by Emily Nealis
As I gulped down the bourbon, I caught the eye of a groomsman standing at the end of our pew, who just happened to look my way at that very moment. Our eyes met as I was screwing the cap back on. The corner of his mouth curled slightly. Slowly, I raised my index finger to my lips with a silent, shhh. The groomsman glanced toward the altar, where he was being called to join the wedding party. He looked back at me and winked before making his way to the front. I sat back upright, smoothing out my dress.
“You got caught, didn’t you?” Anna straightened the skirt of her dress, settling back into her seat.
“I don’t think he’ll tell on us. But it figures we’d get kicked out of church for being sauced.”
We weren’t actually sauced, mind you, because after the ceremony, we had to drive six miles back into town for the reception at one of the country clubs. I was correct, though, walking into that reception was like taking a step back in time. Everywhere I looked, I spied a vague shadow of someone I once knew. Of course, now we were all older with real lives. High school was a distant memory for me. I hadn’t been saddened to leave high school and never referred to it as “the best years of my life.” I couldn’t wait to leave and start the next chapter—or, rather, the next adventure. I felt more at home at the table with Carolyn’s medical school friends than with people I hadn’t seen for almost ten years. It was clear I fit in better with this group from a more recent time.
After the buffet was decimated, Carolyn rushed over to our table. She sat down in an empty chair next to me, reaching out and touching both Anna’s and my arms.
“I’m so glad you’re here! I haven’t had a free minute to do anything.” By this time, beads of sweat had formed on her forehead, a result of fluttering around the reception hall like a giant, white hummingbird. She grabbed a stray program from the ceremony laying on the table and began fanning herself.
“But, good news—my dad paid them $500 to keep the bar open longer!” Immediately, Carolyn rose from the chair and motioned for us to follow her. She led us toward the bar in the back of the hall, gilded with gold detail and flanked by drawings of the Kentucky Derby. She approached a man dressed in a tux, sans jacket. From the back, all I could see of him was his rolled up black dress shirt sleeves and buzzed black hair that faded into a pompadour cut. Carolyn patted his back to get his attention. When he turned around, I recognized him as the groomsman who caught me drinking in the church.
“Anna and Diana, this is Adam Hunt, my brother-in-law,” She emphasized the last words with a giant grin, ecstatic that she could introduce people as her in-laws now, “He’s married to Travis’s sister, Haley, and he’s also the best man. Adam, this is Anna Bartlett and Diana Sanderson.” He extended his hand to Anna and then to me. I offered a firm handshake, raising my eyebrows. From his grin, it was obvious he remembered who I was.
“Nice to meet you both.” He said, with a slight twang. “Y’all want a drink? I heard Papa Cox struck a deal with the bartender.” We accepted his offer and he waved down the bartender, who was at the other end of the bar, getting interrogated by an elderly relative about the lack of supply of drambuey in the house.
“What’ll you have?” He asked. Carolyn requested whatever beer was being served, Anna a Chardonnay, and I a gin and tonic. After shouting across the room to someone, Carolyn took Anna by the wrist, telling her they were going to take a group photo with her med school friends. I waved them on, leaning against the bar next to Adam. We watched them disappear through the crowd, out to the patio where the sun was beginning to dip behind the trees.
“I think I’ve seen you at that research facility out on Newtown Pike.” Adam leaned toward me to be heard through the buzz swirling around us, “My company does their HVAC.”
“Oh? Then, yeah, you probably have. I do work out there.” I nodded, trying to remember whether I’d ever seen him or not, but to no avail.
“So, are you going to a funeral?” Adam asked, looking me up and down. I glanced down at my black dress—the one with the pockets.
“Maybe I am.” I replied, channeling Johnny Cash in the perfect moment. This reference was not lost on Adam. He nodded in approval.
“I knew you both were trouble.” Adam commented, taking a drink of his beer. I raised by eyebrows, taking a sip of my drink and pointing my index finger at him.
“All I have to say is everyone here better be thankful they chose this place to have the reception. I’m all for a good country wedding, but a dry reception out there would have been catastrophic.” I turned to him, “But thank you for not tattling, anyway.” I raised my glass to him. He nodded, clinking his beer top to my glass.
“So, how do you know Carolyn?” He asked, turning toward me, resting an elbow on the bar top.
“I met Carolyn through Anna,” I paused, cracking a smile, “But I actually know most of the people here.”
“How?”
“I went to high school with Travis, and my brother was friends with a lot of our friends’ brothers and sisters.”
“Who’s your brother?”
“Luke Sanderson.”
“You’re Luke Sanderson’s sister?”
“Yeah, did you know him?”
