Sighing, I continued strolling to the men’s room and found William pacing the floor.
“Well, then.” His eyes met mine. “Took you long enough.”
“I’m here three hours early.” I crossed my arms. “Who’s your wedding planner again?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I let Natalie handle all that.”
“You don’t even know her name?”
“You’re here to help me, not ask silly questions.” He stopped pacing for a few seconds. “Okay, fine. It’s Katie Elizabeth, and the only reason I lied is because the guy who referred me to you said I had to or you wouldn’t help.”
Of course.I gritted my teeth.
“You better not be thinking about backing out on me now.”
“I’m tempted...” I looked at my watch. “But your next-to-last check cleared, so I guess I have no choice.”
“Exactly.” He resumed his pacing. “I thought you would’ve delivered the bad news by now.”
“I told you this called for a different approach, and it’s being handled as we speak.”
“Will she know I’m behind this?”
“No…” I shook my head. “She’ll blame herself, unless you finally want to man up and be honest with her.”
“Ha! No.”
“Well, make sure you have my final payment scheduled for an hour from now and you’ll be fine,” I said. “I’m flying back to New York.”
“But don’t you want to stay and make sure things go as planned?”
“I’m a professional, William,” I said. “You’re free. Trust me.”
He looked as if he didn’t believe me, as if all the bravado from earlier had melted and given way to fear of the unknown.
“Fine, I’ll wait in here with you until you feel like it’s done.”
“Thank you.” He pulled a pack of playing cards from his pocket. “Double solitaire?”
“Sure…”
Within minutes of him setting our hands on the back of the sink, his phone sounded.
“Hold on.” He pulled it from his pocket and answered. “This is William speaking... Oh, just walking around a few times before everything goes down and… She said what?”
His eyes met mine. “Is this some type of joke?”
I flipped over my hand and laid down a king. Then a pair of clubs and a queen.
“Well, I...” William loosened his tie, heaving. “I wasn’t expecting that, but… Yes, I understand. No, she can handle telling the guests. Thank you.”
He ended the call, glaring at me.
“It’s your turn.” I gestured at the cards. “Unless you don’t want to play anymore.”
“The wedding is off.” He swiped the cards off the sink. “She called it off.”
“Great.” I smiled. “Go ahead and send your final payment to me.”
