“She’s always right,” Eric repeated obediently.
Myrna laughed. “But if you need to spice things up a little, falsely accuse her of being wrong.”
Brian patted Eric’s chest with the flat of his hand. “Just make sure you admit she’s always right after the hot, angry make-up sex.”
“Got it,” Eric said.
“Brian?” Jessica said, laying a hand on Brian’s arm.
Brian turned his head to look at her. “Yeah?”
“Will you please have this little talk with Sed?” she asked.
“Sure. When’s your wedding again?”
“Don’t wait until we’re married. He needs to learn this now!”
Everyone laughed, even the Blakes, who were huddled in a perma-hug around Dave and his wheelchair. Eric noticed the only one still sitting in the pews was Rebekah’s friend Isaac. It was probably hard for him to see Rebekah marry someone besides himself and even harder to be completely ignored by Trey, who he was obviously still mooning over. Poor guy. Eric separated from his group of admirers and joined Isaac on the gleaming wood bench. Isaac glanced up, his hazel eyes wide with surprise.
“Why are you sitting over here by yourself?” Eric asked.
“I just wanted to be here for Rebekah. I don’t want to intrude on her happiness.”
“She’d probably like that though,” Eric said. “Personally, I don’t know why she likes you so much. You’re sort of a douche.”
Isaac blinked at him in shock.
Eric grinned. “I’m joking,” he said. “I do that sometimes.” And sometimes he hid behind jokes so he could speak his mind freely, but Isaac didn’t need to know that.
“Oh.”
“But even though you’re a douche and really hurt her feelings, she’s forgiven you. I don’t get it. I’d have cut you from my life and buried you in the backyard.”
He did sort of get it, actually. He had a friend who had hurt him repeatedly and still he couldn’t remove that man from his life. But unlike Isaac, Jon hadn’t had the decency to show up for the wedding. At least Isaac cared enough about Rebekah to show the fuck up. Jon didn’t even have that going for him.
“Her forgiveness is far better than I deserve,” Isaac said.
“So don’t you think you should go tell her that you’re happy for her, even if it’s a lie? I know she’d like to hear that from you.”
Eric glanced over at Rebekah and caught her watching them. He smiled at her and her answering smile was a bit hesitant. She probably thought he was being mean to Isaac. And yep, that had been his first instinct. The man had ripped Rebekah’s heart out, and Eric didn’t take kindly to anyone who hurt her. He also didn’t appreciate Isaac’s attempts to drive him and Rebekah apart. But in the end, Eric had won the girl and Isaac had lost her. Eric figured that was punishment enough for the pretty guy. He did seem to have a good heart under all his confusion.
“I don’t know what to say to her,” Isaac said. “This past week has been hell for me.”
“You can start by not focusing on yourself,” Eric said and rose to his feet. “Maybe ask her how her cancer screening went this morning.”
“That was today?” All the blood drained out of Isaac’s face. “Is she okay?”
“Does she look okay?” Eric asked.
They both stared at the woman in question, who was showing off her enormous, expensive engagement ring and her cheap, meaningful wedding ring to the ladies surrounding her.
“She looks radiant,” Isaac said. “She never looked like that when she was with me.”
As if she could feel Eric’s gaze on her, Rebekah lifted her head and met his eyes over the small crowd of admirers. She smiled brightly, and Eric’s chest swelled with a strong sense of pride. No one made her as happy as he did. Not even Dr. Perfect. Now that was something to crow about. Before he could swoop down on her and carry her out of the church to celebrate, Isaac strode purposefully to her side, took her hand, and pulled her behind the pulpit for a more private word. Eric hardly struggled with his spike of jealousy at all. He trusted Rebekah. It was the impossibly-good-looking physician that he didn’t quite trust.
Chapter Eight
Rebekah stared at the man who’d been her best friend since childhood and decided she didn’t really know him anymore. Or maybe she’d never known him. She’d always thought of him as perfect in every way. Everyone around him had placed him on a pedestal and held him there his entire gifted life. Now that he’d taken a few hits to his ego like everyone else in the world, she decided that she didn’t think less of him. No, now that she could see him as imperfect, she liked him even more.
Isaac took both of her hands in his and gazed deeply into her eyes. “Your husband said I shouldn’t talk about myself today. He said I should focus on you. So here goes.” He took a deep breath. “I’m happy for you, Rebekah. I think you’ve found your match.”
“I don’t mind if you talk about yourself. I know you’re having a rough time. Have you talked to your father since the party?”
He shook his head.
“He’ll come around,” she said. “I’m sure you’re not the first gay man in history to come out to his father and hundreds of onlookers at his surprise fake engagement bash.”
Isaac chuckled, the sound warm and full of heart. “I’d like to meet others who’ve lived through this. Maybe they could tell me what to do with the rest of my life. My plans to take over his practice when he retires have completely fallen through.”