“Mommy, who’s that princess?” one little girl asked, tugging on her mother’s hand.
“She just got married,” the girl’s mother explained, smiling at Kendra. Kendra smiled back, her heart sinking. Shehadn’tgotten married. Not even close.
Kendra slipped through the crowds of travelers to the nearest bathroom. There, she went into the largest stall, locking the door behind her, and found a pair of leggings and a T-shirt in her suitcase. She’d planned to change into a cute sundress in the villa before getting in the car, but she was in no mood for a cute sundress now. She managed to get the bulky wedding dress off, though it was a bit of a struggle. Then she took off her earrings and jewelry. In the sink over the bathroom counter, she wiped away most of the makeup and removed her veil.
There wasn’t much space in her bag for the wedding dress. Kendra was tempted to leave it behind in the bathroom, not wanting to be reminded of her failed wedding, but it was so beautiful, and she’d always dreamed of wearing a dress like that. So, instead, she stuffed it into the suitcase as best she could. An older woman walked into the bathroom as she was struggling to close the zipper and gave her an odd look. Kendra was beyond caring. She’d been through so much embarrassment today that a stranger’s opinion hardly mattered.
When she looked in the mirror, Kendra looked like herself again, no longer like a beautiful bride on her wedding day. Her auburn hair was pulled back in a ponytail, she only had a little makeup on, and her clothes were much more her usual style. Good. Kendra was happy to feel like herself again. Now she just needed to make it through check-in and onto the flight without running into anyone who knew her or facing any more embarrassment.
She headed out of the bathroom and made her way to the check-in counter. There was a short line for the first-class check-in, and she made a beeline for it. She was so focused that she didn’tnotice a man approaching from the other direction until she ran straight into him.
“Watch where you’re going,” a male voice said.
Kendra stumbled back, surprised, and looked up at the man who’d just snapped at her. He was taller than her by at least a head and wore a tailored suit that probably cost a small fortune. He had neat brown hair and bright blue eyes, which were currently narrowed in annoyance as though she’d purposefully run into him.
“Hey,” Kendra snapped back. “You ran into me, too!” It wasn’t the greatest comeback in the world, but she was tired and in no mood for getting pushed around.
“Whatever.” The man shook his head and brushed past her, taking the spot in front of her in line. Usually, Kendra would have let his rudeness slide, but today she bristled with annoyance.
“Excuse me, but I was here first.”
“Look, lady, I’ve had a really bad day, so I would appreciate it if you’d let me get checked in for my flight.” He ran a hand through his short brown hair in a gesture of annoyance, or was it frustration?
Kendra scoffed. “I can guarantee that my day has been worse than yours.”
“I doubt that.” His blue eyes flashed.
“Really? Because—” Kendra cut herself off, realizing that she didn’t want to share with this stranger just how bad her day had been.
“Next, please,” the woman at the counter called. Kendra and the man glared at each other. They were locked in a standoff, neither of them moving toward the desk. Kendra was not going to let him go first.
“Next, please,” the woman repeated. Kendra broke eye contact and half-ran to the counter, brushing past the rude man.
“Good afternoon,” she said, smiling at the woman behind the counter. “I’m checking in for my flight to Cabo.”
“Wonderful. Can I see your passport, please?”
Kendra dug the passport out of her purse. As she did so, she caught sight of the man behind her, who was currently glaring daggers at her. Her eyes narrowed. She was glad she hadn’t let him go first. What happened to “ladies first,” anyway?
“Do you have any bags to check?”
“Uh-huh.” Kendra put the suitcase on the scale. A tiny bit of the veil poked out through the zipper, and she looked away, her stomach aching. It would take a while to get over the embarrassment of being left at the altar. A long while.
“All right, Mrs. Moran, you’re all set.” The woman behind the counter smiled as she handed back Kendra’s passport with the boarding pass neatly tucked into it. Kendra opened her mouth to correct her, but it was true — the boarding pass said Mrs. Moran. Kendra had expected to be married by now, so she’d checked the box for “Mrs.” not “Ms.” for the first time in her life. At least she’d decided to keep her own last name, or they probably wouldn’t have let her on the flight.
“Thanks.” Kendra flashed the woman a bright smile and took the passport. She turned the smile into a dark look at the man who’dtried to cut in front of her. Usually, a minor annoyance like this wouldn’t have gotten on her nerves so much, but she was having a bad day.
Definitely a worse day than his.
Taking her purse, Kendra headed for security. Soon, she’d be on the flight, with a bag of airline pretzels and some ginger ale, perhaps, to toast her continued singlehood. And a few hours after that, she’d be checking in to the luxurious resort where she’d planned to take her honeymoon. She’d relax with a drink by the pool she’d seen pictures of and try to process everything that had happened.
As she put her purse in the tray at security, she caught sight of her phone. She’d packed it for the honeymoon. That was why Aaron had texted her on his groomsman’s phone — and hadn’t looked at it yet. When she glanced at the screen, she saw there were almost thirty new messages from her parents and friends. There was probably even something from Aaron, though she didn’t want to think about that. She wasn’t ready to deal with him.
“Ma’am, please step forward,” the security officer called. Kendra shoved her phone back into her purse and turned to the officer. She didn’t have the energy to see what everyone thought about the wedding that wasn’t, not when the embarrassment was still so fresh. And she didn’t want to relive the moment when she’d fled across the sand toward the cab while everyone stared after her.
The best option was not to talk to anyone.
The only thing she really wanted was to be alone.
