Chapter 26: Chapter 26

The ocean waves rolled beneath the boat as Bree looked out the window at the setting sun. Normally, a dinner cruise would seem like a relaxing, romantic event. This evening, sitting in a dining room with the wedding party, romantic was the last word she would’ve used to describe it.

Dinner was delicious. The lobster was buttery, the crab cakes flaky, and the wine was flowing. She sat with some of Trent’s family, aunts and uncles, a cousin, no one she’d met before. All of them had arrived earlier that day. The rest of them spent a great deal of time talking about how proud they were of Trent, how he’d grown up to be such a wonderful young man, and how beautiful Monica was. They weren’t wrong on either account. Bree didn’t want to hear it.

“Did you go with the kids out to play volleyball today?” Susan, Trent’s aunt, asked Bree, attempting to get her involved in the conversation, no doubt.

“I did,” Bree replied, forcing a smile. It had not gone well. Not only had Monica spent most of the game trying her best to make Bree look silly, after Monica’s team had won by a couple of points, she’d made a point of making it seem like it was Bree’s fault saying to Matt, “You might’ve won if you had some height on your team,” and looked right at Bree.

It didn’t make a lot of sense to Bree. Why had Monica wanted her there if she clearly didn’t respect her as a person, or an artist? Had she only wanted her there so that she’d have someone to pick on?

“I heard it was a lot of fun,” Uncle Rob said.

“We had fun.” It wasn’t the truth, but it was close enough. Some people had had fun, Bree supposed. She wasn’t one of them.

“Now, you’re the singer, aren’t you?” Susan asked. “Is it odd being around all of these people you’ve never met before? I bet most people don’t invite the musician to the entire wedding event--how nice of Monica and Trent to do so.”

“Actually, I went to school with Trent--elementary school through high school. And Lilly, Monica’s sister, was my college roommate.”

“Wait--you’re Bree, from high school?” Trent’s cousin, a young man a few years younger than Bree named Simon, asked, his eyebrows arching. “Oh, I didn’t realize….”

“I’m Bree… and I went to high school with Trent.” What was Simon getting at?

He started snickering, and his mother said, “I don’t see what’s so funny, Simon. Why are you being so rude?”

“No, Mom, I’m not,” he insisted. “Sorry. It’s just… when he was in high school, he came to stay with us for a week one summer. Some chick was hitting on him at an amusement park, and he said he had a girlfriend named Bree, I think just to get her to leave him alone. But I asked him about you, and he talked forever. It wasn’t for another year or so that he admitted you weren’t actually his girlfriend. Man, did he ever have a crush on you. Kinda ironic that you’re singing at his wedding now. But he said the two of you decided just to be friends, so that’s cool. Did you have a boyfriend or something?”

Bree didn’t know what to say. If only she’d known then what she knew now, maybe she would’ve done or said something differently back then, when she had a chance. Why hadn’t she taken advantage of that opportunity? “Uh… yeah… we just decided we were better as friends,” she said with a shrug. “Trent’s great. He’s… amazing.” Her eyes went to him, where he sat with Monica at the front of the room. She was laughing and patting him on the arm, and he looked mildly uncomfortable, though not necessarily pointed at her, just in general. Bree knew that this wasn’t his sort of thing. He didn’t like being the center of attention. Monica relished it, clearly.

“Well, it’s awesome that you’re singing that hit song of yours at his wedding,” Simon added. “I don’t know a lot of singers as famous as you who would’ve agreed to do that.”

Her face flushed, Bree looked away. “It’s hardly a hit, but thank you.”

“I’d say it’s a hit. They play it on the radio where I live, in Kansas. Lots of girls at my college know who you are and even try to dress like you. Seems like you’re pretty popular if you ask me.” He shrugged and went back to his dinner.

Flattered, Bree tried her best to focus on her dinner as well, but all she could think about was how amazing it was that other girls wanted to be like her. Maybe they’d all learn to follow their dreams and become musicians, artists, actresses, whatever they’d like.

More than anything else, though, she was looking at Trent. He glanced at her briefly and then looked away. That was about all she’d gotten from him that day. She wanted more--so much more--but it seemed pointless to try to talk to him about missed opportunities at this point when he was so close to getting married.

Close wasn’t the same as complete, though. If she had a chance to tell him how she felt, would she take it? Would he listen? And even if he felt the same way, would he take a chance with her or the easy path of sticking with Monica? Bree didn’t know, but she wanted to find out.

Trent found a quiet spot out on the boat deck. Like everything else, it had been Monica’s idea to take an evening boat ride for dinner. The sunset was beautiful, and the water was calm and serene, but Trent didn’t feel peace as he looked out at the horizon. He felt like a tempest was brewing under the surface, and he wasn’t sure how to put his finger on exactly why he was feeling that way.

