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“What was that?” Krista asked after hanging up the phone.
“He wants to talk to me.”
“About what? How did he sound?”
“I don’t know. It sounded important,” I said. “It sounds like he wants to talk about us.”
“Really?”
“Well, that’s what he said. He wants to talk about us. Something he’s been thinking about.” I looked up at the ceiling. “Oh my God! Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, Jesus! Finally you conspire to make things go my way.”
“You’re going to meet him at the Pier?” Krista asked.
“Yes. He wants to see me before he goes out with the guys.”
“Wow. That’s serious.”
“I know! I know! This is it, Krista. I can feel it. He’s going to ask me to help him call off the wedding. He’s going to say he wants to be with me.”
“Slow it down a little, Rachel. Don’t you think you’re—”
I cut Krista off. “No. See, you don’t understand. You don’t know our history. This is just how it goes. How it’s always been. We get each other out of trouble. That’s why Ian’s coming to me. I’m sure. There’s no way he can stop this on his own. He needs me.”
“Well, I can’t tell you what you already know,” Krista pointed out. “But I can say this: take your time. Remember what Journey told you—you can’t go telling Ian how you feel about him until you’re sure how he feels about you. You have to listen. You have to wait. Wait until you’re sure.”
The pier was alive at sunset. A crowd of tourists had gathered around a small street corner band. They were dancing and marching, tossing dollars into the open instrument cases as the music took hold of their souls, blessing them with freedom for a little while. The best of New Orleans was always in the street. Most people called it a party town, but that wasn’t what it was about. It was a place to be yourself. To forget your trouble and pain. To be a toddler again. A human spirit in a wasting vessel unfettered by what was expected and accepted. The tools to get you there were dance and liquor and music and magic.
I walked around the crowd looking for Ian, but I couldn’t find him.
I kept passing the same homeless lady rattling coins in the same old tin cup.
“Hey! You’re here.”
I turned to see Ian about to tap me on the shoulder.
“Of course. I came right away,” I said.
“I’m sorry if I disturbed you guys. I was just thinking about some things and I wanted to see yo
u. Kind of like to talk to you.”
“It’s no problem. You’re fine. Krista’s quite capable of handling everything else.”
“I know. That’s why I was wondering why you didn’t go out with the other girls.”
“Not exactly my cup of tea. And I’m sure Scarlet wasn’t too upset I stayed behind. She probably didn’t want me peeking over her shoulder all night.”
“True. Well, the invitation is still open. You can come kick it with me and the fellas if you want.”
“Really?” I squinted my eyes at him and laughed.
“OK, maybe not,” Ian admitted.
“Yeah, my presence alone would kind of ruin the entire concept of it being a bachelor party. For some reason the men find it hard to objectify women when women they know are around.”
Ian took my hand and we walked to the back of the crowd where there were a few benches and it was less noisy.
“So this is it. My last night of freedom,” Ian said, pointing out a bench for us to sit on. “Tomorrow, I’ll be someone’s husband.”
