One String (Lighter Ones)

Chapter 1

Marilyn

“You look beautiful,” I say to Devan, one of my best friends and my roommate during four years of college. Devan, Jill, and I have been friends since before we started kindergarten. Only two weeks ago, I was the maid of honor in Jill’s wedding. And now, here we are again, the three of us getting ready to walk the aisle of the church in our hometown, Riverbend, Indiana. This time, it isn’t Jill who’s dressed in white; it’s Devan.

She takes a deep breath and stares at her own reflection. “I’m not nervous.” Her big soft-brown stare turns to me. “Shouldn’t I be?”

Jill is the one to answer. With her long auburn hair pinned up in a twist, her green gaze shines. “There’s nothing to be nervous about when you know the man waiting for you at the end of the aisle is the one.” She rubs Devan’s shoulder. “Justin is your forever. I felt the same way knowing Todd and I were meant to be.” Jill turns to me. “I’m right, aren’t I?”

I half chuckle. While my two best friends have found their forevers, mine is still wandering the earth, assuming he’s out there at all. Instead of replying directly, I smile, meeting Devan’s gaze in the reflection. “You know I was skeptical about you and Justin in the beginning, but he’s proven me wrong and so have you. You two are perfect together.”

Devan reaches for my hand and Jill’s at the same time. “I’m so glad you’re both here to share this day with me.” She squeezes my hand. “Your wedding will be next.”

I shake my head, feeling the dangling pearl earrings tickle my neck. “While you two live in married bliss, I’m going to take the world of finance by storm. I don’t have time for a man in my life.”

Devan’s lips curl. “When the right one comes along, you’ll make time. In the meantime, we know you’ll climb the ladder of success. You’re kicking ass at Parker and Stevens.”

Parker and Stevens is one of the top wealth management companies in the Midwest. Their corporate office is on the north side of Indianapolis. I was lucky enough to land an internship there. I’m hoping that after I finish my master’s degree in finance, I will be able to say I’m employed by Parker and Stevens.

“Today is about you,” I reply. “Are you ready to take on the last name of Sheers?”

Before she can answer, the door to the dressing room opens, and Molly, Justin’s seven-year-old niece, bounds inside with her mom Kandace on her heels. Molly’s voice fills the room. “Uncle Justin is wearing a tie.” She tilts her head and makes a dreamy face. “He looks so handsome.”

Kandace shakes her head at her daughter and speaks to Devan. “You’re beautiful. Justin is a lucky guy.”

A rosy hue fills Devan’s cheeks. “I think I’m the lucky one.”

“Are you ready?” Kandace asks. “Jack is waiting outside the door.”

Devan takes a deep breath. “This is really it.”

Jill and I nod and reach for our bouquets. “Love you,” we say in unison to Devan.

“Love you too.”

Kandace opens the door and leads Molly toward the chapel. Jill and I follow, giving Devan some time alone with her dad. Jack’s eyes glisten as he nods our way.

Once we’re out of earshot of Devan, Jill whispers. “Are you good?”

“I’ll be an old maid for the rest of my life, but other than that, yeah, I’m great.”

“I mean about Ricky.”

Pressing my lips together, I inhale. “I’m fine. I’ll be better when the reception is over, and we can go back to hating each other.”

“You don’t hate each other.”

“I can play nice for Devan, but I’ll be honest, I’m glad that once today is done, I won’t have to see or talk to Ricky Dunn for the rest of my life.”

We stop at the end of the hallway, waiting for our cue to walk down the aisle. Organ music fills the air, and Jill is waved over. She flashes me a knowing smile and begins her walk toward the front of the church. I’m next. Standing in the open doorway, I see Justin, the groom, standing with his hands clenched in front of him. Ricky and Dax Richards, Kandace’s husband, are at his side.

If only Devan had asked Jill to be her maid of honor, I wouldn’t be stuck walking the aisle and being paired with Justin’s best man, Richard Dunn, aka Ricky. I haven’t always hated the man. Since he was my best friend’s older brother, there was a time I had a crush on him. I mean, I considered him handsome in a rugged way. Growing up and hanging around Devan’s home, I was admittedly an admirer, even though he is ten years older than us.

The thing is that back then, Devan’s brother didn’t notice us, not even his sister. To him, we were all little girls. The fact that now Devan is marrying Ricky’s best friend and bridging that age gap is far from my story. No, my story hasn’t turned out the same.

There was one night, the night of Devan’s graduation party—we had just graduated from Riverbend High School—that I bravely approached Ricky. No longer a little kid, I was an adult, and it was my intention for him to see me that way. The only person I ever told about what happened that night is Jill. No matter how great of friends Devan and I are, I couldn’t tell her what I’d given Ricky that night. Jill and I swore to keep it a secret. Heaven knows, afterward, Ricky made no attempt to follow through on any kind of relationship, not even friendship.

“Marilyn,” Mrs. Johnson, a woman from the church, whispers. “It’s your turn.”

Smiling, I nod.

I can play nice for my best friend. And once this day is over, I can wipe Ricky Dunn from my shoes for the last time. There is a giant world outside of Riverbend, and that’s where I plan to live. If love comes along, great. If it doesn’t, I can live with that too.

With each step upon the runner, I do my best to keep my gaze averted from the man I will soon be partnered with. The best man and the maid of honor. Despite my best efforts, I can’t help but steal a glance at the way he fills out his tailored shirt, the way the suspenders stretch over his wide shoulders, or the gleam I see in his stare.

Any positive thoughts I’m entertaining about this man are wrong.

Fool me once, shame on you.

Fool me twice, shame on me.