“Mark, Kaylee, it’s your turn,” Aunt Joanne calls out.
Mark holds out his arm, and I loop my hand through his elbow. I keep my eyes forward and see Tristan watching us with an unreadable expression on his face.
“You know, I still think about you,” Mark says, his voice a low murmur, only for me to hear. “My relationship with Shannon… it’s not really working out.”
I stumble in the sand as I whip my head in his direction but say nothing.
I glance to the side. Shannon lingering there with the family members, watching the rehearsal. If she only knew her boyfriend was all but propositioning me as she looks on.
“We worked well together. Maybe we should give it another shot.”
Maybe I should’ve seen this coming after his behavior at the welcome dinner last night. I didn’t. I don’t feel anything romantic for Mark. Most of the time I only remember the frustrating things about him, not the good times. Honestly,given his parting shots at me, I assumed he felt the same way. But whether Mark is dating anyone else or not, I don’t want him anymore.
We reach the arch and it’s time for us to move into place, and it’s a relief to step away from him.
“Great! It took four minutes for you all to reach the archway,” Eric’s mother says. “I’ll talk to the guitar player about the timing of the song tomorrow to make sure it lines up perfectly.”
“Should we practice walking back down the aisle after the ceremony?” Aunt Joanne asks.
“No,” I say, not wanting to give Mark more of an opportunity to say things that make me uncomfortable. I’m still hoping to avoid a scene that steals the focus from the bride.
Tristan chuckles, and I bet he suspects the reason I don’t want to walk on Mark’s arm any longer than necessary.
“Yeah,” Tristan says. “I think we’ve got it.”
“I guess we’re done here then,” Ashley says. “I want to take a moment to thank all of you for being here with us. It means so much to us both that you were willing to spend this weekend with us and help us celebrate our love.”
A murmur ofyou’re welcomescomes next.
Eric kisses her cheek, and I swear I canfeelthe love between them as if it’s physically emanating from their bodies, spreading through the salty ocean air. It’s nice, but it also makes me ache for something like that. I want a forever love too.
Lucas places his arm over Rainey’s shoulder. “We’re going to head to the hotel bar and meet a friend that lives nearby for a drink if anyone wants to join us.” He glances at Tristan who shakes his head. I guess he’s not in the mood for socializing.
Eric turns to Ashley. “Should we check out the banquet hall before we head to our rooms?” Eric asks as Rainey and Lucas depart. “Just to make sure it’s all ready to go for tomorrow?”
“Sure,” Ashley says. “The event coordinator for the resort was there earlier supervising the deliveries and setting up the tables and chairs. She texted me about an hour ago, saying she was going home, and everything is done.”
Tristan and I, and the rest of the bridal party, walk back to the resort, following Eric and Ashley. The banquet hall they rented for the reception isn’t far from where the ceremony will take place and we all walk into the large room. I look around, taking in the huge glass windows facing the ocean, and glance back at the pair of French doors we entered through.
Eric hits the light switch, illuminating the room, and it’s beautiful. Ashley chose the colors pink and purple for the wedding. The bridesmaids’ dresses are lavender while my maid-of-honor dress is the same style but a deep violet color. We’ll be carrying pink bouquets of flowers while Ashley’s will be a combination of pink and purple.
Here, in the banquet hall, those same colors are represented in a tasteful way. There’s purple tulle draped along the high ceiling with twinkle lights and pink bows wrapped around the chairs at tables draped in crisp white tablecloths. There are white, pink, and purple balloons on the dance floor in front of a stage where the DJ’s table has already been set up. As my eyes sweep over the room, I can’t help feeling like something is missing, but I can’t put my finger on what’s wrong.
“Wait a minute…” Ashley says, stepping farther into the room, walking to the closest table. “Where are the centerpieces?”
Oh, no.
Within seconds, Ashley has the event coordinator on the phone, her voice shrill as she demands answers. Some awkward glances are exchanged, and Mark is the first to step away from the situation.
“Well, I think we’ll head back to our room and leave you all to figure this out.” Mark takes Shannon’s hand.
Eric vaguely nods in his direction, his attention on his fiancée as she snaps at the coordinator on the phone.
I don’t know what the other woman is saying, but Ashley’s not happy.
“I don’t care if it was the end of your workday. You shouldn’t have justleftwithout finishing. You told me the banquet hall was ready!”
I cringe. My brain goes into fix-it mode. I’ve dealt with plenty of last-minute screwups or mistakes in this business—something always comes up last minute—although this is extreme and unprofessional.
