Page 2 of A Matter of Time
When he spoke again, his voice sounded tight. “Yeah, I think I’m done, Sugar. See you out there.”
He headed out the door and with him finally out of the way, I quickly finished pulling my dress on and touching up my hair and makeup. The pastel yellow dress went well with my blonde hair, which I quickly pulled up into a twist. A bit of eyeliner and mascara brought out my blue eyes, and a pale pink lipstick completed the look, making my lips look plump and sweet. My bladder complained, but I had no time to pee; that would have to wait as I pulled my new shoes on and hurried out the door.
Everyone else had already gathered behind the house, and my mother shot me a disapproving look as I hurried over. “Cutting it a little close, Tonia.”
“I know. I’m sorry, but I’m here. I just had a…”
I didn’t even finish the sentence as I caught sight of Shawna, looking absolutely stunning in her beautiful white dress. It looked a little big on her since she’d bought it before her latest round of chemo and had lost a lot of weight since then, but she still looked amazing. I could just make out the toes of her cowboy boots peeking out from beneath the skirt.
“Holy hell, Shawna. Dex is going to lose his shit when he sees you!”
“Tonia!” My mom cast an apologetic glance over at Shawna’s mother before shaking her head at me. “Can you make it through the ceremony without cussing, please?”
I mimed zipping my lips shut, someone handed me my bouquet, and we were off. Time to get my brother married, once and for all.
~Cam~
All through the ceremony, my gaze kept drifting, entirely of its own accord. The stunning bride looked like pure sunshine with her short blonde hair and her radiant smile. That hair used to be a lot longer before her chemotherapy made it all fall out, but it had started growing back, a reminder of the resilience of life and the power of love. Dex’s support for her had never wavered, and now, they got to enjoy their beautiful day together. When they made their vows to each other, not a dry eye could be seen in the place, mine included.
But none of that stopped my eyes from wandering, far more often than I would have liked, to the woman in the pale-yellow bridesmaid’s dress, the woman with the bluest eyes I’d ever seen and the loudest mouth too.
I used to think that someday I would marry Tonia Callahan. I pictured a day just like this, underneath the big sky with a light breeze blowing, the smell of manure covered by the fresh flowers all around. I pictured her daddy in his cowboy hat and boots despite wearing a suit and her mama looking proud and maybe a little surprised that Tonia hadn’t scared me off. My family would be there too, just as proud as the Callahans but not quite as loud about it, and we’d dance long into the night under the stars.
We might have just been teenagers when we were together, but I loved her, without a doubt, and I had been pretty sure she loved me too.
Once, I couldn’t go a day without seeing her, but that day at the wedding marked the first time in months we were breathing the same air. I’d long ago given up any hope of an apology from her, and until she gave me one, we didn’t have much else to say to each other. I’d heard she moved to Houston, same as me, but I hadn’t run into her there yet. The city was a little different from a place like Sandy Creek: if you wanted to avoid someone, you could.
The ceremony ended with Dex dipping Shawna and kissing her hard and long in front of the crowd as everyone hooted and hollered their approval, and as they walked together back down the aisle, I held out my arm to Tonia. Somehow, it worked out that the guy I replaced had been the one paired with her in the bridal party, which meant us walking down the aisle together and sharing a dance later too.
God sure had a strange sense of humour sometimes.
Somewhat to my surprise, she took my arm without complaint. It seemed even she wouldn’t go so far as to carry her grudge into her brother’s wedding, though I wouldn’t have put money on that being the case. As soon as we reached the end of the aisle, she dropped my arm like it scalded her and headed over to her mama and sisters, while I made my way quickly to the bride and groom to shake their hands.
“Congratulations, you two. This must be just about the prettiest wedding I ever saw.”
I meant that sincerely, not exaggerating in the least. As an artist, Dex had created the beautiful backdrop of rolling hills and cypress trees himself. Shawna had dreamed of getting married in Italy, but with all the money they’d spent on her cancer treatment, it hadn’t been possible. Since they couldn’t go to Italy, Dex had brought Italy to her.
“Thank you, Cam.” He couldn’t stop grinning as he shook my hand firmly. Obviously, he felt pretty good about how it went too. “And thanks for stepping in at the last minute, we really appreciate it.”
“My pleasure.”
In a different life, I could have been part of this wedding all along. Dex and I had gotten along well back in high school when Tonia and I were dating. We might have even become good friends if Tonia and I stayed together, but when we split, Dex made it clear where his loyalties lay.
“I like you, Cam,” he told me apologetically at the time. “But if Tonia finds out I’m still hanging out with you, she’ll castrate me, and I’m kinda attached to all my parts.”
I had no comeback for that, since I knew just how hot Tonia’s temper could get. Hard not to be aware of it when it had been responsible for our break-up in the first place. “I understand. Hopefully it’ll all blow over soon anyway, once she realizes she’s being unreasonable.”
That had been wishful thinking on my part, obviously. There we were, almost five years later, and nothing had blown over other than my hopes of any kind of reconciliation.
Tables were brought out for the buffet dinner, and no one had assigned seats, so I sat with some old high school friends, catching up with what everyone had been up to until the time came to start the dance. The sun had just started to go down, casting long shadows over the whole scene, making it look even more romantic as Dex and Shawna shared their first dance.
When the song ended, they invited the rest of the bridal party to join them, and I held out my hand to Tonia once more. Her hand rested lightly on my shoulder as mine circled around her waist, both of us relaxing into an easy two-step. The live band and the happy chatter of the guests filled the air around us, and her hair still smelled like flowers when I inhaled; I had no idea what kind of flowers, but the same scent it had always had. She must still use the same shampoo. No one could say that Tonia wasn’t loyal when she found something she decided would be worth holding onto.
“So, you live in Houston now?” she asked after almost a minute of awkward silence. I had just been starting to wonder if we were going to make it through the whole song without saying a word.
“Yup.” I planned to stick to answering only the question she asked. “You do too, I hear.”
“Yup.” She repeated it in exactly the same tone I’d used, obviously mocking me, and I had to shake my head, which she didn’t appreciate. “What’s that smirk for?”
