The Art of Revenge

Epilogue

I slept for most of the plane ride but near the end the Cameron’s children were awake and singing loudly for all the people in first class to hear. I smiled because I was going to miss them while Maximum recorded a new album and I wasn’t needed.

We landed and I was already late for the wedding. I told Dillon that this would probably happen so he didn’t put me in the wedding party like he wanted to. I changed and did my hair in the airport bathroom and called a cab to bring me to where the wedding was being held.

“You’re dressed nice,” the cab driver commented as we went through the familiar Californian streets. “Going someplace special?”

“My brother’s wedding,” I smiled and messed with my necklace while looking down at my legs. My scars from the fire didn’t even bother me anymore. I wore them proudly.

“Congratulations,” he said and then nothing else was spoken.

I tipped him and got out with my luggage to see a beautiful garden with a barn where I could see people dancing inside. Crap. I missed the ceremony. I dragged my luggage through the pathway and opened the barn doors to be greeted by the lovely smell of roses.

I stepped inside and saw some familiar faces dancing and laughing. I awkwardly stood there, not knowing what to do, until someone approached me.

“Peyton Brandt,” Luke smiled down at me. “What a lovely surprise. You’ve sure grown.”

I blushed and checked my brown curls. I reverted back to a prettier version of my original hair color since red wasn’t really well conceived on adult women.

“Luke,” I said with a formal tone. “You look nice as well.”

He raised an eyebrow and engulfed me in his arms. I laughed when he spun me around. “I’ve missed you!” he cried just like the old Luke that I knew and still loved. “You’ve never came back!”

“Sorry, I’ve been on tour.”

“Ah,” he set me back down on my feet. “So I’ve heard and seen videos of.” He looked around and smirked. “I should let you go put your stuff away and mingle with others. I can’t be hogging you all night, can I?”

I rolled my eyes and grabbed my luggage again. I set it where all these other jackets and purses were and turned around, straitening my dress. All around were lights, flowers, and people. I finally caught someone’s eyes and he came running up to me.

“Peyton!” Dillon screamed and hugged me. “You came!”

“Of course I did, Dill,” I smiled. “I’m sorry I’m late though.”

“No biggie. I’m just glad that you could’ve made it. I’ve missed you, sis.”

“Same,” I smiled and it grew when I saw someone else approaching us. Alyssa was clad in a beautiful wedding gown and her hair was slightly messy from dancing. “Hey. You’re my new sister-in-law.”

She grinned and then hugged me much more delicately than the boys had. “Hey, stranger.”

“It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?”

She nodded. “Well, it actually hasn’t seemed like that long to me because on TV it shows Maximum onstage and I always see you dancing in back. It’s like you were here with us this whole time!”

I shrugged, “I can’t say that the same thing has happened to you guys. It’s been, what, a year or two since I’ve seen everyone?”

Dillon wrapped his arm around his new wife before speaking, “Sounds about right. Anyway, we’ll see you later tonight. There’s probably a lot of people here that want to talk to you.” He gave me a knowing smile before leading Alyssa off to talk to more people.