by Starling,Amy
“Oh, Alicia, we were looking everywhere for you and...” The blonde saw me and howled. “What are there boys doing in the ladies' room? With you?”
Jayce adjusted his coat and sidled up next to her with a grin. “So maybe this isn't the most romantic of places, but I just can't help myself. What's your name, hmm?”
The girls sounded like a bunch of yowling cats as they tried to shove him out of the restroom, their long, manicured nails tearing at his arms. Alicia was speechless.
“Ah, hey – I got it!”
The wire looped through the ring, and I pulled the gleaming band through the drain. Holy shit, just look at the size of the diamond. Guy had to be loaded to afford a thing like that.
Everyone stared as I dropped the ring into her hand. She didn't thank me. She barely even blinked.
“Is it true?” She looked at her friends sadly. “Andy hasn't gotten here yet?”
They stammered to make excuses for him. Nothing they said would wipe that look off her face.
“What is all the noise in here? Alicia, you're supposed to be waiting outside. Your father is wondering where you were.”
Ellen marched into the restroom and spotted us right away. Boy, I'd never seen her face turn that shade of purple.
“Get out! How dare you!” She grabbed for me. “I've known since you were a perverted teenager that you were after my daughter, McGraw. That's all you ever wanted – to get in her pants.”
The bridesmaids and Jayce looked on in horror as she beat me with her purse. Between blows, she managed to turn the faucet on. Water sprayed across the room, drenching Ellen as well as Alicia.
The other girls jumped to their defense, blotting up the mess with paper towels and assuring them their hair still looked great.
Someone shoved us guys out into the hallway and slammed the door shut behind us. Jayce laughed at me.
“Damn. I didn't get that chick's number. Ah, well. Guess it's back to work for us.”
“I'm staying for the ceremony,” I said, grabbing him. “And so are you.”
He complained, but I didn't care. I'd only just walked back into her life, and I refused to leave her again.
Chapter 2 - Alicia
“This is a travesty, that's what it is.” Mom ran her fingers through her wet hair. “The wedding was to begin five minutes ago. This is all that Carter's fault.”
I played with the ring on my finger. Today was the day I'd replace it with the wedding band Andy and I chose together.
But he wasn't here yet, and the pit in my stomach said something was very wrong.
“Don't blame him. He was only trying to help.”
She snorted and painted her lips as red as that firetruck. Carter's truck. He was a fireman now and boy, did he look it.
In high school, he was a slender yet strong guy from his years swimming and playing for the soccer team. He'd built up some serious muscles over the past decade.
I was ashamed to admit his sexy smile made me melt inside. One look from him sent my heart racing. Andy hadn't done that to me, not ever.
But I was getting married today. How could I think such filthy thoughts about another man? Something was seriously the matter with me.
“Besides,” I said quietly, as the girls fussed over my makeup. “What does it matter? Andy hasn't come. Maybe he won't show up at all.”
Heidi, my maid of honor, yelped and smacked my arm. “Don't you say that! Of course he'll be here. He's never let you down before, has he?”
“Could have gotten into an accident,” suggested Lacey, pessimistic as ever. “Rush hour traffic's pretty bad on the highway this time of day. Has anyone bothered to turn on the news?”
“Lacey, shut up!”
They argued behind me. Mom continued on her tirade about how horrible Carter was. I tuned it all out and stared at myself in the mirror.
I had to be honest with myself for once. Seeing Carter again, feeling what I did for him, made me realize something serious. I'd been living a lie, so to speak, for a while now.
I honestly thought I loved Andy. We'd been a couple for three years, and he was everything pretty much any girl would want in a partner. He treated me well, had a great job, and was generous with his money. My salary as a kindergarten teacher would never have been enough for all those fancy dinners and vacations, for sure.
But I never really felt anything for him. Not like the way I felt when Carter looked into my eyes.
Or when he kissed me our senior year. Even back then, I knew that kiss was freaking magic.
