Page 84 of Take Me to the Wedding

“Whatthings?” Then it dawned. “To think aboutus?”

She bit down on her lip. She refused to meet my eyes. I began to pace. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Lilly, oddly still staring at us.

“Tell me what’s happening.” I was practically begging now. “What’s upset you?”

She winced beneath my touch. “Nothing’s happened. I-I just—I can’t talk about this now. Ani’s really stressed. I’m sorry. I just can’t?—”

I dropped my hands. “What do you mean, Ani’s stressed? Did something happen?”

“She needs to talk with Tyler. She’s having a lot of nerves.”

“Okay, I get it. But what about us? Tell me what you’re feeling.”

Had whatever was happening with Ani spooked her? A cold shiver went through me when it occurred to me that Sam was being… Sam. Running from a commitment. Because that’s what Sam did. She’d said so herself.

Just then, Tyler’s father made an announcement over the mic for everyone to please take their seats. I finally captured Sam’s gaze and mentally begged her to say something, anything. In complete frustration, I yanked harder at my tie until it finally loosened up. I felt like I was suffocating.

She rubbed her forehead. “Look, Caleb, everything is so new with us, and there’s so much going on, that I don’t think now is the time to announce anything to anyone. Okay?”

That’s when I finally caught on. “This isn’t about Ani or wedding stress.You’rehaving doubts.” Anger bubbled up from deep within me. I’d been so naive to think that I’d be the one to change her. You can’t ever change anybody, can you? How many times had my mom said that going into a relationship trying to change someone simply never worked. “You just can’t take the leap, can you?”

She closed her eyes. Just for a few seconds, but it reminded me of what my patients looked like when I was about to stick them with a big old needle. “You’re running away. From me. From us.”

“I’m taking a step back,” she said curtly. “For now. I’m sorry.” Without another word, she turned and walked to her seat.

ChapterTwenty-Three

Samantha

Ani’s parents played a slideshow on a fifty-seven-inch television set to Taylor Swift’s “Invisible String” that featured photos of Ani and Tyler atmanydifferent ages and stages, side by side, as they grew up. It was probably adorable; I could barely focus on it. They had so many photos that the song played twice, and frankly, in the horrible mood I was in, once would’ve been plenty.

I had no idea what I was doing. I was numb—blind and deaf, barely aware of people around me dressed in colorful, bright outfits laughing and talking and eating, candles flickering, music and speeches droning on and on as the rehearsal dinner played itself out. Outwardly, I think I managed to smile—perhaps maniacally—but inside, I was in agony.

What had I just done?

I thought I’d done the wrong thing. But I didn’t know how to fix it. I didn’t know how to tell Caleb that Lilly still cared—that was Lilly’s job. I couldn’t warn him, and I couldn’t call her a sneaky, conniving bitch because I wasn’t sure if she was one—even though singling me out to announce her feelings just at the time when Caleb and I were finally together was ironically perfect timing. Running over to Caleb and shoving Lilly out of the way and telling him pick me, pick me! didn’t seem right. Somehow I felt that I had to let this play out. But I was a wreck.

I tried different scenarios in my head: “Caleb, Lilly loves you and wants a chance with you,” sounded like I should let Lilly speak for herself.

“Caleb, I wanted to warn you that Lilly’s still after you,” sounded insecure and ominous.

“Caleb, I told Lilly to back the eff off.” Maybe I should’ve taken option three.

And what was the deal about Caleb working in Oak Bluff?

I took a sip of my drink, a gin and tonic, which I hated but was all I could think of to order. Caleb, sitting across and down the long table from me, next to Lilly of all people, wouldn’t even glance in my direction.

Ani, at the table’s other end, looked pale and panicked. Once I saw her clutch onto Tyler’s arm and whisper something. He shook his head and looked puzzled. Their body language seemed out of sync and was telling. Ani also kept looking over at me, lifting her brows and gesturing for me to come over.

Oh. The matchmaking test. I’d forgotten all about it. That was the last thing on earth I wanted to do now—in the grand scheme of things, it would rank right after attending a malpractice deposition. I couldn’t force myself to move.

Then Lilly stood up, her bold flowery dress directly in my line of sight. To make things even worse, Caleb scraped back his chair and left with her.

That was the final dagger to my heart. I thought I might throw up right then and there.

Ani gestured furiously to me to come upnow. I managed to move my leaden legs up to the end of the table near the front of the patio.

“Do it now,” she whispered insistently when I got there. “The test. Please.”

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