I was happy to finally share my wedding invitations — complete with a photo of my fiancé and me — with my three closest friends. But instead of enthusiasm, I got silence. Something was bad… and I should find the reason.
At 38, I had finally planned my marriage.
“I’ll just get a dog instead,” I’d say, and they’d laugh because they knew the truth hidden behind my smile — that I wanted what they all had.
But then I met Will.
Will with his crooked smile and his kind eyes. Will, who made me believe that love wasn’t just for everyone else; it was for me, too
Maybe he was right.
Or maybe I was just lucky.
Either way, at 38, I had finally found my person.
The first people I told were Emma, Rachel, and Tara.
I called them on a four-way video chat, my hands shaking as I held up my ring finger to the camera.
“Oh, my God!” Rachel screamed, her curled hair bouncing as she jumped up and down. “It’s happening! It’s finally happening!”
“Show us again!” Emma demanded.
“I can’t believe it,” Tara said, wiping away tears. “Our Lucy is getting married.”
They hadn’t met Will yet.
But they knew everything about him.
“I can’t believe we haven’t met him yet!” Emma cried.
“If only my vacation days hadn’t been canceled last month,” she sighed. “I could’ve been sitting here bragging about being the only one of us three to meet your dream man.”
Tara rolled her eyes. “Bragging aside, Em has a point. We haven’t even seen a good photo of him, Lucy. I appreciate you allowing us to admire his abs in that photo from the lake, but his face is all shadowy.”
I chuckled. “Alright, each of you will get a customized invitation with a photo of both of us. Deal?”
I sent them the custom invitations soon afterward, and nightmare was started.
Instead of quick response, there was silence. Not one message, not one call. Just… nothing.
But days passed, and then one by one, they started backing out.
Emma sent a text: “So sorry, Lucy. They just scheduled a work trip I can’t get out of.”
Rachel called: “I can’t find a babysitter for that weekend. I’ve tried everyone.”
Tara’s excuse came via email: “I’m going to be traveling nonstop that week to visit the branches on the East Coast. I’ll be there for the ceremony, but I’ll be too exhausted to attend the reception.”
These were the best friends. They always attend friend’s wedding.
But for me, they had excuses.
Instead of attending with me, they pooled money for a $40 air fryer.
I wasn’t upset about the money. It was the principle.
“Something’s wrong,” I said, showing him the messages on my phone. “They’re acting strange. All of them.”
Will listened patiently, he asked quietly, “Can you show me their pictures?”
But the moment he looked at it, his face went pale, and his hands started trembling.
“Will? What’s wrong?”
“No… This can’t be right.”
“What’s wrong?” I repeated, my voice higher.
“I know them.”
“What do you mean, you know them?”
“Twelve years ago,” he said slowly, “my father di:ed in a car accident. A drunk driving incident.”
I knew this tragedy.
He’d told me about the acci:dent that had occured his family.
How the driver and passengers had never suffered from real consequences.
My heart was drumming so hard I could feel it in my throat. “Will—”
“It’s them,” he said.
“Emma was driving. Rachel and Tara were in the car.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “That’s impossible.”
When they saw Will’s picture, they panicked. They couldn’t face him… or me.
“They never told me… never said anything about being in a car acc:ident, let alone facing charges.”
Will shrugged. “Maybe they have just enough heart to feel ashamed of what they did.”
“Is it true? Were you in the car that night? The accident that killed Will’s father?”
Hours passed. Then Emma replied: “How did you find out?”
Rachel wrote: “We’ve regretted it every single day.”
Tara: “We never knew you would meet him. What are the chances? We’re so sorry, Lucy.”
I stared at their messages, feeling sick.
The wedding went on without them. It was poignant. Beautiful and painful.
Will and I were surrounded by love, but not theirs.
As I stood there, saying my vows to Will, I realized something crucial: some friendships aren’t meant to last forever.
