35. Chapter 35
thirty-five
“ I s my veil straight?”
Willow glanced up at Nikki’s twisted veil and made her way to where she was standing in front of a mirror. She adjusted the plastic comb at the crown of her head until it was perfect. “Now it is.”
“Thanks, Willow,” Nikki said, throwing a snide look at Kyle’s teen sister who was on her phone in the corner of the room in a pink satin dress that matched Willow’s. If his sister had noticed the shade being thrown at her, she didn’t care.
“I’m glad someone here cares about my hair,” Nikki said.
Willow gave a fake smile and returned to the couch, hoping none of the guests outside the doors filling the pews had overheard that .
She watched Nikki for a moment, blotting her lipstick and reapplying, but was having a hard time stopping her mind from wandering off of Nikki’s wedding and onto her brewery. She might have been in Churchill physically, as she’d promised, but her mind was squarely in Mapleton.
She wondered what Jer was up to right then, and how the batch of Fuzzy Milkshake turned out, whether the canners had already left, and whether they’d done their jobs properly. The list went on and on.
She had been too busy with Nikki to speak to Jer that morning, but she planned to call him as soon as the ceremony and pictures were done, just to check in.
“You seem distracted,” Nikki said in a singsong voice she used when she was trying to soften the bluntness of her words.
Willow blinked up at Nikki and reminded herself that she was supposed to be there for her best friend, even though she had to admit that Nikki was being a bit of a nightmare. She lied to herself, said it was the stress of the wedding, but honestly, Nikki had always been a little self-centred.
It just hadn’t been obvious to Willow until she got some distance from her .
“Sorry,” she said, shaking out her runaway thoughts. “I guess I’m just a little distracted. I have a lot going on.”
“With Shane?”
Willow cringed. The last thing on her mind was Shane. That ship had sailed. “No.”
Nikki finished her lipstick and joined Willow on the couch. “I know it’s hard, but I think you’d be happier if you just forgave Shane and the two of you moved on.”
Willow’s mouth fell open. Why the hell did she think Willow would be happier going back to that terrible relationship?
“You really think that would make me happy?” she asked.
“Of course I do,” Nikki said, as if to think otherwise was foolish.
“Even though we don’t get along, we want different things, we’ve lied to each other, and he cheated on me?”
Of all the people she’d told about the cheating, Nikki was the only one who didn’t think it was a big deal. Except for maybe Shane himself. Nana, Jer, Cara, Chelsea, Natalie, and especially Max had all thought it was despicable.
Nikki rolled her perfectly made-up eyes. “It was just sex. ”
Willow narrowed her eyes at her friend. Had Nikki ever acknowledged Willow’s opinion? When they first met, Nikki had been the most popular girl in grade nine, and Willow was the new girl whose mom had just died and had never had a stable home. Had she latched onto Nikki’s friendship because she liked her or because she was desperate for someone in her life?
Had she done the same thing with Shane?
Willow sighed.
That was absolutely what she’d done. But she’d been young and scared back then. What was her excuse for it now?
She turned away, staring off to the other wall. What would Max think about Nikki? He’d hate her immediately. But he hated everyone, so that was no surprise. But what about Cara? If Nikki were to visit Mapleton, would Cara want to hang out with her for a girl’s night?
Willow already knew the answer to that.
“Seriously, Willow,” Nikki said, snapping her fingers in Willow’s face. “You need to get it together. We’re going to be walking down the aisle any minute now.”
“Why don’t you ever ask me about what I want? Or about my brewery? And why are you always pushing me to go back to Shane? ”
“Ugh,” Nikki said. She stood from the couch and went back to the mirror. “I hoped my maid of honour wouldn’t try to make my day all about them.”
Willow bowed her head. In this instance, at least, Nikki was right.
It wasn’t right to bring up Nikki’s lack of friendship support on her wedding day. But to be fair, she’d owned the brewery for a month, and Nikki never talked about it, asked about it, or even acknowledged it. It might as well not even exist to her best friend.
And if Nikki was her best friend, wouldn’t she want what was best for Willow?
The glaring problem was that Nikki had always put herself first. And Willow always put herself last.
They were a match made in toxic friendship heaven.
Just then, the door opened, and in walked Nikki’s younger sister in the same dress that Willow and Kyle’s sister were wearing. Right behind her came Nikki’s mom, beaming from ear to ear. They exchanged hugs and cooed over how beautiful Nikki looked before her sister passed her a big white gift bag overflowing with pale blue tissue paper.
“We got you this,” her sister said. “It’s just something small. ”
Nikki smiled and grabbed the tissue paper from the top, tossing it on the floor, then pulled out a big stuffed bunny in a bridal gown with a veil.
Nikki’s face fell right before she tossed an awkward glance in Willow’s direction. She shoved the bunny back into the bag and mumbled a thank you.
