Page 99 of My Best French Wedding

He hesitated in the doorway, sending her a last fleeting smile. “Good luck.”

The second she was alone, Hildy had the strangest urge to throw herself on the bed and cry. But that was silly. She would handle the situation like a mature and competent adult, and then she and Walter could finish what they’d started.

There was no reason to feel like she’d just lost something precious.

33Walter

TWO DAYS BEFORE THE PRESCOTT-SCHAFER WEDDING

TAMNIÈS, France—“You never did call.” It might be a small thing in the grand scheme of their past, but Walter still wanted to know why she’d ghosted him.

Hildy shook her head, like she couldn’t believe he’d had the audacity to go there. “I wonder why?”

“So do I,” he said slowly.

She smoothed her skirt over her knees, avoiding his gaze. “Does it matter?”

“I’m just trying to understand your side of the story.”

That got her attention.

“Myside?” Hildy’s eyes flashed. “I thought we were on the same side, Walter. That’s the problem.”

“Then why did you leave?”

“How could I stay after—”

“After what?” he prompted, when she broke off.

She leaned forward. The tension in her posture suggested she’d come to a decision, and Walter had better get ready. “I came to the dorm to find you.”

“When?” Had he somehow missed her? And by how much? How fucked up to think a few minutes had changed the course of his life.

“Later that night.”

“I didn’t see you.”

“No.” Hildy let the silence grow heavy. “But I heardyou.”

34Hildy

TEN YEARS AGO

TAMPA, Fla.—As soon as she ditched Uncle Richard, who was more than happy to watch golf tournament reruns in his room once she showed him how to work the TV, Hildy headed straight for the dorm. The RA on duty told her Walter was on the patio, a fancy name for the slab of concrete behind the building where a pair of decrepit wooden picnic tables awaited those willing to risk a backside full of splinters.

She decided to surprise him. That would get things back to fun and flirty mode, as if the interruption had never happened. After creeping out the door, Hildy ducked behind the low cement-block wall that separated the building’s mechanical systems from the rest of the courtyard.

The “boo!” was already forming in her throat when she realized Walter wasn’t alone. The smell of cigarettes should have been her first clue. It might as well have been a cloud of brimstone.

“Where’s your girlfriend?” Corinne taunted, with the slight sneer that was her conversational baseline.

Hildy risked a quick glance through one of the square gaps in the wall. Their faces were angled away from her, making it unlikely one of them would look this way.

“She had some family stuff.” Walter didn’t seem bothered bythe “girlfriend” part, even though Hildy was pretty sure it had been meant as a dig.

Suck it, Corinne! Iamhis girlfriend!

It was a funny way to find out, but Hildy wasn’t complaining. Her mind was zooming into the future, thinking about long-distance relationships and the logistics of making it work beyond this summer. A daunting prospect, but college was only a year off and she knew how she felt about Walter. Besides, when had Hildy ever backed away from a challenge?