Even though she’d known to expect it, she was still unprepared when she heard the knock on the door. Showered and dressed at least, she pulled the door open to reveal Andy on the other side. He gave her a tight smile and she waved him in as she fumbled for the right opening line. “Donna told me to come over here,” he said, pausing in the doorway, his physical presence taking up too much space. She stepped away, her back coming to rest against the wall.
“Yeah, she told me to expect you.”
He moved farther into the room. “Well yeah, but that was before she saw this. We were supposed to have an entirely different conversation but now . . .” He handed her a printout from a local news station’s website. She saw a photo of Callum and her from high school, lifted straight from their yearbook. “Rejection Connection?” the headline read. She scanned the black and white print, the words nothing more than a jumbled alphabet swimming before her eyes. She got the gist of it. The woman she’d seen on the stairs was a reporter and she’d snagged Callum after Wynne fled. Though he’d apparently been as brief as he could be, his southern manners won out and he’d answered a few questions. Wynne assumed it was because he was unused to being in the spotlight, but Callum had been forthcoming and honest with this woman, who’d probably come across as sympathetic in the moment. Wynne didn’t feel angry at him, only sorry he’d been ambushed. And now his picture was in the paper and his story was being shared with the world. She wanted to call him and say she was sorry. She wanted to tell him she knew how that felt all too well. She blinked at Andy, remembering he was her priority now.
She sat down on the bed, laying the paper beside her. Andy perched on the edge of the loveseat in the same spot Donna had occupied just an hour earlier. Donna had probably called while she was in the shower, panicking over the news, sending Andy when she couldn’t get Wynne. She reached for her cell phone on the nightstand and saw the missed calls from both Paul and Donna. She held up a finger as she listened to two different voice mails. She hung up and looked at Andy. “They’ve called a press conference in,” she looked at the clock, “oh geez, an hour.” She looked down at what she was wearing and quickly surmised she would have to change before she went to the hotel lobby where they were holding the press conference.
Andy appeared not to hear her. “You’ve been seeing him?” Wynne noticed he almost sounded relieved. Maybe this made them even after last night. Whatever that meant.
“I saw him once, before we came here. Just to say good-bye before we . . .” She shrugged. “It was stupid and I was confused and I had these unresolved feelings and . . .”
“Seeing him only made you more confused.”
She met his eyes. “I guess.” A long silent moment passed. “I’m sorry,” she continued. “I didn’t think it was a big deal—at least that’s what I told myself—until he showed up last night after I left you and Meredith. I literally ran into him on the pier and I guess some reporter saw us and pounced on him. He’s not used to any of this and he . . . fell for it. I haven’t talked to him or anything, I’m just guessing,” she hurried to add.
“So what do you want to do now?” Andy asked. He ran his hand along the arm of the loveseat as he stared at the pattern in the fabric.
There was silence in the room as she thought of what to say in response. The question seemed to swell, taking up more and more space in the room the longer she was silent. She willed her mouth to say something in response, but the right words wouldn’t come. “I have to go to the press conference in a few minutes,” she said. “Come with me and we’ll say everything’s fine. Then this afternoon we can talk through all of this. We can save this.”
He glanced over at her and looked away again, this time in the direction of the marsh view from her screened-in porch. A heron was picking his way through the reeds, high-stepping in search of food. “But things aren’t fine,” he said. “You’re in love with someone else.”
“I’m not, I—”
In one fluid movement Andy moved beside her on the bed, rested his hand on her leg as he looked at her with intensity. “I won’t be your consolation prize, Wynne. That’s not fair to either one of us. I know we both care for each other, but I think it’s time to admit we’ve both been having our doubts about all of this. And if this guy Callum really does still want to work things out, maybe you need to consider that.”
“But the wedding,” she said. “And the show.”
Andy gave her a sad smile. “It can all be canceled. I’m sure they can think of something to do instead.” He shook his head. “Whatever happens, they’ll figure out a way to monopolize on the drama of our breakup. And you and I will go our separate ways.”
“I’m not sure that’s what I want, though,” she argued, still struggling to do what she’d believed was the right thing. She thought of Andy and Meredith last night and seeing Callum and Donna’s pep talk and Picky’s advice and what a mess it all was when all she’d wanted was to be the perfect June bride, to have a beautiful life. She’d hoped it would be with Andy.
He held his hand up to stop her arguing, the sad smile fading into a straight line across his face as he spoke. “I think it’s best, Wynne. And I think it’s best if I don’t come with you to the press conference. It’ll make it easier for you to tell the truth without me sitting beside you.”
He looked at her until she met his eyes. “Maybe your happy ending isn’t going to look the way you thought. But it’ll still be happy.” He smiled. “We’ll both be happy. You don’t have to worry about that.” He removed his hand and stepped toward the door. Then he stepped back, and with the same kind eyes and gentleness that had made her pick him above all the other guys, he gave her a kiss on the cheek and then headed toward the door. And then he was gone.
The hotel lobby and breakfast area had been turned into the site of a makeshift press conference, the crew scurrying around her as they prepared to go live. She sat at the long table the hotel staff had dug out for them, a microphone in front of her, imposing and condemning. Are you going to tell the truth? it seemed to be asking her.
