me to dance. Not that I would have said yes. I could’ve just gone out on the floor if I’d wanted to. There was an entire gaggle of women dancing with no partners. Mrs. O’Doul, Vera VonMeisterburger, my pals from Drunk Puzzle Night. But pangs of longing tapped at my ribs, and dancing wasn’t going to help. Instead, I tried to drown those pangs with rum and Coke. It always sucked to be the single girl at a wedding, but this was more than that. I would’ve been fine if this event had happened weeks ago, before Leo had showed up. Rather than filling me with hope, all he’d done was remind me of all that I was missing.
What I was not missing was another rum and Coke.
Standing at the bar (again) an hour later, I saw my sister and Ryan returning from the garden outside. They were both flushed and giggling and leaning into each other as they walked. Looked like someone might have just gotten some action among the rosebushes. I took a hearty swig from my cup as they walked directly toward my father. I took another hearty swig when Harlan hugged my sister and then shook Ryan’s hand. Something in my life was about to shift. Big-time. I could feel the seismic rumble all the way from across the room. I walked to where they stood, their smiles stretching from ear to ear.
Emily all but bounced. “Oh, I was just coming to find you. Look!” She held up her left hand, and there it was. A diamond engagement ring. I’d suspected that was coming, but seeing it on her finger made it official. My heart did a triple-flip with emotions I couldn’t name. My joy for them was sincere. It really was, but there was so much more. Too much more, and I wasn’t sure what to do with it. The one thing I did know, though, was that I shouldn’t, couldn’t, and wouldn’t let this moment be tarnished by anything as pointless as envy.
“Oh my gosh, you guys! I’m so happy for you!” I hugged them both and dashed away tears easily attributed to joy.
Chloe scampered over, giggling and bouncing as much as her mother. “I knew before you did, Mom.” She grinned. “Ryan asked me first if he could marry you, and I said yes for sure.”
“You knew?” Emily gasped and hugged her daughter. “You knew and managed to keep it a secret?”
“I managed to keep it a secret, too,” Harlan said, his chest puffing out. “But I nearly let it slip last night at dinner.”
“You knew, too?” Emily’s astonishment showed.
“Of course I knew,” he said, looking smug. “Ryan couldn’t very well ask for your hand in marriage without my blessing, now, could he? Lucky for you I told him yes.”
“Lucky for him you told him yes,” she said, wrapping her arms around Ryan. Then she looked up at him. “Is there anyone else you talked to about this before bothering to ask me?”
His smile was sheepish. “Well, I guess that depends on how well my own father can keep a secret. I talked to him, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Lilly was expecting a phone call from you very soon.”
My heart did another twisty thing. It made sense that our father knew, and it even made sense that Chloe had been consulted, but if our sister, Lilly, already knew, I couldn’t help but feel that everyone had been in on this wonderful secret except for me. I knew I was just feeling emotional and not being terribly rational, but it just didn’t feel good to be left out.
Dmitri wandered by, eyeing us. He had a habit of doing that. Wandering by just when something juicy was happening. His radar for such things was eerily impeccable.
“Do I hear more wedding bells chiming?” he asked, stepping close to my side. I took a hearty gulp from my now nearly empty glass and glanced at my sister. Emily giggled and held up her hand again, setting that big-ass diamond to sparkling.
Dmitri took her hand and bowed over it. “Wowza. I don’t know much about diamonds,” he said, “but that thing sure is shiny.”
“Everything is shiny,” she gushed, and turned to kiss Ryan.
Good God. Yes, I was happy for her, but this was going to be a long, painful night. Wasn’t this reception nearly over? I glanced at the clock on the wall: 8:15 p.m. Shhhhhhhit.
Word of the engagement moved faster than an electric current, and