2
Ifumed as I watched Macy run out of the wedding reception. The nerve of that woman showing her face at Ember’s wedding. I don’t care if the bride and her mother invited her; she should never have shown up.
Speaking of, how in the hell would either of them invite her? As far as I knew, Macy went off to college and never came back.
Stomping out of the tent, I went in search of the wedding party. I had a strong suspicion Macy was lying, and there was only one way to confirm it.
I found them in the middle of taking wedding photos and struggled to hold my questions until they were finished. Finally, Phoenix noticed me and came right over, with Annabelle glued to his side.
“Everything okay, brother?” Phoenix asked, scanning the area for potential threats.
I didn’t acknowledge his question and focused on Annabelle. “Did you and your daughter invite Macy McManis to the wedding?” I growled.
Phoenix moved to step in front of Annabelle, but she pushed him to the side and stood as tall as her little frame would allow. “No, we invited Macy Beddingfield to the wedding. You got a problem with that, Aaron Marshall?”
I ignored the flash of pain I felt at hearing her married name. “Yes, I do. That bitch has no business being here, disrupting what should be a celebration among family and friends. She is neither of those things to any of us.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. She’s my friend, and she works for Ember. Phoenix didn’t tell you?”
I glared at my best friend. “No, he fucking didn’t.”
“Sorry, man. I was planning on telling you Macy was back in town after the wedding. I didn’t know the girls invited her,” Phoenix shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal.
“Where is she?” Annabelle asked. “I want to invite her to sit at the table with Phoenix and me since she doesn’t know anyone here.”
“She left.”
“She what? Why?” Annabelle asked, clearly getting upset.
“Because I fucking told her to leave. After what she did, I can’t believe you would even want her around,” I said, making sure to keep my tone even and my hands relaxed. I was well aware of Phoenix watching my every move as I interacted with his woman. Though I was extremely pissed at her, I would never do anything to hurt her, or any woman for that matter.
“What she did? She didn’t do anything. You did, you big, giant asshole!” Annabelle screamed, jabbing an accusatory finger at me. Only a handful of people could get away with speaking to me like that, and, luckily for her, Annabelle was one of them.
Phoenix stepped between the two of us. “That’s enough. This isn’t the time or the place.”
Annabelle’s face crumpled. “You broke her heart years ago, and just when she’s starting to get her life back together, you go and kick her to the ground again. How could you be so cruel, Aaron?”
“I didn’t break her heart! She broke mine. She’s the one who left me. She’s the one who said I wasn’t good enough for her and her stuck-up family. She called the three of us trash and said she was glad you disappeared because it made it easier for her to shake off Phoenix and me!” I roared, finally sharing Macy’s words I had once promised myself never to repeat.
Annabelle froze, her face morphing from sadness to utter shock. She started shaking her head. “No. No, that’s not what she told me. She said you broke up with her right after I was taken. In a letter, you told her you had been cheating on her with that skank Brandy Bell, and you wanted to pursue things with Brandy since she was going to be away at college.”
Phoenix added, “I know for a fact Macy was devastated about Annabelle’s disappearance. She talked to Pop almost every day for the first month. Then, she called every few months for an update. Pop said she really had a hard time with it and called less and less often because it upset her so much.”
I held my hand up, letting them know I needed a minute. I thought back to the events of the past and compared them to everything Annabelle said. “I never cheated on Macy. And why the hell would I want to pursue a relationship with Brandy when I was shipping off to boot camp a few weeks after Phoenix? None of this makes any sense.”
“You never talked about it back then, but how did Macy break up with you?” Phoenix asked.
I shook my head, hating to share the humiliating story. “After a little over a year together, she told me I wasn’t good enough for her in an instant message. I wasn’t even home when she sent it. My mother saw it and showed it to me when I got home from work.”
Annabelle shuffled forward and placed her hand on my arm. “I think you should talk to her.”
I looked at Annabelle, uncertain of what to do or say next. It wasn’t easy, but I managed to move past Macy and the hurt she caused. I had no interest in opening myself up to that kind of pain ever again.
“She lives in the employee housing building on the farm property in room three-seventeen,” Annabelle added. “Go talk to her when you’re ready.”
3
It was mid-afternoon the following day before I managed to drag my hungover ass out of bed. After I left the wedding, I came back to my apartment, ripped off my dress, and downed a bottle of wine while crying myself silly in the bathtub. Could I be any more clichéd? How had my life turned into such a mess? Every single time I thought I was moving forward, something came along and kicked me back. Seeing Aaron again brought back a pain I buried long ago. A pain I wasn’t sure I could deal with.