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The invitation was at his father’s house.
Vlad was keeping the house for now. There were still significant avenues tied to it that were still in process. Also, the area was developing and would sell for a very nice profit if he waited longer, when demand would surpass supply.
So much for the disinheritance the man had threatened when Vlad changed his business studies for the paranormal. When he’d met Jack. And Maddie.
Jack and Maddie, who were getting married.
The RSVP date had passed, but the wedding had not.
Should he go? Watch the woman he loved become out of his reach? To see their happiness, to see that their lives had gone on without him?
Show them how he was doing without them?
Yes. To show that he had overcome the accident that Jack had done to him. To show Maddie what a mistake she was making. How could Jack support a family? Even the most perfect woman could be dragged down by an idiot.
* * *
While he still had very far to go, Vlad was already a very wealthy man. He had come into the bounty from generations of skinflints and misers. And that was before using his unique talents. So he made sure to wear an exceptionally fine suit and bought them a flatware set that cost more per setting than the whole set that they had registered. Took a sharp bite of dark pleasure in imaging them using the cutlery every day, a daily reminder of his superiority.
There was chaos when he arrived. A child was crying. The staff at the venue were only just then putting up the flowers. The limo service for the bride’s party canceled without notice.
Vlad wandered idly. The sweetheart suite was both a wedding and reception business, and he amused himself by thinking about all the ways he could exchange the ‘family charm’ for professionalism and success. He shouldn’t have been allowed into the staging rooms but no doors were locked, the only one actually even closed was for the bride’s suite. The word repetition irritated him. But he would not intrude into Maddie’s personal space. Even if she was making a terrible mistake.
The first person who recognized him was Jack’s father. John? Jacob? He made a snort. “There you are. Second door on the right.”
“What?” he asked but the other man continued in the opposite direction.
The room was overfilled with Jack’s family, with the recognizable family build. Maddie’s second cousin Paul looked like a ring-bearer in comparison. At least they were wearing something other than hazmat, jumpsuits, or denim. A florist’s box was open on a table, with at least one of them still putting on a boutonniere. The man closest to Vlad turned around and then sighed.
Jack’s brother Michael.
“Take ‘em off, boys,” he said. There was good-natured groaning. “But I just got it right,” came from the first man Vlad had seen.
Off? Why were they taking their flowers off?
“We just got ‘em,” Michael said, while doing just that. “There’s another wedding down at #24, and we got theirs instead. Got it fixed up pretty quick.”
And then raised his voice. “Y’all listen now. Tug gently on the purple ribbon and only the purple ribbon. If you undo the whole thing, I’m siccing Alicia on you.” Many of the men shuddered.
Why were they doing this?
“Jack’s gonna be ecstatic to see you,” he gestured to Vlad. Each man did manage to follow the simple instructions. Michael collected them and then stuck his head out the door. “Tracy! Come fix this!”
Vlad looked at the pile of greenery and ribbons. Wait, what was that? He picked up one of them. The appearance wasn’t what got his attention. It was the scent.
Rosemary.
Why would the boutonnieres all have rosemary? And then why would it be taken off? Was this another mistake by the negligent florist?
A woman tapped his wrist. “I can’t fix it while you’ve got it,” she explained. This must be Tracy. She counted them and frowned. “One’s missing.”
“That’s because Jack run off to help Dad with the sound system,” Michael explained.
First the florist and now the music? What else was this run-down place mess up next?
Michael put his fingers to his mouth, Vlad noticing in time to block his ears before the other man whistled hard enough to rattle the windows.
Under maintained was added to Vlad’s list.
So he missed the running steps until it was too late.
Jack thundered into the room. Then he stopped abruptly, almost falling on Vlad, grabbing Vlad’s arms. “V-man? Vladdy?”
For such a large man, his voice was soft. Almost whispered.
Time seemed to freeze. To Vlad’s chagrin, Jack recovered first. “You’re here!”
Leave it to Jack to state the obvious. “Yes.” He tried to break free but that only made Jack hold him tighter.
“You’re here,” Jack repeated. Tugged him into a crushing hug. “You’re alive, you’re alive!!”
Wait. What?
Softer. “You’re alive,” as if it were enough, after all Vlad had suffered.
“They told us, told us that,” and it was only Vlad’s unique nature that stopped his ribs from cracking, “that you were dead.”
‘I got better,’ almost slipped from his lips.
Who would have told that to Jack?
“The school wouldn’t tell us anything,” Jack answered, as if he had heard. “So we called your father. He said that we’d done enough. That you were dead. He wouldn’t even let us go to your funeral.”
Vlad’s father died early into Vlad’s hospitalization. But even if Vlad had died, his father wouldn’t have held a funeral. That would have been a waste of money, to sit around and pretend that they would miss him, with all the extra fees and services and then people would expect food. That was the exact way his father had left his final wishes. And that was what Vlad had done.
