“I’ll start making calls to cancel the ceremony and reception.” She paused, waiting for that feeling of dread to take over like it should. A relationship was dying, but all she could think about was what she should do about the food that had been purchased.
“I’m sorry.” His forehead relaxed, and he stared at his reflection in the table.
Her chair scraped against the concrete patio as she pushed from the table. “Me, too.”
The soles of her bare feet padded across the cold concrete, through the door, past the kitchen. Lothario followed her inside, his cast thumping with each step. She paused at the bottom of the stairway, her gaze snagging on the open office door. He’d moved in there over a month ago. Sworn it was because he wanted their wedding night to be special, a little time apart in the bedroom would heat things up again. She’d thought it was odd at the time, but she’d gone along with it because… Why had she gone along with it? Right. Because she was thigh-deep in wedding planning and didn’t have a thought to give about thewhyof Scotty’s decision.
His decision to break up.
The pull of gravity seemed stronger than it had thirty seconds before. Oh God. They were really over. All her limbs doubled in weight. She gripped the railing, hefting herself up the beige carpeting of the staircase. There wasn’t time for a breakdown. There were calls to make. Hurrying to the bedroom, she closed and locked the door.
“This is fine. Everything is fine,” she said to Lothario. “We’re going to stay at a hotel for a little while. Just until we figure everything out.”
She grabbed her cell from her nightstand. Her father had called twice. She ignored his voicemails. “Hey, Siri, call Sadie.”
Marlee fell to the edge of the bed, tucking her feet under herself. Sadie, former maid of honor, picked up on the second ring. “Soon you’ll be Mrs.—”
“I’m not getting married. Scotty called it off and I’m about twenty minutes from a full-blown meltdown, so if you could come help me pack a few bags, that would be amazing.” The words spilled from her lips.
“Uh,” Sadie said. Shocked Sadie’s silence filled the line.
“Sadie?” Marlee finally asked.
“Coming,” Sadie said. “I’m coming. Literally calling a car right now.”
“’kay.” Marlee hung up the phone without saying anything else because she was afraid of what she’d say if she kept talking. She pressed her forehead to the phone screen. She needed a list. Lists were good for the times when a fiancé called off a wedding with less than two days to go. Yes, she’d make a list right after she got her bags together.
She pulled out the suitcases she’d been packing for their honeymoon and dumped the contents of each on the bedspread. There wouldn’t be a honeymoon now. No need for swimsuits and summer wraps for an autumn in Denver. Hurrying to the closet, she started pulling clothes from hangers and tossing them into a suitcase.
She should fold them.
There wasn’t time to fold them.
She needed to get everything together. Then she needed to call Aspen, her wedding planner, so she could start the cancellation calls. That should happen first. Cell in hand, Marlee pulled up Aspen’s number. She tried to force her fingers to tap on the phone number, her gaze catching the diamond engagement ring Scotty had slipped on to her left hand.
She couldn’t bring herself to make the call. This was ridiculous. Yes, she was sad Scotty had called things off. Yes, she was disappointed in his timing. But no, this would not wreck her.
Still, she couldn’t bring herself to make the call.
She pulled off the ring, dropping it on the nightstand. Then she pressed the message button and tapped out a note to Aspen.Wedding not happening. Need to cancel everything. Call Scotty, he can handle this. He broke it off.
There. That was better. Scotty could deal with the aftermath.
Since he loved her more and all that.
The garage underneath her bedroom opened. She moved to the window. Scotty backed out of the driveway in his black Sport BMW.
She did the cheek thing again, blowing out air through her lips.
Her phone pinged with a response, but she didn’t read it. She held the off button until the screen went black. Then she shoved clothes into her suitcases. Sadie would be here in just a little bit and she only had to hold out until then.
Clearing her mind while she packed, she did her best to ignore thoughts of anything other than the task in front of her.
“Marlee?” Sadie’s voice carried through the foyer and up the stairs to the master bedroom. Lothario yipped and jumped from the bed, limping through the doorway on his tripod legs.
“Up here.” Marlee’s voice cracked on the last word. Unacceptable. She coughed. “Here. I’m in the bedroom.”
“I brought help,” Sadie hollered.
