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Bob smiled adoringly at his wife. “Best forty years of my life.”
Anna leaned up and kissed his cheek. Heather couldn’t help but feel a pang of longing, wondering if she’d ever find that one day.
“Well come on you two, let’s get you seated so you can eat!” Anna said, ushering them towards their seats.
Heather let Megan lead her to two empty seats near the middle of one of the long banquet tables, past a few couples in their thirties, Megan’s older brothers she assumed. Megan pulled out a chair and Heather took off her coat, draping it over the back of her chair before taking the seat beside her, smoothing her napkin over her lap.
A server appeared and began filling their water glasses. She glanced around the table, taking in the faces of Megan’s extended family members. Just as she took in the last seats at the second table her eyes landed on the most beautiful woman she’d ever seen.
It was a good thing she was sitting because Heather felt like the floor had fallen out from under her as her eyes locked with Vanessa’s. She could feel the blood draining from her face, her palms sweaty as she fiddled with her napkin under the table.
Vanessa had been staring straight at her. She must have saw Heather come in.
Oh god.
Heather reached for her glass of water, nearly knocking it over in the process.
Vanessa saw her coming in, holding hands with Megan. Right now, whether Vanessa had any interest in her at all, she thought that her and Megan were a couple.
Megan looked over at her, concern etched across her face. “You okay?” she asked softly so that only Heather could hear her. “You’ve gone quiet.”
Heather took a deep breath, forcing herself to focus on the situation at hand. “Yeah,” she said, clearing her throat. “Just, um, nervous, I guess.” She snuck a glance over at Vanessa, who was now looking away, chatting with the woman beside her.
Heather inhaled a slow, deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. She took another drink of water. Vanessa was either a family friend, a neighbor, or maybe Megan’s parents were regular customers at her coffee shop.
Okay, that last one was wishful thinking.
“There’s a lot of people here for a rehearsal dinner,” Heather said a few minutes later after she’d ordered.
“Yeah. About one hundred. But that’s just how big our family is. Everybody is married and has kids. Well, accept my aunt. The guest list for Sunday is around one hundred and sixty, I think, with all their friends and people they’ve worked with.”
“So this is all your family?” Heather asked, taking another look around the room.
“Yep. That’s why I didn’t even both trying to tell you everyone’s names. I’ll introduce you to my brothers and their families after dinner.”
Heather couldn’t shake the feeling that Vanessa’s eyes were on her, even though she appeared to be engaged in conversation with someone else, and while she managed to keep the question that was on her lips to herself for a whole five minutes, she couldn’t any longer.
“So, which one is your gay aunt?” Heather asked, already knowing the answer. Two women were sitting either side of Vanessa, and there were no kids at that end of the table.
“Across from us at the other table. Dark hair and a black dress? Oh, you can see her better now that she’s standing up. That’s my aunt Vanessa.”
Heather bit the inside of her cheek as she closed her eyes for a second. “Cool,” she managed to say, but her voice sounded funny, her ears ringing. When she opened them again, Vanessa pushed through the door they’d come in earlier that led back to the lobby.
The waiter arrived, offering more water and glasses of wine to the table. Heather took a gulp of wine, trying to calm her nerves as she debated doing something potentially stupid.
Vanessa had to know that this wasn’t real. The longer she went on thinking that it was, the more she was going to hate Heather.
“I’m just going to go find the restroom,” Heather said, pushing her chair back.
14
Vanessa didn’t know where she was going, but she knew she needed air, space. At the very least, away from Heather. Vanessa strode through the lobby which was quiet and outside, the cold air hitting her, but she needed it. She felt hot, clammy, and like she wanted to punch something.
For the last ten minutes, she’d tried to process what was happening in front of her. She’d noticed Megan walking in, curious to see who this girlfriend was that Megan had been gushing about during Christmas dinner, and Vanessa couldn’t remember ever being more shocked than in that moment as she watched Heather walking hand in hand with Megan over to their table and meet Anna and Bob for what looked like the first time.
Initially, Vanessa had thought that she must be seeing things, but as her eyes focused on Heather from across the room, she knew it was her, and then her mind kicked into overdrive, trying to figure out how this had happened.
Heather had been the one to approach her at that wine bar, and not once during their night together did she show any signs of doubt about what they were doing.
