Canceling my wedding, moving out of my house, and breaking up with my fiancée? Not exactly bucket list items.
It had to be done, though, and I’d checked off one of the major tasks. One down, two to go.
I wiped sweat from my forehead and gave all the boxes one more long, exhausted look. Then I turned to Jesse. “I guess that’s everything.”
He nodded. “I guess so, yeah. Do you need help with anything else?”
“Not today, no.” My to-do list for the rest of the day was daunting as hell, but it wasn’t anything he needed to be involved with. “We just need to drop off the truck, and then I’ve got a bunch of calls to make and emails to send.”
Jesse grimaced but didn’t comment.
We left the storage facility, and after I’d turned in the truck, he drove us back to the condo. There, we ordered pizza and drank beers, but we didn’t talk much. What was there to say? I was shell-shocked from everything and still trying to make sense of it being real. I wondered if he was also in a state of“shit, this is real, isn’t it?”He’d had more time to process this than I had, but now he’d helped the man his girlfriend was cheating with move in with him. I could only imagine what that did to someone’s head.
I had no idea what to say, especially since I was a fucked-up wreck myself. After I’d taken my plate and empty beer bottle to the kitchen, I said, “I should, uh… I’ve got those emails to send. Then I’ll probably crash for the night.”
“Sounds good.” He chewed his lip. “Are we still on for tomorrow?”
I gulped. I was not looking forward to tomorrow. I kind of wanted to let him off the hook, but I also hoped he’d come with me. “I am. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
He drummed his nails on the counter. Then he nodded sharply. “I think it’s best for both of us to be there. You deserve the backup, and I want to face her too.”
“Okay. Sounds good.” I exhaled. “I asked her maid of honor to text me when they leave the airport. So we’ll know when she’s on her way.”
“Smart. Does the maid of honor suspect anything?”
I shook my head. “Not that I know of. I just told her I was planning a surprise for Selena when she gets home from the bachelorette weekend, and…” I trailed off into a shrug.
Jesse laughed dryly. “I mean, you didn’t lie.”
“No, I didn’t.” I huffed a halfhearted laugh. “She’ll definitely be surprised.”
“Yeah. She will. Anyway, good luck with everything else. Let me know when you want to leave tomorrow.”
“Will do.”
Then I headed for my new bedroom. Chili the cat followed me, so I left the door open for him to come and go.
I sat on the bed. He plopped himself beside the pillow. I took a moment to pet him, but I made myself get to work.
I opened my laptop. Took out my phone. Found our list of vendors.
And went through the motions of canceling my wedding.
Madeline
Leaving the airport. Your lovely and slightly hungover bride will be home in a few! (heart emoji)
I almost gagged.
Great! Thanks for letting me know!
Very, very few people knew what was about to go down. Though I’d quietly canceled all of our vendors, I hadn’t yet announced to our guests that the wedding wasn’t happening. I’d told my immediate family last night. I’d been a little unsure about talking to Selena’s parents, but I didn’t want them to find out about this on social media. So, I’d called them, too.
I also hadn’t intended to give them the whole story. All they needed to know was that“things didn’t work out”and the wedding was off, followed by,“I, uh, haven’t toldheryet”and hope they respected that I didn’t want them to tell her.
I’d imagined a lot of ways that conversation could go down. Not one of them came close to how my would’ve-been-in-laws actually responded.
“Did she cheat on you?”her mother had asked pointedly.
