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“I’m going to go ahead and find my seat while you take yours,” Harley said, her voice cracking.
“Harley, sit down.”
She looked at me, confusion not only on her face, but in her eyes. When tears started to build in them, I wanted to pull her into my arms.
“It’s…not my…seat.” Her chin trembled.
I reached down and picked up the tag that read her beautiful name.
“Baby, this is your seat. It’s always been your seat.”
Her breath hitched. She didn’t even bother to look down at the name tag. She searched my face as the words settled in. When a tear slipped from her beautiful eyes, I reached up and wiped it away.
“You’re not here with Mallory?”
“No,” I whispered.
Before I had a chance to explain everything, they were announcing for everyone to take a seat. I held out Harley’s chair as she sat. Waylynn leaned over and gave Harley a quick hug.
My mother stood next to my father as everyone else took their seats.
“I’ll be brief, as I’m sure everyone smells that delicious food,” she said with a huge grin.
Chuckles echoed across the room.
“Thank you to everyone here this evening. Many of you have been attending this benefit dinner and dance since the very first one almost thirty years ago. I lost my mother and father to cancer, so this is a cause very near and dear to my heart. For those of you here this evening for the first time, let me tell you how the rest of the evening will go. We’ll eat…”
Cheers erupted and my mother tossed her head back to laugh.
“Then, my husband, John, and I will make our way to the dance floor where we will be joined by our children. It’s the first dance, and I only have one rule for my kids as they take the dance floor. If they dance with anyone other than one of their siblings, it must be with someone they intend to dance with for the rest of their lives. You see…”
Her voice cracked a bit and my father wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close to him. When he kissed her head, she took in a breath and went on.
“You see, this dance will be to the very same song my father danced with and made a promise to my mother to love her for always. They died within days of one another. I choose to believe that they did everything together after that dance. Even when they died.”
My mother wiped a tear from her cheek. “Now some of my boys—” She turned and looked at Trevor and Cord. “Will be sitting this one out.”
The crowd laughed, and I couldn’t help but notice Trevor give a tight smile. Cord made no attempt to hide that he was happy with sitting out the dance.
Continuing, she said, “The rule doesn’t apply past the first song, so men, don’t panic out there!”
Another round of laughter lifted the somber mood that had settled in.
“Now that you know what to expect, let’s eat!”
Dinner flew by in the blink of an eye. I was starving, but the moment I realized I was sitting next to Tripp, and Mallory was nowhere in sight, my stomach decided to go haywire. I forced myself to eat, though. I needed it with the damn booze I’d been drinking all evening. The slight buzz I had felt from the bubbly and the pain pill combo couldn’t compare to the way my chest was fluttering while I sat next to Tripp. I wasn’t even sure he realized he had reached for my hand twice and held it for a few brief moments. It was exactly like the last dinner I attended. Like I had fallen through a time machine and traveled back to when I was his and he was mine. The slight touches on my leg, the way he would take his hand in mine and give it a light squeeze.
Was I dreaming? Was this really happening right now?
“Are you okay?” Waylynn whispered.
I nodded and took a sip of water.
“I see we moved to water.”
“Yep.” Facing her, I quietly asked, “What happened with Mallory?” The question had been burning at me since I sat down.
She gasped, bringing her fingers to her lips. “Has no one told you? Tripp broke up with her.”
My mouth fell slightly open. “Wait, what?”
“I’ll let Tripp tell you.”
“Waylynn!”
She giggled and reached for her glass of water.
“I thought you were my friend,” I added.
“I am. But it’s not my story to tell. It’s Tripp’s. Just like I’m sure he would like to know why you’re not here with Toby. Well, Toby’s here, but you’re clearly not with Toby in that sort of way because if you were then you would be sitting next to him and not next to Tripp which you are for sure sitting next to Tripp and…”
