Chapter 13 #2
They toasted to brides and friends and sisters and love and…a shared history.
“And speaking of shared history,” Tessa said, sliding into a chair like she owned the elegance of the dress. “Why is that shadow in your eyes, dear sister?”
Kate drew back, ready to dismiss the comment, then her shoulders fell. “I don’t want to talk about anything but you, the wedding, and that dress.”
“Too bad. I do.” Tessa took a sip and leaned forward, setting her glass on the coffee table between them. “And if there’s one thing in this world I know, it’s when the very sister I shared a womb with is struggling. What’s wrong, Kate?”
“Can we not?” Kate asked, her throat tightening.
“No, we can.” Tessa volleyed back, relentless. “Just give us the quick and dirty. Did you and Eli fight? Is something up? Is it Emma? What’s going on with you?”
Kate huffed out a breath and took off her glasses, handing them to Vivien. “Hold these or I’ll go home without them.”
Vivien took them and put a hand on Kate’s leg. “Only if you want to talk.”
“I do.” She took a deep drink of champagne and let the sweet bubbles give her courage. “Eli and I had a conversation,” she said. “A real one. At two this morning, in the kitchen.”
She told them. Not every word, but the shape of it—Emma and the Bible, Eli’s hurt, the irony of asking him to be himself and then being frightened when he was. The fundamental crack between them that she’d been trying to step over for months.
When she finished, Tessa leaned in, nothing but love in her eyes, but a little determination, too. “Can I be honest with you?”
“You’re going to be whether I say yes or not.”
“You know what I’m going to say.”
Kate searched her face. “Actually, I don’t.”
“You do because we had this conversation a while ago—I think it was the day I tried to break up with Dusty. You were still harping on the same religion thing, and I asked if you were really going to give up a guy as great as Eli because he was too good. I stand by that question, because it defies logic. Even yours, the most logical logic there is.”
Kate closed her eyes and remembered the conversation, a little exasperated that she and Eli were still stuck in the same place.
“Kate,” Tessa said. “You found a man who is kind, balanced, patient, wonderful with your daughter, incredible with his own kids, has a great business, good friends, two homes, and adores you.”
Kate winced at her sister’s litany of Eli’s perfection—mostly because it was all spot-on.
“And you’re going to throw that away because he goes to church on Sunday?”
She sighed and looked at Vivien, who held up a hand.
“Hey, I’m not going to argue with that. I’ve known Eli since the day I was born. He was, and is, the very best big brother known to man. He’s a gem, Kate. And he’s been through a lot in life. Melissa’s death tore him to shreds, and his faith helped him heal.”
“I know, I know.” Suddenly, Kate felt…small. And dumb. And desperate to defend her thoughts and actions. “It’s not about church, though,” she said, making an attempt at self-defense. “It’s about a fundamental difference in how we see the world.”
“So?” Tessa looked ready to dismiss that argument with one strappy shoulder shrug.
“Dusty and I see the world differently every single day. He’s a therapist who thinks everything can be talked through.
I’m an event planner who thinks life’s problems can be solved with better lighting and a decent caterer. We make it work.”
“That’s not the same thing,” Kate insisted.
“It’s the nature of a relationship,” Tessa said.
“And good ones are rare. What you and Eli have? The way he looks at you? The way you light up around him? That doesn’t come along twice, especially not at our age.
And you’re going to let it go because you can’t reconcile his faith with your microscope? ”
“She has a point,” Vivien said quietly.
“Of course I have a point. I always have a point.” Tessa took a sip and let the words settle. “So what if he believes? Everyone believes in something. You believe in science. Even I’ve had some conversations with The Guy.”
Kate blinked. “The guy?”
“Capital G.” Tessa pointed toward the ceiling.
“God, the universe, whatever you want to call it. And honestly? He’s not that bad.
Maybe Eli’s right. Maybe there is a power out there.
I mean, something led all three of us back to Destin and back to the boys we knew when we were teenagers. That isn’t a coincidence.”
Kate shook her head. “Please. Maggie had the house and you found it and Vivien messaged me and—”
“Something orchestrated all that,” Tessa cut in, reaching for Kate’s hand. “You are the smartest person I know. You’ve always been the smartest person in every room. But smart isn’t the same as right, and being certain isn’t the same as being open. Just let go and see what happens.”
Kate closed her eyes and smiled. “Madame Celestine.”
“What?” they asked in unison.
“Do you remember the fortune teller from the Seafood Festival when we were seventeen?”
Tessa let out a hoot. “Of course! Madame Celestine!”
“You wouldn’t have your palm read,” Vivien recalled. “What made you think of that?”
“One of your diaries,” Kate said. “I read it this morning and I was…the same. Stuck in the mud, refusing to believe in something so silly, and because of that, I missed out on the fun.”
“Huh.” Tessa flounced against the swivel chair armrests. “Imagine that.”
Vivien laughed. “What did the fortune teller say?” she asked.
Kate smiled. “That you’d marry your partner in life.”
“I did,” Vivien said. “I married Ryan and we partnered in his business.”
Tessa snorted. “And you were whining because Madame C didn’t specify Peter McCarthy by name. Talk about being in a rut.”
“A happy one,” Vivien countered. “What did she say about Tessa? Was it in the diary?”
Kate nodded slowly, looking at her sister. “That you would have a child, but love someone else’s.”
Tessa gasped. “She was right!”
“It was a scam,” Kate insisted. “You two paid her five dollars each!”
“And here we are, enjoying the memory more than thirty years later,” Tessa said. “Worth every penny and the suspension of disbelief.”
Kate picked up her glass to finish the champagne, actually not able to argue that. “You told me then that my problem was I wouldn’t just go for it.”
“Speaking of nineties expressions,” Tessa joked. “But I was right. Just…go for it. Stop analyzing it. Stop running the equation. Just love the man and let the rest sort itself out.”
Vivien set down her glass and leaned in. “Can I make a suggestion? Something practical, since I know that’s your language.”
“Please.”
“Go on a date,” Vivien said. “Not a walk on the beach where you end up talking about faith and logistics. An actual, romantic, sweep-you-off-your-feet date where you remember why you fell for each other in the first place.”
“Make out in his truck,” Tessa added helpfully.
“I was going to say something classier than that, but yes,” Vivien said. “Bring the romance back. You two have been so tangled up in the big questions that you’ve forgotten the simple answer—you love each other. Start there.”
Kate looked at the two of them, seeing the fierce, unwavering love of women who had known her at her best and worst and every messy place in between.
They were right. And she’d been stupidly stubborn and taking risks with a great guy.
“He’s gone to Atlanta for a few days,” Kate said. “But when he comes back, we could…I don’t know. Where could we go?”
“Somewhere beautiful,” Vivien said. “Somewhere you can dress up and feel gorgeous and let him see you the way he already does.”
“Somewhere with good wine and a sunset,” Tessa added. “And no children, no family, no Bible discussions. Just the two of you.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“You’ll do more than think about it,” Tessa said. “You’ll plan it. And you’ll ask him out when he gets back. You’ll show him you know what matters, because if you don’t, Kate…” Tessa reached out and took Kate’s hand. “Honey, you’re going to lose him.”
She inched back, the proclamation giving her cold chills. “Do you agree?” she asked Vivien.
Her friend tipped her head. “I’m afraid she might be right.”
Akari came back with a sewing box and a measuring tape around her neck, beckoning Tessa to the platform.
Through the boutique window, the afternoon sun beamed gold across the street, and Tessa turned in white satin, and everything about this moment felt like the universe—or something—was offering Kate a choice.
Be right or be happy.
She’d been choosing right for fifty years. Maybe it was time to try the other one.