Chapter 3
TAYLOR
I’d made it to Fairy Godmother, the queer-owned boutique where Margo was trying on wedding dresses, with fifteen minutes left in the appointment. Thankfully, that was plenty of time for her to pour me a glass of champagne, shove me down on the sofa, and try on her top contenders for me.
We had our own little nook in the boutique, sectioned off with velvet curtains.
Several mirrors surrounded the dais where Margo would model her dresses.
A bouquet of fresh roses was on the small table with the champagne ice bucket, close enough to the small, tufted couch where I sat that I could smell them.
Margo’s consultant, a cute enby with gauged ears and a mint green jumpsuit, hovered just outside her dressing room, waiting to zip up the first dress Margo wanted to show me.
“You’re not even looking!” Margo had come out of the fitting room in a satin mermaid-style dress with a sweetheart neckline.
I shook myself back to the moment and looked her up and down with a raised eyebrow. Her shoulder-length hair was dyed purple, a change from when we’d had lunch last week.
“It looks nice on you, but it’s not the one. It doesn’t have enough personality.”
“Ugh, you’re so right.” Margo nodded decisively as she turned back toward the fitting room, swishing the dress behind her. “Ok, next!”
All this hoopla over a wedding made my skin itch.
At sixteen, I’d decided I’d never get married, and as soon as Margo declared Benji ‘the one,’ I’d been dreading this process with a hefty serving of guilt.
February would be here before we knew it, and it would all be over. I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or sad.
I tried not to think too much about what life would have been like had Margo not gotten sick, if I hadn’t needed to become a mini-parent at fifteen. I got all my driving hours for my learner’s permit by shuttling her to appointments and picking up medications at the pharmacy.
I dropped my extracurriculars to be there for Margo’s treatment, and I chose accounting in college so the salary from a stable, well-paying career could tackle those medical bills. I’d do it all over again, knowing she’s here in the next room, putting on a wedding dress.
No use dwelling on what-ifs.
My phone buzzed, and my heart sped up when I saw the name flash across my screen.
Gabriel.
When I opened the photo, I couldn’t help but laugh at the rainbow rubber ducky explosion we’d witnessed on the 5. Margo walked out in the next dress and grabbed my phone from my hands, evading my attempts to take it back.
Younger siblings have no boundaries.
“What’s so funny?” She zoomed in on the photo. “What the hell is this?”
“This is what was blocking the 5 and messing up the traffic today.” I snatched my phone back and assessed her dress: a princess style with rhinestones on the bodice. Margo was not at all a princess-dress kind of girl. I narrowed my eyes at her. “Who are you, and what have you done with my sister?”
“You don’t like it?” Margo twirled on the small platform in front of the mirror. She tried to look innocent, but the mischief in her eyes gave her away.
“You already have a dress picked out, don’t you? And you’re trying on these random dresses so that I’ll cry with relief when you put it on at last?”
Or, more likely, so I wouldn’t feel too bad for being late and missing the moment.
The consultant snorted, covering their mouth to hide a smile.
Margo laughed. “You know me so well.”
“Well, let me see it then! Stop torturing me with subpar dresses.”
“Fine, fine, but the reveal will be worth it.” She kissed my cheek and returned to the fitting room.
I took the opportunity to text Gabriel back.
Taylor
I still don’t believe that was real, even after seeing it with my own eyes.
He responded right away.
Gabriel
Did you know that a shipping container full of rubber ducks once fell into the Pacific Ocean, and people were finding them floating around Greenland a decade later?
I have literally never contemplated the logistics of rubber ducky transportation until this very afternoon.
Did you make it to your sister’s appointment in time?
I snapped a quick photo of my hand holding the champagne as an answer.
I had removed my suit jacket when I arrived at the appointment and rolled up my shirt sleeves.
Apparently, I wasn’t above teasing a little forearm porn, which came as quite a shock to me, even as I was hitting send.
I was, to my knowledge, neither a flirt nor a tease, but something about this man made me forget myself.
Taylor
I hope you made it to your destination safely as well.
“Get ready,” Margo called out. “Here comes the grand reveal!”
Nothing prepared me for the sight as she stepped out from behind the curtain. The dress was form-fitting on top and long-sleeved, with strategic mesh panels that gave it a modern, geometric look. The skirt was full, with layers of tulle. It was avant-garde, feminine, and suited her perfectly.
“Damn, sis.” I rushed to my feet and pulled her into a hug. Tears filled my eyes as I pulled back to look at her. “This is definitely the winner.”
“Oh, stop.” She swatted at me. “You’re going to make me cry, too—but yeah, you’re right. This is the one. It’s the perfect vibe for the gallery venue, and I can buy it off the rack, so it’ll be ready next month.”
“Remember when you told me there was no chance you’d be finding your dress today?” I teased.
Benji had proposed over Christmas, and they’d rushed into wedding planning full speed ahead.
I thought they were out of their minds for planning a wedding in six weeks, but Margo was understandably never one to waste time.
Despite all my skepticism around relationships, I was glad Margo was having the wedding she wanted, even if it meant I’d have to see our parents in person for the first time since her college graduation.
There wasn’t a single day that I didn’t thank my lucky stars for still being able to see Margo living her best life.
I hugged her one more time, snapped a few photos of her in the dress, and we toasted with the last of the champagne.