Donna and the rest of the producers had made it clear she had to straighten out the mess created by that reporter. She scanned the room and, catching the eye of one of the network reporters, gave a polite smile and looked away. It seemed every major news outlet and entertainment network or show had squeezed one of their delegates into this room. Andy’s absence felt like a gaping hole beside her. She looked around to see if Donna was there, or someone who didn’t seem out for blood. But she found no friendly faces, no one who was on her side. Her parents and Picky wouldn’t arrive for a few hours. By the time they got there, this would all be over. She couldn’t wait.
“Be with me,” she prayed silently. “I’ve never needed You more.”
She was alone, and yet she wasn’t. She took a deep breath as Paul gave instructions to the crowd of reporters. They had promised this would be brief and she would only need to give her statement, take a few questions, and then she could flee to the safety of her room.
She stared down at the words she’d jotted on the yellow legal pad the hotel had lent to her. Her prepared statement. And yet, as she practiced the words in her head, they sounded hollow and false, even to her. She was about to lie to everyone in this room. She bit her lip and took another deep breath. How could she deny the feelings she still had for Callum? She thought back to the night she’d given Andy the key to her heart. It was Callum’s face she’d wanted to see as the men filed in to await her choice. She hadn’t told anyone that—had even convinced herself that it didn’t matter. And yet, he’d come here. He’d said he loved her and wanted another chance. This was the one thing she’d hoped for and yet she’d made a promise to someone else, someone she did care about, even if things weren’t perfect with him.
She realized that everyone was waiting for her to speak. And so, for lack of anything better to do, she began to read the words she had scrawled in a rush of fear and adrenaline after Andy walked out. Desperate f
or order, she’d gone to the easiest answer with the fastest resolution.
“Many of you have seen the interview given by my exfiancé, Callum Royce, to a local reporter who found out he had come here to speak with me. And many of you are aware that it was my breakup with Callum that led to my spot on The Rejection Connection and to the reason we are all gathered here at Sunset Beach.” She looked into the camera, feigning a boldness she didn’t feel. “I made the decision last February to say yes to Andy, to commit my life to him and become his wife. And that is what I intend to do in two days.” Flashbulbs began to pop like exclamation points. She could already see the entertainment headlines. “Rejection Connection Bride Says Wedding Still On!” “Andy Scores a Wynne!”
Finished with her statement, she put the legal pad down and folded her hands on top of it. Now for the unpredictable part—the questions. The reporter from the stairs stood up, now all too familiar to Wynne. She wore a cat-and-canary grin, enjoying the bit of instant celebrity that the scoop had brought her, the break that Callum’s transparency had given her.
It was that transparency that had led to their breakup. He had doubts and he’d been brave enough to voice them. Wynne had freaked out in response to his honesty, accused him of not caring, picked a fight that became a battle that ended in a war. She’d always blamed him but . . . what if? What if she’d been more understanding, more patient, more open? She’d held everything so close, so tight, so controlled, always wanting things to be perfect, to go the way she expected. But, that wasn’t faith. If Callum had wanted time, she should’ve given it to him willingly. Not because she trusted Callum’s plans—but because she trusted God’s. If she truly believed that He held her future in the palm of His hand, and that He had a good plan for her life, why was she afraid of anything that happened?
She looked at the expectant faces, all waiting for whatever secrets she would divulge. She thought of Callum on the pier the night before. She thought of how she’d landed where she was, doing what people expected, giving the right answers and going through the motions just like she’d done all her life. All in an effort to be perfect, to make things perfect. And yet, in spite of her efforts, they were far from that.
She thought of that beautiful wedding that was to take place in two days—the attention to every detail, the meticulous plans and countless hours invested. It was, to be sure, going to be her dream wedding. Yet. But. Except. There would still be that missing face. She had almost made it through the questions, answering robotically. She thought of Meredith saying, “You don’t actually think any of this is real?” But she had wanted to believe it was. Or it could be.
The final question came from someone from the Entertainment Network, a face she’d seen many times when scrolling through the channels, a woman who had done her fair share of red carpet interviews. And now here she was in this small Carolina beach town, probably wondering just what all the hoopla was about. “Wynne,” the woman said, her mouth forming a half smile, half grimace. “Be honest. Are you sure you don’t have any feelings for your former fiancé, Callum, is it?”
Wynne barely nodded and looked down.
The woman gave a knowing nod to the colleague next to her. Wynne could already envision the segment that would run about this. They would play The Rejection Connection video of her blubbering on about Callum and then they would play this next bit, this answer to her question. And what would that bit be? She opened her mouth to answer but no sound would come out. The room stilled. It seemed everyone in it had inhaled as the question was asked and they were all still holding their breath, Wynne included. She scanned the faces in the room, her heart picking up its pace as she struggled to form words. But nothing sounded right.
