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“She was also a bit of a hippie at heart. Her favorite place was the beach,” Mona adds. “Hell, she probably had something to do with bringing him here from beyond the grave,” she giggles.
“I guess it’s true that men find women who are similar to their mothers,” I chuckle.
“It’s easy to see why he fell in love with you so quickly. I’m really grateful he found you, Meg.”
“Me too, and I am so happy to be getting to know all of you as well. Mona, I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you and hear some insights on this wonderful man I’m going to spend my life with.”
“Wow, I have two more sisters!” I can’t resist a big hug for Mona as we walk back inside.
Chapter thirty-four
Drew - The Sister Talk
It wasn’t long after Mona stole Meg away that I decided to do the same with Mia. She nodded to a small table just outside the reception room where we sat down, just the two of us.
“What’s on your mind, Drew?” she asks, leaning back in her chair.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you but I haven’t had a chance,” I say, as I rest my forearms on my knees. “Is Meg doing okay? I know she’s been nervous about the wedding but I just want to make sure she’s all right.”
Mia smiles and pats my shoulder. “I promise, she’s fine. She had a cold feet moment, which every bride has at least once in the wedding process, but after we talked for a bit, she was great.”
“What had her spooked?” I ask, hoping it wasn’t anything I did, or didn’t do for that matter.
“I think it was a mix of realizing how fast you guys are getting married and remembering some bad stuff with her ex,” Mia explains. “But I promise, once I talked it out with her, she was all smiles.”
“This might be overstepping but can I ask what this ex did? I’m just now realizing we never really had the exes talk,” I admit.
Mia thinks on it for a second as she swirls her wine in her glass before answering. “He was the last guy she seriously dated. This was a few years ago,” she starts. “They were high school sweethearts and they were planning on getting married when the time was right. At least, this is what he told her and the rest of us,” she says, and rolls her eyes.
“Uh-oh.”
“Yeah.” She nods. “He got a job that took him out of town for work trips and every once in a while, they would get ‘extended’ or something would come up that would keep him wherever he was longer than anticipated.”
“Did these work trips have a name?” I ask, knowing too many co-workers who have tried and failed using that excuse.
“Angela,” Mia nods. “She also happened to be Meg’s best friend.”
“Oh, no,” I say, running my hands through my hair. “What happened?”
“Well, he tried gaslighting her at first, trying to blame what he did on her, all that psycho crap. It completely broke her heart because she didn’t just lose one person, but two. She did end up blaming herself for the red flags she missed, like him hiding his phone, the work trips, lies not adding up, the usual.”
“She’s big on honesty,” I say, thinking back to how she reacted when she learned who I really was. I make a mental note on work trips to send her as many reassuring texts and messages as I can, if it ever comes up.
“That she is,” Mia nods. “She’s also big on not changing the big things about who you are for someone else.”
“What do you mean?”
“When she was with the ex, she wore much darker colors, tied her hair back into a ponytail, and wore more makeup than she does today. You wouldn’t even recognize her.”
“I can’t picture Meg wearing anything dark.” I shake my head. “Not even for Halloween.”
“Apparently, her ex liked girls who had the posh European look to them,” she says in a mocking tone. “Once she got out of her sad phase of the break-up, she threw all her dark clothes out and swore to wear only colors and things that made her happy no matter what anyone said.”
“Good for her.” I grin, proud of Meg for standing her ground. “That was one of the things that drew me to her. How vibrant she is.”
“She’s definitely a free spirit,” Mia nods.
“I just want to be the best husband I can be for her,” I say, and hearing it out loud makes me feel like I don’t know how to do that perfectly, at least not yet.
