“Listen, hippie girl, I don’t care what—”
“Honey.” A smooth voice cut in. His fiancee, Marissa, and pretty much the sweetest girl I’d ever met, slid between us and made him take a step back. “It’s your mother’s wedding. Please don’t make a scene.”
I watched him grind his teeth as he glared at me, then slid his eyes away to look at her. His face softened and he gave her a crooked smile before shaking his head. “Sorry, Mar. I promised.” He leaned down to kiss her cheek, and I saw what she did see in him, other than his looks. Or what was between them, anyway, and it was lovely. It was love. A knot of emotion swelled in my throat, and I didn’t want to think about what that emotion meant. “I’ll go see what kind of trouble the twins are up to. Next to them, I’ll seem like the well-behaved cousin, and then, you’ll applaud me for being the sensible one and reining them in.” His laugh was throaty, and she put one delicate, perfectly manicured hand to his clean cut jaw before he left. She turned to stare out at the ocean, with me.
“I apologize for Jack,” she said—to me, apparently, although she was focused on the horizon. I faced out too.
“You have nothing to apologize for. He’s the one who was the jackass. I don’t understand why you’re with him, to be honest.” I grimaced. This was not my best behavior. This was not me being an emotional support guest. Marissa didn’t deserve me taking it out on her, one of the only other people at this small wedding who wasn’t related to the others by blood, marriage, or long association . . . although she would be related when she and Jack got married. I shook my head, still not understanding why she would marry him. Was it his money?
She sighed. “I know it’s difficult to believe; this family seems so perfect, beautiful, powerful, and wealthy beyond belief, but underneath those perfect masks, each one of them is in pain. I don’t know why. Something happened in the family, something long ago that has them repeating the damage again and again, down the generations.” She put her back to the sea so she could watch the wedding party congratulate the bride and groom, and when the wind whipped her long, sleek blonde hair into her face, she didn’t wrestle with it, merely lifted a hand to smooth and tuck her hair over her shoulder. “This wedding hit Jack hard. He adored his father . . . idolized him. He was such a happy-go-lucky man when I met him, but then, he found out about his father’s other family. It crushed him. He thought his father was perfect. Shortly after, his father died, and of course he was grief stricken. But it was almost worse that he died without Jack being able to understand why he kept a mistress and a child a secret. And now, his mother gets married only six months after his father died?” She shook her head sadly. “I’m afraid he’s not handling it well but is pretending everything is okay. He’s taking it out on you because you’re a convenient distraction, and you’re not a part of the family.”
“So, you’re saying I’m his emotional support antagonist?”
She smiled and her blue eyes twinkled. “Yes. That’s exactly right. His father pretended to be a perfect husband and dad, but in reality was a horrible person. Jack is afraid to face it, so fighting with you is a way to keep his feelings from boiling over. I knew you’d understand.”
I frowned. April had told me the same thing about her dad, in the strictest of confidences, horrified, angry, and hurt by her father. She hadn’t wanted to believe it, but I knew it was true in my gut. And here was Marissa confirming it. It seemed to be an open secret among these people. I almost wished to be home with my parents who adored each other, never mind that they were the least perfect people ever, living in their off the grid farmhouse, with their sprawling family farm that grew whatever they had a yearning for—fruit trees, honey, and so much zucchini until you were so sick of zucchini you never wanted to see another green squash as long as you lived. My parents weren’t damaged and perfect looking; they were complete opposites and completely devoted to each other. My mom was born in Trinidad and was short, busty, and round as a dove—which is what my dad called her, his dove—and wore handmade dresses and overalls, happily adopting pets and people, whenever they needed her. She’d given me my brown skin, curly hair, and love for the earth. My dad was tall, white, balding, and thin as a beanpole. He was so easygoing. Nothing ever seemed to bother him, and he accepted everyone for all their faults, sometimes even making up songs on his guitar about how beautiful their uniqueness was. I was tall and thin like him, and I felt awkward standing next to Marissa, who definitely fit into this perfect family in a way I didn’t, a bisexual hippie chick from a farm in the mountains and a weirdo. Not at all perfect like these people. My family would never fit in with this family, but they were a lot happier and more accepting.
Now that Marissa said it, I could see the cracks in the perfect facade of their family. The stiff way they held their bodies, the shiny bright smiles and too sharp laughter, how much they were all drinking to get through the tension. I pressed my lips together.
So I was the distraction, was I? April was over there talking to her mother, the bride, and I intercepted a disapproving glare and a low conversation that did not look happy between them. Clearly, April’s mom did not approve of me. I wondered what it was that made her dislike me? Was it being Black? Or was it that I was a hippie? Maybe it was that I was bisexual. Probably all three. I huffed a laugh. After growing up knowing that I was fully accepted by my family, I could see the fractures in this family. Too many secrets. Too many betrayals. But Marissa saw it first. “I thought you were a lawyer?”
Marissa smiled and nodded. “I am. A copyright lawyer.”
“You’re pretty intuitive and insightful for a copyright lawyer.”
She shrugged. “I love Jack. He’s a good man under his callous exterior, and he’s acting out because his father broke his heart.” She leaned in as if to give me a secret; I couldn’t help but meet her halfway because I loved the secrets. I was such a gossip. “Jack is a romantic, you see.”
I blinked my disbelief.
“No, he is. And heartbroken romantics are the worst cynics. I’m trying to help him fight it, but . . .” She shrugged again and tears made her eyes seem that much bigger and lucid. “He’s very hurt.”
This was all too much for me. I wasn’t a part of this family. I had my own, better, less perfect family. But for some reason, I had been drawn into their twisted games. I didn’t want to think of him as hurt. I wanted to think of him as the villain.
Then, April laughed, a high brittle sound that was not one of happy-for-the-bride in the least. I remembered why I was at this wedding and why I was being drawn into their drama. Because my best friend needed me. “Uh oh,” I said. “The emotional support friend is needed over by the cake table. I’d better go.”
“Yes, it does look like you’re needed. I’ll go do my duty, too. I’m glad we got to talk. I have a really good feeling about you, and I’m sure you’re going to be important to me in the future.”
“Are you sure you’re a lawyer? Because I thought they were all about rules and law, not feelings.”
She shrugged. “It’s a job.”
“I just graduated from college, so I don’t have one of those yet. But as soon as I get home, I’ll probably go back to working at the yoga studio in my hometown. Certainly not a fancy career like being a lawyer. But I like it.”