I smiled. "I'd love to come."
"Great. Now you just have to choose where we'll be flying to first: Venice, Paris, or Sydney. Take your pick."
"Aren't those some of the most romantic cities in the world?"
"It's the start of our love story, Daphne. Let's make it memorable." He climbed out of the water and put his hand out for me. "Give me your hand. I promise I won't let go."
I put my hand in his. I was finally ready to live again.
Epilogue
Rob
My phone buzzed in my pocket. The conversation died around me when I saw Daphne's name flash across the screen. Finally. I thought she'd be here by now. I walked over toward the windows to get farther away from the party as I answered my phone. "Hey, gorgeous. Where are you?"
"I'll be there in a few minutes. My taxi got stuck in traffic."
I'd just spent a whole week alone with her. Getting to know every inch of her body. All her nervous ticks. Especially the way her voice hitched when she wasn't being completely honest during all our truth or dare nights. "Traffic, huh?"
She laughed. "Fine, you caught me. I delayed leaving my apartment for the longest time. Are you sure it's okay that I'm coming? It's their rehearsal dinner. That’s a hugely important event in their lives. And I wasn't really invited..."
"Daphne, James specifically told me I could invite you. You’re my plus one." Now. And for forever.
"But what about Penny? I don't want to impose on..."
"She's going to be thrilled to meet you." I glanced at Penny and James talking to the caterers. Penny was going to love Daphne. "What kind of best man would I be if I invited someone to the rehearsal dinner that wasn't wanted?"
"A pretty bad one," she said with a laugh. "Speaking of which...did you finally finish your list?"
I had a pretty long to-do list regarding the wedding. Nothing that James and Penny necessarily requested for me to do. But as the best man...things that I needed to do. "Checked off everything and then double-checked it."
"Hmm...so all the tuxes have arrived?"
"Check."
"What about the rings? Have you lost them yet?"
I laughed. "Of course not."
"And no one's going to crash the wedding?"
I thought about Isabella, James' ex-wife. And all she'd done to try to ruin this wedding already. But the security team was well aware of her. She wouldn't be getting anywhere near this wedding. "It's all taken care of."
"Well that's good. I went to a wedding once where the priest said, 'Speak now or forever hold your peace,' and someone actually spoke. I thought stuff like that only happened in movies. The bride ended up running off with the guy. It was a complete mess."
Oh. Fuck. "Daphne, I have to go."
"Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, I just gotta make a quick call. See you in a few minutes." I hung up before she could respond. Because there was one thing that hadn't made it onto my list. At least...one person. A certain person that James had recently gotten into a fistfight with. And there was no telling what kind of shit he might be planning. I pressed on Tyler's name in my cell. It rang a few times before he picked up.
"Hey, Rob."
"Tyler."
The awkward silence stretched between us. I knew I was the one that called and should be talking. But I was hoping he'd just confess to whatever dumb thing he was about to do.
"Don't you have a rehearsal dinner to get to?" Tyler asked. "Best man duties and all that?"
I looked out the window at the wedding venue in the distance. Part of me expected to see him setting fire to the big tree outside the restaurant. "That's why I'm calling. Best man duties, just like you said."
"Okay..."
"I heard you went to see Penny." I couldn’t believe I almost didn't check in with him. My list of silly best man duties had gotten in the way of what mattered. And I knew that Tyler loved Penny. He'd been in love with her for years. And he was about to lose her for good. Desperate times called for desperate wedding destroying measures.
"Yup," Tyler said.
"Care to share what you two lovebirds were talking about?"
"Lovebirds? Really? Look, Rob, as riveting as this conversation is...I'm in the middle of dinner."
"Then let me cut to the chase. Did you or did you not try to break Penny and James up this morning? You know…the day before they're supposed to walk down the aisle?"
He didn't respond.
"What the fuck, Tyler?"
"The fact that your brother punched me in the face kinda hinted at the fact that they were already broken up. And since everyone blamed me anyway...yeah I went to go see her. I needed to see if she was okay."
"No, you went to try to convince her to run away with you."
Tyler sighed. "Maybe that's what I intended to do. But you're standing at their rehearsal dinner right now, aren't you?"
"No thanks to you," I said.
"I told her to get back together with James this morning."
I couldn’t believe my ears. "Wait. You what?"
"She loves him. Not me."
I could hear the hurt in his voice. He wasn't about to ruin James and Penny's wedding. He was...bowing out. He'd given up. I turned away from the window and looked back at Penny and James. They were happily talking to one of his old college buddies. Tyler had lost. And I actually felt bad for him. "I'm sorry. I thought..."
"That I'd try to break up my best friend's wedding because I'm in love with her? The only reason I even considered it was because I thought Penny was miserable. I hated seeing her upset. I just want her to be happy. And James makes her happy."
"So now I feel like an ass." I tried to laugh it off, but it didn't work. "I was calling to threaten you. If you take one step toward their ceremony, yadda yadda, I'll kill you. All that jazz."
"Not necessary. I'm not attending the wedding. I'm not even in the state anymore."
Now I felt guilty and concerned. "Where the hell are you?"
"All that matters is that I left. And I'm not coming back."
"Not coming back to where? Penny and James' apartment? New York? The country? What are you talking about?"
"I'm moving to California. I need a fresh start."
"Look, I'm not planning on threatening you anymore. You can stay in the city. I just thought it would be best if you didn't come to the wedding."
"That makes two of us. There's nothing left for me in New York."
"Are you okay, man?"
There was another long pause.
"Yeah," he finally said.
But it didn't sound like he meant it. I waited. It was the least I could do to hear him out after I'd called him to yell at him unjustly.
"Actually, no," Tyler corrected. "Not really. I just lost...everything."
"Look, Penny's cool. I get why you wanted to be with her. Hell, I'm pretty sure I was hung up on her without even really knowing it. But there's someone else out there for you that'll be a hell of a lot better of a fit. Trust me, I know."