“I am indeed. I could say I’m your plus one or I could say Elle asked me to come up with her own bespoke cocktail, which I did, or I could say Elle invited me, which she also did. I don’t think she wanted you to be alone.” He seemed pleased that he could surprise me.

“You knew all this time you were coming and didn’t tell me?” I said and swatted him. “So what’s your bespoke cocktail for Elle?”

“I came up with two. Wedded Bliss, which is pink, for Elle. Dirty Bridegroom for Robbie.” He was clearly tickled with himself. “The Dirty Bridegroom is pretty tame. Be careful with Wedded Bliss. It will knock you straight under the table,” he laughed, and I did too. It felt good.

We walked inside the hall to find our places. We were at the table with Reggie and David.

“Wow, this is incredible! Who did all this?” Griffin asked.

“She is incredible, and you’re sitting right next to her. It was Bailey,” Reggie said and squeezed my hand.

“You did this, Bae? I’m impressed.” He reached under the table and squeezed my knee.

“We want to see pictures of your place,” Reggie said.

“All these nights when Bailey was on her computer, we thought she was surfing porn,” David interjected, and Reggie gave him a stern look. We all laughed. “She was shopping for your condo.”

“I’m lucky to have her.” Griffin smiled at me. A dangerous alchemy of once-dormant emotions, free-flowing cocktails, and the ambiance of a wedding caused strange feelings to swirl inside me. I took a deep breath. Was it the cocktails or the atmosphere that were causing me to become increasingly unsteady?

The crowd was thinning. Finally, as Robbie and Elle were leaving, she threw her bouquet, but instead of finding Reggie, it landed right in my arms. I panicked and tossed it promptly to Reggie. She and David retreated to their hotel. This left Griffin and me and my belly full of Wedded Bliss cocktails.

“I’m going for a nightcap at a place I want to check out in Aquinnah. Care to join?” Griffin inquired. My vocabulary had collapsed. The word “no” had fallen out entirely.

We floated out of the reception and into a waiting car. We drove on winding roads for what seemed like forever, and yet time seemed suspended. We passed the lighthouse.

“What is your plan—to dump me in some deserted landfill or something?” I asked, not really caring where we were going.