the right one was at the wrong time."
I look over at the bar. "Or maybe she was the right one all along, and I was stupid and scared she wouldn’t pick me."
"Only one way to find out." She comes to me and kisses my cheek. "Truth be told, you might still be stupid and scared."
"Not sure about scared," I joke with her. "Definitely still stupid." I look back over at Harlow and see her moving behind the bar as if she does this all the time. I wonder how she’s been. I wonder if she is happy. I wonder so many fucking things, and all I can do is stand here staring at her. But there is no mistaking that she still takes my breath away and makes me feel things I thought were gone forever.
"I’m proud of you." She cups my cheek. "Now, I shall go and mingle."
She walks away from me, and I have to say that that went better than I could ever imagine it going, like tenfold. I walk toward the bar and see my college friends all huddled on one side. I get closer, and the guys look up at me, and one of them just hands me their drink, and I take it without caring what it is. "Well, this is nice," I say, and I laugh.