The Right Thing

My father was in love with Nova Scotia; that much was astoundingly clear.

He couldn’t seem to focus on anything as I drove away from the airport and towards the house on the lake.

He’d always been a person who loved the water, but living in Minnesota all his life had limited to the confines of lakes. There were plenty to choose from back in my home state, but they couldn’t offer what the Maritimes did. The proximity to the ocean was something my father had rarely had an opportunity to experience and it was clear that it struck him in a way I hadn’t expected.

I’d honestly expected him to argue over the fact that we’d chosen to get married in Canada. I thought he’d insist that I rethink the decision and choose to hold the wedding on a weekend in Minnesota instead. But that hadn’t happened. He hadn’t seemed surprised that we were so set on getting married in Nova Scotia. He’d shown no hesitance to head out a couple of days before the wedding and spend some time beforehand either.

He’d taken it all in stride in a way that I had never expected him to.

He was in awe from the moment he stepped off of the plane. I could see it on his face. He’d spoken highly of the view of the Pacific Ocean from Aunt Maggie’s little beach house, but there was something about the cooler Atlantic tide lapping at the coast nearby that was more appealing to my father.

He smiled as I drove him in from the airport. He would be having dinner at the cabin with us. Sidney’s parents and sister were joining us as well. It would mark the first meal shared by our families as a whole. Troy, having missed the trip to Minnesota the previous fall, would be meeting my father for the first time. It was a little nerve-racking given the fact that they were such different people.

I hoped Troy was in a better mood than he had been when I’d seen him the previous week. Even Sidney hadn’t seen much of him either. I could only assume that he was still recovering from his torturous Vegas trip.

“Why are you so happy?” I asked as I turned onto the winding road that led to the house.

“Pride.”

“Pride?”

“Yes, I’m proud because my little girl is marrying a good man. Good enough to be able to take care of her when she needs it, but also good enough to know that she prefers to take care of herself more often than not.”

“I think you think too much.”

“You inherited that trait. But I’m serious, Pooh Bear; I’m so proud of you. I’m happy that you’re happy and your mom would be too.”

The air got heavy as quiet fell over us. Neither of us wanted to start crying, so we left it at that. There was no need to mention her absence as we both knew all too well the pain of it. She was missed and that was as far as we could take it in that moment.

“I hope you and Sid didn’t go to too much trouble putting me up in that fancy hotel.”

“We’re putting everyone up in that fancy hotel.”

“You’re paying for all of the rooms?”

“We rented a block. People who want to pay can. We’ll cover the balance when all is said and done. So don’t go crazy with the pay per view and don’t abuse the room service option. We’ve got bills to pay.”

He chuckled. “Big ones based on this monster,” he said, referring to Sid’s SUV.

“It’s a Chevy.”

“Still.”

“You drive a Cadillac, Dad.”

“I’ve had the same Cadillac since you and that fiancé of yours were fifteen.”

“He’s driven the same Chevy since he was eighteen.”

He shrugged. “I knew he had a good head on his shoulders, but what the hell is he going to do with all that damn money? You sure as hell won’t be spending it, you’re too frugal.”

“Charity, supporting his folks, paying for Taylor’s school, and eventually putting our kids through school. He knows he can’t take it with him but he also knows that he has a career that isn’t likely to take him past his thirties.”

“So you are going to give me grandkids!”

“Is that all you gathered from what I just said? I asked with a sigh. “Eventually. Don’t get ahead of yourself,” I replied as I turned down the driveway.

Trina and Troy’s sedan was already parked in front of the house. I assumed that Taylor, while a licensed driver with a car of her own, had probably ridden along with her folks. There was no need to waste gas in both vehicles.
I could smell the smoke rising up from the grill and I could only assume that everyone was out on the deck behind the house.

“This isn’t a cabin. This is like a mini-mansion wrapped in a cabin.”

“It’s just a house, Dad.”

He scoffed.

I could only imagine how he would react to the modern monstrosity back in Sewickley. The cabin was nothing compared to the real house, and unlike the cabin, his real house didn’t pretend to be something more modest than it was.

