Page 110 of Sweet on You
Epilogue
Noah
I’ve performed on dozens of stages, been on a long-running hit television show, and just last summer, I had my first supporting role in a feature film. But nothing compared to the butterflies I felt this morning… the nerves of going in front of a dozen family and friends and marrying my sister Ronnie to Lex.
I sat out on the dock, my dress pants rolled up to the knee with my feet dangling in the cool water’s edge of our lake. Each swirl of my toe sent ripples cascading deeper into the lake.
From within my pocket, my phone buzzed, ringing for the thousandth time that morning. With a sigh, I tugged it free from my pocket, relieved to find it wasn’t Rosa, or Haze, or even Reid, my best friend who had gotten married two days ago in Atlantic City.
Instead, it was my publicist. I shouldn’t answer. It was my sister’s wedding day and I was the officiant for God’s sake. If there was ever a day I should have off from all the Hollywood bullshit, this was it.
Even still, I sighed and swiped my thumb across the screen, answering. “Kristen,” I said. “What’s up?”
“What’s up?” she repeated and I had to tug the phone from my ear, she was yelling so loudly. “What’s up? Are you seriously asking me that right now?”
“Ummm, yeah.” I kept my voice calm and collected. I had a pretty good habit of acting cool, even when my life was imploding. And holy shit was it imploding right now.
I raked my fingers through my hair, knowing my mom would kill me for messing with the way she combed it earlier this morning.You can look like something out of a Jack Kerouac novel the other 364 days of the year, but today? Today you are marrying your sister. You need to look presentable,she’d said only a couple hours earlier.
“Kristen, this really isn’t a good time,” I said. “I’m at my sister’s wedding.”
“Oh… yoursister’swedding, huh?” There was silence. Like the most boring game of chicken ever. Finally, Kristen sighed. “Tell me the rumors aren’t true, Noah. Please, God, tell me you didn’t do what everyone is saying you did.”
“Okay. It isn’t true.”
More silence. “But…isit true?”
Unfortunately, it was. And my publicist knew it was. Because we both knew that if it wasn’t true, I would be throwing all kinds of sarcastic comments out.
“Shit,” Kristen muttered. “You are a teen heartthrob. The guy that all these women are dreaming they could someday be with, Noah. You’re a role model—”
I snorted. “Okay, let’s not get too over the top.”
Kristen sighed again and I could just see her pacing her office, her silver hair pulled into a tight bun. She was sort of like the rich aunt who always judged your every move. Except I paid her to judge me and then fix my messes. And there were a lot of messes to fix with me as her client.
“You know,” she said, “just once I’d love to have a weekend off that doesn’t involve putting out your fires. Okay, I’ll prepare a statement and send it to you first before releasing.”
“Okay. I’m shutting my phone off in a few minutes for the wedding. I’ll turn it back on after the main events are over.”
“Can you be back to the city tonight?”
I swallowed, glancing around at my mother’s backyard. The wooden archway Cam had carved for Ronnie to get married beneath. The twinkling lights strung all around the deck and yard that transformed my childhood home into a romantic paradise. I hated coming home to Maple Grove. Most trips, I did everything in my power to get the hell back to New York within twenty-four hours. But the last two years, I’ve also been making much more of an effort to reconnect with my family. Rebuild the bridges I thought had long since been burned.
“No,” I said quietly, flicking my toe against the top of the water. “I won’t be back for a few days.”
“Okay,” Kristen said, not pushing the matter. She knew my history with my family. She knew when to press me and when to back off. It’s why we worked so well together. “Good luck officiating. Let’s talk again tonight, okay?”
“Yeah.” I hung up and almost immediately, the phone started buzzing in my hands. “What’d you forget?” I asked, answering the phone.
“Noah Tripp,” a voice snapped in my ear and I slammed eyes closed, squeezing them shut as hard as I could. Dammit. Why didn’t I check the caller ID first?
“Hazel,” I said, greeting my best friend’s new wife. “Hey. How’s married life.”
I heard Reid in the background mumbling something and Hazel snorted. “Reid is telling me to be nice to you… which frankly, the fact that I’m giving you this call… this head’s up is my version of nice.”
“What head’s up?”
“Rosa is on her way to Maple Grove.”
