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And in that moment, as they continued to speak all at once, pounding Cruz on the back and a few of the women sneaking kisses, she felt a bit of wistfulness.
What if this were real?
What if she and Cruz were departing here today with the prospect of their whole lives together before them? Of being able to return to those arms any time she wanted, arms she had vague recollections of as they held her close to him, of feeling she was with someone real and solid and who made her feel special.
Bev stepped forward again, this time with a small package in her hands and handed it to Payton. It was a book—a photo album, she realized as she flipped it open. Her stomach dropped as she saw the featured topic.
Staring out at her was a picture of her and Cruz, in front of the priest, sharing what had to be their first kiss as husband and wife. The next page had a picture of her and Cruz smiling for the photographer, holding hands as they smiled with such happiness, even if their faces and eyes were bright and unfocused from the butt-load of alcohol they’d consumed, that she felt a sense of warmth and longing.
“We managed to get the front desk to print those pictures for us as a little wedding present,” Bev was saying as Cruz came to stand next to her, looking down at the gift.
Tears formed as Payton turned page after page and saw photos with her and Cruz, clearly under some lovesick spell, and a few other photos with their new friends. She couldn’t remember most of what had happened in those photos but it was evident she and Cruz were having a good time. And the way they looked at each other…it sent goose bumps down her arms.
She looked up to Cruz, who was studying the photos quietly, no expression on his face. She ached to know what he was thinking. He lifted his gaze to hers and something passed in those dark eyes that she couldn’t comprehend before he finally broke into a smile. He winked at her, and she nearly fell back in surprise.
Bev still had the floor as she continued, “I put our addresses and phone numbers in there as well as the website for our little troupe. We’d love it if you would stay in contact with us.
”
“We will. Thanks everyone. This is such an incredible gift.”
“It was our pleasure.”
She and Cruz stood there almost awkwardly as all the beaming faces stared at them with such good will. Cruz’s hand slipped around her waist and brought her against his side in surprising ease, sending her heartbeat racing. It touched a memory of the same arm wrapping around her as they danced, as they embraced, as they kissed, many times the night before. It didn’t feel foreign to her, though. It felt right.
They finally said their good-byes and climbed in the car and buckled up, Payton almost trembling with the rush of emotions she was feeling. Cruz slowly inched the car down the street, the loud sound of tin cans in their ears. She turned around in the seat and waved to everyone who still stood in front of the hotel to watch them go.
The loud banging of the cans against the road made it impossible to hear her own thoughts, and she cringed as her headache that had abated thanks to the caffeine and aspirin Cruz had provided, threatened to return. “I hope we’re not planning to travel the rest of the way with those cans on the car. I don’t think my head can take it.”
“I figure we’d let them get their show. As soon as we turn at the next block, I’ll stop the car and clean up.”
Payton sat in the car a few minutes later, sipping some hot water with lemon she’d managed to snag from the hotel to help her belly, trying to figure out why she felt like crying. It was crazy, this sudden melancholy washing over her as she watched Cruz remove the last of the group’s well wishes from the car.
Kind of like he was wiping all proof that it had even happened. Just as he would when he reached an attorney who could handle their “mistake.”
He climbed back in the car. “All set?”
“Absolutely,” she said with an enthusiasm she didn’t feel. She looked out the window of the town, watching it disappear as they put the miles in between it and their destination. Just another memory to look back at with bittersweet tears.
She set the tea in the cup holder and picked up the photo album. Unable to help herself, she opened it and studied the pictures. She came to an image of Bev and Lenny attempting to teach them how to square dance. Lenny was swinging Payton around, and she had the faintest memory of him calling out the next step and looking over to see Cruz and Bev dancing together like they’d been doing it for years. Payton hadn’t been as sure-footed and had laughed anyway, a moment now captured on the page before her.
“I remember that one,” Cruz said and she looked up to see him glancing down at the page. He chuckled. “You danced like you had two left feet while I was busy keeping Bev’s hands…above the waist. She definitely wasn’t shy in offering her congratulations.”
“Bev? You’re kidding.” She laughed and studied the photo a little more carefully. Sure enough, in what looked like a moment when Cruz and Lenny were about to hand off the women to each other, Bev’s hand was planted directly on Cruz’s buttock.
Payton dissolved into giggles. Tears slipped from her eyes, happy tears, the tension of the past few days all but forgotten. Cruz looked at her uncertainly.
She grabbed his arm, trying to explain. “When my mother envisioned her only daughter’s big day, she planned for twelve-piece orchestras and Champagne. A professional photographer and a six layer tiered cake. Not mariachi bands and tequila or Kodak instant cameras and churros—which were delicious, now that I can remember them.” She paused and took in a breath. “Then again—neither did I.” Her stomach quivered with more giggles and she gave into another belly laugh.
This time, Cruz actually joined her. Her body seemed to be relaxing under the endorphins flooding her, a euphoric feeling of calm settling over her.
Cruz nodded to the album. “Let’s see some more.”
For the next few minutes, with Cruz keeping his attention on the road in between glimpses of their wedding album, they studied memories from a night that neither one of them seemed to be able to remember in full. Cruz shook his head at one where he was on his knees in front of Payton, his hand under her skirt. “What am I doing in that one?”
A rush of heat warmed her face as she remembered and explained, “I think Patty had tied a handkerchief in place of a garter around my leg and was insisting you…remove it. This was taken just before you, uh, used your teeth to pull it down my leg.”
“Now that should be a memory I have emblazoned in my mind,” he said in a decidedly wistful tone.
