Page 21 of Free to Live
“God, what a prick.” Ali is outraged. Rightfully so. Although my siblings know what happened, they just saw the aftermath; they didn’t see the images.
Those images are only burned on the brain of the bride, her parents, and me.
“Where’s Phil?” Em asks, looking around.
“He was calling Jason. I think he wanted to give him a heads-up before meeting us in here,” Cassidy explains.
“Gotcha,” I mumble through a bite of the frosted butterscotch cake. “Jesus, Cori. I want leftovers. I may not have bleach for my eyes, but this will help make the pain a little easier.”
Everyone laughs. “I will incur the wrath of my husband and let you take all of the cake without protest,” Ali concedes.
“It would be easier if you would just let me teach you how to bake, Ali,” Corinna tries once again to convince my sister.
Ali lets out a less than delicate snort. “Like that’s ever going to happen.”
“I taught Brendan,” she argues. When Corinna went on TV with our now family friend, country music star Brendan Blake, they ended up winning the showCaketasticagainst more seasoned chefs, putting Amaryllis Events even more on the map than it already was.
“No,” Em corrects. “You were a drill sergeant to Brendan. He readily admitted to Jake he was petrified.” Jake, Em’s fiancé, is also one of Brendan’s best friends.
“What a wuss,” she grumbles. “You bark orders at someone to stir faster and to smile…”
We all bust a gut laughing. “Somehow, I think it was more than that despite what they showed on TV,” I comment drolly.
Corinna turns golden eyes—eyes practically the same shade as my own—on me. “But Hols, isn’t that how you get us all to do it?” Her voice is so full of false innocence, I have to press my lips together hard to smother my grin.
Lifting my camera, I turn it toward Em just as she takes a drink. “Smile, damn you, Em! Smile!” I bark out.
She spews her drink just as Phil pushes his way into the kitchen. As always, timing is everything in our family. Her champagne lands on the sleeve of his coat. “Jesus, Em. I just had this suit dry-cleaned.”
Em is laughing too hard to reply. Instead, she just flaps her hand at him. I am clicking away photo after photo. Especially when Phil turns and grabs her by both cheeks and lays a smacking kiss on her forehead. The smile she gives him in return is brighter than the diamond on her finger. Lowering my camera, I take a sip of my own champagne.
Love comes in all forms, but when it’s right and beautiful, it doesn’t matter if it’s between family, friends, or lovers. It lights up my heart, my mind, and my camera with its beauty. It begs me to capture it. Not so it can be stolen, but so it can be pulled out on those days when life’s shadows seem to overcome it.
“Sorry I’m late.” Phil strolls up to the table where his champagne and cake are waiting.
“How are the kids?” Cassidy and Ali ask at the same time. Looking at each other, they burst out laughing.
“Your men haven’t lost or smothered a child yet,” Phil reassures them. “In fact, they’ve been so well behaved, they’re presently out for hot chocolate at The Coffee Shop.”
The two mothers’ jaws fall. “It must be Jason,” Cassidy says to Ali.
“No other explanation,” Ali agrees.
“Actually, I think they had a bigger impetus to behave than my husband,” Phil casually throws out before shoving an enormous bite of cake in his mouth. We all wait impatiently while he chews. “They had a friend with them when I called,” he finally tells us when he swallows.
“What? Did Colby get out of work early and show up?” Corinna guesses.
“Or did Jake abandon his studio and show up? I know! Jenna must have come home for the spring break early,” Em says excitedly about her future stepdaughter.
“No and no.” Phil dashes both of my sister’s guesses. With a thoughtful expression, he says, “It was Joseph Bianco and his daughter, Grace.”
“He was the man who lost his wife in the car accident who initially blamed Jason,” I remind my siblings quietly.
Phil turns to face me. “It was his fiancée, Hols, but yes, while he was in the worst of his grief, he did blame Jason.”
I lift the camera back up to my face and zoom in on Phil. There’s acceptance and peace on his handsome features. Inside me, the knot that was beginning to form relaxes. “Okay. So, this is a good thing?” My voice communicates something to my sisters, who all relax slightly, Ali more than the others. “I actually met his mother, Denise, and daughter at the salon the other day. You know him, right, Ali?”
“Keene and I have known his daughter for a while. We mostly see her while he’s on shift. She’s in Kalie’s preschool class. It’s like having my own set of twins.” Everyone bursts out laughing.
