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“I’ll walk you.” He smiled up at me.
“I assure you,amore mio, I can walk out the door and down the hallway all on my own.”
“I’ll go.” Andrea patted her son’s arm. “You might need some help with your dress.” She smiled at me.
I figured it wasn’t important to remind her that Eddy K had made the greatest invention of all, a hidden slit in the back for moments like this. I decided to let it go and accepted her help graciously.
I stopped walking as I caught sight of a familiar face. She was on the arm of one of Piero’s friends.
“Andrea, who is that woman?” It was her again, the one I’d seen at the Coppola house during the fire, then again on the night of our announcement party.
“I’m not sure who that is,” she urged me to keep moving, “but nothing would surprise me with him. He always has someone new on his arm. He’s quite the catch in town.”
“Would you mind finding out for me?”
“Of course. What’s going on?” She tugged my arm.
“I just find it strange that I ran into her at the Coppola mansion during the fire and again at our announcement party, and now she’s at my wedding. An uncomfortable coincidence, I’m thinking. Something seems off about her.”
Her face twisted, and I knew she understood that my gut was normally right.
“I’ll find out.” She glanced back at the woman in question.
After I freshened up and stretched my legs, I stood outside the door with Andrea and thought how happy everyone looked.
“Andrea,” I took her hand, “thank you for being my mother when I needed one so badly. I couldn’t have done this without you.”
“Oh, dear, you have no idea what that means to me.” She dabbed her eyes and gave me a chuckle. “You’ve always been special to me, and now look where you are.” We turned to watch the guests.
“This has got to be the most beautiful wedding I’ve ever seen, or even read about,” I breathed at her. I took in all the small things she’d done, right down to the slideshow and the photo booth. She’d even had a backdrop made up of the pond where Elio and I had first met, and it stood next to the photo booth.
“Anything for you two.” She seemed miles away as she spoke then patted my arm. “Stay here, Sienna. I’ll be right back.”
Was I really being left alone? I smiled at the thought and enjoyed the moment to let my eyes wander around the room, taking in all the faces and happy laughter. Never did I think I would have a wedding, let alone one like this, and I could only dream it would be with a man like Elio.
I locked eyes with that strange woman again. Her jet-black, shoulder length hair swung as she looked at me, and I felt something strange pass through us. She seemed nervous I’d spotted her and looked away. A group of younger guests who had obviously been enjoying the open bar passed between us, laughing and carrying on. When they were gone, she had disappeared. I scanned the room but didn’t find her again. I pushed the discomfort back and refused to let it worry me anymore. Andrea said she would investigate it, so I told myself to relax and enjoy my special day.
My stomach grumbled, and I looked over at our table to see that Elio had disappeared. My stomach grumbled again, and I patted my belly. “Yes, yes, I hear you two.” I chuckled and started toward the kitchen to see if I could scrounge up some more of that delicious fresh fruit. I opened the doors and came to a complete stop when I heard a familiar voice.
“Why can’t you just admit it? You feel something,” Wyatt huffed, but not in anger. It was more like passion. I pressed myself against the door and listened. “I felt all of you when you carried me that day.”
“What you felt,” Vinni pushed Wyatt against the wall and hovered over him much like Elio did to me, “was a friend saving another friend.”
“Yeah?” Wyatt challenged and straightened his spine.
“Yeah.” Not even a beat later, Vinni grabbed his chin and slammed his lips to Wyatt’s. Yes, I was that asshole friend who watched like it was live TV because I knew this was the singlehanded greatest moment in my best friend’s life, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to miss it.
The kiss was passionate and loving, but as I took in Vinni’s expression after the kiss, there was a huge part of me that knew this was Vinni sayingno more. He might be attracted to Wyatt, but he was straight. My heart broke but then repaired itself all in that short moment. Wyatt got closure, and I thought that was what he needed more than anything else.
I carefully slipped out then. I didn’t want to end their moment. It could go wherever, but I didn’t need to be a part of it.
I glanced around the room and was both bothered and concerned that Greta and her ever-present Abramo weren’t at this event. I felt the doubt creep up my back for the hundredth time today. I knew something was going on with all the whispered conversations.
Fear zoomed around in my head, and I started to feel as though all the lies I’d told over the years were multiplying into the thousands and each one hovered on the edge of my tongue ready to slip out if I wasn’t careful. It was exhausting. I wondered where Rosa was and if she was just waiting for me to slip up as well. Was I marked for death the day I’d met Theo?
Theo…I slipped into the happiest memory I had of him, just one last time, before I closed the chapter on us.
I sniffed and dried my eyes on the long sleeve of my sweater. It had been a hard day. Theo had to spend the day with Elenora on a family outing, one of those mandatory public things, while I had to stay home like the closet girlfriend I was. I hated her so much that merely thinking her name drove me to the brink of hateful, despicable things.
