Flight Risk

16 - Adams-Vanderhoff Wedding Part 3

Two familiar women with wide grins in mismatched bridesmaid dresses made a beeline for me. I stayed behind in this uncrowded section of the yard and motioned for Vince and Caleb to carry on.

"Look at you, world traveller," Shayne exclaimed. Her honey-blonde hair was in a pixie cut with her bangs swept to her right side. It paired well with her floor-length mango-coloured dress with a halter neck.

"This is cute." Hannah grasped at my shorter red dress before leaning down to pull me into a hug, with Shayne joining in a second later.

I stared at the friends I'd had since we were scrappy little kids. We'd changed a fair bit, but Hannah's dark brown eyes still took in the best parts of the world. Her long black wavy hair contrasted with her rose satin dress, perfect for the romantic. Shayne was the one who'd come on adventures to explore the bush with me to find different critters and bugs. She'd grown out of that, and I'd only shifted from the forest to the ocean.

"You two look amazing."

Shayne shrugged as if it were no large feat. The girls asked about my flight and where in the world I found myself these days, not surprised I hadn't been able to stay put and work in one country.

"You need to visit more often," Hannah lamented.

"Or we need to visit her more often." Shayne grinned, and I matched her gesture.

She had visited for my first winter holidays away, which had been quite nice, as Christmas was lonely abroad in a country that mainly celebrated the commercial aspects, which was fitting, given that Thailand was a predominantly Buddhist country. We'd gone up to Chiang Mai to zip line, explore temples, and celebrate the New Year with floating lanterns.

"You would love diving in Indonesia. Manta rays as big as a car, Komodo dragons bold enough to take down monkeys for their supper. It blows my Thai dive site out of the water, just saying."

I was growing homesick for my second home, though there were aspects of Thailand I missed too, like the mouth-watering food, including sweet and spicy som tam salad and the wonderful locals I'd befriended.

Hannah's heart-shaped lips curved into a frown. "The dragons sound terrifying!"

"I'm down. Though rumour has it, you may already have someone to spend your holidays with now."

Mirth sparkled in Shayne's bright blue eyes. Even though it was an absurd notion, the thought that Caleb might visit family and want to meet up for a day or two seemed exciting.

"Is that him with Vince?" Hannah asked.

I bit my lip. "It is."

They both studied me as the scorching summer sun beat down on us, not as strong as I was used to, but enough to make me sweat.

"His name is Caleb. He's a friend of Vince's, and we've been dating for a few months."

I was almost confident that matched what we'd established. More elaborate lies were more believable, but starting small might help.

Hannah's jaw dropped. "Months? And you said nothing on the group chat?"

"I wanted to be sure it was the real thing, and surprise you all."

Shayne chuckled, a bit more used to my odd keep-your-cards-close habits. "Claire was shocked and went into a mini panic until she checked the seating arrangements."

That sent a pang of guilt to my chest. She already had so much on her plate and was sweet enough to include me. She'd even offered to put me in the wedding party since we'd been friends forever, but I figured it was better she have someone who'd be there for the other events.