Luna’s lips twitch, and she sinks a hand into a deep pocket, only to pull it out a second later, holding a small velvet box that no doubt holds the wedding rings. But then she dips her fingers into the other pocket, extracting them and clutching a travel-sized pack of tissues.
“For you?” I ask.
She rolls her eyes. “For Dash. My bet is, the second he sees her in that dress, he’ll bust a leak.”
I consider the stoic man and shake my head. “No way. He’ll last at least till the vows.”
“Is Paige wearing a veil?” Marianna asks. “If so, I will place my money on when he raises the lace up. That will shake the man.”
“Five bucks?” Luna spikes a brow, and the three of us nod with conspiratorial smiles.
Just then, the groom appears at the door leading to the Herberts’ backyard. Paige’s parents earn enough money to afford a wedding at any one of New Orleans’ swankiest venues, but my friend insisted she wanted to get married here, in her childhood home. She said that this yard was where she fell in love with Dash and it’s where she wanted to marry him.
I don’t doubt her reasons, but I think another unspoken factor was her future husband’s comfort. The less extravagant, the better. I don’t know the particulars of Dash’s past, but I do know his family doesn’t come from money, and the guy spenta few years behind bars. The fact that Dash is now marrying a judge’s daughter is a certain kind of cosmic joke.
Another reason the backyard venue works better is the small size of the ceremony. Both sides kept the number of people they invited to a minimum, the entire party numbering thirty people at most. An intimate affair, reflecting that the bride and groom prefer quality over quantity in their friends.
Plus, as far as I know, Luna is the only family member Dash invited. My curiosity continues to spike whenever the topic of Luna and the Lamont family arises. Don’t they have another brother? And Paige mentioned once that Dash’s parents live in the city.
Still, if they’re not here, it must be for a reason. A good man of honor knows how to keep his mouth shut and not stress the bride out by prying.
Dash hurries up the aisle, his face an emotionless mask and his shoulders tense.
Better not be getting cold feet.
“Everything cool?” Luna asks when her brother settles at her side.
He mutters something under his breath. From the way Luna and Marianna lean in, I know they didn’t hear his response either and are just as interested as I am.
“What was that?” Luna prompts her brother.
His lips twist, and then he raises his voice another notch. “Ginny said I jinxed it.”
The best woman’s brows dip. “Jinxed what?”
“My marriage.”
Now the older Lamont sibling scowls. “What the hell? Why would she say something like that?”
The groom shifts on his feet, a guilty move if I’ve ever seen one. “I kept my eyes closed,” he says, defensiveness coloring his tone as his face stains red.
Luna pokes her brother. “Explain what happened ’cause I’m about to go shake some sense into your soon-to-be mother-in-law.”
“Don’t do that.” He reaches a hand up, as if to comb his fingers through his hair, but Luna grabs his wrist before he messes up the already-styled mass. “I hadn’t seen Paige since last night. I just wanted to check how she was doing.”
“And?”
“And … we ended up making out in her bathroom. Ginny found us and yelled at me to get out and said I jinxed everything.” Dash huffs out an offended breath. “But I kept my eyes closed!”
A snort from my left has me glancing over to see Marianna covering her mouth as her eyes twinkle with laughter. I grin along with her. Paige found a good one if he can’t go twenty-four hours without touching her.
A minuscule stab of envy pricks at me.
None of my relationships ever came close to the type of devotion Dash just displayed in his misstep. Sure, I’ve cared about all the women I’ve been with. Enjoyed our time together. In fact, I’m still friends with most of them. We exchange catch-up emails every few months or get drinks when we’re in the same city.
But when we ended things, there was no passionate parting. Which is probably why the end came.
And isn’t that just my whole life in a concise summary?