“Who sent you that photo of the duck truck?” she asked from behind the curtain as she changed back into her street clothes.
I was hoping she wouldn’t come back around to that, but at least she was still out of sight, so my flushed cheeks couldn’t give me away.
“Turns out I made a friend on the 5 today.”
“You don’t say.” Margo peeked her head out. “Is he cute?”
“Uhhhh…”
“I knew it. So, when are you taking him on a date?”
“This is the first time we’ve spoken. You need to relax.”
I tended to be a bit cynical after having to mediate my parents’ relationship as a teen and wading through a lot of failed dating app interactions in my twenties.
I would admit, however, that if there’s one place to believe in love, it might be a wedding dress boutique. As if a sign from the universe, a bottle of champagne popped in a fitting room, followed by a round of cheers.
My phone buzzed with another text from Gabriel. My breath caught as I took in the selfie of Gabriel at the beach, curls framing his face, a wide grin, and sparkling hazel eyes.
Gabriel
Safe and sound.
Taylor
Ugh, jealous. Can’t wait to get home and get out of this suit.
Tease ;)
“Can’t wait to have him at the wedding,” Margo said in a singsong voice when she reappeared from the dressing room with a large garment bag in tow.
I sighed as we made our way outside. “You’re ten steps ahead of reality, as always. It will probably lose momentum since I don’t have much free time right now.”
“Whatever you say, Debbie Downer. It wouldn’t hurt to think positively now and then. You never know when the right person will surprise you.”
Margo was a hopeless romantic, which was probably my fault. I took pride in having shielded her from the worst of the drama in our childhood.
As far as I was concerned, the only promise love made was that one day, you’d be without it again, worse off than when you began. I wasn’t about to rain on her parade during what was supposed to be a happy time, though. There weren’t two people more in love than Margo and Benji.
“Thanks for inviting me today,” I said. “The dress is perfect.”
She rolled her eyes as she pulled me into a hug. “Of course, you idiot.”
As much as it would be nice to have someone on my arm for their wedding, I didn’t need a date to have a good time.
There was no reason to make anything work with Gabriel.
The conversation would run its course, and that would be that.
We spent our family’s allotment of luck on Margo, so I was shit out of it.
My phone buzzed again, and my heart raced for a different reason—my father.
John
Why did I just get a late payment notification on Margo’s loan?
You better take care of that ASAP. It’s going to look bad on my credit.
Something stabbed at my chest, a sudden sharpness that made my phone slip from my loosened grip. I pressed my hand to my left pec, dragging in a labored inhale. My heartbeat stuttered.
Margo rushed toward me. If she was speaking, I couldn’t hear her. Her garment bag lay abandoned on the asphalt.
I slumped toward the pavement.
And everything went black.
I don’t know how much time passed before I opened my eyes to beige acoustic ceiling tiles, an incessant beeping, and various sensors connected to my chest and hands.
“Oh, thank goodness.” Margo appeared by my side. “How are you feeling?”
I groaned. “Like I face-planted on concrete.”
“You had me so scared. I’m not used to being the one on this side of the hospital bed.” It was probably supposed to be a joke, but I could hear the fear beneath it.
I was the big brother. I was supposed to be looking out for her.
“Did you actually eat that snack I dropped off, asshole?” I finally noticed Kai sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, his feet kicked up on his laptop bag, still in his work clothes.
I shrugged. “I can’t remember.”
“So, no.” Kai grunted and shook his head. “You’re lucky I love you. You scared us both.”
“The doctors are going to want to run a bunch of tests. They said your bloodwork looks like you might have had a heart attack. I told them about my leukemia, too, just in case.”
Margo squeezed my hand so tightly that I briefly wondered if it would mess up whatever measurement the sensor on my finger was tracking.
Fear coursed through me. I could remember everything Margo went through at just eight years old.
It couldn’t be that. Not now. Not ever. I didn’t have time to be sick.
I shoved the panic aside, putting on a brave face for her. “A heart attack? I’m thirty-two. It definitely wasn’t that. I’m just tired and had low blood sugar, that’s all.”
“You’ve been losing weight. Don’t think I haven’t noticed.” Margo pushed my hair back from my forehead and scanned my face. “Kai says you’re barely sleeping or eating.”
I glared at Kai. He was the one person who knew why I’d been working so hard, and he’d ratted me out to my sister. She was worried for nothing. I had everything under control.
“That’s because it’s tax season and we have a lot to do,” I said. “Everything is fine, Margo.”
“I appreciate you trying to make me feel better, but it’s not working.” Margo shook her head. “I’m not going to be able to relax until you get all the tests they recommend, and maybe a few extras.”
I sighed and silently prayed that this hospital was in-network. I didn’t need a second medical debt hanging over my head.
As soon as I got my phone back, I was making that loan payment. I didn’t want to hear from my father any more than I had to.
Over the next few hours, people flowed in and out: a nurse to draw my blood, an EKG tech, and a cardiologist. Benji came to drop off food and a change of clothes for Margo.
I had more blood drawn, and Kai watched like a hawk while I forced myself to eat the biggest, blandest bowl of split pea soup I’d ever encountered.
Finally, someone appeared to do a bone marrow biopsy on my hip.
Margo wouldn’t let it go until I’d had that last one, even though the nurse said my white blood cell count was only elevated a small amount.
With each new visitor, the bill kept tallying higher and higher in my mind.