Page 32 of Shake the Habit

“We have to stop,” Cassidy said. She drank water from a straw so she could at least keep her lipstick straight.

“Why don’t you girls give us a moment?” her mom suggested, and Aria went to go check on her kids and make sure that her husband had them dressed, and that he’d had time to change himself.

I went to my room, which was huge, lovely, and free to me—Cass and Jack had picked up the tab for everything, including all the non-alcoholic drinks we were enjoying. They sipped theirs and watched me over the rims of the glasses, like they were checking to see if I was secretly spiking my pineapple juice with rum.

Or maybe it was my imagination and, in the words of my cousin Marc to his angry fiancée, I was being too sensitive. It certainly wasn’t something that I needed to focus on now, when it was my best friend’s wedding—how selfish was I? No, I wasn’t going to act this way. I checked my hair and makeup in the mirror to make sure that Cassidy would be happy with how the pictures turned out, and I practiced my smile as Aunt Amber had forced us to do when we were kids.

“Happy and joyful, KayKay,” I told my reflection. I did feel that way for Cassidy, and I would make sure that it showed. I went back to join my friends with the smile on my face, and I kept it there.

The ceremony was beautiful because they had written their own vows that were sweet and rang true, especially when they said how much they would love and care for each other. And Jack put his hand on her stomach as he said his (which made Cass’s mom lose it—we all did). The party was also perfect, low-key but with a great band for just the little group of us. Cassidy loved to dance, although her new husband didn’t really…ok, he was terrible, but he tried.

“How are you at dancing?” I texted Caleb. I’d been doing that throughout this vacation, just keeping him informed about what was happening here in this beautiful place. In turn, he filled me in on the progress with the barn (he didn’t seem to notice that anything was wrong) and with Sir. The dog was happier than a pig in poop, and he had actually been in exactly that. My uncle Harry kept a few cows, and Sir had rolled in some of what they had left behind. Caleb had given him a bath afterwards and I owed him big.

In answer to my question, he sent a short video of himself and I had to cover my mouth because I started laughing very hard. I also held a cocktail napkin under my eyes to prevent any tears from ruining the makeup that Aria had worked on so diligently. She was almost as talented at its application as her mother.

“KayKay, do you need—are you—what can I do?” My cousin was next to me suddenly, as if she might have been monitoring. Had she been waiting for me to go to pieces?

“I’m laughing,” I told her. I would have shown her the video, but I didn’t think that Caleb would have appreciated other people seeing what I thought was supposed to have been…yes, that wasdancing, just in an unusual way that didn’t relate to rhythm or bodily control.

“Are you sure that everything’s ok?” she persisted.

“I’m sure,” I said, but any hint of laughter was now gone. “Can I help you with something, Aria?”

“No, of course not! I just want you to enjoy yourself.” I saw her look at my glass, though, which was now sparkling water. There was no alcohol at this party due to the bride being pregnant and me being a wreck. I looked over and saw Cassidy also eyeing us, or actually, also eyeing my glass. I set it down on the table and decided that I would rather die of dehydration than raise another liquid to my lips until I got back to Tennessee and was free of their attention. I put the smile back on, though.

“Let’s go dance!” I told Aria. We weren’t as good as Cass, but we hadn’t struggled through Aunt Amber’s Saturday lessons for nothing.

After dinner, we were all slowing down, which was apparently what happened when one of us was pregnant, one had two kids, and one was just old. I sat on the floor with Aria’s son Dawson, named after her father, and we played a game where I made flowers talk to him and he laughed. Every time I looked up, I spotted Aria, her husband, or both of them watching us, and after a while I picked up the little boy and returned him to his parents.

“I think that Cass and Jack will call this party soon,” I mentioned. They were making out in the corner, so it was a good bet. I yawned, covering my mouth but making it big. “Igot tired from all the sun. I’ll leave when they do.” I’d go to my room by myself, no Sir for company, and where the minibar had been thoughtfully emptied of all the usual tiny bottles before I’d arrived. No need to wave a red cape under my nose, I guessed.

Aria and her husband exchanged glances. “We were thinking about hanging out later,” she said, but then also yawned. “I’m really not tired,” she claimed next, and her eyes flicked to me.

“I am,” I said, and did another fake yawn to prove it. “I’m going right to bed. I have so much packing to do tomorrow morning.” We’d be returning home while Cass and Jack spent another night here, rid of us.

The happy couple did leave soon after that and we clapped and cheered. Although Aria, her husband, and my aunt and uncle were watching, I went up, too. I didn’t go right to bed, though, because I sat outside on my balcony and watched clouds move over the stars.

It was a long, long way home. Aria’s kids enjoyed the flights even less due to the disruptions in their schedules, but between five adults we managed to handle them again. It had always seemed to me like you needed to tag-team with kids.

Finally, we straggled off the last plane and through the terminal in Chattanooga—and there was Caleb. He stood near the top of the steps where all the passengers emerged in our airport, waiting off to the side and watching as everyone walked through the doors. “Oh!” I exclaimed, and ran over. “What are you doing here? I was going to get a car!” As someone with that math background, he understood about saving money on gas, but Iwas glad he’d wasted some to come here and obviously, I had to hug him.

“I wanted to take a break from work,” he said, and he was smiling when I stepped back. “Did you have fun?”

“Kayleigh, who is this?” my aunt asked, and I introduced him all around, including to the little ones. The adults were interested in digging into this situation but Aria’s children were very ready to leave, so we all went down to baggage claim. I felt their eyes on me and Caleb and I kept a good space between us so that no one could get the wrong idea, and then spread that idea to a million and two other McCourts so that they also had it.

“I thought you might need help with this,” he said as my bag finally came out on the conveyor. “It weighs more than Sir.”

“Thank you. How is he doing?” I asked, but before he answered, I had to say goodbye to everyone else. I felt their eyes again as we walked out.

“Well, there was an issue,” Caleb told me when we got free of the airport, and then added quickly, “He’s fine.”

“What did he do?”

It was another problem with my uncle’s cows, but not with their poop this time. Caleb thought that he’d been trying to play, but…

“He started a small stampede,” he told me. “Harry said that he got it under control right quick, and I didn’t see much damage when I went over there.” He paused. “Except for the fence. And the feeder and stock tank,” he added.

“My Lord.” I stopped on the sidewalk outside of the parking garage. “How much am I going to owe them?”

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