Our real house.

I was having trouble getting over the shared ownership hurdle. That would take time to adjust to.

I thought about taking my dad inside for the grand tour, but there would be plenty of time for that in the few days he’d be in town. Instead I led him down the path that led through the bright greenery and around the back of the house. The landscaping opened up to the view of the lake and the custom decking that took up much of the space behind the house.

“Christ,” my father muttered from behind me.

I ignored him as we rounded the house.

“Hey, everybody!” I called as I stepped onto the deck.

Taylor and her mom were sitting at the table which it appeared had already been set. Troy was manning the grill and Sam was down the dock next to Sid. Come fall she would be living with us back in Pittsburgh and Sid was looking forward to it.

“Hey, Chuck!” Taylor called across the deck as she spotted my father.

Troy sent her a glance admonishing her for the casual greeting. My father paid no mind.

“Hello, Miss Taylor. Enjoying summer away from Minnesota?”

“Back to school in a few weeks.”

“I’ll have to drive up from the Falls to see you play again.”

She lit up, dimples threatening to overtake the whole of her face.

“Trina,” he continued. “It’s nice to see you.”

“You too, Chuck.”

I stepped in to introduce our fathers. Sidney was so distracted by fishing that he didn’t even realize I was back. I’d been gone for well over an hour. I’d stopped to pick up a few last minute groceries before picking my father up at the airport. We’d stopped at the hotel to get him settled and checked in before heading to the lake.

I let our folks converse amongst themselves as I wandered down the dock and wrapped my arms around Sidney’s waist and rested my head on his back.

He’d put weight back on; the musculature of his torso was as taut and thick as it had been when we met. I clung to him quietly for a moment.

“Catching anything?”

“Nope. You’re dad doing alright?”

“I think he really likes it here.

“Good. That’s good.”

“What about your dad, better mood?”

“I think he just needed a little space. He’s better today.”

“Good.” I pulled away and put my hands on his arms, squeezing gently. “Come help me carry the groceries.”

“Did you really buy that much?”

“Just come help me, please.”

He sighed and reeled in his line. Sam set to a trot behind us as we headed for the car. My father served as a distracting new thing to smell and she hung back to investigate. Sid and my father exchanged a quick greeting as we left the dog behind us with the others.

“Why are you being antisocial?”

“I’m not.”

“Fishing while your family grills and hangs out…”

“I guess I’m starting to get overwhelmed.”

“Cold feet?”

“Not at all. It’s just…” He trailed off.

“Just what?”

“Two days from now you’re going to be Bronwyn Abigail Crosby.”

“Or Doyle-Crosby; I haven’t decided.”

“You know what I mean. This is a big deal.”

I plucked one bag from the backseat, leaving the other for Sidney.

“And the monumental nature of marriage didn’t hit you until today?”

“I always knew how big of a deal it is, Wyn. It’s just that as it gets closer, it becomes more real.”

“Scared?”

He shook his head. “Excited.”

“I am too.”

“Not freaking out?”

“Wednesday night. That’s when I’ll freak.”

Our guests would be filtering in during the week, all of them staying in the same hotel. A select few would join us for the rehearsal and dinner on Tuesday. Mario and Nathalie had been chomping at the bit to have a part in things and they’d insisted on hosting the rehearsal dinner. We chose not to argue.

Neither of us was looking forward to Wednesday night. We would both be staying at the hotel on completely different floors. We wouldn’t be allowed to see one another or even the backyard until the night of the wedding.

Even more of our guests would be present for the wedding on Wednesday. But the real party would start on Thursday when we had the reception at the ballroom Morgan had found for us in Halifax. That’s where there would be plenty of drinks and dancing. The dinner was bound to be enjoyed by all and the cake was something that I’d marveled at when I’d seen the plan. It was more extravagant than I’d initially hoped, but it was the way it went with hundreds of guests.

“Just don’t freak out to the point that you want to run away.”

“Not a chance,” I replied.

We carried the groceries into the kitchen and moved to join our family on the deck. Everyone seemed to be getting along swimmingly as we watched from the doorway where I’d heard Sidney say that he loved me for the first time.