“But if you thought I was dead, then why did you send me a wedding invitation?”
Jack replied, “Because you’re my best friend, Vladdy! Dead or alive! I made sure that ALL the Fentons left their weapons and inventions at home. So if you were a ghost, you would be safe here!”
The Fentons traced their paranormal hunting legacy back to colonial days, and likely was rooted in them before they came to America. Getting just one of them to hold back had taken hours of negotiation, when they were working on a working ectoplasm meter scale over break. All of the Fentons? Even those just attending?
“Even burned one to you, so it might find you. In the Ghost Zone.” Vlad’s spine almost crunched under the force of Jack’s euphoria. “But you’re here! Alive!!”
They hadn’t abandoned him? They thought he was dead?
“Um, Uncle Jack?” A little girl, maybe five or eight, had tugged on Jack. “Mom says do your hugging later because you’re crushing the rosemary.”
Tracy tapped her foot, holding one hand out toward Jack and Vlad. “I’d give you more time but we’re behind enough as it is.”
Jack patted Vlad hard enough to shake him before letting go. “Good girl, Amy.”
As Vlad watched, Tracy did take out the same rosemary of his boutonniere and handed it back to Jack. She deftly wove them all together. A boutonniere of rosemary? What for?
Then she pulled out a safety pin from somewhere and attached it to Vlad’s very expensive suit.
But wasn’t Michael –
Jack’s brother shook his hand. Which had a small jewelry box inside. “I knew I was just standing in. Real glad you made it.” He looked around, then lowered his voice. “Alicia’s the maid of honor. Sorry.”
“Oh, have to call the hotel, let Tammy know she’s in,” Tracy said, leaving.
“And now you’ve made my daughter’s day too,” Michael chuckled.
Someone that Vlad didn’t know ran up. “They found a mini-limo for Maddie and Alicia. You said your friend has a fancy van for the other girls?”
“Yeah, he’s local,” Michael answered. “I got this, Vlad. You just keep Jack here.”
Maddie. Shouldn’t someone call –
Benjamin, Maddie’s father, interrupted his thoughts. “The programs came in. Unfolded.”
In no time at all, Benjamin had found an unused clean flat table, gave a stack to each of them, then demonstrated how to fold one. Thankfully there was only one box.
Vlad wasn’t given a chance to protest. The pattern was mind-numbingly simple: left fold, right fold, smooth over, put away, and repeat.
Then he saw his own name.
“In Loving Memory of Our Best Friend Vlad Masters,
Taken Away from Us Too Soon,
Best Man Emeritus."
“There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance; pray, love, remember.”
This couldn’t be an elaborate prank. Who would go this far to pretend that he had died?
Vlad didn’t notice the programs in front of him being taken away or when others helped with the task. He was in shock. Why was the printed word more powerful than when spoken?
“Hey.” He was gently shaken by Michael. “It’s okay. Let’s go line up now.”
And so he followed, stood where he was told. Escorted Alicia, who actually smiled at him. Stood at Jack’s immediate left. Petted the pocket with its prize.
Maddie. The woman he loved. Breathtakingly beautiful. A vision in white and lace. Elegant calla lilies. Wrapped with purple ribbons and surrounded by rosemary.
As she processed, he allowed himself to dream, that this was his wedding, that she was his bride. That she was looking for him when she stopped before the officiant.
She was looking right at him!
“Vlad,” she called to him. “Oh God, Vlad, you’re alive!”
Then she slapped Jack hard enough to make him stagger. “You knew about this?!”
“Yes, I mean no, not like that! He was just there! When the flowers were fixed!”
“You’re alive,” and her laughter was pure joy. “That lying bastard.”
Vlad almost wished his father back to life, if only to watch Maddie destroy him.
“You’re here.”
She had missed him. She had mourned him.
They both had. They were interrupting their own wedding because of his presence.
Because he was alive and they thought he was lost.
Who knows how long they would have stood there, lost in this revelation?
Jack’s father cleared his throat. “We have a wedding to perform. Catch up after.”
That brought out laughter from their audience. This was not something to share. There was a later, now.
During the service, Vlad watched Maddie. Her smile, her voice, in his direction. She was full of joy. And he loved her so much.
Loved her. Enough to want her to be happy. And she chose Jack.
If he hadn’t been separated from her, would she have chosen him?
That wasn’t the look of someone resigned to their fate. That was joy and love and happiness.
He wanted her, loved her so much. But most of all, he wanted her to be happy.
His smile hurt yet he would not ruin Maddie’s special day. Would not ruin her wedding. Would not ruin her life, just because she didn’t choose him. So he let her go.
“I’m so glad you made it, Vladdie!” Jack said, arm in arm with Maddie. Joy beamed out from them both in an aura of warmth and light.
Vlad’s smile hurt a little less. “So am I.”