Her sister’s face fell.
“Don’t you like it? We got it for you because of your nickname,” she said. “Remember how we used to call you Bunny when you were a kid?”
Bunny?
Willow shook her head, banishing the thought. There was no way. No possible way. She looked at Nikki, and her stomach sank as Nikki paled under all that makeup.
“Bunny?” Willow asked, praying Nikki would laugh it off as a coincidence.
But she didn’t.
Her whole body sagged until her chin reached her chest, and Willow knew.
She knew.
“Oh my God,” she said, swallowing down the sick feeling. “ You’re Bunny367?”
“I can’t believe this,” Willow said, standing up off the couch. The disappointment and pent-up anger rose from her feet and filled up her head. She started pacing the room, trying to make her brain work through the overwhelm.
“Willow,” Nikki said with a shaky breath. “It’s not—”
“Don’t you fucking say it’s not a big deal,” Willow said, stabbing a glare across the room. “You knew how upset I was about Shane cheating on me, and the whole time, it was you. You!”
Gasps rang out from Nikki’s sister and mom as they finally clued in to what was happening. Kyle’s little sister leaped out of her chair and booked it toward the door.
“Willow!” Nikki yelled, trying to stop Kyle’s sister, but she slipped past her and disappeared. “I can’t believe you just did that.”
Willow’s jaw dropped. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“You didn’t have to scream it,” Nikki said, glancing at her mom and sister, who were watching on in silent shock.
“And you didn’t have to tell my boyfriend you wanted him to lick your asshole!”
Nikki’s eyes started filling as she let out a sob and collapsed onto the couch. “You’re ruining my wedding day. ”
Willow shook her head, looked around the room with a disbelieving laugh. Was she the only one hearing this? “You can’t be this self-absorbed, can you? Being a bride doesn’t give you a pass for cheating.”
Nikki shook her head. “I wouldn’t do this to you,” she said.
“You did do this to me, Nikki. You told Shane about me going to Mapleton,” she said with a laugh. “And I actually felt bad about asking you to lie for me. This is fucking wild.”
Just then, Kyle came into the room with his sister following close behind. “What’s— Nik, what’s wrong?” Kyle asked. “Are you crying?”
Before anyone could get another word out, Shane stepped into the room, then froze.
Willow glanced at Kyle’s sister and realized she hadn’t told him anything yet. She probably didn’t want to be the one to break the news. They all looked at Nikki, who was in the middle of full-body sobs, then at her sister and mom, who were tight lipped in the corner.
Willow rolled her eyes.
“Willow?” Kyle asked. “What’s going on?”
All the eyes in the room swivelled to her.
She looked at Kyle and finally felt an emotion other than anger. She felt pity. There was no good way to say it, and no one else was piping up, so she braced herself and let it out.
“Nikki was the woman Shane was sexting.”
Kyle stared at her for a long moment before turning to Shane, who’d used the time to back away toward the door like a little fucking coward. “Is that true?”
Shane’s eyes darted around the room, and he’d never looked so guilty in his life.
Kyle let out a strangled noise, then looked around the room, and Willow felt sick for him. Here he was, on his wedding day, in a rented tux and everything, having the rug pulled out from under him.
“Was it just over text?” he asked.
Willow started nodding before realizing that she’d only heard that from Shane. She looked at Nikki, whose face had melted into a mess of tears, then at Shane, who’d gone still, shell-shocked.
When neither of them answered, Kyle spun toward Shane and grabbed him by the collar. “Answer me.”
He glanced at Willow for a split second, then turned back to Kyle and dropped his head. “No.”
Willow’s jaw dropped as chaos broke out all around her.
Kyle punched Shane. Shane crumpled to the ground. Nikki screamed as blood poured from Shane’s nose onto his rented tie. Nikki’s mom started wailing, and Kyle and his sister turned and walked out of the room.
Willow stared at all the drama unfolding and felt nothing but regret. No sadness or anger or validation.
Just regret.
“I gave up so much to be here,” she said out loud, even though no one was listening. “I want nothing to do with you people.”
She stepped over Shane’s bloody face and made her way to the door.
“Willow, wait,” he said, moving to his knees and trying to stand.
“Absolutely not,” she said. “I’m packing up my stuff, I’m taking Barley, and I’m leaving.”
“But the motel—”
“I’m leaving Churchill,” she said. “And I never want to see any of you again.”
With a flip of her hair, she marched out of the room, not stopping when Nikki yelled her name or when the people in the church asked what was going on. She went all the way home and did exactly what she’d said; she gathered up whatever clothes she wanted, a bag of dog food for the trip, put a leash on Barley, and got herself to the train station. Once she’d settled on the train, she pulled out her phone and booked a one-way ticket on the next flight out.