Chapter Twenty-Five
The morning of the wedding,I woke to a scream.
You cheating bastard!
I grumbled and sat up in bed, dry-eyed and cotton-mouthed, feeling more than a little rough. Amy and I got plowed at the rehearsal dinner. The specifics were fuzzy at best, but I am positive there was Bon Jovi karaoke in the family room when we got home from the country club. I don’t remember much more than Eamon and Luke begging me and Amy to stop. But when your sister has been hating you for weeks, the appeal of “Livin’ on a Prayer”, one more time, is too great to ignore.
More yelling came.Get the hell out of this house! I can't even look at you!
“Who was that?” I asked.
Eamon stirred. “Not sure, but it doesn't sound good.”
The voice was definitely female, but I was fairly certain it wasn't Amy. “Should we see what's going on?”
Eamon pried open one eye. “Or we stay out of it.”
A door slammed so hard the house shook. A car started. Our room was on the front of the house, so I climbed out of bed and sifted through the layers of draperies until I found the window. Tom's big black SUV was pulling out of the gate.
“Tom is leaving.”
“Probably running some wedding errand.”
I glanced at the clock. “It's seven A.M. Seems early for that.”
Eamon propped himself up on one elbow. “If we're lucky, he's gone to get donuts.”
A tentative knock came at our door. “You guys awake?” Amy whispered.
I quickly opened up, finding both her and Luke out in the hall, still wearing their pajamas. “What's going on?”
Luke looked like he was about to be sick. “Can we come in?”
“Yes. Of course,” I answered.
Eamon climbed out of bed and grabbed a sweatshirt. “Did something happen?”
“I don't even know where to start.” Luke had lost his happy veneer. He was visibly upset.
“Cindy kicked Tom out of the house. He and Aunt Jan have been having an affair,” Amy said.
I clasped my hand over my mouth, but inside I was sayingI knew it. There's always dirt. Always. “I’m so sorry.”
“I always thought my parents had an amazing marriage. I just…” Luke ran both hands through his hair. “I don't even know what to think anymore.”
"I think we should cancel the wedding. Luke and I can get married on Monday morning at the county clerk's office."
None of us said anything in response to that. Even my arguments yesterday for forging ahead as planned seemed to fall flat. The groom's parents were in the middle of a marital crisis. Having a wedding hardly seemed like a good idea.
“No.” Luke sat a little straighter. “Fuck that. I don't want to wait, we've already sunk a bunch of money into this, and I want to see you walk down the aisle. If my parents are having problems, that's just too bad. If they can't deal with it, that's their problem. So they don't sit together. Or they fake their way through it. It's not about them, anyway.”
Amy shook her head. “I don't know. It feels like the universe is trying to tell us something.”
“Maybe it's trying to tell you that if you can get through this, you can get through anything.” I didn't want to sound like Pollyanna, but Luke clearly wanted to move forward as planned, and I wanted him to know I had his back. Plus, I didn't want Aunt Jan to ruin anything for anyone. Knowing her, she'd find a way to brag about it.
“Eamon, what do you think?” Luke asked.
“I’m Irish. We tend to use even the worst of excuses to throw a party.”
