Chapter 80

This did not look good. Jeff had never wowed me with his sartorial splendor, but this outfit was not anybody's concept of wedding attire.

He led me into a bathroom and closed the door for privacy. Was this a metaphor for flushing our wedding down the toilet?

"Couldn't we have done this just a little bit earlier?" I asked. "We're supposed to start in around fifteen minutes."

"They never start when they're scheduled; I'm pretty sure that would cause a rift in the time-space continuum."

I suddenly realized everything would be alright. I had misjudged Jeff yet again.

"I needed time to think. And," he blushed, "I was being childish. I wanted you to suffer."

"I'm so relieved."

He looked surprised and uncomprehending.

"You're not perfect."

"Not by a long shot."

"I didn't trust you. I should have known, but I didn't trust you. And again, today, I didn't know what you were going to do. I should have just trusted you."

"How do you know what I'm going to do?" Jeff asked.

"You were late; very late."

"You've lost me, Ashley."

"You would never have come this late if you weren't going to go through with it. You would never allow all these guests to come and wait only to be told there would not be a wedding. You could have made a decision not to marry me and to punish me harshly for my lack of trust. But, you could never make all these guests suffer to carry that out."

"Nice bit of deduction, Watson. Or maybe you're Holmes. I'm not sure."

I grabbed him and hugged him as hard as I could. He hugged me back.

"I love you, stupid. And you deserve that name for being too stupid to live. I've pieced together what happened from what you told Mom and Sandy. This would have been a much more difficult decision if you hadn't realized on your own what you had done.

"If you had carried your attitude through today I probably would have shown up earlier and called it off."

My heart felt like it stopped at that possibility.

"We might have been able to get over it later. But, if you needed somebody else to tell you what you had done, I think that would have been the end. I would never have been able to trust you if you couldn't trust me until somebody told you that you should. I would have no idea what your limits would be if you couldn't figure out you were wrong."

"I'm so sorry."

"I know. So, tell me, why exactly was I an asshole?"

I winced. I didn't just fail to trust him; I went nuts.

"Well, first, Sabrina told me you seduced her."

Jeff started to laugh and he didn't seem to be able to stop.

"She's gorgeous. She's almost as beautiful as I am."