“I remember him. Really smart guy, right?” I nodded in response. He continued, “I didn’t know him very well, but I think we had a lot of classes together.”
If I’d had more to drink, I probably would have made some snarky comment about whether Adam was mistaken, because my brother was the reason public schools created advanced placement courses. But I wasn’t that mean, so I nodded and took another sip of my drink. I didn’t know Adam Hunt very well, after all.
After a few more minutes, Carolyn returned. Anna was still standing out on the patio, absorbed in conversation. Carolyn took my hand and motioned for me to follow her. She led me and Adam through the crowd, across the reception hall, and over to the wedding party’s table. She sat down next to a brunette bridesmaid. When the bridesmaid saw Carolyn, she smiled and pivoted around to face us. Wisps of mahogany brown hair had come loose from her hair tied back in a French twist, framing her fair skin and large brown eyes.
“Haley, this is my friend, Diana Sanderson. Diana, this is my sister-in-law, Haley Hunt.” Carolyn introduced us with the same giddy emphasis on her new family titles, “Haley is Travis’s big sister and she’s married to Adam.” Haley extended her hand and I shook it, setting my drink down on the table. She leaned forward so I could hear her over the buzz of the crowd.
“So how do you know the bride and groom?” She asked before leaning onto the back of her chair.
“I met Carolyn through a mutual friend. But before that, I went to high school with Travis, so it turns out I know a lot more people here than I thought I would.” I motioned to the sea of wedding guests.
“Her brother went to school with us—you remember Luke Sanderson at all?” Adam scooted behind our chairs, leaning against the floor-to-ceiling window. Haley smacked her knee.
“I do remember that name! I think he was in my class. That was a long time ago. What’s he doing now?” She scoffed in disbelief.
“You know, left town, never looked back, became a superstar orthopedic surgeon in Miami.” I laughed, “It worked out perfectly, though. I always have a free place to stay when I go down there. I could visit him more often when I lived in Atlanta. That was the only bummer about moving back here.”
“What brought you back here?” Haley asked.
“My job. I lived in Atlanta for a few years, but a position opened at one of the university’s research facilities last year. It came with a pay increase, so I decided to move back.” Haley nodded in understanding. She asked where I worked, and when I said the name, she gasped and turned to Adam.
“Haven’t you done work with them?” Haley asked, smacking Adam on the leg. He nodded.
“Yeah, I’ve done a lot of contracts for them.”
“What exactly do you do?” I asked.
“Industrial HVAC. Mostly working wit
h their facilities crew, installing and maintaining all the ventilation and filter systems in the labs. You know, being the one on call for when something breaks down and no one else knows how to fix it because I’m the one who built it.”
“Oh, so you’re the one we blame when something malfunctions and puts everything behind schedule!” My words dripped with sarcasm. He laughed, leaning forward.
“Yeah, something like that.”
Carolyn, who was making a habit of shooting out of her seat as though she’d sat on a mousetrap, catapulted forward, waving at someone across the room. She turned to Adam, pointing behind her, telling him she needed to find Travis. They had to get ready for the distribution of cupcakes.
“Does this mean you have to go hunt Travis down?” Haley asked Adam, giving a side-eye to Carolyn. Adam raised his hand and set his beer down on the table between Haley and me.
“Don’t worry, I’ll find him. That kid would’ve missed his own wedding if it weren’t for me. Leave it to the best man!” Adam declared, as if the challenge of reigning in his brother-in-law could only fall on him. Then again, knowing Travis now, it was probably true. Adam disappeared with Carolyn, holding her by the bicep as if she were already three sheets to the wind.
Haley and I continued to talk, observing the chaos of the wedding reception—who had to be where for what pictures and stand where for champagne toasts. Haley was relieved she didn’t have additional responsibilities like toasts and bustling. She had, however, made the cupcakes, which I agreed was enough of a contribution to the event. She rolled her eyes, recalling how it was like pulling teeth to get Carolyn to even decide on cupcake flavors. Periodically, two little girls would stop in front of her at the table—her two daughters, Vivian and June, six and eight years old. Eventually, an older woman came by the table, Adam’s mom, to tell her they were taking the girls home. Haley waved to them as they disappeared into the lobby just as the lights began to dim.
“All the grandparents are finally gone. Now they can play good music…” Haley murmured over my shoulder. At this point, Travis and two of the groomsmen stopped at our table and sat down. One I did not recognize, but the other I had a vague recollection of. He was familiar, a little shorter than Travis with short, light brown hair and bright blue eyes. Travis must have noticed me trying to piece together who this man was.
“Diana, you remember Andy Henley, right? You were friends with him, weren’t you?” Travis inquired. Andy! That’s his name. I was thankful for Travis at that moment because I absolutely hate forgetting people’s names.
