Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70570 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70570 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
But not for long. “So how long have you two been together?”
Samuel and I look up from our plates, mouths full, eyes wide.
The innocent question came from Talkative Toby, who simply continues to cut his steak, entirely unaware of the turmoil he just summoned with that little question.
“We’re not—”
“One-year anniversary tomorrow,” states Samuel, cutting me off. I stare at him, aghast. “Ain’t it funny?” he goes on. “Here we are, just quietly enjoyin’ ourselves at someone else’s wedding, and we get a whole fancy party to celebrate our love.” Samuel gives me a playfully pouty look. “I hope this suffices as a good enough anniversary dinner, Malckie. He likes it when I call him Malckie,” he says as an aside to Toby, whose big eyes have just become a pair of twinkling hearts as he gazes as us.
I scowl at Samuel. “We aren’t—”
“That is SO ADORABLE!” cries Toby, nearly dropping his fork. “I just knew the second I saw you two that y’all were a thing. It’s so obvious. Vann and I are sorta celebrating a year, too.” He looks at Vann with adoration in his eyes. I watch him in a daze, struck by the loving way they look at each other. It’s instantly moving. “I’m so happy we stuck it out. Even though I had to leave home to find my true happiness, I don’t spend a second of my life regretting it. Home is wherever my heart is.” Despite the brooding demeanor of his boyfriend Vann, the boy’s dark eyes soften at Toby’s words, and the two share a tender kiss.
Samuel and I watch, for a moment the whole act dropped, and we’re just two strangers again, wondering longingly about a love we could never imagine is possible for ourselves.
Then I feel Samuel’s fingers gently slip into mine.
I turn and look at him.
He peers into my eyes.
Suddenly, a glass is tapped, and all the tables fall quiet for the speeches. Samuel and I continue looking at each other, even as the parents of the newlyweds begin to address the crowd. Nadine can barely make it through her speech without crying. Paul’s is short and sweet. Bobby’s parents Patricia and Dale give a joint speech in which a couple of awkward jokes are delivered, to a mishmash of scattered chuckles and snorts. Tanner gives a rather lengthy (and drunken) speech honoring his brother Jimmy, makes a joke about marriage being like the longest foreplay ever with no payoff, and earns himself a swat in his giant, muscled arm by his husband.
Some of this, I hear as I gaze into Samuel’s eyes, holding his hand. Some of this is told to me later. But most of it is just a blur.
What if we were together for a whole year?
Wouldn’t it feel just like this? Just as natural as this? Just as sweet and easy as this?
I could actually believe it.
It isn’t much longer before everyone moves inside for the real party. Evening is setting in. Everyone is growing looser and louder by the minute. Jimmy takes to the dance floor and does a big sexy number with Bobby, which is to be expected, since Jimmy can’t go too long without being in the spotlight. His dance gathers a rather substantial crowd, the most animated of which includes Toby, of course, who cheers them on. The entire house becomes a dance floor before long, and there’s barely anywhere to put your own feet as you navigate your way around the madness.
“Oh, and remember how we had that silly old bout over some bake sale back in the day?” Nadine is carrying drunkenly on to the woman I presume is Bobby’s mother Patricia. The two of them are in the kitchen, where Samuel and I are passing through. “I am so glad we’ve made amends and gotten to a better place since then. You’re like a sister to me, now!”
Patricia’s response is a mild: “Mmm.”
One moment, I’m thinking some hatchets never get buried.
The next moment, I’m wondering how after just spending a few days here in Spruce, I’m already getting sucked into the daily soap opera that is the people of this town and their ever-shifting relationships. How did I even hear about the secret feud between Bobby’s and Jimmy’s mothers? I think I’ve met and gotten to know more people tonight than I’ve met in my entire life combined.
But the various and ever-complicated dramas of Spruce are not what’s forefront on my mind as I push through the side patio door and drag Samuel out with me.
“You wanna tell me what that was about?”
Samuel blinks at me innocently. “What? Jimmy’s dance? He’s done better, in my opinion …”
“You know damned well I’m not talking about Jimmy’s dance.”
He puts his hands in his pockets and strolls over to the edge of the patio, overlooking the swimming pool, where a large number of people are gathered around, drinking and socializing. “Hmm. I just don’t know what you’re talkin’ about, Malckie.”