“I just want to tell you,” Troy was saying, “You and your wife did an incredible job raising Bronwyn. She’s just been a wonderful addition to Sidney’s life. Our family loves her and I know she’s been living plenty far east of you for a while, but just know that when she’s here, we’ll do everything to treat her like our own.”

“Thank you. I know Mel would have loved to hear that.”

My father was smiling. “The same stands for that son of yours. Not a lot of people get invited into my little girl’s life and the ones that do are usually pretty extraordinary. Sidney is certainly that.”

I felt Sidney’s hand on the small of my back as tears stung my eyes. He stood next to me, beaming.

“What is it with this fucking doorway?”

My words were meant for Sidney, but everyone heard. Sidney laughed brightly. Their eyes lingered on us for a moment as I caught a smile on Troy’s face. He knew the issue with the doorway as well as I did.

“What the hell?” Taylor muttered, only to receive a withering glance from her mother. She ignored Trina as Sidney and I took our seats at the table.

“I was in that doorway when your brother told your dad that he loved me.”

“Quite the first impression,” Troy admitted.

“I just seem to hear a lot of things that I’m not meant to when I stand in that doorway.”

We conversed quietly as we shared our meal.

“Sorry I didn’t make it to Vegas, Sidney. And I’ve got to say, I never expected a phone call from someone like Fleury.”

“They invited you?” I asked.

“You didn’t miss much,” Sidney assured my father.

“You missed plenty, Chuck. But you should be happy about it, that’s for sure.”

“How bad was it?”

“Bad enough,” Troy replied.

“Too bad Chuck wasn’t there, Dad. You guys could have been miserable together.”

“Vegas isn’t my speed anymore. Mel and I went once for a medical conference. We really only spent one night out, but that was more than enough for me. Mel liked it. She never admitted it to me, but I know she enjoyed trips to bigger cities. I could always see it on her face; she missed the pace of a place like Boston.”

“She was plenty happy in the Falls, Daddy.”

“I know, sweetie. But she probably would’ve been happier somewhere bustling.”

I saw his point. I knew he wished she hadn’t given up so much for him, but I could completely understand why she did.

“Maybe, but as soon as she left Boston, it wasn’t home to her anymore. Trust me on that.”

I felt Sidney’s hand on my lower back.

I couldn’t imagine choosing my life in Boston over my life with him. Even if I hadn’t fallen in love with Pittsburgh or the cabin in Nova Scotia, I couldn’t fathom not wanting to be where he was. I knew that my mother had felt the same way. She’d moved to a tiny town to be with my father because nothing else mattered after she decided he was the one she needed to spend her life with.

I was really beginning to understand my mother on that level.

“Bronwyn has told us a little about your wife. She sounds like a wonderful woman,” Trina murmured as I turned my attention to the burger on my plate.

“She was something. It’s remarkable how much Bronwyn turned out like her. They’ve got the same spirit.”

I smiled. It was nice to hear. It was also nice to hear happiness in my father’s voice when he spoke of her. His words didn’t carry the tone of sadness that they had when he’d spoken to Sidney back in Minnesota. He wasn’t thinking about how much he missed her, he was thinking about the things that I’d inherited from her.

“We would have loved to meet her,” Troy said.

It was unusual for him to be so drawn into a more sensitive conversation. It wasn’t like him to speak of feelings or anything emotional in nature. He wasn’t touchy feely and what demonstrative skill Sidney had, came from his mother and grandmothers.

“She would have loved to meet you too, I’m sure of it. But I know that according to her philosophy, if she were alive, none of us would be sitting here right now.”

I had to agree with my father on that subject. My mother was always insistent that the world worked in a way you couldn’t possibly predict. She believed that everything that happened in her life had an impact on the world around her in subtle ways. If you changed one thing, she believed that the whole world would feel the effects of it.

“Mom was someone who believed in fate and that everything happens for a reason. I do too, to a certain extent. If you look at it that way, if Mom were here, Sid and I never would have met.”

“I don’t agree,” Sidney murmured around a mouthful of vegetables.

