His face goes solemn. “Stella wants to talk to you, Sunny. She’s here,” he says, and my heart sinks down to the floor. Through it, actually. It’s probably halfway to China right now. “Well, she lives here. But she’s coming here because Leif invited her, but I didn’t say no either. It might be a good thing if you talked to her.”
The closure. Stella. I should have known, yet it still hurts. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Tyler.”
“Don’t call me Tyler. Come on. It makes me uncomfortable even asking, but that’s because she knows the man I was before there was you. That’s why I’m not scared. I’m that confident in my convictions, and my decisions, and my love for you.”
“Why does she want to talk to me?” It comes out in a rushed panic.
Before he can answer, I see her. What I assume is her, even in my drunken state, because she’s looking for someone, her eyes scanning the crowd and the booths, until she finally spots ours…and then me. Stella is blonde and tall, and as beautiful as you’d expect. “She’s here,” I tell Tahoe. His gaze traces mine and I can see his chest heave a huge sigh next to me. Stella walks toward our table, a small smile on her face, and for some reason my fear vanishes. She’s married, Tahoe said. She has a baby, a family. He said she’s happy. This woman is not a threat. She was never a threat if what Tahoe says is true.
Tahoe stands to greet her, and helps me stand. “Caroline, this is my old friend, Stella. Stella, meet my fiancée, Caroline.”
Stella shakes my hand, and eyes my ring. “You lucky dog,” Stella says, winking at Tahoe. “It’s so nice to meet you, Caroline. Tyler has told me so much about you.” He has? “Only the best of things. It’s like I’m looking at a legend right now,” she adds, eyeing me up and down. It’s not malicious or catty in the way that Britt sometimes regards me, it’s her taking stock of me. It’s curious and confusing.
“I wish I could say the same,” I return. “It is great to meet you. Any friend of Tahoe’s is a friend of mine. Would you like to sit? Have a drink?” I ask, southern manners dictating I host, even when I’m not really hosting.
“I just wanted to stop in and give you both my congratulations. I wouldn’t intrude on your special night,” Stella replies. Leif pulls himself away from Malena to greet Stella and I can see the daggers in my friend’s eyes. Aimed directly at her current threat. Stella. If I could will her cattiness away for a minute, I would. Right now. Because she has no clue.
“Stella,” I interrupt. “Tahoe mentioned you’d like to chat with me for a bit. What do you say? They have a table in the other room we could sit at for a moment or two?” Leif pulls away, some other sense telling him to back away from the woman and return to the drunken one jockeying for his affection. Stella wishes Leif a goodnight, waves at Malena to show no ill will, and agrees to talk to me.
“Are you sure?” Tahoe asks, seeing the exchange and understanding I only offered to save my friend from embarrassing herself.
“Sure. It’s just a talk, right? What can she possibly say? I love you, Tahoe. Nothing will change that.”
His gaze turns worried as he walks me around the table and all the way into a private room. When it is just the three of us, he kisses my cheek, walks out, and closes the door. The silence is the first thing I notice. “Gosh, I wonder what these rooms are actually for,” I exclaim. “You could kill someone in here and no one would know!” I steady myself on one of the plush chairs.
Stella laughs. “You don’t want to know,” she says. Her smile is friendly and there’s no malice behind it. “Not for killing people, though.”
I blush. “I probably don’t want to know, do I?”
“You really are more beautiful than he let on. The innocence box was checked the second you said hello. You know what I think Caroline, flyer of planes and slayer of beastly hearts?”
I grin. “Huh?” I ask.
“That if one person was created for everyone, you were made for him. A few years ago I’d be upset about that, but now that I’ve found my own happiness outside of him, I couldn’t be more thrilled. He deserves to be happy, you know?” Her eyes glass over. “He’s had a really hard life. Had to make some tough decisions.” She looks away, almost as if she’s talking directly to him instead of to me. “He’s the best friend everyone hopes to have. I think losing him as a best friend was the hardest part for me.”
My stomach sinks. I am Stella’s overdue closure. I am the walking talking happily ever after she didn’t get. “He is a great man. No one goes without flaws, but his are of the most forgivable variety. He makes mistakes, but his heart is big. He loves me more than I deserve,” I say. “I’m sorry you lost him as a friend, Stella. But didn’t you leave him?”
“Sit down. Please. Should we grab that drink?” she asks. Suddenly, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be. She has information about the man I’m about to marry. With her, she carries a perspective no one else on this entire earth will have. I’d be a fool to act like a jealous fiancée and turn this opportunity down. We both know I’ve already won. There’s no sense to be bitter about it. She’s not. I won’t be.
We start with small talk about her husband and baby and I find myself engrossed with her life. The life she could have had with Tahoe if she hadn’t broken it off, right? But it doesn’t take long for her to veer back to our initial conversation. “Caroline, I broke up with Tahoe, because he didn’t…love me. Not like he loves you. The way you’re supposed to love a person you’re meant to be with forever.”
I widen my eyes. “Oh.” It’s the only response I can muster.
She smiles sadly. “It’s obvious how much he loves you. He told me he blew it with you. The whole drunken, truck cab incident,” she says, her voice trailing off. She’s embarrassed for him. For me. For having to bring it up. “He thought he’d lost you for good. Do you know what he told me?”
Sighing, I take a sip of my water. “I’m not sure I want to know,” I reply, honestly.
“You do,” she says, eyes twinkling. “That you were too perfect for him.”
I laugh at that. “I’m not even close to perfect,” I muse, mostly for my own benefit. “He sees me in some alien light, I think.” We both make a joke about his obsession with perfection, and it’s easy. She knows him. It’s a strange sensation, but not wholly unwelcome.
“That’s it. That’s what love is. What the real stuff is made of. Seeing through your person.” Her eyes light. “I just want you to know how much you mean to him because I know what it feels like to not mean that much.” Her voice catches. “Your innocence doesn’t play into this.”
“How much did he tell you?” I ask, clearing my throat.
“He took my virginity. It was awful,” she says, a smile playing on her lips.
I choke on a sip of water. “Oh my God!” I laugh.
