Page 86 of David's Proposal

Someone’s phone pings in the room and it’s not mine.

Dahlia looks at her cell phone.

“Rain is looking for us,” she says. “Well, um… Thea is looking for us, but she is busy inside the house. We have to go, but I have to use the restroom first,” she says, pushing to her feet. “Wait for me, okay?”

“Go,” Eve says, smiling.

Anticipating an awkward silent moment, I rise to my feet and move to the window, where I soak in the view.

What a lovely sight.

The place looks marvelous, ready for the wedding celebration, and it’s nice to see all these people patiently waiting for it.

I remember Thea saying Ed’s house was too big and no one wanted to live in it, so they needed to look for a different place.

Turns out it wasn’t about the house being too big.

It was just a house made for a bigger family.

I imagine Thea’s kids playing with Rain’s little girl. What a story. And if things go all right, more kids will run around that lawn one day.

I find the story so engrossing that I miss the moment Eve walks up to me and stops by the windows overlooking the backyard.

“It looks great, doesn’t it?” she says quietly as we both look outside.

“Yes, it does.”

“It’s going to be a fantastic wedding,” she goes on, and it dawns on me I’ve never thought about it myself–– getting married someday.

I’ve already been too much of a Nosy Nancy this evening, so I keep it simple.

“Yes. And I’m so happy for them.”

A few couples walk down the alley, and one of them is David and Pam. A lump lodges in my throat.

They look like a couple. Well, they have their backs tuned to us, so it’s easy to misunderstand things.

They don’t hold hands or anything.

Their body language says nothing.

Their connection is dull and flat.

I understand the arrangement and can see how him showing up with her ends any speculation.

However, bringing someone to a friend’s wedding is no small thing.

“She is one of them,” Eve says as if reading my mind.

I move my eyes to her.

She gestures in their direction.

“Sabina.”

“Sabina?”

"The woman accompanying David.”

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