“Really? Because I know I wouldn’t have run away to Boston when I was eighteen if she was here. I would have moved to the Twin Cities to go to school. I know I wouldn’t have made it further away than Chicago. You would’ve met some other fascinating girl at the coffees shop and we never would have even crossed paths. You’d be doing all of this with another girl now.”

“That’s deep,” Taylor murmured.

“Deep, but wrong,” Sid replied.

“How so?”

He gave me a look that told me I was about to get schooled and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes as he began explaining his take on the matter.

“You say that you wouldn’t have moved East. You would have stayed in Minnesota, which is all well and good. I would have run into you at some bar where you were with your college friends after a Wild game. Same thing if you’re wound up in the Windy City. I would have bumped into you in some random sandwich shop when I was in town for whatever reason.

“Maybe you would have come to a Penguins game because the tickets aren’t as expensive in those markets. Maybe you would have been forced to visit Sebastian when you least expected it and we would have met at a café there.”

I chuckled. “That’s a lot of maybes to consider, babe.”

“Don’t interrupt, I’m on a roll.”

“Sorry. Continue.”

“No matter what, wherever I met you, you would have done something phenomenal enough that I would convince you to give me your number. I’d probably make a fool out of myself, but eventually you would give in because for some silly reason, you liked me just a little.

“We’d have done the long-distance thing while you got established and I would have proposed in some cheesy way. You still would have tried to argue because that’s what you do. But I’d win that one just like I did back in Boston.

“We probably would have met sooner and I’d say we’d be married with a kid by that point.”

“You’re insane.”

“Maybe, but this was meant to be. I firmly believe that no matter where I was playing hockey or where you went to college, we would have met and I would have fallen in love with you. The best part is that I’m sure that I would have tricked you into loving me too.”

“I honestly don’t think Mel would have argued with reasoning like that,” my father said, sitting back in his chair.

Sid was grinning as if he’d won some big prize. Everything was such a competition to him, and he’d been victorious in that moment.

“Don’t get too full of yourself, Crosby,” I warned.

“Or what?”

“I’ve still got a couple of days to decide whether or not I believe that fate exists.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Don’t push your luck.”

“I don’t believe in luck.”

I rolled my eyes as I stood to go get a refill of my drink.

“What’s that face for?”

“You’ve worn the same cup since you were fifteen.”

“That is routine.”

“Superstition.”

“I like that cup.”

“It looks like it’s been through a battle with a ferocious badger.”

“I don’t wear it because it’s lucky,” he argued as I stepped into the kitchen.

“Yeah you do,” Taylor quipped.

“Stay out of it,” I heard him mutter.

“You guys are meant to be.”

I returned to the deck with a smile of my own. This time I was victorious and he was left to continue denying his belief in luck. I didn’t have it in me to remind him of his stick taping or peanut butter and jelly sandwich issues. I didn’t see the need to push it that far.

After dinner, Sid’s parents took my father back to his hotel on their way home. They all seemed to recognize that Sid and I wanted some time alone before we were husband and wife. It was out last night together before we exchanged our vows since they’d be keeping us apart following the rehearsal.

Sidney and I had different opinions of what we needed to spend our last night doing.

He snuck up behind me as I rinsed the dishes, snaking his arms around my waist. His lips began to work from my shoulder towards my ear at a snail’s pace. Each kiss lingered, giving off heat like a slow burning fire. His lips caught the sensitive behind my ear and I felt the need to turn away.

He pulled back, looking baffled as I turned in his arms.

“Are you mad at me?”

“No. Should I be?”

“No.”

We stood there for a moment as he awaited an explanation and I tried to formulate one.

“What if we just…didn’t tonight?”

“I don’t want to seem as if I’m terribly horny, though I am, but why?”

“To limit new markings. You haven’t seen my dress and you don’t know what will or won’t be covered.”

“I know some things that will certainly be covered.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I can control myself enough not to leave evidence.”

I pulled down the strap of my tank top to reveal the pale bruise he’d left just above my left breast the night before. His lips could do damage and he didn’t even realize the extent of it.

