July Raine

That Ship has Sailed

All glasses were raised as Rainey spoke those words. Our eyes met and he smiled at me. The moment was fleeting as people started to approach Maddy and I. We were bombarded with hugs and best wishes. Maddy's sister was the first to hug me. She was so sweet. "I am glad to be getting another sister. Sometimes it is hard to be the only girl especially with those two, he pointed to the brother who was childishly rough housing. She hugged me once again and whispered into my ear, "We'll talk more later." I watched her walk up to her brothers and Maddy picked her up and squeezed her tightly. I heard her say, 'put me down, would you.' Which he obliged, but she was quickly bombarded by her other brother.

My Aunt Bell walked up to me with her arms outstretched and her mouth open with excitement. " How could you keep this from me, I had no clue, not even the least bit of hint. You were very discret."

I shrugged my shoulers, " I wanted to tell you, but we agreed to only tell our parents. The only other person who knew was his sister, only because she guessed."

"What about July?" She looked troubled.

"We talked about everything before we made the announcement, I really think she is okay. I told her we could all be a family without her dad and I being married. She really seemed okay with that."

"Melonie, I need to tell you something." She looked very serious and even a little scared.

I shook my head. " Not now, and plus I already know. We'll talk after the wedding."

She tilted her head, "You do?"

Our conversation was interrupted by Maddy wrapping his arms around me from behind. Bell took as her cue to move on.

Maddy pecked my cheek. " Hey babe."

"Hey to you. I am glad that is over with."

"Now we can be out in the open." It was a relief.

"Maddy."

"Yeah."

" We need to go talk to Rainey."

He let out a deep sigh. " I know. He didn't seem upset though."

"I know but you can never tell with him."  I was a little afraid for us to have a personal conversation with Rainey.

Rainey was speaking with his parents when we walked up to him. Rainey's family graciously greeted us and gave their congratulations. I think they knew that they must excuse themselves because they quickly disappeared.

"Can we talk Rainey?" I asked with much senserity

He nodded and we headed away from the crowd for some much needed privacy. At first no one spoke. It seemed as no one knew what to say or where to start.

I was unknowingly holding my breath until Rainey said something. " Melonie, if you don't breath you are going to pass out."

His words cause me to blow a large puff of air out of my mouth. This seemed to break this ice.

"Rainey, you know that we are not doing this to hurt you." Maddy's words were very soft and without confrontation. "We didn't plan on falling in love. We tried to make it go away, but no matter how hard we tried, we somehow always came back to one another."

Rainey didn't speak a word, he just stood like a statue and listened to us speak.

"Rainey, deep down you know that we weren't right for each other and no matter hard we tried we would have never made it work. You know that deep down right?"

My words finally brought words for him. " Melonie we could have been good together. We were good together, but like you said, we both know that ship has sailed a long time ago. Would I have liked us to make it work, I can't lie, it would have been great if all the stars had aligned. I've always known that what we had when we were sixteen was long gone."

He was right, we were good together when we were sixteen, even back then we knew it would never work, but neither of us had the guts to say it. If it hadn't been for July we would have never even seen each other again. We were forever linked by our daughter, and that was the only bond we would ever have.

Maddy just stood and listened and Rainey and I spoke back and forth. He wasn't upset he wasn't jealous, he knew that these things needed to be said.

"Rainey, I really wanted it to work, but that would have been very unfair to both of us."

"I would have stepped up if you'd of asked me to back then. We could have been a family"

"I know, but just because we aren't together doesn't mean we aren't a family. I promised July no matter what we'd be a family. I hope that you feel the same way."

"Mel, I've missed out on so much with July already, I'm not missing out on anything else. Wild horses can't keep me away."

This words brought a few droplets to my eyes. Rainey stepped up and wrapped his arms around me and rested his chin on my head. " No matter the situation, I'm really happy for you two."

The hug lasted only for a few moments.When we pulled away he reached out for Maddy's hand. 

"No hard feelings Rainey."

Rainey just shook his head.

"Rainey" Maddy spoke in a serious tone.

"Yeah."

"Would it be awkward to ask you to be my best man."

I was surprised when he chuckled. " Yes it would be very awkward."  He breathed in very deep. "But, there is no way I'd say no."

The moment was very awkward for me, and even when they pulled each other in for a hug. "I'll be damned Maddy Tompson, getting married. I never thought I'd see the day."

I wasn't sure how it happened, or why it happened, but for those few moments it was like there had never been an awkward moment ever between the three of us. I wasn't for what made Rainey change his mind, but in the back of my mind, I think I knew what had caused the change.

After that we parted out ways and we mengled with our guests, once again Maddy and I were seperated. I took this time to set aside and made a much needed phone call.

They phone only rang a few times when she picked up.

'Hey girl, sorry I couldn't make it.'

'Daisy I need you to get in your car and get out here.'

'Melonie what is wrong.'

'Nothing, I am getting married Saturday and I need you to be my maid of honor.'

The phone instantly went silent for several moments. 'Let me make some calls and I'll be on my way.'