From the corner of my eye I could see her fold her arms across her chest and sigh. I waited for her to speak, but she was taking her sweet time doing it.
“I just don’t understand why Ella has to be a part of this.”
I paused, not expecting her to say that at all. I thought she’d been disappointed with me. The idea of her not liking Ella? That left a sour taste in my mouth.
“She’s writing an article about the wedding,” I said as I rested my wrist on the steering wheel and tried to relax back against my seat. I didn’t want Coralie to know I was uncomfortable with her talking about Ella like this.
“She just…” Her voice drifted off, so I peeked over at her to see if she was going to continue. “She laughed at me, Asher.” Her gaze was on me now. “And you didn’t say anything.”
“She didn’t laugh at you. She thought you were joking.” I met her gaze, and from her wide eyes and dropped jaw, I knew I’d said the wrong thing. “I am allergic to strawberries, so it felt like a joke for Ella.”
Nope. That justification didn’t help me. If anything, it just made Coralie’s eyes widen even more.
“If she’s a reporter, she shouldn’t be laughing even if it was just ajoke.” Her eyes narrowed. “She should be quiet, take pictures, and write down what we’re doing, that’s all.” She brought her feet up to rest on the dash. “I’ve been around enough reporters to know the etiquette. Interjecting yourself is not what agoodreporter does.” She scoffed as she stared out the window. “Just shows that she’s not a very good one.”
My grip tightened on the steering wheel as frustration built up inside of me. I knew that Coralie was upset, but taking her anger out on Ella wasn’t going to fly with me. I also knew that if I let my first instinct take over and jumped to defend Ella, Coralie would wonder why. And the last thing I wanted to do was tell her about our past.
“I sure she didn’t mean anything by it,” I said, as I turned to give Coralie a smile, hoping it would help her see that she might be reading into this more than was necessary.
Coralie glanced over at me. She held my gaze for a second and then sighed. “You’re probably right. I mean, she’s just a reporter, right?”
I could feel Coralie’s stress start to lessen, but I knew I couldn’t just let the conversation end there. She needed to know that I’d asked Ella to be my best man, now, or she was going to feel like I’d betrayed her. When I’d first asked Ella, I didn’t think it was a big deal. Now, after hearing how Coralie felt about her, I realized that it had been a big mistake.
A big,bigmistake.
The easiest solution to all of this was to just to tell Ella that she couldn’t be my best man. But for some reason, that was the last thing I wanted to do. Ella had seemed so excited, and I didn’t want to crush her. Maybe Coralie would understand. I doubted it, but I was going to hope.
“Actually,” I started slowly.
Coralie glanced over at me. “What?”
I paused. “I asked her to be my best man.”
Silence. Thick, heavy, palpable silence filled the cab of the truck, and I realized that I’d gotten my answer. Coralie did not understand. And I could tell from the way she was staring at me, that even thinking she would understand why I would ask Ella to be my best man had been ridiculous.
“Asher…I…”
I kept my gaze on the road, too scared to turn and see her facial expression.
“Why would you ask her to be your best man?”
Because I was a glutton for punishment. Because I was desperate to pretend that my relationship with my best friend wasn’t broken. ThatIwasn’t the one who broke it. It seemed at every turn I was making the wrong move. Over and over again.
“She’s my best friend,” I said, my voice low. I decided honesty was going to be the best policy when it came to Coralie and Ella. “She offered and I accepted.” I glanced over at her. “I didn’t think that you would have a problem with it.” I offered her a soft smile, hoping that would dispel her frustration.
Coralie eyed me before she sighed and turned her attention to the road in front of us. “You were wrong. I have a problem with it. I don’t want her to be your best man.” She tapped her fingers on her knees, which she had drawn to her chest. “She can’t be your best friend anymore.” Her left hand found my right as she slid her fingers in between mine. “I am your best friend now.”
What she was saying was true. With a fiancée who was going to be my wife in a week, I shouldn’t have other female best friends. Coralie should be my one and only focus. Ella had turned me down in the romance department. And I was beginning to realize that if I kept trying to fix our relationship, there was a real possibility it could destroy my marriage with Coralie in the process. My relationship with Ella no longer mattered, even if that thought made my heart feel like it was dying.
“But you can’t be my best man and my fiancée at the same time.” I smiled at her as I came to a stop at a red light.
“Right, but it’s not like you don’t have any guy friends to ask.” She leaned in and pouted her bottom lip.
I studied her. I didn’t want to just tell her that I would pull back my acceptance of Ella’s offer. But what other choice did I have? If I fought Coralie on this, she’d wonder why. This wedding was supposed to make everybody happy. I was determined to fulfill my end of the bargain.
“Okay,” I said softly.
“Okay?” She sounded surprised as she pulled back and blinked a few times. “You’ll find someone else?”
