I knew I had to talk to Taylor and Anika before my dad came and got me in the morning. I debated just telling them together, but I knew that Taylor would be hurt if I lumped her, my oldest friend, with Anika, who I had known for less than a year. I had to tell Taylor first. I owed her that much.
I knew she’d think we were crazy. Getting back together was one thing, but getting married was something else entirely. Unlike most of her sorority sisters, Taylor didn’t want to get married until she was at least twenty-eight.
I called and asked her to meet me at the Drip House, the coffee shop everyone studied at. I told her I had news. She tried to get it out of me over the phone, but I resisted, saying, “It’s the kind of news you have to tell in person.”
Taylor was already seated with her nonfat iced latte when I got there. She had on her Ray-Bans, and she was texting. She put down her phone when she saw me.
I sat down across from her, careful to keep my hand in my lap.
Taking off her sunglasses, she said, “You’re looking much better today.”
“Thanks, Tay. I feel a lot better.”
“So what’s up?” She scrutinized me. “Did you guys get back together? Or did you break up for real?”
I held up my left hand with a flourish. She looked at it, confused. Then her eyes focused on my ring finger.
Taylor’s eyes turned huge. “You’re effing kidding me. You’re engaged?!” she screamed. A couple of people turned around and looked at us, annoyed. I shrank down in my seat a little. Grabbing my hand, she said, “Oh my God! Let me see that thing!”
I could tell she thought it was too small, but I didn’t care.
“Oh my God,” she said, still staring at the ring.
“I know,” I said.
“But, Belly… he cheated on you.”
“We’re starting over fresh. I really love him, Tay.”
“Yeah, but the timing is kinda suspect,” she said slowly. “I mean, it’s really sudden.”
“It is and it isn’t. You said it yourself. This is Jere we’re talking about. He’s the love of my life.”
She just stared at me, her mouth an O. She sputtered, “But—but why can’t you wait at least until after you finish college?”
“We don’t see the point in waiting if we’re gonna get married anyways.” I took a sip of Taylor’s drink. “We’re gonna get an apartment. You can help me pick out curtains and stuff.”
“I guess,” she said. “But wait, what about your mom? Did Laurel flip her shit?”
“We’re telling my mom and his dad next week in Cousins. We’ll tell my dad after.”
She perked up. “Wait, so nobody even knows yet? Just me?”
I nodded, and I could tell Taylor was pleased. She loves being in on a secret—it’s one of her top favorite things in life.
“It’s gonna be an apocalypse,” she said, taking her drink back. “Like, dead bodies. Like, blood in the streets. And when I say blood, I mean your blood.”
“Gee, thanks a lot, Tay.”
“I’m just speaking the truth. Laurel is the OG feminist. She’s like Gloria freaking Steinem. She’s not gonna like this one bit. She’ll go all Terminator on his ass. And yours.”
“My mom loves Jeremiah. She and Susannah always talked about me marrying one of her sons. It might be, like, a dream come true for her. In fact, I bet it will be.” I knew that wasn’t the least bit true even as I was saying it.
Taylor looked unconvinced too. “Maybe,” she said. “So when is this happening?”
“This August.”
“That’s really, really soon. Hardly gives us any time to plan.” Chewing on her straw, she cast a sneaky look my way. “What about bridesmaids? Are you going to have a maid of honor?”
“I don’t know.… We want it to be really small. We’re gonna do it at the Cousins house. Really casual, like, not a big deal.”
“Not a big deal? You’re getting married and you don’t want it to be a big deal?”
“I didn’t mean it like that. I just don’t care about all that stuff. All I want is to be with Jeremiah.”
“All what stuff?”
“Like, bridesmaids and wedding cake. Stuff like that.”
“Liar!” She pointed her finger at me. “You wanted five bridesmaids and a four-tier carrot cake. You wanted an ice sculpture of a human heart with your initials carved into it. Which, by the way, is gross.”
“Tay!”
She held up her hand to stop me. “You wanted a live band and crab cakes and a balloon drop after your first dance. What was that song you wanted to dance to?”
“ ‘Stay’ by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs,” I said automatically. “But Taylor, I was probably ten years old when I said all that stuff.” I was really touched that she remembered, though. But I guessed I remembered everything Taylor wanted too. Doves, little lace gloves, hot-pink stiletto heels.
“You should have everything you want, Belly,” Taylor said, her chin jutting out in her stubborn Taylor way. “You only get married once.”
“I know, but we don’t have the money. And anyway, I don’t really care about those things anymore. That was kid stuff.” But maybe I didn’t have to do all of it, maybe just some of it. Maybe I could still have a real wedding, but simple. Because, it would be nice to wear a wedding dress and to have a father-daughter dance with my dad.
“I thought Jeremy’s dad was loaded. Can’t he afford to give you a real wedding?”
“There’s no way my mom would let him pay for it. Besides, like I said, we don’t want anything fancy.”
“Okay,” she conceded. “We’ll forget the ice sculpture. But balloons are cheap—we can still do balloons. And the carrot cake. We could just do a regular two-layer, I guess. And I don’t care what you say, you’re wearing a wedding dress.”
“That sounds good,” I agreed, taking a sip of her drink. It felt really nice to have Taylor’s blessing. It was like getting permission to be excited, something I didn’t know I needed or wanted.
“And you’ll still have bridesmaids. Or at least a maid of honor.”
“I’ll just have you.”
Taylor looked pleased. “But what about Anika? You don’t want Anika to be a bridesmaid?”
“Hmm, maybe,” I said, and when her face fell, just slightly, I added, “But I want you to be my maid of honor. Okay?”
Tears filled her eyes. “I’m so honored.”
Taylor Jewel, my oldest friend in the world. We’d been through some times together, and I knew now it was pure grace that we’d managed to come out the other side.
