Easier to Lie

Chapter Twenty-Eight

I had never been the "princess-for-a-day" type. I liked my courthouse wedding and I liked having my parents throwing a small celebration. I wanted it to be small. If Mom kept her word, it would be small. Now, I was panicking.

The traditional wedding music began to play, my cue to head outside. When I opened the back door, the only person I could see was Eric. He was standing at the bottom step holding out his hand for me to take. It wasn't until we walked into the crowd that I noticed we didn't have a band—it was a cd playing. That had to be my dad's idea, keeping things simple and cheap. I liked it.

The crowd moved for us to be in the center and music changed to Ed Sheeran "Thinking Out Loud." My nerves were shot because I couldn't dance, and we hadn't practiced anything. Then, I remembered the dance from my dream.

Left, right, back, forward, spin, spin, spin, dip.

For those five minutes, we were the only two people in the entire world. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Ed Sheeran faded out as we were surrounded by cheers and clapping hands. Being the center of attention was new for me, but as long as I focused on Eric, I was okay. I never wanted to leave his side.

Dad approached us at the drink table. "Can I borrow you real quick?" he asked me. I finished my Pepsi in one big gulp then followed him.

"I wanted to give you this," he pulled a small, blue box from his jacket pocket. "It belonged to my mom and I promised to give it to my daughter on her wedding day. Since there really wasn't a wedding," he nervously laughed to hide how bothered he was, "the reception will have to do."

"Dad..." inside the box was a diamond butterfly necklace, "it's beautiful. It was your mom's?"

I never met my dad's parents. They didn't accept my mother, from the stories I heard, and Dad turned his back on them. He chose a life with my mother.

"Kind of. She bought it for you on the day you were born. Your mom was sleeping. I went to check on you, just to watch you looking at the new world around you. My mom showed up and gave me this box. She said to give it to you on your wedding day. Then she left and that was the last time I ever saw her. That day at the hospital, that was it."

"Thanks. Put it on me," I turned around and held up my hair, so he could hook the necklace.

"Beautiful," he started to say something else, but stopped himself. "Now, how about that dance?"

We joined everyone when the Van Halen song started. I saw my mom roll her eyes, it made me laugh a little. Then another surprise from my dad. Van Halen turned into The Temptations, "My Girl." Dad used to sing it to me every night when I was a kid. We had our father/daughter dance to that song. My wedding celebration was perfect.

There were no gifts, and I was okay with that. I was happy to be celebrating with my husband and my parents. Having Betty there was great too. I looked around at all the smiling faces and it made feel good, like I had done something great. The only face missing was Leah's.

I could see her in the window watching us. She wanted to be there, she would never say no to a party, and honestly, I wanted her there. I missed her. I needed her. But nobody needed to know that. I softly smiled at her, but she showed no reaction.

We ate, we danced, we laughed—everybody was getting along wonderfully. My parents danced and shared a slice of the Star Wars red velvet cake. It was obvious they still cared for each other. Dad looked at her like she was the most beautiful woman in the world. The same way Eric looked at me.