Page 80 of One Week Wingman

Sebastian smiles at me, warm and smoldering. “Always.”

“Roxanne!” Suddenly, I’m smothered in a hug from my mom’s Aunt Carol. “There you are! I want to hear all about how you’ve been lately. Tell me, did you take that coding class Lorna was talking about?”

I look helplessly at Sebastian. He steps up. “Phil tells me you work in sewer management,” he says to Uncle Rich. “That must be fascinating. Are there really alligators down there?”

After a couple of hours,everyone grabs a plate and serves themselves from the groaning buffet tables. It’s an impressive spread: BBQ ribs, cornbread, and all the sides. “Mom and Phil went to a BBQ joint for their first date,” I explain to Sebastian, as we make our way down the line. “It closed, years ago, but they managed to track down one of the original cooks and had him cater for today.”

“I knew Phil was the one the minute I saw him smear BBQ sauce all over his face,” Mom says affectionately. “I thought, if a man can still give me butterflies with a paper napkin stuffed in his shirt, then he’s the one for me.”

“What do you think, Roxy?” Sebastian fixes a napkin to his shirt. “Still love me?”

I feel a pang. “Sure,” I say lightly, turning away before everyone can see the emotion on my face. “Ooh, this mac and cheese looks amazing.”

We find seats at a table with Nita and Evan near the bandstand, and dig in. Sebastian groans happily, tearing into some ribs. “This. Is. Incredible.”

I laugh at the bliss on his face. “I thought only I could make you look like that,” I tease, without thinking.

He grins back, mouth covered in sauce. “You’re in second place now, sweetheart. I’m sorry to break it to you, but me and these ribs have a thing going on.”

Nita smirks. “It’s like you and your roast chicken, isn’t it babe?” she coos to Evan, giving me a wink. “I swear, if we had to skip town in a hurry, he’d make sure that his seasoning mix was packed before even thinking about me.”

“It’s a secret recipe!” Evan protests. “Passed down through generations!”

“It is pretty great,” Nita admits.

There’s a clinking noise, and everybody turns. Daisy is standing up, looking radiant in a cute gingham dress. Jason is sitting by her side, his camera phone poised as usual. “I don’t want to make a whole speech,” she starts, beaming. “But I just wanted to say, how happy I am for you two, celebrating fifteen amazing years together.”

Everyone applauds, and my mom leans in against Phil, looking happy and pink-cheeked.

“You two have really shown me what true love looks like,” Daisy continues. “How you respect each other, and pay attention, and accept each other, with all your quirks, and hobbies, and weird habits.”

“Like your fly-fishing phase, Phil!” Uncle Rich calls, and we all laugh.

“But most of all, I really love how the two of you finding each other created a whole new family, for all of us,” Daisy says, looking a little tearful. “So happy anniversary, Mom and Dad. I love you!”

She raises her glass, and everyone toasts and cheers. And dabs their eyes, too, because I have to admit, that was incredibly sweet.

“Roxy?” she calls, looking over to me. “Did you want to say something, too?’

I gulp. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to follow that. But I do have something planned…

“Good luck,” Nita whispers, as I get to my feet. “Knock ‘em dead.”

Sebastian gives me a questioning look; I haven’t told him about my plan, I wanted to give myself the chance to back out. But now it’s time, I find myself wanting to pull this off, so I make my way over to where the band’s been playing. They’re all on break to eat, too, but I organized to borrow a guitar for this. I take a seat on a stool and brace myself.

Playing in front of a crowd isn’t my favorite thing in the world, but playing in front of a crowd of friends and family, who don’t even know I can hold a guitar?

I hope my parents take this as a sign of my love for them, because there’s no way I’d think about doing this for anyone else.

“Mom, Phil… I know your wedding song wasThe Way You Look Tonight,” I start. “So I thought I’d play it for you.” I look out across the party and see surprise on my mom’s face. I swallow hard. “Well, OK then…”

I strum the guitar, picking out the chords, and start to sing. It’s a simple melody, so I put my heart into it, feeling happy when Mom and Phil get up and make their way to a clear patch of grass, swaying in a slow dance. Other couples join them, and before I know it, the song is over.

“Happy anniversary,” I tell them, smiling with relief, and happiness that it all went to plan. “Here’s to another fifteen years to come.”

I get down and go give my Mom and Phil a hug. “That was awesome, honey,” Phil says loudly. “I didn’t know you could play like that!”

“Me either,” Mom says, studying me. “I thought you quit that, years ago.”

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