“There’s also a fair amount of rugburn on my back,” I reminded him.

“Hey, you were the instigator on that one.”

He was right about that. I had been the one to pull him off of the couch and onto the floor, but I didn’t want to risk fresh scratches and bruises right before the wedding. It lacked a sense of decorum I was hoping we could hold onto.

“I’m not denying that, I just think it would be nice to spend the last night we get before we’re married doing something other than having sex. It would be nice just to be together and this way the wedding night might be a little more interesting.”

“Why?”

“Because we will have both been holding onto what we’re feeling right now for a couple of days.”

“We haven’t done that before?”

“Not while in the same city,” I paused. “Well…”

“Don’t even remind me.”

We’d had plenty of what we called “hands-off time” while his jaw was in the process of healing. I’d been more than willing to help him with his frustration, but he refused to let me do anything that he couldn’t repay in turn. He struggled with keeping his lips to himself as it was and it turned out that abstinence was our best bet.

I put my palms on his chest. “The jaw thing sucked, but do you remember the night the surgeon told you it was okay to start testing your jaw?”

“Fuck,” he muttered.

The night his doctor gave him the thumbs up to try solid food and more “vigorous” activity with his mouth, he’d been unstoppable. He’d left marks wherever he could as he got a handle on using his lips, tongue, and teeth in tandem for the first time in weeks.

I wasn’t generally turned on by his tendency to mark his territory like a jealous hound, but I didn’t mind the hickeys and bruises in that instance. He used his ministrations to tease me until I felt like I was going to crawl out of my skin in search of relief and he’d enjoyed his little power play.

I had just been glad to have my boyfriend back in all of his glory, though a few pieces were missing but the dentist would replace those.

A couple of days was nothing compared to those several weeks without so much as a kiss; but it could prove the perfect way to go about it.

“Fine. No sex,” he replied after a moment of what appeared to be rather deep thought. “So, what do we do?”

“You act like we aren’t capable of spending time together when sex is off the table.”

“I prefer sex on the table,” he replied as he nodded towards the kitchen island.

“Sometimes you’re like a horny teenager.”

“I like making up for lost time.”

“Just help me load the dishwasher.”

He grinned and did his part. “Don’t tell me this night together is going to be spent doing housework. Because I’m telling you right now, I’m not scrubbing toilets.”

“There might be some laundry to fold.”

He groaned.

“I’m kidding. I thought maybe we’d go for a swim.”

He grimaced. “You in a bikini when I’m not allowed access to anything?”

“So you can’t handle a swim?”

“Swimming leads to inappropriate touching.”

“Fine. Movie?”

“Only if we’re on separate couches.”

“Oh for Christ’s sake! Am I going to have to sleep in the guest room?”

“I can control myself.”

“You’re making it sound like you can’t.”

He shrugged in response.

“Maybe we should just take Sammy for a walk—“ I was interrupted by the sound of Sam’s claws on the hardwood, trying to find purchase as she ran for the front door.

“Well now we have to,” he muttered in reply.

We both took a minute to lace up our sneakers as Sam waited by the door, her tail beating against the wall behind her. Sidney secured her leash to her collar and led the way out the door and into the evening air.

There were plenty of people around as we walked. The houses weren’t terribly close together, but he certainly wasn’t living in the middle of nowhere. His neighbors seemed as private as he was. No one approached us or paid much attention to Sid at all aside from one who sent a wave in our direction.

According to Sidney he was a scout for an NHL team but he didn’t volunteer any other information.

“I’m not the only one who just lives up here seasonally. A lot of these places are vacation homes.”

It was a gated community, offering Sid and the others who lived there the privacy that they craved.

“Do you know any of your neighbors at all?”

“Not really. A few of them, I guess. I know a few back in Pittsburgh too. People see Canada as this friendly place, and it really is, but I guess that really only applies when people have the luxury of being anonymous. They take it more in stride in Pittsburgh than they do here.”

“You miss being up here though, don’t you?”

“I miss my family and I miss the way it was when I was a kid. But as much as I love the quiet up here, the solitude that I can have just out on the dock fishing, I wish it didn’t have to come from behind an iron gate.”

