“Come to the wedding with me. It’ll be fun, and you can meet everyone.”

Sasha read the text from Kassandra. She considered how to reply. On the one hand, it would be an easy introduction to the group. On the other, it would raise several dilemmas. 

Her phone alerted her; part two of Kassandra’s message arrived.

“I’ll help run interference with David, if that would help.”

Oh, K. Sasha smiled. Your kindness is genuine, even if you are a bit out of the loop. As if I wouldn’t want to see David, or as if it would be me who would be uncomfortable. Bless your heart.

She typed her answer “Thank you, K. Would love to.”

The response popped up immediately. “Yay!” accompanied by several happy face emoticons.

Sasha sent a smiley face back. Why not? She had nothing to lose by keeping Kassandra on her side. She went to the bathroom of the little house she’d rented for her stay. “House” was generous – it was a converted garden shed, with a tiny bathroom, but it was comfortable and private. On the back of the bathroom door hung a full-length mirror, and Sasha posed in front of it. She imagined herself in a killer little black dress, one that would show off her long legs, and the look on David’s face when he would see her at the wedding.

Should that be his first glimpse? She pondered. So far, she had not succeeded in “running into” David, and maybe that was for the best. If he did not know she was in town, and then she made an entrance at his father’s wedding, she might catch him in a vulnerable state. She knew David well enough to believe he would not be completely happy for his father. There would be some niggling reluctance, some personal agenda, some old hurt sitting in his heart like a shard of ice, ready to chill any temptation to be happy for Douglas. 

Sold on this plan, Sasha grabbed her bag and car keys. No way a town like this one would have the dress she needed, so it was time for a little road trip.