Page 18 of On the Slopes of Tahoe
“I’m so happy for you, Wes.” Breck looks almost misty-eyed. Nothing but love for his friends in his expression.
I’mdefinitelymisty-eyed. No, I’m a step past that. I have full-on tears rolling down my cheeks. I’m so excited for my big brother. I never thought I’d see him settle down. This didn’t seem remotely possible when he was dragging himself from the trenches of his grief last year.
“Rory, for goodness’ sake, why’re you crying?”
“Because I’m just so happy. Ugh. Why can’t you be here right now so I can hug you?”
“You’ll be able to hug me real soon. I promise,” he says, eyes soft and smile warm.
I nod and wipe the tears from under my eyes.
“Seriously though, this is incredible. What’s your plan? Tell me everything,” I say, leaning a hand on Breck’s and Willow’s chairs.
“I can’t let you in on all my secrets,” he jokes, and I glare at him. “I actually have a question for you though.”
“Okay, shoot,” I say, back to being seriously intrigued.
“I’m going to ask Joss to elope while we’re in Tahoe.”
“What?! Are you serious?” I yell, drawing attention from those around us. Luckily the lodge has cleared out quite a bit. I’m so excited I could jump up and down. In fact… I do. I’m jumping around behind Breck and Willow, the two of them staring up at me like I’ve grown a second head.
Wes’s genuine, hearty laugh booms through the phone. Willow joins in, and I can feel Breck’s eyes as they watch me.
“Rory,” Wes says, but I’m still bouncing around like a kangaroo. “Rory!” he says more loudly, and I stop to look at him. “I haven’t even gotten to the best part. I want you to do the photos like—”
He’s cut off by my squeak of excitement. “Shut up! You want me to do your elopement? Do you want me to ask Jamie toofficiate? Oh my gosh, yes. I can get everything set up here. Just tell me what you want.” All my thoughts and questions ramble together.
“Of course I want you to do it. And we could ask Jamie to officiate, unless…” He trails off and looks to Breck. “Would you want to do it?”
Breck’s eyes instantly go glassy and he glances away. Wes’s face falters, concern written there. “You don’t have to. I know right now might not be the best time for this. I’m sor—”
This time it’s Breck who cuts him off.
He looks straight at my brother, emotion leashed just under the surface, silver tears pooling in the corners of his blue eyes. “I would be honored, brother.” His voice quavers on the word, and I wish more than ever we were all in the same space right now instead of separated by seven thousand miles.
The look that passes between these two men is layered. They may have only spent a few years on the same continent out of the last fifteen they’ve known each other, but their bond is deep. I can picture it—the way it spans the oceans to reach from where we sit on a snowy mountain in Tahoe, across the world to where Wes sits on his balcony in Sydney.
Wes clears his throat and nods, words failing him.
“Do I get to be the flower girl?” Willow chimes in, and they break eye-contact, looking instead at the darling girl whose eyes are alight at the idea of being part of this wedding.
“Absolutely. Make your daddy buy you a pretty dress, okay?” Wes gives her an over-the-top wink. His dimples are on full display and the crinkles around his eyes are more pronounced. I’ve never seen him look so happy.
My brother is getting married. My brother is going to elope and he wants me to take the photos, to organize the whole thing. He’s one of only two people in my life who knows how much I love this, and it means everything.
That thought crashes over me like a wave, dousing all the elation I was just feeling. Mom and Dad will be part of this. They’ll see me in my element, and they’ll never approve. My heart sinks, but I keep my smile big and laugh along for the remainder of the conversation. All the while, I can’t help wondering how much it will hurt at the end when I don’t get to do this anymore.
CHAPTER NINE
Breck
Istand near the windows of our condo, looking out on the mountain beyond, and wonder how I got here. Yesterday was a lot, a roller coaster of emotions. I barely held it together when Wes asked me to officiate his and Joss’s wedding. It was a battle for what I felt more of: absolute joy and gratitude that my best friend has found the love of his life and wants me to partake in their union this way, or a deep-seated sense of loss over the future I can no longer see for myself.
I could see his wariness in asking me and I pray I was able to hide the loss behind the joy enough that he didn’t notice it. I would never turn him down, but alone in the darkness, I feel the ache everywhere. I’m truly excited for my friends. I miss them. I miss that part of my home, even when most everything else about that place feels wrong and broken right now.
Where being here feels… right. The sun crests the mountains, a new day dawning. I may no longer be a successful business owner, or a partner to Talia, or see the future in the same way, but I do have Willow. I have friends who love and care for me. The freedom to invest in something new. I can find a new path forward for us, can’t I? I can find our way, mine and Willow’s, and I can do it on my own.
A vision of Willow and Rory high-fiving at the bottom of the slope yesterday pops into my head and I chew my lip. It was incredible and heartbreaking all at once. Why was it so much easier for Rory to get through to her? This isourtime to bond and forge a new path, and I can’t let myself use Rory or anyone else as a crutch. I need to look toward what will work for Willow and me as a team of two. Because in the end, that’s what we’ll be when we go back to Australia.
