Marty put down his drink and began to walk across the room. When Olivia saw him she ran her hands over the skirt of her dress as if nervous. She sucked in a quick breath and approached him, halting just a few feet from where Mel and Joe had stopped dancing to watch, just in case any refereeing was required.
Marty didn’t say anything. He stood with his hands on his hips, looking at her as if he didn’t know what to make of her sudden appearance.
Olivia reached a hand out to him, but then pulled it back.
“What do you want, Liv?” Marty asked. His voice wasn’t unkind but Mel knew he was hurt that Olivia hadn’t listened to him when he wanted to explain.
Olivia looked him in the eye and with a voice that trembled, she said, “‘I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.’”
Marty’s jaw dropped and then he was reaching for her. He wrapped her in his arms and said, “I do, Liv, I do love you.”
Mel felt her eyes go wide. Had Olivia just used a movie quote to make up with Marty?
“Notting Hill,” Joe whispered. “Even I know that one.”
Mel laughed. She glanced up and saw Angie on the other side of Marty and Olivia with the same gobsmacked expression on her face. They shared a look and Mel raised her hands as if to ask, What do we do?
Angie shrugged and pointed to the dance floor. She grabbed Tate by the hand and led the way, leaving Mel and Joe to follow.
Dinner, dancing, more dinner, then Oz’s cupcakes, which were amazing and made Angie cry because they had been so carefully rendered with such obvious love. The night whirled around Mel in a kaleidoscope of emotions, with bright pink flashes of happiness spotted with green sparkles of tenderness swirled with tiny orange dots of anxiety. But she needn’t have worried at all. It was a perfect day.
If there was a dim spot, it was that she never did get a chance to tell Angie how happy she was for her, how much she valued her, and how grateful she was to have her in her life. It was okay, though; today wasn’t about Mel and Angie, it was about Tate and Angie. Mel would find the time to talk to Angie when she got home from her honeymoon. She tried to be okay with that.
When Angie and Tate made a dash to their limousine to leave for their honeymoon, Mel stood outside under the perfect starlit sky and waved good-bye with Joe at her side and their friends all around.
Angie passed out hugs and kisses and laughs while Tate held the car door open for her.
“Mrs. Harper,” he finally yelled. “We’re going to miss our plane.”
Angie ignored him and then her eyes went wide and she spun around. “Mrs. Harper? I’m Mrs. Harper.”
“That you are.” Tate grinned. He opened his arms and Angie hurried into them, kissing him fiercely to much cheering and applause.
They climbed into the limousine and they were off. Mel stood waving, hoping her friends had the best honeymoon even as she already missed them.
She was the last one waving when she dropped her arm to follow Joe back into the club. The music was still going and people were still dancing, milking the evening for all that it was worth.
A screech of tires sounded and Mel and Joe whipped back around to see that the limo had lurched to a stop. The back door popped open and Angie dashed out. She had her voluminous skirt clutched in two fists as she ran down the sidewalk in her heels.
“Mel,” she cried. “Mel, wait.”
“What is it?” Mel dropped Joe’s hand and hurried forward, meeting Angie halfway. “Are you all right? Did you forget something?”
“Yes, this,” Angie said. Then she grabbed Mel in a hug that strangled.
Mel laughed and then she started to cry. Angie was already crying.
“You’re my best friend,” Angie said. “The sister of my heart. I never would have met Tate if it weren’t for you, never mind married him. Oh, Mel, thanks for being my friend all these years.”
Mel choked, and not just because Angie still had her in a quasi-headlock, but because she had just said everything Mel had been wanting to say.
She pulled out of Angie’s embrace and looked at her. She knew as long as she lived she would never find another female kindred spirit, bosom buddy, or bestie like Angie.
“I feel the same way,” Mel said. “If it weren’t for you, I never would have ended up with Joe, or opened the bakery, or any of it. I’m so very grateful that you’re in my life. Promise me we’ll always be best friends.”
“Forever,” Angie cried. “You’re the Romy to my Michele.”
“The Enid to my Rebecca.”
“The Lucy to my Ethel.”
“The Thelma to my Louise.”
“Except for the ending,” they said together.
Mel laughed and then hugged Angie tight. “Go. Your husband is waiting.”
“Husband!” Angie jumped up in the air and then danced in place. “Okay, I’m going, but you have to make me a promise.”
“Anything,” Mel said.
“You have to promise you’ll be careful while we’re gone. Don’t go investigating this thing with the Palms by yourself. Keep Joe with you at all times. Better yet, don’t do anything, because I will be so worried about you. Please?”
“I promise,” Mel said. She hugged Angie one more time and then gave her a gentle shove. “Now go!”
“Bye,” Angie said. She lifted her skirts as she jogged back to the limo, shouting over her shoulder, “I love you!”
“I love you, too!” Mel answered. She waved and then turned back to the club to see Joe walking towards her.
He took her hand in his. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, Angie and I just had some unfinished business,” Mel said. “Plus, she wanted me to promise to be careful, or more accurately, to stay out of the
