Lori and Jason exchanged a look. His fingers crept over to her lap, twining with hers.
"Because Mom and Dad are always teasing us about marrying each other, the whole boy and girl next door thing. And—well—"
"We've been dating on and off for ages."
"And you couldn't tell me?" Blythe fought to keep her voice down. "You couldn't tell your best friend—your sister?"
"Truth is, honey, Jason was my first—ever."
"You said it was that Bobby person you met in New York that summer."
"There was no Bobby."
"So you made that all up?"
"No. That all happened, only not with Bobby."
"Oh, my God! Him? I don't know whether to beat you both, or kiss you. I can't believe you've been able to keep this from me all this time."
"You were so tangled up with Alec, you didn't really notice," Lori said. "I dated other guys from time to time, Jason played the field."
"But it has always been Lori I love."
"We really want to get married in June," Lori added.
"We wanted to get married last year, but—" Jason's voice trailed off.
But Alec had died. Alec, his brother, his best friend, who would have been his best man.
"We were going to announce it after your wedding, and then get married at the six month mark, but we couldn't," Lori said. "We couldn't do that to you."
"But now, you've met someone you really like. You're thinking about dating. And I can't wait any longer to make Lori mine."
"I hope you're not upset, Be-Be."
"I'm only upset that you haven't told me—all this time. And that you thought I couldn't have handled you getting married—without Alec."
Her brother and friend sat quietly, holding hands. They were right. Blythe couldn't have coped. It would have sent her into a tailspin if they had married as they wanted to. She had no right to be angry, to feel cheated, but she did. They had everything, and she had nothing—including her damn car. She burst into tears.
Sobbing, she cradled her ribs as her body fought for air. Her parents ran into the room. Charlotte knelt next to her chair. Don put his arms around her shoulders, patting her gently on the back as she buried her face in his shirt.
"What on earth?" Charlotte said as she stroked her daughter's hair.
"We're getting married," Lori blurted.
"We've been engaged almost as long as Blythe and Alec," Jason admitted quickly.
"What?" Charlotte's voice quavered. "And you couldn't tell me? Your own mother? Does your mother know?" she demanded of Lori.
"No. It all started as a joke. Jason would tease that since Alec was dating Blythe, we should date. His best friend, her best friend—"
"And then we fell in love. But it was such a joke in both our families, we tried to deny it. We didn't want to be laughed at," Jason said softly.
"As if we'd tease you about being in love," Charlotte said, hugging them both. "Your mother and I have wanted this forever. Even when you were little, we thought you were perfect together."
"I think you need to tell your mom," Blythe said. "Then we have a wedding to plan."
"I'm totally kidding about the colors," Lori said, wiping her eyes. "But I'm dead serious about the cake."
They laughed loudly, hugging all around. Blythe felt somewhat let down. Was this how Lori had felt when she and Alec announced their engagement? Had she felt like someone had kicked out her insides? The difference was, they had kept their relationship quiet on purpose, denying themselves that bit of happiness. She'd had hers taken from her by an enemy bullet.
As the others chattered and laughed, Blythe quietly left the room. She went to the den, closing the door behind her, sitting in the recliner, curling into an unhappy ball. The sobs returned, harder than ever. Not having a tissue, she used her hands to wipe her tears. When that wasn't enough, she resorted to the hem of her shirt.
The door opened and closed. She didn't look up, expecting it to be her mother or Lori. She smelled her father's cologne and felt his strong, silent presence. She looked up.
"This isn't easy," he said, sitting on the floor beside her. "I'm happy for them, but I can't help thinking about everything you've lost." He patted her knee. "Alec loved you more than his own life. He wanted nothing else but to be happy with you, and make you happy. You had years of that. He was your true love. Do you know how many people go through life never finding that one, special person?"
Blythe nodded. She couldn't count the number of friends who had half a dozen mangled relationships in their pasts. Their parents were divorced, they were divorced—so many shattered lives. She and Alec hadn't been like that. From the moment they started dating, her sophomore year in high school, they had been faithful to one another. By the time she graduated, he'd been in college two years on the Army ROTC program. Once he graduated, he was transferred to active duty. Those years had been hard. Being apart so long, it was difficult to hold it together, but they had done it because the payoff was in sight. And then he was dead.
©2022 Dellani Oakes
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