Page 90 of Take Me to the Wedding

“What do you mean, ‘letting me figure this all out’?” I couldn’t have been more confused.

“Lilly made sure to tell Sam that she was in love with youbeforeshe spoke to you.”

Lilly told Sam…“Wait. Are you saying that Sam pulled away because of Lilly?” I’d sensed some jealousy—thathercomment—and I remembered seeing her hovering around while Sam and I were talking, butthis?

“Sam didn’t rant about Lilly or run to tell you about Lilly’s feelings for you. She let Lilly do that. I believe it was her way of giving you a choice.”

“Lilly set things up to get Sam out of the way?” I was incredulous.

“I don’t think that was an accident.”

“Mom, you’re essentially saying something here. Something big.”

My mom shrugged. “I’m usually like you in that I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. I’m just not so sure I can in this case.”

I raked a hand through my hair, trying to wrap my head around everything.

She said, starting to get up, “Hope you can get a hold of Sam.” She gave me a kiss on

the cheek.

I gave my mom a giant hug. “You’re the best, Ma,” I said. “Thank you for being you.”

“I love you too,” she said as she hugged me back. “Good luck.”

ChapterTwenty-Five

Samantha

The wedding morning dawned sunny, clear, and gorgeous. Only the bridesmaids all seemed to be exhausted wrecks when we showed up for makeup at a little cottage near the entrance to the venue at eight a.m. Beyond the cottage, men were setting up rows of white chairs on a grassy lawn, and florists were working their magic.

I’d missed four calls from Caleb, but I’d been with Ani until four a.m. She’d talked to Tyler again and they seemed to have settled things, and then we’d all tried to get a few hours of sleep.

Talk in the morning, okay?I read Caleb’s last text, which I read over and over again, clinging onto those words as a tiny shred of hope.

I was shocked to see that even Lilly’s eyes were puffy and her skin blotchy. Part of me wanted to grab her and force her to tell me what had happened between Caleb and her, but to be honest, I already knew exactly just by looking. But a huge flood of relief didn’t bowl me over. I didn’t know if Caleb would forgive me for publicly denying him. And for having so little faith in us that I’d allowed Lilly to enact whatever drama she’d managed to with him.

I would’ve tried to talk with her, but I felt certain that would make me want to kill her, and there was enough going on. Right now things were about Ani. I needed to push aside all my own sorrows and focus on helping her.

Ironically, this morning, only Ani seemed strangely calm. Also, both Ani’s and Tyler’s moms had joined us in the small cottage not far from where the final touches were being put on the straight rows of white chairs, a magnificent floral arbor, and the gorgeous arrangements of salmon and white flowers that lined the aisles. Around us, curling irons were plugged in and giant professional kits of makeup unfolded as we got to work getting ready.

Mia and I secretly wondered if this was a hostage situation—if whatever Ani’s mom had told her after we’d left had caused her to squash down all her doubts. And so we kept trying to find an opportunity to get her alone, but it was impossible with all the commotion.

“Ani, how are you?” Mia and I finally cornered her near the brunch buffet the moms had delivered and set up on the kitchen island. A makeup artist was working on Tyler’s mom in the corner, and a stylist was curling Lilly’s hair at a table. The scent of hairspray was thick in the air, which didn’t exactly mesh with the food—or the stomachs of the rest of us.

“How did the talk with Tyler go, honey?” Mia whispered.

“Now, girls,” Ani’s mom, who was petite like Ani and elegantly dressed in a beige silk dress, said. “Nerves are to be expected before such a big decision like marriage. But everything’s fine.” Then she gave Mia and me a studied look just short of a glare. A clear warning not to upset the bride.

Ani’s mom got called over to consult on Tyler’s mom’s hair. Ani stood in her cute white satin pj top and shorts, her hair in an elegant updo, holding a paper bowl in front of a large fruit salad. I moved closer and started to say something, but she cut me off with a tight smile. “I love you both, and I’m okay,” she said firmly. But the only thing she put on her plate was a piece of watermelon, and I don’t even think she even ate it.

Ani set down her plate. “Tyler told me he loves me,” she said in a quiet voice. “We talked out our future again. He said once the kids come, I can work part-time if I want. We could have a nanny or even one for day and a separate one for night. He’ll come home in the evenings and we can have drinks while our personal chef prepares our dinner and the nanny plays with our kids. We can see them once they’re all clean and in their jammies right before bed. Isn’t that a tidy plan?”

I swallowed. I thought for some reason about Beth, who had this uncanny way of not telling anyone what to do but somehow letting them figure it out for themselves. How did she do that? Because the inside of me was screaming, “Put on the brakes!”

“Ani, did you take a Valium?” Mia asked, still whispering.

“My mom gave me one, but I flushed it.”

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