“Don't you worry your pretty head about Andy, dear,” mom added. She powdered her cheeks with blush. “He comes from a good, honorable family. And in just a few minutes, you'll be part of the family too. Aren't you just so excited?”
“Yeah.” My stomach churned. “Excited.”
“C'mon, Samantha.” Heidi tugged at her dress sleeve. “Let's go take our places. And Lacey, for the love of God, remember to smile for the cameras.”
When they were gone, mom came to straighten out my dress. It was somewhat wrinkled after pacing on the steps outside.
“This is a big deal for you, Alicia. For all of us. You know that,” she said softly. “The Landovers are very wealthy. Once you're married to him, you'll never need to worry about money again.”
“I'm not marrying him for his money, mom.”
She frowned. “I know you're not. It's just that, well, your father and I want the best for you. Some of the boys you dated before Andy worried me, but I think you've chosen a wonderful husband.”
Seemed the only men she approved of were the rich ones, but I didn't bother saying that.
“It's more than that, too,” she added. “You know this is the only way to get your inheritance from grandma and grandpa.”
“Jeez, mom. Seriously?”
She noticed how frizzy the humidity had made my hair and set to work coating it with hairspray and gel. I was twenty-seven years old, and she was still treating me like a child. Some things, I assumed, were never going to change.
“You know their rules. If you want to receive your portion of the estate, you must marry – and not just any old schlub, mind. A good man with a solid grip on life. Lucky for you that Andy is both.”
My grandparents lived in Florida, were retired, and not exactly the sanest of elderly people. They were also quite rich, maybe even more so than Andy, thanks to running an array of successful businesses over the past couple of decades.
Our side of the family was admittedly pretty small. My mother was their only child, just like I was the lone kid my parents decided to have. So, they ended up with a massive estate to split up and not very many people to hand it out to.
“You are blessed, you know that?” Mom sighed, jealousy written on her face. “A multi-million dollar wedding gift, and a beautiful home that you didn't even have to work for. Your father and I had to bust our butts for everything we have, I hope you realize.”
This was supposed to be the happiest day of my life, and here mom was, bitching about money. I could hardly believe it.
No, wait – actually, I could.
Not like it mattered much, anyway. I hadn't really been happy in a long time. I'd hoped getting hitched would change that; I'd always wanted to be a wife and mom.
Could be I was just deluding myself all these years.
“There. Now you look beautiful again.” She nudged me up the stairs. “Go on. Your dad's waiting for you. I'd better take my place, too.”
She left me there alone. For a few seconds, I considered getting in my car and running far, far away from this place. That, or maybe Carter would “kidnap” me if I asked him nice enough. He'd never not come through for me before.
Ten years had gone by, and here I was, still thinking about him like he was my best friend.
More than that, really, as evidenced by my soaked underwear.
“Get a grip on it, slut,” I whispered to myself, cheeks burning.
In the sanctuary, the mus
ic swelled. I figured that was my cue to move my ass. Wasn't easy going in these painfully stiff heels mom forced on me, but I made it up the steps somehow.
Dad was hovering in the lobby, peeking out the windows with that anxious look on his face. I knew that look well. He saved it for times when shit was really about to hit the fan.
“Dad?”
He jumped and offered me a startled smile. “Oh, honey. You look absolutely lovely.”
“Andy still isn't here.”
“No.” He hung his head. “He's not. But he should be here. Any minute now; I'm sure of it.”
The guests were beginning to whisper among themselves and fidget in their seats. Most of them were from Andy's side of the family. And there, in the back row, was Carter and his friends.
Crap, what was he still doing here?
He must have heard me talking to dad. He turned and offered me a reassuring smile. I wished he hadn't, because now I couldn't stop thinking about him ripping off my clothes.
Not good.
At the front of the sanctuary stood my bridesmaids and Andy's groomsmen. His best man, Paul, shifted anxiously from foot to foot. Then he felt his pocket.
