Page 63 of The Wedding Favor

Abe sat down on the floor next to me, wrists resting on his bent knees. Somewhere, he’d lost the fedora. “Why are you changing your shoes?”

“Just wanted to.” I turned slightly on my knees, so I was facing him. “The other ones will kill my feet after a while.”

He tilted his head. “You’re lying.”

“I am not.”

He laughed softly. “You’re terrible at it, too.”

“Look. I’m terrible at a lot of things, but lying is not one of them. Why are you in here anyway?”

He raised an eyebrow, the one with the little silver hoop earring. It made him look like a pirate. “Because you said you were changing your shoes, and I wanted to know why.”

“I already told you why.”

Most people would back off. But not Abe, apparently. “Tell me again, but the truth this time.”

I snapped my mouth shut; he stared at me. Neither of us spoke. Perhaps we would have gone on like this for hours, but Mom shouted from the living room. I’d forgotten she was waiting to take a photo.

“Fine. I realized I would be way too ta⁠—”

“No,” he said firmly.

“No, what?”

“You’re not changing your shoes. You aren’t too tall. Are you taller than me? Sure. I don’t care.” He narrowed his eyes. “Does this have something to do with the ex?”

I bit my bottom lip and nodded.

“What’s his deal?”

“He…” I hesitated. “He didn’t like me in heels. He never said it, but he’d act different when I wore them. So, I stopped wearing them.”

His jaw ticked. “I really hate that guy.”

“You don’t know him. He’s not a bad guy, really.” But maybe, just maybe, he had been a bad guy for me… I frowned at the thought.

Abe shook his head. “That’s a him problem, not a you problem. You look amazing.” He stood and offered his hand to help me up. I took it, surprised by how easily he pulled me up. Maybe a little too quickly. I stumbled and put my hands on his shoulders to catch myself.

“Thanks,” I mumbled, but I didn’t snatch my hands back and he didn’t move away.

“No, thank you.” His voice was lower and the sound moved through me slowly like honey. He glanced down. “Men would probably start wars over those legs of yours and I’m the lucky guy who gets to take you dancing.”

For maybe the first time in my adult life, a blush crept across my face. I cleared my throat and took a step back, trying to ignore this flutter in my stomach. “Maybe wait until you’ve seen my dancing before you say that.”

His smile started in his eyes before it reached his mouth. “With those legs? You’ll be a natural.”

TWENTY-FOUR

“My father died suddenly in his sleep.

I went home for the first time in almost ten years for his funeral.”

—excerpt from the unpublished memoir,

Darling, I Must Say by Gloria Hayes

The community room at Shady Cove had been transformed with a little creative lighting and a DJ booth. All the tables had been pushed to the sides, creating a dance floor in the middle.