Page 115 of Without a Hitch
Nova lays a hand on my shoulder, grounding me. The room stops swirling, and I stare up at her.
“Do you see what she was doing, Lochlan? The systematic way she twisted things? You loved her. You loved her hard, and that’s the only thing you were ever at fault for. You simply chose the wrong girl. She spent years gaslighting you, and there was nothing we could do about it. We spoke up when we could, but when we did, she tried to turn you away from us.”
I reach out, clutching Nova’s hand for support. “That never would have happened,” I vow.
Three sets of misty eyes land on me. “She was very good at what she did. They both were.” My mother’s disapproving tone is weary, and my father reaches out to comfort her. “We welcomed her into our home, our family. Nova is the only one who had concerns, and by the time we realized she was right, well, you were moving ahead with the wedding at breakneck speed.”
I swallow the bile inching closer to an exit.
“What is it that draws you to Tilly?” my father asks, then encourages me to drink more water with a nudge.
“She’s so strong, but no one sees it. She’s the support beam of so many structures but never asks for a hand. She takes care of everyone around her effortlessly. She gives herself so completely and freely that it’s hard not to…”
“To what?” he gently coaxes.
“To…to fall in love with her. Bloody fucket. I love her.” My stomach lurches, and I swat Nova out of the way as a rainbow waterfall erupts from my mouth.
She gasps and jumps away. “Gross, Lochness. Jesus, how many freaking Skittles did you eat?”
“It seems my boy has been existing solely on Skittles and beer.” My father chuckles while rubbing my back like I’m a sick child.
“Bloody hell.”
“Well, what are you going to do about it, Banny?”
“I’ll clean it up, Mother.” I force the words out inbetween a dry heave. There’s a reason I never drink beer. Christ, it’s like the devil himself is trying to evacuate my body.
“Not the vomit. What are you going to do about Tilly?”
My head snaps up, and I swear my eyes roll around my skull like a pinball machine. “She wants a wedding.” I see the concern in my mother’s gaze. “Not today. I don’t think, anyway,” I say, rubbing the back of my head. “But that’s the only thing she’ll ever ask of me. That commitment. The promise to choose her every day.”
“Is that something you can do?” Nova whispers.
“Tilly is not Christine,” I slur and shake my head. “She’s not.”
“I know she’s not. But do you?”
“Yeah. She…holy fucket. She’s the other piece of me. The piece that’s gentle and kind and carefree. The piece that sees the world and does everything in her power to make it better. She’s the best part of me because she makes me believe those good things even exist. I… What day is it?”
Nova flashes a worried expression to my father, who answers, “It’s Friday. Remember? We were going to have dinner tonight.”
I stand and quickly stumble out of the tub, but my toe catches, and I go sprawling across the floor. This might hurt tomorrow, but right now, it’s funny as fuck because I narrowly avoided a vomit bath. I roll over with a groan and stare up at my parents’ and sister’s panic-filled eyes.
“I’m going to Vermont. I’m a best man tomorrow, and I’m going to sprinkle him with love glitter.”
My belly hurts from laughing, remembering a text I got yesterday from Colton’s brother. They have a wedding surprise for him, and I get to deliver it.
“Did he just say glitter? What the hell is he talking about?” I hear my mother exclaim as Nova and my father drag me into a sitting position.
Nova shrugs beside me. “Er, I mean, Colton has sent him about a hundred glitter bombs in the past.” She isn’t wrong, and it makes me laugh even more.
“Colton is getting married, and that’s where I’ll get my Tilly back.” Raising my arm like a warrior, I point to the door. “To the plane,” I shout in my best Irish brogue, though by the way Nova is staring at me, it probably sounded more like “twolerpoolar.” So, I try again. “To. The. Plane?”
“You dump him in the shower. I’ll pack his bag.” My mother sighs.
My father and sister haul me to my feet.
“I’ll call the pilot,” Mum says from the hallway.