“My phone,” I heard him whisper. “Uh, you mind? That could be him.”
The pastor nodded his consent. Paul pulled out his phone and scanned the screen. His brow furrowed, and his cheeks turned red.
“Well?” My mother tapped her foot. “Is that him?”
“Yeah.” He swallowed. “It is.”
Andy's mom, Vivian, threw up her hands. “What does it say, then? Go on, don't keep us all waiting any longer.”
The music quieted so he could read. Everyone hushed and waited eagerly for the message. As for me, I thought I might throw up. Whatever it said, it wasn't going to be good.
“I'm sorry,” Paul read. “But I can't go through with the wedding.”
“What?”
“He... He's not coming?”
In my heart, I already knew. The worst part was that I didn't really care all that much. In fact, it was kind of a relief.
I felt bad for thinking that way, but it was the truth.
“There's more.” Paul read on. “He says, 'I'm not ready to be a married man. I've packed my things and gone to Thailand for a while to try and find myself. Tell Alicia I love her but I can't be with her anymore.'”
The guests erupted into an uproar of shouting, name calling, and accusations. Dad put his arm around me in a feeble attempt at offering comfort, but I shrugged him off.
Really? Andy was dumping me at the altar via text message? Not only that, he was breaking up with me. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Mom marched over to Vivian, who was trying to calm the sea of angry relatives who'd flown across the country to be here.
“How could your boy do this to my precious daughter? Do you realize she's going to be traumatized by this?”
Vivian huffed and fanned herself. “Well, I'm sure he had a good reason for it. He was raised right, you know. He'd never do this without just cause.”
“Oh? And what would this reason be, pray tell?”
“Maybe it's your daughter's fault,” she suggested. “Perhaps you should ask her what she's done to run him off. Yes, I've seen the way she looks at other men. Truly shameful.”
Mom's face turned scarlet as she launched herself over the pew at Vivian. She tore the hat from her head, pulled her hair, and slapped at her while a few men tried uselessly to pull them apart.
Dad ran up the aisle to help. “Dear, please,” he shouted over the melee. “Stop it! We can't afford another lawsuit.”
Ian, Andy's father, shoved mine away from his wife. My uncle Jared, a big, burly hillbilly with not a lick of class in his body, didn't like that one bit.
“You son of a bitch. Have some damn respect!”
Jared threw the first punch. Ian went down with a howl of pain, crying that he'd knocked out his tooth and he was suing this entire family for every penny they had.
The pastor shouted into the microphone. “Everyone, stop this behavior at once! This is God's house, and I will not have it!”
Somebody threw a Bible at him from across the room. The pastor squawked, stumbled, and fell into the table where they'd set the candles – the very ones Andy and I were supposed to light as a symbol of our new life together.
The candles tipped over and caught the tablecloth on fire. There was a lot of shrieking until some guy doused the flames with a bowl of holy water.
Carter's friends were laughing their heads off. Not him, though. He came to me, rested his hand on my shoulder.
“Let's go outside. C'mon.”
I nodded, and he held the door for me. Nobody noticed as we slipped out into the balmy spring evening.
The reality of what just happened struck me as the door closed. I slumped into a bench, dropping my bouquet and not bothering to pick it up.
Carter stood beside me. “You going to be okay?”
In the building, I hadn't even felt much when Paul read that text. Out here, away from the chaos, the meaning of it all struck me, and I cried.
How could this be happening? Three years we'd dated. We planned a future together. We looked at houses to buy after the wedding, and even talked about having kids one day.
Sure, I wasn't head-over-heels for him. Sex wasn't that great, or frequent. And I didn't feel anything when he kissed me. Still, it was a comfortable existence.
Carter sat with me and offered his shoulder to sob on. This wasn't the first time I'd wet his shirt with my tears.
“I'm not real good with this sort of stuff,” he said, a bit weakly.
