Chapter 329

They both walked up to greet me with a hug and kiss when I finished, and I worried it had been too corny or too sentimental or both. But I was feeling sentimental. I was also really tired. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I looked at my watch. It was barely eleven o’clock. The girls and I had agreed, out of some sense of traditionalism that was desired but nevertheless seemed out of place, to spend the night before the wedding separately.

So I excused myself and headed to a cottage that was at the far east side of the island. I had wanted something secluded and good for self-reflection. I tended to be like a shark in my need for constant motion or movement forward. I didn’t like to stop and look around, but this occasion merited it. If nothing else, it warranted a look back at how I’d ended up here. I couldn’t shake a seemingly inescapable feeling that I had robbed a bank, that it was too good to be true.

I said my goodnights. Jason asked if I needed company, and I said I