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“What a beautiful love story.”
“Right?” The elevator dings and we get off. Hellie chats about other guests she’s met over the years. I peg her at early forties, if I had to guess, but she’s very fit and totally gorgeous. Long flowy dress, sandals, a bohemian vibe. A perfect match for her handsome husband. We pause at the foot of a twisting staircase and she puts a hand on my arm. “Okay. Listen. This is real talk now.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Gian did a lot of what you’re about to see. I just need you to know that, okay? It wasn’t my call at all and I don’t know how you’ll feel about it.”
“He did… what?”
“That’s all I’ll say. Just that it was Gian. He seems to really care, you know? Which isn’t like him at all, and I’ve known him for a while.”
“How long?” Her chatter’s calming me down a little bit and curiosity’s starting to pull me toward the steps. What did Gian do, and why is Hellie acting like she has to disavow it?
“We’ve known each other eight years, give or take. He and Erick have been friends for a while.”
“Right. Eight years.” I take a deep breath and blow it out. “He broke my heart in college.” I don’t even know why I blurt it out, but I have to tell someone before I do this. Get the secret in the air, take away its power.
Her eyebrows raise. “Really?”
“Yep. I was in love with him. At least, I thought I was. It was a hard and fast sort of thing, you know? We spent a really good week together, which I know doesn’t sound like much, but it was one week of constantly being around each other, like every second of every day, and I didn’t want to give it up—” I feel silly spilling my guts to this girl. That week happened ten years ago now, and she must think I’m a total lunatic still holding onto what happened. “But then one night he just… disappeared. Dropped out of school, packed his stuff, and came out here. That was the end of that. Wouldn’t return my calls, wouldn’t text me back. It felt like someone stomped on my heart.”
A strange calm slides over me. I’ve been holding onto that story for a very long time, and although I don’t know Hellie at all, it feels good to say it out loud. I’ve hated Gian for how thoroughly he cut me from his life like I was a disease and the only way to rid himself of me was to get as far away as possible. If he had broken up with me in some normal way, I would’ve been really hurt, but I wouldn’t have held onto this pain for so long.
But it was the most heartbroken and humiliated I’ve ever felt in my life, and I still haven’t completely forgiven him.
Hellie’s quiet. She tugs at a strand of hair, smoothing it out and releasing it again. “That’s really hard. It sounds like he totally erased you from his life.” She chews her lip and glances at the stairs. “And now here you are.”
“Yeah. It was really bizarre. Then he appears back in my life barely a few weeks ago, and now we’re getting married. Crazy, right?”
“I’ve heard crazier. Married at an airport, remember?”
“I don’t even feel like I know him anymore. I sure as hell don’t know what he wants.”
She puts her hand on my arm. “Look, I obviously don’t know any more than you do, but I can say that he really put in effort up there. He really cares about you. That’s obvious.”
“Are you sure?” I glance at her, shaking my head. “I don’t know.”
“Come on. You’ll see.” She takes my hand and holds it tight. “You ready?”
“Ready. I guess. Maybe. No, not at all, but come on, let’s go up.”
Hellie nods and we ascend the stairs. They turn and turn, until the hall ahead comes into view?—
It’s filled with flowers.
So many flowers it’s like a meadow at the height of spring. My brain can barely make sense of it. This should be impossible—we’re in the middle of the freaking desert—but there they are.
The flowers form a path from the top of the steps to a door markedChapelon the far right.
Big flowers, little flowers. Some orange, some blue and yellow, some pink. I recognize a few of my favorites—tulips, red lobelias, gorgeous lilacs—and more that I don’t have names for. There are so many of them, all arranged in perfect little rows, leading me down the aisle.
“What do you think?” she whispers. “I wasn’t sure about it.”
“He really did this?” I ask, heart in my throat.
“Honestly, I tried to talk him out of it, but he insisted. Cost a small fortune. But yeah, it’s all him.”
I blink rapidly, not sure why there are tears in my eyes. “I love it.”
