Just then, he heard a male voice yell “Hey, hey, hey!” from the inside the house, and a man walked through the sliding glass door with a case of lime-flavored light beer on his shoulder.
That must be Derek. Jonathan had never met him before and had met his fiancée Addison only a few times. Addison had grown up on the other side of town, and he had seen her over the years, here and there, through Caroline and Brady. She had gone away for college and recently moved back to teach in the Lillyvale Unified School District. Derek had moved with her.
The man outstretched his hand to Jonathan. “Hey, I’m Derek.”
“Jonathan. Nice to meet you,” Jonathan said, shaking his hand firmly.
“You’re from Phoenix, right?” Derek said, setting the case of beer down and ripping open the side to grab a can. Jonathan nodded, but Derek had lost interest and was already meandering over to Brady, slapping him on the back and peering over his shoulder.
Addison followed, beaming at Jonathan. “Hi, Jonathan!” she exclaimed as she embraced him in a warm hug. “How are you? How was your flight?”
“Great, thank you,” Jonathan said. Addison smiled and rubbed his arm.
“Addison, how do I know this black bean burger is done?” Brady asked from the grill.
“Oh, um, really just if it’s hot,” Addison said, stepping closer to peer at the grill. “Yes, that’s fine.”
Derek threw a heavy arm around her shoulders. “You know what looks great? That dead cow you’re cooking, Brady. Mooo.”
Caroline had told Jonathan that Addison recently went vegan after talking about it for years. Supposedly, Derek was not taking it well and made fun of her as often as he could.
Jonathan turned toward Zoey again, who still sat on the outdoor couch. Addison waved at her enthusiastically. Zoey stood up, and they gave each other a hug before starting to chat. Jonathan was not close enough to hear, but Zoey smiled as they talked. Envy seeped into him. Brady slid up to him.
“Derek is already getting on my nerves,” Brady whispered. “At least he’s sober.”
Brady looked at Zoey and then back at Jonathan. Brady took a sip of his beer. “Oh shit. You have that look again.”
“What look?” Jonathan asked.
“You know what I mean,” Brady said. “We’ve all been there. With her.”
4
“Thank you for coming tonight and being a part of our wedding. Cheers,” Caroline said, hoisting her glass up. The entire group clinked glasses with the people closest to them. Zoey avoided Jonathan’s gaze while he stood a comfortable distance from her. She had a problem, though.
She was out of wine.
But getting more wine would mean getting up and going to the kitchen where she might have to talk to Jonathan again, which she wanted to avoid at all costs. Jonathan hovered by the door, also alone. He wasn’t distracted enough for her to disappear inside, and he was blocking the sliding glass door. While their initial conversation hadn’t gone terribly, she didn’t need another talk that made her feel uncomfortable or like nothing had changed. Original plan was still on. Avoid. Deflect. Evade.
Her stomach grumbled. Out of wine and hungry. Great.
Jonathan inched closer to her.
Zoey’s palms started sweating. Oh God, oh God, oh God.
As Jonathan was mere moments from opening his mouth to say something, Caroline turned Jonathan toward her and started jabbering. Zoey wasn’t sure if Caroline’s save was an apology for tipping Jonathan earlier or if it was an honest move, but she was able to get up and walk around Jonathan’s back as Caroline kept him entertained with a lively anecdote.
She mouthed thank you as she walked by.
Caroline’s eyes said, you’re welcome, I love you. Zoey opened the screen door quietly and shut it, but it still created such a loud sound that she jumped.
The thwack of the screen door made Jonathan turn, but Caroline asked him another question before he could see who had gone in. Jonathan looked at the outdoor couch and only Dan and Derek were there, holding beer cans and pantomiming football passes.
“Where did Zoey go?” Jonathan whipped from side to side. She wasn’t in the backyard. Jonathan hoped Zoey hadn’t high-tailed it to a hotel for the weekend.
“Let me tell you about my aunt,” Caroline blurted out.
“Okay,” Jonathan said. “Shoot.”
Caroline set her wine down. “About five years ago, Aunt Lisa had this cocker spaniel named Ursula. She left it with my mom so she could move to Costa Rica to be with her boyfriend at the time…” Caroline shook her hands for emphasis. “So, when Aunt Lisa came back after she broke up with him—I mean, we all saw this breakup coming from a mile away—she wanted the dog back. And my mom said no.”
“Uh-huh, that’s cool,” Jonathan said, barely listening. Still no Zoey. Where did she go?
Caroline continued, “So, it became this huge thing, they got to the final round of interviews of Judge Judy and didn’t make it on, and now my mom and Aunt Lisa don’t really talk.”
Jonathan furrowed his brow. Usually, he tried to get out of people’s long-winded stories, but there was a dog involved. “What happened to the dog?”
“My mom kept the dog. Ursula died a year later after Aunt Lisa came back. Addison said that Aunt Lisa had a symbolic funeral. Couldn’t get her out of bed for weeks. Mom and Aunt Jackie, Addison’s mom, hate Lisa.”
“Why did you invite her then?”
“I’m all about second chances. Redemption. Bringing people together who might not talk otherwise. I’m a fixer,” Caroline said. She slowly nodded with her eyes zeroed in on him.
“You’re not talking about your mom and aunts anymore, are you?”
“Nope,” Caroline said. “She’s inside. Probably eating. I have to pretend I’m helping her, but I do really want you two to talk. It’s like having divorced parents.”
“Thank you,” Jonathan said, kissing her on the cheek before heading in.
He heard rustling in the kitchen. The fridge’s door was open, partially hiding a person digging through the fridge’s crisper. Then, he heard chewing.
“Hey,” Jonathan said. Zoey froze and turned around. Her cheeks bulged with food. She waved as she tried to chew the crunchy item in her mouth. She held a limp, family-size bag of baby carrots in one hand.
“Carrots,” Zoey said, pointing to her mouth, still full. “I was hungry. Snack attack!” she yelled with finger guns.
Fuck, she was adorable.
“I get it. I’m getting a little hungry myself,” Jonathan said.
Zoey popped another carrot in her mouth and chewed without maintaining any eye contact or offering him any carrots.
Jonathan offered, “Fun night so far, right?”
“Yeah,” Zoey said in a flat voice. She shoved three more baby carrots into her mouth and crunched down on them.
“Do you want to get out of here? Maybe go on a walk? From what I’ve heard, it’s best to take Derek in micro doses,” Jonathan asked. He pointed to the door with two hands.
“Uh, well…uh,” Zoey said, closing her eyes and running her fingers through her hair. Zoey outstretched her hand with the bag of carrots. “I would love to, Jonathan, but also not.”