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She scanned the crowd for Mikey. She'd have to apologize to him for missing the ceremony. Maybe he hadn't noticed. He surely had plenty of other things on his mind.

Someone near Shiloh started tapping a fork against a wineglass, then other people picked up the clanging, everyone eagerly turning to watch the bride and groom kiss. Shiloh followed the wave to the head table.

There was Mikey. With his curly blond hair and big, goofy smile. He was wearing a white suit. That was obviously Janine next to him in the wedding dress. Then the bridesmaids in pale green satin. And the groomsmen. And Cary.

Shiloh clenched her hands in her lap. Cary was a groomsman.

Right...Right—that made sense. Of course Cary was here.

Of course he wouldn't miss it.

CHAPTER THREE

Shiloh had been imagining this moment since she got Mikey's invitation—but she hadn't known how to picture Cary. He wasn't on Facebook. He didn't turn up in Google searches.

She kept picturing him the way he'd looked in high school—in his ROTC uniform, weirdly—even though she'd seen him since then... At their five-year reunion. Standing across from her in the same old circle of friends. She and Cary had hardly spoken that day. Shiloh had brought Ryan to the reunion; they'd already been married a year. (They hadn't invited Cary to the wedding.)

Shiloh had been imagining this moment—the moment she'd see Cary again—for months, but even in her imagination, it wouldn't mean as much to him as it did to her. Cary wouldn't have been thinking about it all day. He wouldn't have been wondering, worrying, that Shiloh might be here. He wouldn't have bought a new dress, so to speak, just in case.

Cary looked good. Here. Now. From a distance. He looked sharper than the rest of them, less worn down on the edges. He looked tan. His hair was still so short...

He turned, almost like he could feel Shiloh watching him. She was too far away to say that their eyes met—or even to know whether he recognized her—but she smiled a little and raised her hand to wave. Cary waved back. He might just be waving because someone had waved at him.

Shiloh's hand dropped. Cary was still looking in her direction.

He stood up and moved behind the bride and groom. He was saying something to Mikey. He glanced up toward Shiloh again, then shuffled behind the bridesmaids' chairs and out onto the floor, heading toward her.

 

Shiloh straightened her jean jacket. (Why was she wearing a jean jacket?) Cary was wearing a navy blue suit; people must not rent tuxes anymore for weddings. He was walking toward her table now, and Shiloh stood up, then thought that she probably shouldn't have done that—like she was the gentleman, and he was the lady—but it would be weird to sit down now. She straightened her jacket again. Cary was looking at her like, I'm coming. And she nodded like, I see you, and smiled. She waved again, and he waved back. He was nearly there—the tables were packed too tightly, it was slow going. Shiloh wondered whether she should hug him when he got to her. She'd hugged nearly everyone at the other table, plus some of their spouses. She'd gotten very good at casual hugging.

"Shiloh," Cary said when he got to her. "Cary." She smiled at him.

He smiled back.

He looked good. Even up close. Cary had blondy-brown hair and a heart-shaped face with a narrow jaw and a pointy chin. She'd only ever seen him clean-shaven. (Were you allowed to have a beard in the Navy?) He'd been built like a stick of gum back in high school, but he'd filled out now. He looked grown-up. Settled. He looked like he'd gotten out of North Omaha.

"It's good to see you," Shiloh said.

"Yeah," Cary said, nodding. "You weren't at the wedding."

"I wasn't," she agreed. "There was a mix-up with my kids." Did Cary know she had kids?

He nodded, he must know.

"You're a groomsman," she said.

"I guess I did so well the first time, I got invited back."

Shiloh hummed a laugh. "Do you have to give a speech?"

"No, that's the best man—Bobby. He's really drunk, so I'm excited to see how it turns out."

"Maybe you should prepare something just in case."

"I'll improvise."