“But hey, private lake,” I said with a grin.

“I hope you don’t ever resent me because we can’t be normal.”

“It would take a whole lot more than this to make me resent you. And I really don’t mind that this is the way things are. We’ll make our own normal and that’s okay.”

“But our kids won’t grow up like we did.”

It sounded like a warning, as if to say that if I wasn’t comfortable with it, I needed to tell him while there was still time.

“You think that bothers me? Besides, our early years were not actually normal. I only had one set of grandparents and it was just me and my dad by the time I was sixteen. I had one real friend and spent high school just trying to get by without anyone seeing me. That’s not the kind of normal you’re thinking of.

“You had articles written about you when you were seven and you left home at fifteen. None of that is normal. At all. We’ve spent our whole lives creating our own version of normal and our kids, whenever we decide we’re ready for them, will be just fine.”

He wrapped an arm around my waist as we walked. I was terribly unaccustomed to physical contact beyond the walls of home that I nearly jumped when I felt his hand on my waist. He simply tightened his grasp as we turned towards home.

Our last night together before the wedding was spent much like the first night I’d spent with him a year before. We curled up on the couches with slices of his mother’s cheesecake that we refused to feel guilty about eating and relaxed quietly.

No pressure.

No expectations.

Just the two of us.

The rehearsal the next night was relatively painless, held at the same restaurant as the dinner that followed. The pastor, the same one who had presided over his grandmother’s funeral in the spring, took the wedding party through the gist of how things would go back at the house. Sidney was assured that there were tents at the ready in case of rain.

“Or bears,” I whispered in his ear.

He held back a laugh that garnered a few sideways glances.

Mario and Nathalie had gone all out on the dinner and the wine and it seemed that no one minded.

I certainly wasn’t about to complain.

As the evening tapered off I felt Sidney rise to his feet next to me. He cleared his throat, the eyes of our small contingent of guests turned to him.

“Wyn hates it when I speak for her, but I’m just going to try to do this in one fell swoop,” he began. “We just want to thank all of you for being here with us. We know a mid-week wedding isn’t the norm, but what do you expect with us, really?”

He got a solid laugh and too a moment to enjoy it.

“But really, we appreciate all of you and are so glad you came out to celebrate with us.”

People began to filter out and I felt our wedding parties lingering nearby. Sidney and I had slipped off towards a corner to speak alone but our attendents were hovering close by.

“You guys want to give us a minute?” My eyes were on Sidney, but no one questioned the intent of my words.

They all spun away for a minute, giving us just a slight amount of privacy.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I murmured as I pressed my forehead against his. “I’ll be the one in the white dress.”

He smiled and adjusted his position to press his lips to mine.

“I can’t wait.”

We stayed like that for a few seconds until my bridesmaids had had enough.

“Alright, break it up, love birds.” It was Taylor who stepped in first to pull me away.

“I think Nicole is a terrible influence on you. It’s one reason I’m looking forward to getting this wedding over and done. Once that happens, you two won’t have to be like secret best friends anymore.”

“I’m a great influence, hockey boy.”

“Hockey boy?” he scoffed. “Is that the best you’ve got?”

Nicole laughed as Jack moved in to pull Sidney away. Sidney couldn’t be manhandled the way I could. He was basically immovable unless he chose to be moved. I on the other hand, was smaller than Taylor and not in magnificent shape. My average strength was nothing compared to the power she had as she tugged me towards the doors.

“You two crazy kids are going to be fine spending the night apart,” Jack said with a smile.

“And this time,” Kris added, “Sebastian won’t be there to get your phone back for you.”

“Wait, that’s how you got your phone back?!”

“We can still elope,” Sidney called as he allowed a stunned Jack to pull him away from me. Kris was nearby laughing too hard to be of much help to his fellow groomsman.

“It’s too late for that,” I replied as Nicole and Taylor hauled me around the corner and out of sight.

I was honestly okay with spending the night apart. In less than twenty-four hours I would be a married woman and as nervous as I was about the whole extravaganza, I couldn’t wait.