She felt her face growing hot, then hotter. The sound of stillness changed to a high-pitched whine that grew in width and intensity, until it was all she could hear. Until the sound inside her head began to sound like the scream she had been holding in since that day at lunch with Meredith when a text flashed on her phone screen and everything she thought she knew about the future shifted. She tried to speak again, but when her mouth opened all that came out was a gasp. She blinked at the pairs of eyes staring a hole through her, saw the expectation on all the faces. But she couldn’t say what they expected, not anymore. She cast a glance at Paul and Donna, now hovering in the back of the room, waiting for her to act the part as she’d been doing for the last several months.
Instead of doing “the right thing” and giving the expected answer, she simply turned and fled the room, her feet carrying her down the front stairs of the inn and across the gravel parking lot. She focused on her feet hitting the gravel, keeping her head down so she didn’t have to make eye contact with anyone. She just wanted to get away, to not be looked at by another set of eyes. Which was why she never saw the person standing there at the edge of the parking lot, watching the media circus from a safe distance. She ran smack into him and looked up to find the face she’d been wishing to see all along.
3 MONTHS LATER
From behind the curtain she heard Karen Dodd offer the lead-in. “Well, everyone, I’m thrilled to introduce our next guests. Wynne Hardy is a celebrity after her stint on The Rejection Connection and her much-publicized breakup with former fiancé Andy Baker. And we have a treat today because Wynne is here with the guy she ditched him for!” She paused for the audience to clap their approval and titter to each other. “So please welcome Wynne Hardy and her first, and one true love, Callum Royce. Come on out, guys!”
Callum gave her a “What have you gotten me into” look, gripped her hand tightly, and together they walked out onto the little soundstage as they’d been directed to do. Two chairs had been placed for them with another chair nearby for Karen, who was already in her seat, beckoning them over as if they were neighbors just stopping in for a regular chat. Wynne felt herself relax as Callum slid into the seat next to her. She tried never to compare Callum to Andy—because, why? She saw all the signs now, the many moments she’d known Andy wasn’t the right man for her, but had refused to see it because she was afraid that if he wasn’t, she’d find herself alone.
And what would’ve been wrong with that, she wondered now. What would’ve been so wrong with her being alone for a while? What would be wrong with praying for God to send the right man for her when it was His timing to do so, to lean into Him while she waited? In a way, she thought with a smile as Karen grilled poor Callum while the audience of women looked on with delight, that’s what she’d been doing these past few months.
Oh sure, she and Callum were seeing each other. But mostly she was taking her time, standing on her own and learning that a full life was possible in a lot of other ways, if only she remembered to see it. She saw it now in her mom’s homemade vegetable soup and Picky’s “helpful” fashion tips and her new puppy’s wet nose as he licked her hello. She saw it in the change of seasons and another sunrise and freshly picked flowers. It wasn’t found solely in a gold band on her left hand. Love, in all its forms, was her true anchor.
Karen asked the questions people always asked. What did she think of Meredith’s new show that would be premiering soon? She told Karen that she wished Meredith well, but she didn’t add that she often prayed that Meredith would work things out with her husband and stop chasing the elusive fame she craved. Next of course was the “Andy question.” Again, she answered politely, that she wished him well and that she’d heard he quit his job and moved back to his hometown. She didn’t add that she knew his mother must’ve been elated.
The cameraman indicated they needed to wrap up, and Wynne felt relief wash over her. “So, Wynne, don’t shoot me for asking this, but before we go to commercial, I can’t resist.” Karen turned and gave the audience a conspiratorial grin. “Can we expect a wedding announcement from you two anytime soon?” The audience guffawed over her bold question.
But Wynne had expected it. After all, she got it often enough from her mom and Picky and even people in the grocery store. And
she thought about the ring in the box in the junk drawer of Callum’s kitchen, the one he’d told her was hers to wear again when she was ready. Perhaps she would be soon.
“Maybe you’ll be a June bride next year instead?” Karen pressed, giddy, her face shining.
Wynne gave her a smile that told the camera she knew something they didn’t. It would set everyone to wondering and that was the fun part. It was good to wonder. “You never know,” she said as the show went to commercial and the camera turned its focus away from her.
1. “This story is about ‘the rest of the story’—the parts we don’t see” in the reality TV world. Do you ever think about what happens after the cameras are turned off, or away, from the reality TV stars?
2. Why do you think that Wynne said “yes” to Andy’s proposal?
3. Did Wynne make the right choice in the end?
4. How did you feel about Meredith? Is there a reality TV star she reminded you of?
5. Do you think the author had any reality TV stars in mind when she wrote this story?
An Excerpt from A JULY BRIDE
By Beth Wiseman
Alyssa lifted her wedding dress onto the counter and handed the hanger to Loretta Klatt, swallowing back the lump in her throat.
“Hon, are you sure ‘bout this? You love this dress. You’ve been eyeing it for years, and it fits you like a dream. Sure you don’t want to keep it, just in case?” Loretta draped the dress over one arm and sighed as she glanced up at the wall. Hundreds of photos hung there, all brides that Loretta had dressed and sent down the aisle in the forty years she’d owned the shop. Alyssa had assumed her own bridal photo would be hanging there by now.
A June Bride Page 7