"Yeah, give them a minute," Ben says.
Harper squeezes me tighter. "Thank you," she whispers fiercely into my hair. "I’ve wanted to slap that smug little toad for months, but I was so scared it would cause drama for Ben's dad's business."
"My pleasure," I breathe out. "And I have a feeling he and Jessica are going to 'suddenly' experience a scheduling conflict and miss the ceremony."
"Good riddance," Harper mutters against my shoulder, pulling back just enough to flash me a brilliant, teary smile.
I don't say anything else. I just stand there in the middle of the venue, held by my best friend and surrounded by the joyful chaos, feeling lighter than I have in years.
36
Arthur
Beth is sitting on the curb as we pull into the Arbor House parking lot.
Her shoes are off, her legs stretched out, a clipboard in her lap. Reading something with the unhurried focus of someone who has all the time in the world.
She looks up as we approach.
"Hey," she says. Like we're five minutes early for brunch.
I can feel my own pulse in my teeth.
"You're—" Knox starts.
"Here. Yes." She clicks the pen. "Have been for a while, as Ben told you."
Mason's voice comes out tight. "He also said your car broke down. Your phone was dead. We drove—"
"Ninety minutes at roughly a hundred miles an hour." She nods. "I'm aware." She glances down at the clipboard, then back up. "You also missed the rehearsal. Everyone's gone."
Mason is already pulling out his phone. "Shit. I need to call Ben and see how we can—"
"Put the phone away," she says.
"Beth—"
"Mason." Gentle, but with a firmness that makes him stop mid-dial. "It's fine. You're all fine. When you didn't show and our venue time ran out, they just assumed you wouldn't make it. They aren't angry. What they are is busy, scrambling to pick up table settings before the rental place closes, followed by a dinner with Harper's parents."
"I've a hard time believing they're not at least a little mad we didn't show up to the rehearsal," Knox says.
"Believe or not, they were impressed by your resolve to rescue the maid of honor." She hops up, brushes off the back of her jeans, and gives us a look I can only describe as coach-to-late-players. Patient, but not about to let it slide. "That said, Harper will still have your heads on sticks if you don't know your marks, your cues, your processional order, and exactly where to stand during the vows." She tucks the clipboard under her arm. "Which is why I stayed. I can walk you through the whole thing."
Something's different about her.
I felt it the second she looked up from that clipboard, but now that she's standing three feet from me it's unmistakable. The frantic energy from the last twenty hours or so is just gone. Whatever happened between her departure this morning and now seems to have burned it out of her
"So," Beth says, tucking the pen behind her ear. "Follow me. I know a spot."
She leads us around the side of the building and down a gravel path that curves behind the venue, away from the noise inside. After about a minute, the path opens into a small garden bordered by hedgerows and low stone walls.
In the center, a decorative wedding arch. White wood, woven with ivy and some kind of trailing flower I don't know the name of. Probably here for photo ops. The fading light hits it at an angle that makes the whole thing glow.
"Welcome to rehearsal," Beth says, gesturing at the arch like a game show host.
Knox looks around. "Nice spot."
"Right? This garden's got an arch and enough room to walk a straight line, and that's all we need." She flips a page on the clipboard. "Okay. Harper's notes say the groomsmen and bridesmaids enter from the left in pairs, then split at the altar. Ben will already be standing under the arch with the officiant. Now, originally, each of you was paired with a bridesmaid, but we've decided, Maren and Luna are going to walk together. Which means the three of you are with me."
