Page 2 of Still the One

“Can we sit with you, Mac?” Charles asks, surprising me. Mac is what my friends call me, and I’ve only just met him. It could still be what Alan calls me when he sees me on TV. “I’m such a fan of—”

“Babe.” Alan leans into Charles’s ear and tries to whisper—but being inconspicuous has never been one of Alan’s talents. “Give them some space,” he says.

“It’s all right,” I say. “We don’t need space.” Why would Jamie and I need space? We’re not here for a reunion; we’re here for our friend’s wedding.

“Nevertheless.” Did Alan just wink at me? “We’ll see you at the rehearsal dinner. We’re sitting at the same table.” He drags Charles away, but they can’t sit very far from us.

“Don’t mind Alan,” Jamie says. “You know he always has silly notions.”

“Like what?” Jamie and I sit again and I take a good look at her face. She has aged, of course, but time has been kinder to her than it was to Alan. She’s still as stunning as when I first met her—better, even. Because those lines around her eyes promise the kind of wisdom no one has at twenty, or thirty for that matter. When they play reckless games with the heart of the person they’re meant to love most in the world.

“Let’s just say he has made rather a big deal of you being here.”

“Why?”

Jamie pulls her lips into a grin. “Come on, Mac. Surely, you know why.”

“Because we haven’t seen each other in twenty years.”

“Well, yes, although that’s not technically true. We did see each other—”

“Is Alan expecting some big drama or something?” I cut Jamie off for a reason. I don’t want to relive the couple of excruciating times I ran into her, or arrived somewhere I thought she wouldn’t be only to be confronted with her when I was nowhere near ready for that. “Because too much time has gone by for that.”

“That’s exactly what I said to him.”

“Charles seems lovely.”

“He’s such a gem.”

“How long have they been married?”

“Coming up to seven years now.” Something sparkles in Jamie’s eyes. I remember that sudden glint in her eyes well. It was one of the things that made her irresistible—that made me fall in love with her over and over again. “Guess who officiated their nuptials?”

The way she’s looking at me, there can only be one answer. “You?”

“I got ordained as a Dudeist Minister. Isn’t that the most hilarious thing you’ve ever heard? Me? Officiating for The Church of Dudeism.” Jamie sure thinks it’s a hoot. “Marrying two dudes.”

It is funny, though. Jamie’s laughter is infectious—always has been. It’s a little awkward to be sitting here with her, after all these years, but despite everything that has happened, there’s something familiar, something strangely soothing about it as well. For ten years of my life, I had the privilege of knowing Jamie Sullivan in the most intimate ways. Maybe it says a lot about me that, in hindsight, they were the best years of my life.

“It’s such a Jamie thing to do,” I say when our chuckles die down.

“Hey, um, I’ve been nervous about seeing you again.” Jamie’s face has turned all serious. “When you first started appearing on TV, I had to switch it off, and you know how much I love watching sports.” She scoffs softly, as though mocking herself. “But I’m glad you came. That you’re here.”

“I’m here for Sandra.”

“Yeah. We all are.”

The seats around us suddenly fill up, as though the wedding planner just flipped a switch. We are hushed so the rehearsal can start—and my first proper conversation with Jamie in twenty long years is cut short.

Chapter 2

Jamie

“To America.” Alan lifts his champagne glass. “Where we’re so uptight, we feel the need to practice for the best day of our life.” He rolls his eyes. “They don’t do that anywhere else in the world, you know?” He shoots his husband a wink. “Charles and I were very un-American about it. We skipped the rehearsal and went straight for the wedding instead.”

“You’re very worldly like that, darling,” I say, and my poor brain can’t help it. Attending this wedding and being here with Mac takes me back to the time she and I were planning our own commitment ceremony—back in the dark ages before same-sex marriage was legal. We had it all figured out—all the various steps meticulously mapped out. Until Cherry came along.

“The rehearsal dinner is more an opportunity for the two families to come together,” Mac says, using her sexy broadcaster voice. It makes her sound as though she possesses all the wisdom in the world. “Because our country is so big, we tend to marry more outside of our immediate circle than in other places.”

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