“And how do you know this?” Danielle snorts. “You’ve been occupied with Gavin. You don’t know what that man has been doing the past three years.”
Jayla’s lips curl into a knowing grin, and she pulls the brim of her oversized sunhat down over her face.
“Okay, maybe I don’t know that, but IknowOzzy.”
“YouknewOzzy,” Danielle clips.
Carina pulls her shades down to peer at Danielle, her eyes blinking rapidly. The correction seems to catch her off guard. Danielle has struck a nerve. Something I notice she does a lot when she and Carina are together. I wonder if this is how theirfriendship works. Carina talking like a spoiled brat and Danielle being the one to humble her and put her in her place.
Carina slides her sunglasses back up the bridge of her contoured nose, but the slight tremble in her bottom lip tells me she’s far from okay. Danielle seems as if she already knows what’s coming and rolls her eyes. Without another word, Carina rises from the chaise lounge and heads toward the spiral staircase leading to the lower deck.
I look to Jayla, Danielle, and Lety. Surely one of them is going to follow her. Her trusted wedding party. Her friends and family. But none of them budge.
Danielle flicks a dismissive hand through the air. “She’ll be fine.”
I’m not sure what makes me get up and go after her. Maybe concern and curiosity. Or maybe guilt after everything Carina just admitted. Jayla adjusts her sunhat and stretches her legs out farther. Lety reaches for her drink.
“I’ll go,” I say.
None of the ladies stop me.
I findCarina at the bar below deck, already fixing a stiff drink. Her eyes are red with tears, and she looks more distraught than I’ve ever seen her. On-screen, she always looks picture-perfect. Perfect smile. Perfect attitude. Perfect laugh. A woman who looks like she’s incapable of having a bad day. Seeing her this way is a little jarring. Upset, tears in her eyes, mascara streaking down her face.
“Hey,” I call out softly, but even that makes her flinch. She turns away from me, wiping tears I’ve already seen.
“I’m fine,” she says, looking back up at me. “It’s just the wedding has me so emotional.”
“Really?” I ask.
“Yeah, you can go back up. Nothing to report here,” she says with a forced laugh.
“Carina, I’m not here to report every little thing you do. I’m genuinely concerned.”
Her eyes scan me over the rim of her glass, weighing my sincerity. She finishes whatever white liquor she just poured and winces.
“I’m going to need a new liver when this week is over.”
The joke is weak, and so is her faint laugh. Carina sighs heavily, and I feel the subtle crack in her voice, as if she’s going to cry again. I come closer, gently touch her arm, and let her know that whatever she needs to tell me will be safe with me.
“The closer we get to this wedding, the more miserable I feel,” she says. “I wake up unhappy and a bride is supposed to be happy, right?”
My brow furrows. I’m beyond confused. “I thought you loved Gavin.”
“I do. More than anything. But that doesn’t mean I want this.”
I’m even more confused than before. “I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”
She groans, exasperated. And maybe it’s because she doesn’t know what to say herself.
“Listen to me,” she shakes her head. “I’m sure I sound ungrateful.”
“No, you don’t. You sound overwhelmed. And that’s okay. I’m sure it’s just?—”
“Wedding jitters?” Carina finishes for me. “Trust me. It’s not wedding jitters. It’s so much more than that. I’m just sotired.”
A sad smile spreads slowly across her face. “I’m tired, Marley. I’m so fucking tired.”
“You’re planning a destination wedding. It’s going to happen.”
