Page 6 of After We Fall

“I’m not even a gum chewer. But one of Hank’s guys offered me a stick.” Meredith spews her words, her arms flailing in nervous energy. “And all I could think was of all days, my wedding day is not the day for bad breath. So I took the gum. Why couldn’t he have had a mint?”

Notes from a violin drift through the doors of the chapel and onto the tiny wooden-plank porch. Little time remains before Meredith’s niece finishes the prelude and begins the bride’s procession.

I grasp her shoulders, my focus locking with her wide eyes. “Meredith, you are a vision. This is your day to marry the man you love.”

A blinding smile breaks across her beautiful face, and she releases a heavy exhale.

“A piece of gum”—I glance down, plucking the menace off the gown in one swift movement—“cannot touch today. Neither can anything else.”

Both of us shift our focus to the dress. No evidence of a stain.

“You’re a miracle worker,” she whispers with brightened eyes. “I can’t imagine what I’d do without you.”

I’m hoping those words will be etched in stone when she returns from her honeymoon and I ask for the program director job. But in this moment, she remarks these words on a personal level, and she can’t possibly know what they mean to me. Clearing the lump from my throat, I nod. “It’s time for you to get married.”

Meredith lifts her gown and taps one of her feet in front of her, revealing her trademark Texas flag cowboy boots. She flashes a smile at me, then says over her shoulder, “Let’s go, Dad.”

Her father steps forward, loops his daughter’s arm around his, and guides them to make an entrance into the chapel.

The pastor nods to Meredith’s mother. She takes her cue to stand, and the rest of the family follows her example.

As they walk down the aisle, varying degrees of smiles, several wobbling chins, and a few tears adorn the small congregation’s joyous faces.

But it’s Harlan’s heated gaze of pure adoration that gives me pause.

Tempts me to hope. That maybe. Maybe someday.

Someone would finally choose me.

A picture of a toothpick-wielding security consultant with mesmerizing green eyes pops into my head.

No. No way. He had his chance three years ago when he asked me to dance and then ditched me. Harlan called him a globe-trotter. I don’t need someone else in my life who will leave me. That list already includes too many names.

Pursing my lips, I shake my head back into the moment. I lead a good life. A fulfilling life, doing something at which I excel. I’m needed by those around me.

And that is enough.

Before heading into the chapel, I turn around and peruse the nearby grounds one last time. I skim the landscape, searching for any kind of movement.

Hank stands nearby, pretending to work on a fence. And though I can’t see him, I sense Luke’s presence. Why do I find that comforting?

With no answers to my question, I back into the chapel, drawing the doors closed.

Everybody needs to eat, I tell myself as I maneuver a small mountain of mashed potatoes onto a plate. Even annoying security consultants.

Standing at the buffet table set up at the main house on the Holcombe ranch, I release a long breath. The ceremony went off seamlessly, the celebratory meal was enjoyed by all, and little Alex got to shove delicious wedding cake in both Harlan’s and Meredith’s mouths before they left for their nine-day honeymoon.

I can’t imagine Luke had an opportunity to eat today. Maybe a few bites of a protein bar he had stowed away in one of the pockets of those well-fitting cargo pants. If pressed by hunger, someone who looks like him could probably wrestle a wolf to the ground and make his own jerky, all while keeping the land around him safe.

Whatever the case, I’ll just take him this plate of food to butter him up before I send him on his way.

“What’s up with you?” Tanya Purtle approaches the long granite kitchen counter with an armful of Tupperware.

As a wedding gift for Harlan and Meredith, the tenants at Twelve Bluebells created a makeshift catering company to help with the celebratory dinner. They can’t cook to save their lives, but they made effective, albeit humorous, sous chefs while the two families prepared their traditional Thanksgiving recipes for the wedding feast. The sole item purchased for the event was an exquisite pumpkin-flavored wedding cake lavished in a thick layer of buttercream frosting.

The family devoured the cake an hour ago, before the newlyweds left the premises. The only remnants of the delectable dessert are the three figurine toppers. A miniature Harlan, Meredith, and little Alex.

Now the halfway house girls serve as the cleanup crew. If their straightened shoulders and confident air are any indication, it seems they have taken proud ownership of their gift to the Holcombes. A small token of gratefulness to the people who offered them a safe home.