He wanted to ignore the tickle in the back of his brain that said it was Bree. He thought he’d moved on from her years ago, that he’d convinced himself that being with her was a dream he’d never achieve. But the more time he spent around her, the more he wondered if he’d sold himself short and not taken every opportunity he had to see where their relationship could go.

Monica was still in the dining room. He’d asked her to come out on the promenade with him, but she was afraid her hair would get messed up. Most of the rest of the bridal party was out on the deck, drinking and laughing. He was glad they were having fun, but his heart wasn’t in it. Only Monica, Hannah, and Clarice weren’t with them--and Bree. The bride and bridesmaids were sitting inside with a bottle of wine, allegedly talking to some of the other out of town guests, though if Trent had to hazard a guest, it was more like they were talking about themselves.

Where Bree was, he didn’t know, until he heard her light footsteps come around the side of the boat. She kept her distance from him, propping her hands against the railing and said, “It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it?”

“It is,” he said, not coming over to her. “Are you having a good time?”

She shrugged, and he knew no matter what she said the answer was no. “I’ve had worse.”

He chuckled, and regardless of whether or not Monica would forget about her hair and come flying out after him, he stepped over by Bree. “I’m sorry about the volleyball match. I’m not sure why… some people were taking it so seriously.”

“Some people are just more competitive than others.”

“I’ve known you to be competitive during certain circumstances as well,” he reminded her with a playful nudge in the arm.

“If you bring up that Monopoly game again, Trent Evan Walker, I swear to God….”

He laughed. “That’s exactly what I was thinking about.”

“That was ten years ago!” She threw her hands out in exasperation, but she was smiling, that gorgeous friendly smile that made him melt on the inside like ice cream on a slice of hot apple pie. “Besides, you cheated!”

“I didn’t cheat!” he protested, hands up in front of him. “I’m just better at Monopoly than you are.”

“Oh, whatever. You were the banker, and you were paying yourself under the table.” She winked at him, and he had to look away. Why did she have to be so damn cute?

“God, I’ve missed you so much, Bree.” It was an under his breath comment, but she’d heard it just the same.

“I’ve missed you, too.” Bree glanced back through the window at the bride. Monica was still in the conversation, but one eye was on them. “How long ago did you get engaged?”

He hadn’t been expecting that question, but part of him was glad she asked. “Well, it was kind of strange. We had discussed getting married, but I wasn’t sure at the time that we were ready. We’d been dating for a year and a half or so, but I didn’t know if we were going to be able to make what each of us wanted in the future work together.”

“You mean because she wants to be a model?”

“A supermodel, yes, that’s part of it. I would never try to talk her out of her dream, but I can’t be moving all over the place and run a company at the same time. So… I wasn’t sure about that. Or the fact that she doesn’t want kids.”

Bree’s eyes bulged. “She doesn’t?”

Trent shook his head. It was even more of a sore point between himself and Monica than anything else. He couldn’t imagine his life without children--someday, not right away, but someday. “I thought we’d keep talking about it, figure it out, you know? But then one day about a year ago, we were at the mall--she was taking back some shoes she decided she didn’t like--and she pulled me into a jewelry store. The next thing I know, she’s wearing a ring.”

Again, Bree looked stunned. “A ring you bought?”

“Yes,” Trent admitted, even though he wasn’t going to admit the ring had cost far more than he’d ever seen himself spending on any one piece of jewelry.

“And you never actually proposed?”

He shook his head, unable to say more.

“Wow!” Bree looked out at the ocean. “So what does she say when people ask how you proposed?”

Trent shrugged. “I’m not sure what she tells everyone, but I’ve heard her say on more than one occasion that it was during an ‘intimate moment’ so she can’t elaborate.” He rolled his eyes, not sure how Bree would respond to that. Would she be offended?

She burst out laughing. “Well, was it? Maybe you did ask her, and you just don’t remember it.”

“No, I think I’d remember that.”

“Not if you were lost in the moment,” Bree countered.

Trent shook his head, realizing his face was turning red. “No, I’d remember. I didn’t. I never asked her. But… here we are.”

“And you want to marry her?” Bree was completely serious now, and Trent realized there was more to that question than what it seemed on the surface. She wasn’t just asking if he was okay with the way he’d ended up engaged to Monica. She was asking if he was sure that’s what he really wanted to do, if he was certain he saw himself with Monica in the future--and no one else.

“I, uh….” He didn’t get a chance to answer. Monica was tapping on the window, crooking a finger at him, that tight smile on her face that let him know he was in trouble without her having to say it or show everyone else she was pissed. “I have to go.”

“All right. It was nice to talk to you.”

He smiled at her and headed back to the dining area, sure he was about to get an earful from Monica. But then, that was nothing new.