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“Not at all,” I said, trying my best not to completely lose it when she dropped the phone, and I saw that someone else was also giving her a pedi.
In truth, I was looking forward to seeing Em again… seriously looking forward to it. Of course, I couldn’t tell that to my sister, or she’d self-combust for sure.
“Wait! Wait!” she yelled. “I’m sorry. Don’t hang up. Cody? Cody? Are you still there? Someone hand me my phone… I’m still tacky.”
“I’ll see you tonight, Nat,” I told her, trying to stifle my laughter over the ridiculous situation she’d put herself in. Then, as her world turned into total chaos, I disconnected.
BY SEVEN THAT night, family, close friends, and the wedding party had gathered for the rehearsal dinner at Dirty Coyote. The dance hall didn’t officially open until nine on Friday nights, so we had the place to ourselves. Aunt Tammy, a Dolly Parton type with big blond hair and tight clothes on a generous body, was one smart business woman and purposely opened later on the weekends so folks could book private parties earlier in the evening. Once the doors officially opened, everyone blended together, and the main party could get started. The folks in the private party didn’t have to pay the cover price on the weekends. A little perk for booking the venue that seemed to generate even more business. Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Tammy’s motto had always been to overdeliver, and you had a customer for life. I’d adopted that motto with everything I did as a musician, and so far, our fans appreciated the extra love.
The guys and I had worn our best jeans, mine were black, and pressed Western shirts. None of us were much for formal wear, no matter what the occasion. Although, I did add a Western-cut, blood-red sports coat over my black shirt, just so I didn’t have to listen to Nat’s wrath about not taking her wedding seriously.
It was enough that I had to wear the full-on black tux when I walked our mom down the aisle tomorrow. We’d practiced that moment earlier. Mom and I were the first two to walk down the aisle, followed by Bernard’s parents, then the wedding party, which would walk the aisle in couples, then Nat and Dad, who looked about as nervous as a chicken staring down a raccoon.
I couldn’t figure out if he was nervous over his only daughter getting married, or if he was nervous about doing something wrong. Either way, I hadn’t seen him that white since his gallbladder operation.
Ironically, Em hadn’t been at the practice. A woman who helped run the chapel took over the actual rehearsal.
“Which one’s Emily?” Dustin asked while we guzzled our beers, waiting to be called into the private dining room at Dirty Coyote. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting your all-time heartthrob for what? Since I first met you six years ago. From the way you’ve always talked about her, if she doesn’t naturally glow and leave a trail of stardust as she walks, I’ll be disappointed.”
I slapped my hand on his stomach, which caused him to buckle a little. Not that I could ever do much damage to him. Of the three of us, when he didn’t have his bass guitar strapped over his shoulders, he was busy working on that sixpack and those shoulders that could support an entire family of four.
“I can’t help it if I think she’s beautiful… or at least was. For all I know, that could’ve been my hormones talking… which was probably the case,” I told him, not wanting him to judge her if she didn’t live up to the way I’d described her all these years.
Dustin was at least two inches taller than me, and I crested at six-two. Plus, he was a lot more rugged looking than I could ever be.
I strained to look around at everyone, peeking over heads and around folks I’d never met, all dressed in their pre-wedding best. There had to be close to a hundred people mulling around the bar area waiting for dinner. The restaurant was closed to other folks, which meant my sister had once again outdone herself. If this many folks were invited to the rehearsal dinner, I couldn’t imagine how many had been invited to the wedding.
“I don’t see her,” I said. “If I know my sister, she probably loaded her down with so much to do, she hasn’t come up for air in months.”
“That why she wasn’t at the rehearsal?” Gabe asked.
“More than likely,” I told him.
I’d hoped to meet up with Em at the rehearsal, and when she didn’t show, I’d thought about asking Nat, but then I thought better of it. She’d only give me more shit about keeping my distance.
“Maybe she’s just changed so much, you can’t recognize her,” Dustin suggested, then guzzled the remainder of his beer.
Gabe and Dustin were brothers, but they didn’t look anything alike. Dustin was the rugged cowboy type, with sun-ravaged skin, a scruffy chin, and a gruff disposition that could only be described as ornery. While Gabe was an easy-going straight shooter who liked everything neat and organized, including his disposition. He was probably the best looking of the three of us, but he never seemed to care one lick about how he looked. He was more interested in writing great music and lyrics to keep our fans coming back for more. Out of all three of us, he worked the hardest and played the least.
“Not possible. I know exactly what she looks like,” I told him, staring at the amazing woman walking towards me wearing a sinfully short black dress and bright pink heels that could do terrible harm to a man if she used them as a weapon. She had hair the color of spun gold, and the way the lighting in here reflected on her face, she looked like some sort of wicked angel.
And when she smiled my way, I thought I must’ve died right there on the spot and gone to wicked angel heaven.
“Holy fuck,” I mumbled. “That can’t be. She just can’t.”
“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Dustin said, his voice lower than normal. “Don’t even tell me…”
“Oh yeah… Emily Jennings,” I blurted out, sounding like a total fool.
“This approaching goddess is your Emily?” Gabe asked, turning towards me so she couldn’t hear him.
“She was never mine,” I said and thought about how much I wished that could all change.
“A sorry-ass mistake, if there ever was one,” Dustin said, as he stood a little straighter, getting ready to turn on the charm, no doubt.
“Cody!” she said, opening her arms to pull me in for a hug. I wanted to fucking die right there in her arms. “It’s so good to see you again.” She smelled of rain and flowers and sunshine all at once, and she felt like… well, like Dustin said, one sorry-ass mistake on my part.
“You too,” I said in her ear, as her slim, tight body pressed up against mine for an intense moment, and her scent filled my senses. “It’s been way too long.”