“You're doing more than enough just by being here.” I looked up at him. “I'm glad you came.”
“So am I.”
His expression was stoic, impossible to read. Even as a dorky teenager, he got this way sometimes, always when something bad happened.
“You have any idea he was planning to leave?”
I played with the ring on my finger. “Obviously not. I just wish if he was plotting to bail on me, he'd have done it before three hundred people came to see me walk down the aisle.”
The ring slid off into my palm. I'd worn it pretty much nonstop since Andy proposed to me a year back.
Removing it was a symbol that our relationship was over. But you know what? I wasn't really that sad about it.
In fact, I felt kind of free.
“Maybe it's just me,” Carter said, “but you don't sound terribly upset about the whole thing.”
“You always were good at picking up on my moods.”
“Not a skill that's transferred to other women, I assure you. Most emotional girls only confuse the hell out of me.”
I let the pleasant memories of Carter crowd out the bad ones of Andy being a total asshole. Back then, he was sensitive to my PMS-induced moments of rage. He'd bring me chocolate at school every month because, he said, that he figured hormonal chicks loved chocolate.
“I'm not that upset. At least, not for the reasons you'd think. I'm more angry at myself for not seeing the signs earlier.”
The rabble in the church was getting louder and louder. Mom accused Andy of running off on me with another woman.
“I tried to warn my boy about your daughter,” Vivian shouted back. “I knew she was no good for him.”
Carter looked sympathetic. “Don't listen to them.”
The church doors flew open, and out stomped mom with fury in her eyes. She found me on the bench, glared at Carter for a moment, then grabbed me by the sleeve of my dress.
“Let's go, Alicia,” she muttered through gritted teeth. “The reception starts at seven. Best we go get tidied up so we can be there to greet the guests.”
Carter was about to say something, but I shushed him fast. When he got mad enough, he said whatever came to mind. Last thing I needed was mom hating him all over again – like the time she overheard him calling her a bitch for grounding me.
Yeah, I was
pretty sure she'd never forgotten that.
“Wait a minute!” I dug the spiky heels of my shoes into the lawn; guess they were useful for something in the end. “What reception? Andy just dumped me. There wasn't even a wedding.”
“The meal and evening's entertainment has already been paid for, and I'll be damned if we let it go to waste just because of this circus.” She tugged me harder.
My bridesmaids spilled out of the church, offering their apologies and many reasons why Andy wasn't such a catch anyway, so it wasn't really that big a loss.
“Let's just go get drunk and forget about him,” Heidi insisted. “Hell, there's lots of cute guys here. Maybe you'll find a new one to take home.”
I glanced at Carter, who met my gaze with a lifted eyebrow. A smile danced on his lips. Suddenly, the image of those lips trailing over my back in the bedroom was seared into my mind.
“Dear, let's go.”
But I didn't want to go. I wanted to stay here, with him. Talking with Carter was the only thing keeping me from losing it right now.
Those three friends of his emerged from the lobby, still laughing so hard they had tears in their eyes. Carter shot them a withering look, which got them to shut their mouths, at least.
“Bunch of delinquents,” mom hissed. “I swear if you've ruined this beautiful reception, you'll be speaking to our lawyer.”
“Aw, give it a rest, lady. There's enough food in there to feed a whole army. Surely you can spare a few plates for some of Waco's very best firefighters.”
Mom stammered for a response, but didn't have one. Heidi and the others whispered and giggled over the men. It was easy to see why; every single one of them was movie-star hot.
“Carter,” I said over the noise. “If you're not busy, I'd like you to come to the reception with me.”
The girls cheered for me. Lacey whistled. Though I'd just gotten dumped, already they were urging me to get back in the saddle.
And you know what? A night of drunken, meaningless sex sounded like exactly what I needed.
“Well, I'm on duty, but I'd love to.” He glanced at his buddies. “Though these idiots came with me in the truck, so I'm kinda stuck with them.”
“They're welcome too.”