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CATHERINE
This can’t be happening.
Last night at the bachelorette party, watching how Palmer was molding my replacement in Claire right before my eyes, the thought crossed my mind. But I dismissed it. Not even Palmer could be this cruel, this delusional, to play “Hometown Girl” by Josh Turner at Ava’s wedding reception.
The song he said always reminded him of me, the one that holds so much meaning to our history, the one he’d requested at every wedding we’ve ever attended together, the one we’d danced to every time it played. But then I pushed it out my mind. He couldn’t be that far gone as to play this song today. That he wouldn’t dare dance with my replacement to our song, in front of me. In front of my friends who all know the history and the meaning of the song. A public dressing down in front of the world to show how easily I can be replaced. A newer, fresher, prettier model spun around the dance floor for the world to see.
Frozen in place, I barely acknowledge Ursula’s hand on my shoulder. A supportive squeeze snapping me out of the shock racing through my system. I sense Chance’s presence next to me. My friends have my back but more importantly Hunter is in front of me ready to take on the big bad wolf himself.
As much as I want to swoon by his action, this is my battle. I step forward and enter the fray.
“What exactly is your disconnect?” Feet planted wide, shoulders tense, Hunter growls at Palmer looking to talk reason to a man that has only ever listened to one person.
I pat Hunter on his back and step around him. He whips a protective arm across my mid-section. My hands land on his forearm. “It’s okay. I got this.” We lock gazes for a long beat and I let him read my eyes. We may not have been together for long, but I know he’ll understand this look.
“You sure?” he whispers as his hand lowers.
I give him a soft nod. “It’ll be fine.” I say the words as if I’m in control, I’m not. Palmer is a wild card and I’m just as likely to set him off as I am to calm him down.
Chance wraps a reverse bear hug across Hunter’s broad shoulders, resting his chin on his shoulder. “She’s got this dude. When she’s done with him, he’s going to wish you had taken him out to the parking lot and kicked his ass.”
The look of concern remains plastered on Hunter’s face as I turn to face the demon from my past.
Palmer sneers at me, a look of satisfaction crossing his face when Hunter takes a step back. “I knew you couldn’t resist our siren song.” He extends a hand in my direction as if he expects me to take it.
My first reaction is to swipe it away, but I bite back that feeling. I’m an adult, I know how to manage my emotions. I will not act like the five-year-old that Palmer clearly feels comfortable playing. “What do you think you’re doing Palmer?
“Playing our song. It’s our thing. You - me - at a wedding. Our song.”
He’s not playing the song to rub it in my face by dancing with Claire in front of me. It’s worse. He thinks by playing the song in such an emotionally heightened event as a wedding I’d come running back to him.
“Our song ended when we ended Palmer. What don’t you get?” The anxiety and anger I’ve carried for Palmer transforms into a sadness. The sadness of a man I once cared for. A desperate act from a desperate man.
The confidence that was on his face evaporates as he lowers his hand. He glances over his shoulder at the crowd, which is looking on with interest. A wave of embarrassment sweeps across his face and he hides it behind a nervous laugh and takes a tentative step closer to me.
We stand about a foot apart, and I wish I could have this conversation in private with him, but I don’t trust him. I wave a hand toward a chair and confusion spreads across his face. He really has no idea what his actions are doing to me. “Please sit. Let’s talk for a minute.”
He slowly lowers onto a seat, and I step toward the adjoining chair. A hand appears from nowhere, Hunter, steadying the back of the chair as I sit; another kind gesture from a caring man. I lift my chin and give him a soft smile and mouth the word Thanks.
He points to the other side of the table indicating he’ll be watching but out of hearing range. I nod in appreciation.
Hunter shows me in the little things he does that he’s real, he cares. The things done when no one is looking that shows his true heart. Those are the things that chip away at my heart. That show me for once I’ve chosen correctly.
Palmer rests his elbows on his knees, leans forward, his toes tapping a nervous beat. There are only a few times I’ve ever seen him like this. The days leading up to him waiting for the job offer after his final interview. The night before the seeds for a golf tournament were to be announced to see if he qualified. Always when he waited for the result from someone he didn’t control.
“We had our run, Palm.” I purposely use his nickname. One that hasn’t crossed my lips in years. One that I hope will snap him back to reality. Remind him that I’m not a bad person, that I still remember the good times.
The tapping of his toes ceases, and he lifts his chin, a look of hope on his face. “It was the best, Cat.” He uses the pet name my sister calls me and I let it slide.
“For a period of time.” I ease the pin into the balloon, hoping to deflate him slowly. “That was a long time ago. We’re no longer those people. We’ve changed, I know I have. What I thought I needed at twenty-five wasn’t what I needed when I turned thirty.”
“I thought we’d always need each other. I still do - need you.”
I school my expression to hide my reaction. I’d been wrong. Palmer hasn’t been trying to embarrass me and hurt me trying to destroy me, he’s been doing it to try to win me back. All of this, the harsh words, the flowers to Claire at my sister’s shop, all of it some messed up grand gesture that he thought would win me back. I have to be gentle with a boy who handed me his heart once and has been spiraling ever since I returned it.
“Do you?” I need him to open his eyes if we’re ever going to get past this. “From where I sit you have everything you’ve ever wanted.” I jut my chin toward the dance floor. Claire is standing next to the DJ chatting and laughing. The DJ places a large pair of headphones on her ears, hooking them around the back of her head so as not to disturb her perfectly coiffed hair. Her giggle fills the hall as she begins to sway to the beat of an unheard song. “She’s pretty amazing,” I state with genuine admiration. “That’s your ride or die. She’ll follow you to the ends of the earth.”
He leans back and a short smile flash across his face as he steals a quick glance at Claire. “She’s pretty cool and all but she’s not you.”