“Andy, that’s right!” I smacked my palm on the table, “I knew we knew each other, but I don’t think we spent a whole lot of time together.” Andy nodded pointing to me.
“Yeah, I know you, but you’re right, we didn’t hang out a lot.” He was right, we knew each other through mutual friends. I, however, had seen him once since high school, which was probably why I remembered him at all.
Eventually, Travis was discovered again and dragged away for a first dance with his bride. We watched Travis and Carolyn sway along to a Keith Urban song together, everyone remarking about how beautiful Carolyn was. I agreed, she did make a beautiful bride. Andy leaned over to me, this time completely sober.
“We’re taking bets on when Carolyn will start screaming at him in front of everyone.”
I knew there was a reason I liked Andy Henley.
The first dance ended, and the DJ called the entire wedding party out to the dance floor. Andy stood up and extended his hand to me.
“Join me?” I accepted, allowing him to lead me out to the dance floor. It’s always nice to find a dance partner when attending a wedding without a date. I came to find out that Andy was in a similar situation. However, Andy came to the wedding with a date—his girlfriend. After an argument of some sort, she stormed off and was allegedly skulking around in the shadows, no doubt planning his demise while he was on the dance floor with someone else.
As we danced, I scanned the crowd of people packed onto the dance floor, recalling those I knew and glazing over those I didn’t. But each time I made a pass over the ocean of bodies, I always seemed to catch Adam Hunt, dancing with Haley nearby. Each time, we managed to make eye contact, which startled me on more than one occasion. And, each time, he would nod to me with a smile that was difficult to decipher. Soon, it was apparent that I was playing a game that only he knew the rules to.
We danced until 11:00, when the country club kicked everyone out. Fortunately, The Steeplechase country club also housed a bar on the bottom level of the building. That was about the time Andy departed to salvage his relationship with his angry girlfriend. I wished him luck and headed downstairs with Carolyn, who was carrying her giant train of a dress down the narrow garden steps. I spotted Anna across the bar, deep in conversation with a man I’d never seen. Before I could wave to her, someone appeared in front of me.
“Your man decide to leave?” Adam asked, leaning over the bar top, searching for the bartender.
“He had to go make sure he still has a girlfriend.” I replied. Adam flagged down the bartender and ordered two drinks—one beer and one gin and tonic. I took the gin and tonic and didn’t say anything but noted that he never asked me what I wanted. Adam seemed to turn up like a bad penny, but I let him buy me the drink and adjourned to the patio with the rest of the wedding party.
Standing against the cool brick, we remained in that same spot for hours. Our life stories poured forth with ease. I learned that he grew up in Lexington, but now lived on a horse farm in Jessamine County. He used to be in the Army but was injured after an accident. When he was discharged, the military paid for his HVAC certification. More recently, he worked as a contractor, doing business for the same company I worked for. He asked what I did there, to which I responded that I was a data analyst.
“Sounds complicated. Guess I better not screw up too bad then.”
“You probably have, and we already know about it.” I set my empty glass down on one of the wrought iron tables. He shrugged.
“Touché.”
“So, what’s this game you’re playing?” I finally asked, turning to lean my right shoulder against the brick wall, looking directly at his profile. He continued staring ahead, watching the rest of the guests on the patio.
“I’m not playing any games.” He tipped his beer bottle and finished what was left of it.
“Then what’s all this?” I nodded toward him, “You’ve been watching me the entire night. I feel like the damn secret service is surveilling me.” I stared at his temple, waiting for him to look at me. The corners of his mouth curled slightly, the same way he’d looked at me in the church.
“Maybe I was just hoping I’d get to talk to you more tonight.” He finally turned toward me.
“Fair enough.” I shrugged, “I am pretty interesting.” He laughed, nudging my arm with his elbow. I felt a tap on the shoulder. I turned around to see Anna. She informed me that she and a couple of other med school friends were leaving and asked if I still needed to ride with her. Before I could respond, Adam chimed in.
“I can give you a ride back if you want to stay longer. Haley and I both have our vehicles here to take people home.” I looked back at Anna and shrugged. She gave me thumbs up and waved goodbye as she disappeared around the corner with her friends. I turned back to Adam.
“That’s nice of you.”
Adam smiled and returned to watching the remaining guests mill around the patio.
“Of course. We’re pretty good friends now.”
I turned away, rolling my eyes at this overly confident man standing next to me. I knew immediately he loved to talk, and he was used to other people wanting to hear him talk. But I secretly enjoyed talking to people like him, who assume I wanted to spend my evening immersed in conversation with him.